ICD PDN Planner Help Guide - Altium · 2014. 8. 29. · This is taken from the IPC 7351B Standard and assumes a nominal land pattern. Side Currently we assume that the power planes

ICD PDN PlannerHelp Guide

2ICD PDN PLANNER Help Guidewww.altium.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction to the ICD PDN Planner 3

2. Fundamentals of PDN Analysis 3

3. List of Features in the 2013/2014 Release of the ICD PDN Planner 5

4. Creating a New PDN Analysis 6

A. Create a new PDN

B. Renaming the PDN

5. Plane Definition 6

6. Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) 7

7. Target 8

8. Capacitor Mounting 8

A. Via Loop Inductance

Package

Side

Fanout

B. Via Spreading

9. Capacitor Library Editor 9

10. Configuration 11

11. Export 11

A. View Data

B. CSV

C. Copy to Clipboard

D. Export Excel Bill of Materials (BOM)

12. Quick Start - Using the ICD PDN Planner 13

13. ICD License Server (Nodelocked and Floating License setup) 15


1. Introduction to the ICD PDN Planner

The ICD PDN Planner builds on the familiar ease of use of the popular ICD Stackup

Planner software that has been utilized by over twelve thousand PCB Designers and

Engineers world wide since 1996. The ICD PDN Planner is based on user’s ideas and

feedback.

• Flexibility of structure

• AC Analysis of multiple Power Supplies per substrate

• Analysis of the PCB Substrate

• Analysis of the Voltage Regulator Module

• Import of stackup planes

• Comprehensive Capacitor Library with over 1,500 parts

The user may add and delete an unlimited number of decoupling and bulk bypass

capacitors and instantly analyse the Voltage Regulator Module, PCB Substrate and

the decoupling and bulk bypass capacitors simultaneously to solve parameters for the

desired effective impedance of the Power Distribution Network. Also the ICD PDN

Planner supports multiple Power Supplies on the one substrate.

There is a comprehensive Capacitor Library with over 1,500 readily available Kemet,

Murata and AVX SMD capacitors listing Value, ESR, ESL, SRF, Voltage, Tolerance,

Dielectric Material and SMD Package Type, ready for insertion into the ICD PDN Planner.

2. Fundamentals of PDN Analysis

The PDN impedance for a computer based product, must be kept low and flat over a

large frequency range for improved product performance. A typical switching regulator

maintains a low impedance up to 10KHz (a). Above that, bulk capacitance provides the

low impedance up to 10MHz (b). High frequency decoupling is provided by ceramic

capacitors up to several hundred MHz (c) but above that only the plane capacitance

can reduce the PDN impedance (d). The power to ground plane capacitance of the PCB

provides an ideal capacitor in that it has no series lead inductance and little Equivalent

Series Resistance (ESR), which helps reduce noise at extremely high frequencies.

Ceramic capacitors reach their minimum impedance at their resonant frequency, which

is determined by the capacitance and the Equivalent Series Inductance (ESL). To meet a

target impedance at a particular frequency, a capacitance value is chosen so that when

mounted on the PCB, it will resonate at the desired frequency, and have an impedance

that is equal to its ESR. Then, a sufficient number of those capacitors are placed in

parallel so that the parallel ESR’s approach the desired target impedance.

Most of the inductance associated with a decoupling capacitor is due to the mounting

pad structure. Inductance is minimized by moving VDD and GND vias close to each


a. 10uF Tantalum Capacitors

b. 100nF Ceramic Capacitors

c. Switch Mode Power Supply

d. Planes with 10mils spacing

e. Combination of all of the above resulting in the effective PDN impedance

other and minimizing the length of via from the

pad to the power planes. Careful pad layout

design (low inductance) enables the use of

higher value capacitors for the same frequency.

Larger value capacitors generally have a lower

ESR, so fewer of them are required to meet the

target impedance.

