Differential Pair Tuner

Read the user guide

The Differential Pair Tuner makes precise length adjustments to the shorter side of a selected set of differential pair traces to equalize their lengths. The shorter of the two traces has serpentines added to it to increase the length.

The Diff Pair Tuner window, showing each net's length and electrical length alongside the serpentine settings

The images below show an example of the before and after condition of traces which have been tuned with the tool:

A differential pair in the layout before tuning — one trace is shorter and needs length added

The same differential pair after the tool adds serpentines, bringing both nets to equal length

Here is a video of the tool working: (best viewed at 1080p, full screen)

Future enhancements to this tool will include:

- Dynamic tuning with the additional length added at each bend in the traces' path.

- Integration with the Layer Stackup tool in CES and Xpedition to calculate additional length needed on a per-layer basis, along with time-of-flight calculations based on the dielectric materials surrounding the traces.