This white paper explains PCB layout guidelines for designing LVDS boards using Altera FPGAs. LVDS is a high-speed, low-voltage, low-power, and low-noise general-purpose I/O interface standard. The low-voltage swing and differential current mode outputs significantly reduce EMI and have fast edge rates that cause signal paths to act as transmission lines. Therefore, ultra-high-speed board design and differential signal theory knowledge is especially useful for designing an FPGA-based LVDS board.
November 17, 2009