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TLK105: reference ground of layout MAC interface

Part Number: TLK105
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: LM25145

Hi team,

When a high power LM25145 DC-DC  works beyond 20W, the Ethernet communication is interrupted. When supplying this 20W with an external LM25145 board, the Ethernet communication is fine. I saw this customer directly uses power ground of high power LM25145 DC-DC (up to 60W) as reference ground plane for MAC interface. I measured the switching noise on these single-ended I/O pins are up to +-800mV as below shows. I think it might be the root cause. I think this kind of switching noise impacts the single-ended MII/RMII interface, but impact nothing of the MDI differential interface. However, I didn't see we have MAC interface layout guideline in our datasheets.

Thanks.

  • General guideline for high speed signal is to have continuous ground under the signal traces. It helps with impedance control.

    Is the ground plane for TLK also noisy?

    Does the link also go down or only packet errors are observed? 

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    Regards,

    Vikram