DS90C031TMX Datasheet, PDF (7/15 Pages) Texas Instruments – DS90C031 LVDS Quad CMOS Differential Line Driver

Parameter Measurement Information (Continued)
Typical Application
FIGURE 5. Driver TRI-STATE Delay Waveform
DS011946-7
DS011946-8
FIGURE 6. Point-to-Point Application
Applications Information
LVDS drivers and receivers are intended to be primarily used
in an uncomplicated point-to-point configuration as is shown
in Figure 6. This configuration provides a clean signaling en-
vironment for the quick edge rates of the drivers. The re-
ceiver is connected to the driver through a balanced media
which may be a standard twisted pair cable, a parallel pair
cable, or simply PCB traces. Typically, the characteristic im-
pedance of the media is in the range of 100Ω. A termination
resistor of 100Ω should be selected to match the media, and
is located as close to the receiver input pins as possible. The
termination resistor converts the current sourced by the
driver into a voltage that is detected by the receiver. Other
configurations are possible such as a multi-receiver configu-
ration, but the effects of a mid-stream connector(s), cable
stub(s), and other impedance discontinuities as well as
ground shifting, noise margin limits, and total termination
loading must be taken into account.
The DS90C031 differential line driver is a balanced current
source design. A current mode driver, generally speaking
has a high output impedance and supplies a constant cur-
rent for a range of loads (a voltage mode driver on the other
hand supplies a constant voltage for a range of loads). Cur-
rent is switched through the load in one direction to produce
a logic state and in the other direction to produce the other
logic state. The typical output current is mere 3.4 mA, a mini-
mum of 2.5 mA, and a maximum of 4.5 mA. The current
mode requires (as discussed above) that a resistive termi-
nation be employed to terminate the signal and to complete
the loop as shown in Figure 6. AC or unterminated configu-
rations are not allowed. The 3.4 mA loop current will develop
a differential voltage of 340 mV across the 100Ω termination
resistor which the receiver detects with a 240 mV minimum
differential noise margin neglecting resistive line losses
(driven signal minus receiver threshold (340 mV – 100 mV =
240 mV)). The signal is centered around +1.2V (Driver Off-
set, V_OS) with respect to ground as shown inFigure 7. Note
that the steady-state voltage (V_SS) peak-to-peak swing is
twice the differential voltage (V_OD) and is typically 680 mV.
The current mode driver provides substantial benefits over
voltage mode drivers, such as an RS-422 driver. Its quies-
cent current remains relatively flat versus switching fre-
quency. Whereas the RS-422 voltage mode driver increases
exponentially in most case between 20 MHz–50 MHz. This
is due to the overlap current that flows between the rails of
the device when the internal gates switch. Whereas the cur-
rent mode driver switches a fixed current between its output
without any substantial overlap current. This is similar to
some ECL and PECL devices, but without the heavy static
I_CC requirements of the ECL/PECL designs. LVDS requires
80% less current than similar PECL devices. AC specifica-
tions for the driver are a tenfold improvement over other ex-
isting RS-422 drivers.
The TRI-STATE function allows the driver outputs to be dis-
abled, thus obtaining an even lower power state when the
transmission of data is not required.
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