ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the basics of the substrate noise generation and propagation in mixed-signal integrated circuits (IC). It presents the standard IC emission model and its extension allowing substrate noise simulations. Substrate coupling in mixed-signal ICs and especially in wireless communications systems-on-chip creates important performance degradation of the analog/RF and mixed signal circuits integrated on the same die as large digital systems. Couplings occur between noise transmitters, which, in most cases, are fast switching digital blocks, and a noise receiver, which, generally, is a sensitive analog RF block or mixed-signal architecture and takes place due to the capacitive and resistive nature of the substrate-interconnects and substrate-devices interfaces. The context “silicon technology” is based on low-resistivity substrate or high-resistivity substrate, the substrate noise generation, and propagation. One of the main phenomena that induce substrate noise in a mixed-signal circuit is the power and ground supply voltage fluctuations that are transmitted into the substrate through all substrate biasing contacts.