Capacitor ESR determines the number of ca-

pacitors required to achieve a certain target

impedance, at a particular frequency, and is

therefore an important design parameter. The

ESR value typically reported by capacitor vendors

underestimates the actual ESR of a capacitor

mounted on a PCB.

The mounted inductance or ESL of a capacitor

is comprised of three components: Capacitor

footprint (land), capacitor height above or below the plane and power plane spreading

inductance. These three elements describe the loop that current must flow through

- The bigger the loop, the more the inductance. The footprint (land pattern) for a

capacitor dominates the ESL. It consists of via placement with respect to the pad, the

length and width of traces connected to the pad, and the way the vias are connected

to the power and ground planes. The location of the power/ground planes in the PCB

stackup controls the height of the via. Inductance directly depends on the magnetic

field, so reducing the energy associated with loop area reduces overall inductance.


The second contributing factor to the inductance is the capacitor itself. The capacitor

forms a part of the current loop, hence contributes to the inductance. Typically a

capacitor is made of multiple plates connected alternately to the side posts. For a thicker

capacitor, the current has to flow up and down and effectively increases the length of

the current loop.

The inductance associated with current spreading into the power/ground planes

also contributes to the total mounted inductance. Current in the planes becomes

concentrated in the vicinity of the vias. Concentrated current creates a higher magnetic

field and therefore contributes to inductance.

Spreading inductance is higher at the edges and corners of the PCB. Current can

approach vias in the middle of the board from four different directions instead of two

when the capacitor is located at the corner of the board. Also the separation between

the planes contributes to the spreading inductance.

3. List of Features in the 2013/2014 Release of the ICD PDN Planner

1. Import of Stackup planes directly from the ICD Stackup Planner.

2. Definition of plane size or shape, dielectric constant and plane separation for each on-board power supply.

3. Definition of each Voltage Regulator Mode including Voltage, I max, I transient, V ripple and a selection of switch mode or linear power supplies.

4. Frequency range F min and F max settings up to 100 GHz.

5. F target setting.

6. Z Target – automatically determined by the VRM settings.

7. Mouse-over PDN Impedance and Frequency readout on display.

8. Save/Save As – Imperial (inches) or Metric (meters).

9. Undo/Redo.

10. Setup -> Configuration dialog: Units – Metric and Imperial (also ability to save in both units).

11. Copy to Clipboard – contains the Effective Impedance Analysis Graph.

12. View calculated data.

13. On-line Design Rule Checker (DRC).

14. Export Excel Bill of Materials.

15. Capacitor Library Editor – Including a starter set of 1,500 readily available components.


4. Creating a New PDN Analysis

The ICD PDN Planner has the ability to analyse an unlimited number of power supply

configurations simultaneously. A typical high speed multilayer PCB has five of six

individual power supplies that all serve a different purpose and must be regulated to

maintain power integrity during high current switching.

The ICD PDN Planner allows you to edit, rename and save a favourite custom PDN to use again.

A. Creating an entirely new PDN

Open -> New is used to create an entirely new supply. A new TAB appears labelled.

See section (b) “Renaming the PDN” to rename the TAB.

B. Renaming the PDN

This custom supply can be renamed and saved to use on the next design.

Select the Supply TAB -> RMB -> Rename PDN-> My Custom Supply

File -> Save As -> My Custom Supply.pdn

To reuse this custom PDN: File -> Open -> My Custom Supply.pdn

5. Plane Definition

The PDN Planner is now fully integrated with the Stackup Planner. This allows the user

to extract plane information from the Stackup Planner.

A. Select the Stackup Name from the drop down menu. The default stackups (2 – 18 layer) plus any user created stackups.

B. Select the Power Plane to analyze.

C. Select the plane above and below this power plane.

Alternatively, select “Define”. This allows you to enter the Dielectric Constant and the

distance between planes.

Note: If there is only one reference (above or below) uncheck the plane not required.


