PCB Design Guidelines (HSSI, EMIF, MIPI, True Differential, PDN) User Guide: Agilex™ 5 FPGAs and SoCs

ID 821801
Date 12/08/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents

7. MIPI Interface Layout Design Guidelines (VPBGA and MBGA)

The MIPI channel design must meet the MIPI standard board electrical specification. In the MIPI design, board traces, vias, connectors, and cables are part of the board specification, while silicon and package are excluded.

Figure 71. Standard Reference Channel Example to Support up to 3.5 GbpsThis figure shows the supported standard reference channel up to 3.5 Gbps with respect to the maximum board trace length.

To conform to the MIPI standard electrical specification on a MIPI interface, follow these guidelines:

  • The recommended signal trace impedance on board is 100 Ω differential. If the differential channel is also used for LP single-ended signal, Altera recommends that you apply loosely coupled differential transmission lines.
  • To improve the performance after channel simulation, consider backdrilling to minimize the impact of the stub on signal transition vias. Note that this may increase PCB costs.
  • Control skew matching within ±40 mil between data to clock signals.
  • Keep 3×H spacing between pairs and 5×H within the pair, where 'H' is the distance from the signal layer to the closest reference layer.
  • Avoid routing noisy signals such as CLK signals or VR modules near MIPI signals.
  • Avoid having MIPI signals reference a noisy power plane.

The supported MIPI data rate varies based on two different MIPI board trace settings (length):

  • Long reference channel on PCB is supported up to 2.5 Gbps.
  • Standard reference channel is supported up to 3.5 Gbps.

Estimate the maximum PCB routing length to conform to the loss requirement.

Table 17.  Supported MIPI Data Rate and Board Electrical Specifications
Data Rate 2.5 Gbps 3.5 Gbps
Supported Reference Channel Long Standard
Insertion Loss Frequency at 1.25 GHz -6.3 dB ±0.5 dB -3.75 dB ±0.5 dB
Insertion Loss Frequency at 5 GHz -20 dB ±0.8 dB -11.8 dB ±0.7 dB
Table 18.  MIPI 3.5 Gbps Board Electrical SpecificationsDetailed requirements for MIPI 3.5 Gbps.
Board Electrical Spec Magnitude Frequency Range
Board Inter-Lane Common Mode Cross Coupling (dB)

< -40 dB

< 19.09×F-53.4075

< 9.143×F -36

0 < F ≤ 20 MHz

20 MHz < F ≤ 1.75 GHz

1.75 GHz < F ≤ 2.625 GHz

Differential Return Loss (dB) < -12 dB 0 < F ≤ 2.625 GHz
Board Inter-Lane Differential Cross Coupling (dB)

< -40 dB

< 5.37×F-40.1074

0 < F ≤ 20 MHz

20 MHz < F ≤ 2.625 GHz

Board Intra-Lane Cross Coupling < -20 dB 0 < F ≤ 200 MHz
Differential to common-mode conversion and vise versa < -26 dB 0 < F ≤ 2.625 GHz
Note: Altera® recommends following the comprehensive TLIS specification in MIPI DPHY V2.1.