The Slew-Rate Conversion | Free Jitter Application Note | RIGOL
Free Application Note For Embedded Link Debug

Free Report Reveals Your Jitter Source,
And How To Prove It Without Part Swaps

One calculation, run on day one, instead of two weeks of layout revisions. 11 pages, free.

Sent to your inbox in 60 seconds. Free, no follow-up sequence. One email with the download. We do not sell or share your address.

Published by the instrument manufacturer
Since 1998 Publicly listed, 437 patents

What this is

This is a free 11-page application note for engineers debugging embedded serial and source-synchronous links up to roughly 400 Mb/s. It introduces the Slew-Rate Conversion, a calculation that establishes whether measured jitter originated in the power domain or the signal domain, and gives the decomposition order that follows from it, a decision tree, and a printable worksheet.

What The Conversion Reveals

One calculation, the procedure it feeds, and two printable artifacts. No sections rebuilding transmission line theory you already know.

The Slew-Rate Conversion in full, and the table showing what the same 20 mV of rail noise costs you in picoseconds at four different edge ratesp.4
The row in that table where rail noise alone exceeds an entire deterministic jitter budget, which is the point the investigation should change directionp.4
The order to work the jitter components in, including the one most engineers attack first that should be handled lastp.6
The decision tree that routes each signature to a physical cause and names the measurement that confirms itp.6
The rise time and bandwidth arithmetic that tells you whether your own bench qualifies for the measurement at allp.8
The printable Jitter Correlation Worksheet, one sheet per failing linkp.9

Sent to your inbox in 60 seconds. Free, no follow-up sequence. One email with the download. We do not sell or share your address.

This Is Narrow On Purpose

Run it if

  • You have an embedded serial or source-synchronous link that passes validation and fails in the field
  • Your data rate is roughly 400 Mb/s or below, which is where a 1 GHz bench can give you a defensible number
  • You have a total jitter figure and no idea whether to take it to the power team or the layout team
  • The failure changes with traffic, temperature, or which board is installed

Skip it if

  • You are debugging multi-gigabit SerDes. A 5 Gb/s link needs 7.5 GHz of bandwidth and this note will not help you get it
  • Your fault reproduces on demand and you already know the mechanism
  • You want an introduction to transmission lines, reflections, or termination. This note assumes all three

Why One Calculation Changes Where You Look

Decomposition tells you which component dominates. The conversion tells you which domain it came from, which is the step most investigations skip and the reason so many of them end in the wrong place.

One Line You Can Check Yourself

It is one line of standard signal integrity theory, so you can verify it before you trust it. What is not standard is the table it produces, and the specific point at which the result should stop your layout work and send you to the power tree instead.

It Often Belongs To Someone Else

Run the conversion and jitter you have been treating as a signal integrity problem frequently resolves to something on the supply rail. That fix usually sits with a different engineer entirely. Finding that out on day one rather than day nine is the whole reason the calculation exists.

It Tells You When To Stop

The conversion is only trustworthy if your measured slew rate is. Page 8 is the arithmetic for qualifying your own bench, including the data rates a 1 GHz instrument cannot serve. If your measurement needs a class of instrument we do not build, the note says so rather than selling you technique instead.

The physics behind the Slew-Rate Conversion is not ours and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It is one line of standard signal integrity theory. What almost nobody does is work it into a table, state the point at which it changes your conclusion, and publish the data rates their own instruments cannot serve. Ours stop at 1 GHz, and a 5 Gb/s link needs 7.5 GHz. We would rather you knew that before downloading than at the bench.

Questions Engineers Ask Before Downloading

What the conversion is, where it applies, and where it does not, stated plainly so you can decide in thirty seconds.

What is the Slew-Rate Conversion?
It is a single line of standard signal integrity theory that converts a voltage figure into a timing figure. Applied to your own bench it tells you whether the jitter you are measuring originated on a supply rail or as a genuine timing problem, which are two different investigations owned by two different people. The note gives the equation in full on page 4, along with the worked table and the point at which the result should change what you do next.
What data rates does this apply to?
Embedded serial and source-synchronous links up to roughly 400 Mb/s on a 1 GHz bench. That figure comes from capturing to the fifth harmonic of the fundamental, which sits at half the data rate. The note includes the arithmetic so you can work out the limit for whatever instrument you own, at any bandwidth. The conversion itself is rate independent.
Do I need a RIGOL oscilloscope to use it?
No. The conversion, the decomposition order, and the decision tree work identically on any oscilloscope with jitter analysis, whatever name is on the front panel. The bench qualification section is written so you can apply it to the instrument already in front of you. If you work on multi-gigabit SerDes, note that a 5 Gb/s link needs 7.5 GHz of bandwidth to reach the third harmonic and 12.5 GHz for the fifth, which is a class of instrument we do not build.
Is this a product brochure with a technical cover?
No. There is no product comparison, no pricing, and no competitor named anywhere in it. The only product mention is a single credibility box on the final page. The note also publishes the limits of our own instruments, which is not something a brochure does.
What do I get and what happens after?
One email with an 11-page PDF, including the Jitter Decomposition Decision Tree and a printable correlation worksheet. There is no automated sequence attached. If you want a second pair of eyes on your numbers afterwards, the note explains how to arrange that, and it is optional.

Run It Before You Commit The Two Weeks.

A week on layout for a problem that lived on the supply rail is the ordinary cost of skipping this step. The conversion takes about as long as reading this sentence, and it happens before you commit anything.

Sent to your inbox in 60 seconds. Free, no follow-up sequence. One email with the download. We do not sell or share your address.

© RIGOL Technologies USA. One email with the download. We do not sell or share your address.

Free 11-page note plus worksheet

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