The plane size can be rectangular and the X, Y dimension can be entered in order to

calculate the plane area or alternatively, an irregular shape area can be entered in either

square inches or meters.

The Dielectric Constant Er (Dk) of the core and prepreg materials can be entered. These

values are found in the manufacturer’s material datasheets and are called Dk and rated

at different frequencies.

The separation of the power and ground planes can also be entered in either inches or

meters. This assumes there is only one plane pair. But, if for instance there is a power

plane with a ground plane either side, then the distance to both ground planes from the

power plane needs to be considered.

For two planes pairs the equivalent plane separation is:

where h1 and h2 are the distances from the power plane to each ground plane.

So for example, if we have the following plane configuration in the stackup:

h1 = 5 + 5 = 10, h2 = 4mil (for h1, signal copper sinks into prepreg)

6. Voltage Regulator Module (VRM)

The VRM of each power supply needs to be entered in order to determine the target

frequency of the PDN. Linear power supplies are generally used for analog circuits, but

switched mode power supplies are always used for power supply to digital circuits.

The voltage, maximum current, transient current and Voltage ripple need to be entered.

These values can be determined from the IC data sheets.

Equivalent Plane Separation MIL11

1014

2.857=+

=Equivalent Plane Separation =1

( 1h1

+ 1h2

)

Equivalent Plane Separation =1

( 1h1

+ 1h2

)


7. Target

The frequency range of the PDN display is defined by entering values for F min and F

max in MHz. The default setting is from 10KHz to 10GHz which is the typical range for

the PDN. In reality, most of the action happens between 100MHz and 10GHz so this

range may be adjusted to clarify the display of the curves.

The F target is the vertical line on the display which represents the highest frequency of

interest. If for instance, you are using 266MHz DDR2 memory clocks, then this needs

to be adjusted to fundamental frequency. Also, odd harmonics of the clock can be

displayed with a dotted red line. The odd harmonics are of interest because it is at these

frequencies where it is important to keep the PDN impedance low or excess radiation

may occur.

Z target is the horizontal line on the display which represents the impedance target of

the PDN. Basically, you need to keep the effective impedance below both the Z target

impedance up to the F target frequency.

8. Capacitor Mounting

Capacitor Mounting includes two check boxes:

A. Via Loop Inductance

This allows the user to take into account the loop inductance of the capacitor mounting

which is a significant factor in PDN analysis.

Package

Accounts for the inductance of the capacitor footprint. This is taken from the IPC 7351B

Standard and assumes a nominal land pattern.

Side

Currently we assume that the power planes are in the centre of the stackup so the

distance to the top and bottom of the board are the same. This is a place hold in the

.pdn file for future features whereby the planes can be off center.

Fanout

Account for the inductance of the vias from the footprint to and back from the planes

enveloping the entire loop area. There are three selections


End Side Dside

End: The end fanout has the most inductance as it increases the loop area.

Side: The side fanout makes the loop area smaller – hence less inductance.

Dside: Double side fanout reduces the inductance even further by putting two vias in

parallel for each pad.

The calculations are based on 20mil thickness and 20mil length traces with 10mil

diameter via holes.

B. Via Spreading

The via spreading should be checked (on) if the capacitors are not directly connected

to or very close to each IC power pin. The via spreading takes the inductance to each

capacitor into account assuming they are placed within an inch of the IC.

9. Capacitor Library Editor

The ICD PDN Planner Starter Capacitor Library contains 1,500 SMD Ceramic and

Tantalum capacitors from the Kemet, Murata and AVX range that are readily available

via Digikey (www.digikey.com). Please note that ICD is not associated with any of these

companies in any way. This is an excellent starter set to get you up and running fast. The

starter library lists the following for each capacitor:

Part Number, Value, ESR, ESL, Self Resonant Frequency (SRF), Dielectric, Type, Voltage,

Tolerance, Land (footprint), Comments and datasheet URL.

