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21
Propagation Delay, Pulse-Width Distortion and Propagation
Delay Skew
Propagation delay is a figure of merit which describes
how quickly a logic signal propagates through a sys-
tem.Thepropagationdelayfromlowtohigh(t
PLH)isthe
amountoftimerequiredforaninputsignaltopropagate
totheoutput,causingtheoutputtochangefromlowto
high.Similarly,thepropagationdelayfromhightolow
(t
PHL)istheamountoftimerequiredfortheinputsignal
topropagatetotheoutputcausingtheoutputtochange
fromhightolow(seeFigure8).
Pulse-width distortion (PWD) results when t
PLH and tPHL
differ in value. PWD is defined as the difference be-
tweent
PLHand tPHL and often determines the maximum
dataratecapabilityofatransmissionsystem.PWDcan
beexpressedinpercentbydividingthePWD(inns)by
theminimumpulsewidth(inns)beingtransmitted.Typi-
cally,PWDontheorderof20-30%oftheminimumpulse
widthistolerable;theexactfiguredependsonthepar-
ticularapplication(RS232,RS422,T-l,etc.).
Propagationdelayskew,t
PSK,isanimportantparameterto
considerinparalleldataapplicationswheresynchroniza-
tionofsignalsonparalleldatalinesisaconcern.Ifthe
paralleldataisbeingsentthroughagroupofoptocou-
plers, differences in propagation delays will cause the
datatoarriveattheoutputsoftheoptocouplersatdiffer-
enttimes.Ifthisdifferenceinpropagationdelaysislarge
enough, it will determine the maximum rate at which
paralleldatacanbesentthroughtheoptocouplers.
Propagationdelayskewisdefinedasthedifferencebe-
tweentheminimumandmaximumpropagationdelays,
either t
PLH or tPHL, for any given group of optocouplers
whichareoperatingunderthesameconditions(i.e.,the
samedrivecurrent,supplyvoltage,outputload,andop-
eratingtemperature).AsillustratedinFigure19,ifthein-
putsofagroupofoptocouplersareswitchedeitherON
orOFFatthesametime,t
PSK is the difference between
theshortestpropagationdelay,eithert
PLHortPHL,andthe
longestpropagationdelay,eithert
PLHortPHL.
Asmentionedearlier,t
PSK can determine the maximum
parallel data transmission rate. Figure 20 is the timing
diagramofatypicalparalleldataapplicationwithboth
the clock and the data lines being sent through opto-
couplers.Thefigureshowsdataandclocksignalsatthe
inputs and outputs of the optocouplers.To obtain the
maximum data transmission rate, both edges of the
clocksignalarebeingusedtoclockthedata;ifonlyone
edgewereused,theclocksignalwouldneedtobetwice
asfast.
Propagation delay skew represents the uncertainty of
where an edge might be after being sent through an
optocoupler. Figure 20 shows that there will be uncer-
taintyinboththedataandtheclocklines.Itisimportant
thatthesetwoareasofuncertaintynotoverlap,other-
wisetheclocksignalmightarrivebeforeallofthedata
outputshavesettled,orsomeofthedataoutputsmay
starttochangebeforetheclocksignalhasarrived.From
theseconsiderations,theabsoluteminimumpulsewidth
thatcanbesentthroughoptocouplersinaparallelappli-
cationistwicet
PSK.Acautiousdesignshoulduseaslightly
longerpulsewidthtoensurethatanyadditionaluncer-
taintyintherestofthecircuitdoesnotcauseaproblem.
Thet
PSK specified optocouplers offer the advantages of
guaranteedspecificationsforpropagationdelays,pulse-
width distortion and propagation delay skew over the
recommended temperature, input current, and power
supplyranges.
Figure 19. Illustration of propagation delay skew - t
PSK.
Figure 20. Parallel data transmission example.
50%
1.5 V
I F
VO
50%
I F
VO
tPSK
1.5 V
6N137 fig 19
6N137 fig 20
DATA
t PSK
INPUTS
CLOCK
DATA
OUTPUTS
CLOCK
t PSK