IBIS Macromodel Task Group Meeting date: 12 March 2024 Members (asterisk for those attending): Achronix Semiconductor: Hansel Dsilva Amazon: John Yan ANSYS: * Curtis Clark * Wei-hsing Huang Aurora System: Dian Yang Raj Raghuram Cadence Design Systems: * Ambrish Varma * Jared James Dassault Systemes: Longfei Bai Google: Hanfeng Wang GaWon Kim Intel: * Michael Mirmak Kinger Cai Chi-te Chen Liwei Zhao Alaeddin Aydiner Keysight Technologies: Fangyi Rao Majid Ahadi Dolatsara Stephen Slater Ming Yan Rui Yang Marvell: Steve Parker Mathworks (SiSoft): Walter Katz Graham Kus Micron Technology: Justin Butterfield Missouri S&T: Chulsoon Hwang Yifan Ding Zhiping Yang Rivos: Yansheng Wang SAE ITC: Michael McNair Siemens EDA (Mentor): * Arpad Muranyi * Randy Wolff Teraspeed Labs: Bob Ross Zuken USA: * Lance Wang The meeting was led by Arpad Muranyi. Curtis Clark took the minutes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opens: - None. ------------- Review of ARs: Michael: Draft a new BIRD proposal to introduce a "Definitions" section to describe terms such as block, segment, etc., used in AMI. - Done. Michael had sent draft1 prior to this meeting. -------------------------- Call for patent disclosure: - None. ------------------------- Review of Meeting Minutes: Arpad asked for any comments or corrections to the minutes of the March 5th meeting. Michael moved to approve the minutes. Ambrish seconded the motion. There were no objections. -------------- New Discussion: Adding a Definitions Section to IBIS: Michael reviewed his draft1. He said its intention is to introduce a new section between the current sections three and four. He noted that AMI is section 10 in IBIS 7.2, but it is referred to as Section 11 in this proposal because the new section will be inserted. Section 4 will be the General Terminology Definitions, and subsection 4.1, as described in this proposal, will contain AMI related definitions. Arpad said he agreed with the concept of placing AMI specific definitions in a subsection, as he thought we could eventually factor various terms out of other sections of the document and provide their definitions in different subsections. Ambrish agreed but said we will probably also want a subset of definitions that applies to the entire specification. The group then reviewed the definitions themselves. Arpad noted that block, segment, and "time segment" were broadly defined as synonyms, but "time segment" did not have its own entry in the definitions. Ambrish wondered whether all synonyms should be grouped together in one definition entry. However, Michael said he preferred to have separate entries for each along with cross references to the others. He said he wanted to make it as easy as possible for a reader searching the Definitions to find the term they had in mind. Arpad and Curtis reiterated the concern from the prior meeting that the definition of symbol mistakenly implied that a symbol was the same as its possible values. They suggested, for example, that instead of saying there are 4 possible PAM4 symbols, we should say, a PAM4 symbol has 4 possible values. Arpad suggested that the definition of NRZ should not state that "positive and negative" voltage levels define the two logic states. He said there is no particular requirement that the two voltage levels be positive and negative. Michael generalized the statement to say, "two distinct voltage levels define the two logic states...". The group then reviewed the definitions of block, segment, and time-segment and adjusted them. Arpad and Curtis expressed concern over the definition of block and its statement, "... sometimes refers to a group denominated in bits rather than in time units..." They said that there is no reason to imply that the term block is tied to the units used to describe its size. Michael introduced language changes enumerating some of the possible units (samples, symbols, bits). Ambrish suggested that a simple example would make the point clear, and Michael added an example stating that a block of 512 samples at 32 samples per UI represents 16 symbols. Michael said he would send out draft2 incorporating the suggestions from the meeting. - Michael: Motion to adjourn. - Jared: Second. - Arpad: Thank you all for joining. New ARs: Michael: Send out draft2 of the "Definitions Section" BIRD proposal. ------------- Next meeting: 19 March 2024 12:00pm PT ------------- IBIS Interconnect SPICE Wish List: 1) Simulator directives