The main properties that the PDN Planner requires to analyse are value (in uF), Equivalent

Series Resistance (ESR) (in ohms) and the Equivalent Series Inductance (ESL) (in nH).

http://www.digikey.com


The major capacitor manufacturers have SPICE analysis software, that can be

downloaded from their web sites, in order to determine the ESR and ESL of each

capacitor at its self resonant frequency. Unfortunately, the capacitor manufacturers do

no supply the ESR and ESL values in the datasheets. So, this is a very time consuming

process, analysing each capacitor one by one, and is prone to error.

The Capacitor Library Editor has two modes of operation:

1. Insert Mode – for placing a new capacitor into the PDN listview and graph.

2. Edit Mode – for editing/deleting/adding capacitors.

The user can change between modes by clicking the “Switch to Insert/Edit” button. The

buttons are fairly self explanatory. The user can edit the entries in the Capacitor Library

Editor by double clicking on a field, add a new capacitor using the ‘Add’ button and of

course ‘Save’ and ‘Delete’ entries. Also, you can double click in Insert Mode to add the

capacitor to the PDN.

The “Save As” button allows you to save the edited library to a backup directory or

create a network drive company library where all users on the corporate network can

access the one qualified library. The Change Location button allows you to point to a

particular library.

The default library locations are:

C:\Documents and Settings\ICD\Application Data\ICD PDN

Planner\Default for XP or

C:\Users\ICD\Application Data\ICD PDN Planner\Default for

Windows 7 up

Double clicking on the category column in Edit Mode allows

you to change the Default library entry to Added, Qualified or

Added and Qualified. This is to be used for Quality Assurance

purposes. It is important for library integrity to always maintain a qualified library that

has been verified by your company for use.

The All button allows you to select between Default, Added, Qualified or Added and

Qualified view to view these specific items only.

The Capacitor Library Editor use Boolean Search algorithms to search for specific items.

These are AND together. Drop-down menus allow you to select the Dielectric or Type

of capacitor.


Right clicking (RMB) on a column allows you to sort a column up/down. This feature is

ideal for selecting by SRF or value.

10. Configuration

The Configuration dialog is shared with the ICD Stackup Planner and allows the user to

set the software defaults.

11. Export

A. View Data

This allows you to view the data created by the PDN Planner.


B. CSV

The data created by the PDN Planner may be exported to Excel for further analysis.

C. Copy to Clipboard

This copies the current graphical display of the PDN to the Windows clipboard.

D. Export Excel Bill of Materials (BOM)

This lists all the capacitors used in the PDN, including properties, to an Excel spreadsheet

for a BOM.


12. Quick Start - Using the ICD PDN Planner

If we consider a typical DDR2 design, there are a number of different power supplies

on the board. Some of these do not require analysis, for example the 12V input etc.

However, there are critical VRM’s that supply power to the processor and associated IC’s

and to the memory devices. These are typically 3V3, 1V8, 1V5 and 1V supplies. So each

of these need to be analyzed and adjusted to give a flat impedance over the required

frequency range.

First start by creating PDN’s for each supply. Select the ‘Insert new PDN’ icon or ‘New’

from the File Menu. Once the four PDN’s are created, RMB -> Rename PDN and rename

the PDN to something meaningful like 1V8 DDR2 and so on for all the PDN’s.

These PDN’s can be saved and recalled (opened) for future use on another project.

Let’s look at arguably the most critical PDN for DDR2 memory: 1V8


A. Select the DDR2 1V8 PDN TAB.

B. Select the stackup used and pick the power plane to be analyzed – the plane above and below. Fill in the Plane variables: The X, Y dimensions or area of the plane. If for instance we are using DDR2 devices, then the plane area may be very small – something in the order of 2 x 2 inches. Also select the dielectric material used for core and prepregs and the separation of the planes.

