System-Efficient ESD Design Based on a Modular Measurement System Applied to USB

A modular system-level electrostatic discharge (ESD) evaluation platform is described. It forms a flexible instrument that allows the investigation of the impact of various system-level and printed circuit board (PCB) ESD design choices. The transmission line pulse (TLP) and IEC 61000-4-2 pulse behavior of a universal serial bus (USB) 3.0 redriver IC protected by different transient voltage suppressors (TVSs) are investigated. The system includes modules with varying functionality which can be flexibly combined on a baseboard. IV curves, leakage current, S-parameters, USB data errors, and IC power consumption can be monitored to detect damage or soft-fail disturbances. We report on the ESD protection achieved with two types of TVS: TVS with and without snap-back characteristics. The measured voltages and currents are compared to a system-efficient ESD design (SEED) simulation. This modular system allows rapid implementation of complex experimental characterization setups to investigate system-level ESD response, providing essential input to improve design robustness using the SEED modeling concept.