Statistical simulation of high-speed links with transmitter and receiver nonlinearities

In this paper, we present a statistical simulation approach to evaluate the performance of high-speed links with transmitter and receiver nonlinearities. The linear time-invariant assumption in conventional fast simulation techniques is not anymore valid. The transmitters and receivers of current and next generation high-speed links are more complex and nonlinear in order to improve power and area efficiency, minimize parasitic, transmit larger swing and mitigate higher attenuation. Therefore, the calculation of bit error rate using probability density functions of the signal and impairments based on linear analysis can give inaccurate results. Instead, we use Hammerstein and Wiener models to modify the probability distribution to account for the transmitter and receiver nonlinearities. We demonstrate the approach with examples of high-speed links with NRZ and PAM4 signaling.