C. In the VRM box, select Switch Mode, Voltage 1.8, I max may be 1 to 3 Amps, I transient for a square wave is 50% and Voltage Ripple is generally 3 to 5%.

D. Adjust the Target frequencies (min/max) to the desired range. The target frequency is typically the fundamental frequency (eg for 266 MHz clock). Z target is determined by the VRM settings.

E. If you want to include the Via Loop Inductance in the calculations (which you should), tick the box. If you are not able to put all the decoupling capacitors directly on the IC power pins, then also check Via Spreading.

F. The Zvrm and Zplane are turned on by default. This shows the effective impedance of the board without any capacitors at all. As mentioned previously, we need to maintain a low impedance (below the Z target line) up to the maximum frequency (F target line).

Start adding capacitors to the 1V8 supply. eg 25 x 100nF 0402 ceramic and 1 x 330 uF 1210 tantalum. Add these to the listview. RMB -> Insert Below. And double click to insert each capacitor from the library, then add the quantity of each.

This looks pretty good – flat impedance up to the target frequency. But we have yet to consider the mounting loop inductance of each capacitor.

G. Enter the package (Pkg) Side (placement side) and Fanout type of each capacitor. This increases the impedance of the PDN.

Add 25 x 100nF 0402 Add 1 x 330uF Tantalum 1210


If the impedance goes above the target impedance, then try using side fanout. This

is all what-if analysis so you may need to change the values and package types of the

capacitors etc. Using the undo/redo feature is helpful for this.

Continue to analyze the remainder of the PDN TAB’s.

13. ICD License Server

ICD Stackup Planner and PDN Planner software now use Reprise License Manager

(RLM), a flexible licensing system produced by Reprise Software. There are a number

of ways in which the software can be licensed; this document describes the most

common, and how to use them.

A. Evaluation Licenses

When you download and install ICD Stackup Planner or PDN Planner from ICD’s

website, a 14-day evaluation license will be installed on your computer.

If you need further time to evaluate ICD Stackup Planner or PDN Planner, please contact

your local sales representative, or [email protected] with your request.

B. Permanent Licenses

Once you purchase ICD Stackup Planner or PDN Planner, you will need a permanent

license to activate product features. The ICD Stackup Planner has three levels of

functionality that can be purchased and licensed. In addition, ICD Stackup Planner

supports exporting data to a number of different formats, which may be licensed

separately, as well. For each of these features and feature bundles, and for PDN Planner,

you may choose to purchase either node-locked or floating licenses – or a combination

of the two.

C. Nodelocked Licenses

If you plan to use ICD Stackup Planner and/or PDN Planner on just one computer, a

node-locked license is the simplest solution.

When you request a license from ICD, you will be asked to provide your computer’s

“hostid”. To obtain this information from your PC, run ICD Stackup Planner or PDN

H. You can RMB -> Change Row With … to change say an 0402 capacitor for an 0201 capacitor that may have lower inductance etc.

mailto:support%40icd.com.au?subject=


Select the contents of the hostid field, and

send them to [email protected], along

with your license request. This will enable you

to receive a permanent or evaluation license

code, which is locked to your computer.

Once you receive this license code, copy and

paste it into the large text box, and select

“Save Changes”. This is all that is required to

install your new license.

D. Network Floating Licenses

If you wish to run ICD Stackup Planner and/or PDN Planner on more than one computer,

or on more than one computer concurrently, if you have multiple floating licenses, you

will need to purchase (a) floating license(s), and you will need to install and run the

License Server software.

Installing the ICD License Server

Download and install the License Server software from the ICD web site (www.icd.com.

au/downloads/ICD_License_Server_v2012_0901.zip - please note the version number

may be updated) on an appropriate computer on your network. This license server

computer should be on a computer that is available at all times, as ICD Stackup Planner

and/or PDN Planner will need to contact it to ensure that the licenses in use are valid.

The License Server can be administered via a Web interface on port 5054 of the

computer on which it is installed.

