
TIBPAL16R4-10C, TIBPAL16R6-10C, TIBPAL16R8-10C
HIGH-PERFORMANCE
IMPACT-X
PAL
CIRCUITS
SRPS017 – D3023, MAY 1987 – REVISED MARCH 1992
POST OFFICE BOX 655303
DALLAS, TEXAS 75265
17
By using the described test circuit, MTBF can be determined for several different values of
t (see Figure 4).
Plotting this information on semilog scale demonstrates the metastable characteristics of the selected flip-flop.
Figure 6 shows the results for the TIBPAL16’-10C operating at 1 MHz.
0
10
20
30
t (ns)
40
50
60
70
M
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
fclk = 1 MHz
fdata = 500 kHz
10 yr
1 yr
1 mo
1 wk
1 day
1 hr
1 min
10 s
Figure 6. Metastable Characteristics
From the data taken in the above experiment, an equation can be derived for the metastable characteristics at
other clock frequencies.
The metastable equation:
MTBF
The constants C1 and C2 describe the metastable characteristics of the device. From the experimental data,
these constants can be solved for: C1 = 9.15 X 10
–7
and C2 = 0.959
1
fSCLKx fdatax C1 e(
C2 x
t)
Therefore
MTBF
1
fSCLKx fdatax 9.15 x 10
7e(
0.959 x
t)
definition of variables
DUT (Device Under Test): The DUT is a 10-ns registered PLD programmed with the equation Q : = D.
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures): The average time (s) between metastable occurrences that cause a
violation of the device specifications.
f
SCLK
(system clock frequency): Actual clock frequency for the DUT.
f
data
(data frequency): Actual data frequency for a specified input to the DUT.
C1: Calculated constant that defines the magnitude of the curve.
C2: Calculated constant that defines the slope of the curve.
t
rec
(metastability recovery time): Minimum time required to guarantee recovery from metastability, at a given
MTBF failure rate. t
rec
=
t –
tpd
(CLK to Q, max)
t: The time difference (ns) from when the synchronizing flip-flop is clocked to when its output is sampled.
The test described above has shown the metastable characteristics of the TIBPAL16R4/R6/R8-10C series. For
additional information on metastable characteristics of Texas Instruments logic circuits, please refer to TI
Applications publication SDAA004, ”Metastable Characteristics, Design Considerations for ALS, AS, and LS
Circuits.’’