Navigate to this page, either by visiting http://localhost:5054 from the local computer,

or remotely via http://:5054 to view the License Server administration

page. In order to determine the “hostid” of your license-server computer, click on the

“System Info” button. Look for the heading “hostid”, and select the line that says

“Ethernet: …” Copy this information and e-mail it to [email protected] to generate

licenses for your license server.

Once you receive the generated license codes from ICD, you will need to add them

to the license file on your license server. In Windows7, open the file C:\Users\ICD\

Application Data\License\icd_server.lic in an ASCII text editor. (C:\Documents &

Settings\ICD\Application Data\License\icd_server.lic on Windows XP. Copy the license

codes, paste them into this file, and save.

Planner on the computer on which you wish to install the license. Click the Help Menu,

and select “ICD Stackup Planner Licensing” or “ICD PDN Planner Licensing”. This will

display a dialog box similar to the one shown below:

mailto:support%40icd.com.au?subject=http://www.icd.com.au/downloads/ICD_License_Server_v2012_0901.ziphttp://www.icd.com.au/downloads/ICD_License_Server_v2012_0901.zipmailto:support%40icd.com.au?subject=


Setting up Network Floating Licenses on a Client PC’s

Once you have installed license(s) on the

License Server, you will need to point your

client computers running ICD Stackup

Planner and/or PDN Planner to the license

server. To do this, install and launch ICD

Stackup Planner and/or PDN Planner from

the client computer. Click on the Help

Menu and select “ICD Stackup Planner (or

PDN Planner) Licensing”. This will display

the following dialog:

Enter the name of your license server (note:

non-case sensitive) in the appropriate text

box, and select Save Changes. To obtain the name of your license server computer,

ask your system administrator, or go to the license server itself, select Start, and type

“computer name” in the text field. In the search results, select “See the name of this

computer”. Scroll down to the “Computer name” field, and record the computer name.

Network Floating License Quick-start

1. Install the License Server

A. Download and install the License Server (Filename: License_server_setup.exe) on the Server computer.

B. Once installed, the License Server can be administered via a Web browser on port http://localhost:5054, or from a client PC on port http://:5054.

C. Get the hostid of the server: System Info -> hostid -> Ethernet: “.............................”.

D. Send this code to [email protected] to receive a license.

2. Install the Server License

A. Add the license to the server computer.

B. Edit C:\Documents and Settings\ICD\Application Data\License\icd_server.lic, or

C:\Users\ICD\Application Data\License\icd_server.lic on Windows7.

C. Paste the license codes to the end of the icd_server.lic file, and save.

You will need to restart the License Server in order for your new licenses to take effect.

Either use the Web interface at http://localhost:5054, and select the ”Reread/Restart

Servers” button, or use the Windows Services interface to restart the “ICD RLM License

Server” service.

mailto:support%40icd.com.au?subject=


3. Restart the License Server

A. http://localhost:5054 -> Select Reread/Restart Servers.

4. Install the Client License

A. On the client PC, run ICD Stackup Planner -> Help -> ICD Stackup Planner Licensing.

B. Select Floating Licenses.

C. Enter the License-Server name.

D. Save.

Checking Network Floating License Server Status

To verify the status of your ICD Stackup Planner or PDN Planner network/floating

license, perform the following steps:

A. The License Server can be administered via a Web browser on port http://localhost:5054, or from a client PC on port http://:5054. (Find the server name by selecting “Start” from the Windows taskbar on the server machine, then right clicking on “Computer”, selecting “Properties”, and scrolling to “Computer name”, toward the bottom of the screen.)

B. Click the “Status” button on the left.

C. The license file, “icd_server.lic” should be listed.

D. Scroll down the page to “ISV Servers”.

E. Select Server Status, ”icd”.

F. The product should be listed in the License Pool Status.

G. If the product is not listed, it may be necessary to restart the license server.