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Physical / electrical concepts

Differential pair

Two traces carrying complementary signals (USB D+/D-, MIPI). Routed equal length, equal spacing.

How it looks

Real geometry: CORE3588 copper, drawn from our board file (2D plan view)
1231 mm
Top copper, 5 x 4 mm in the middle of CORE3588, where camera 2's lanes run from its connector to the compute module. Drawn from the board file; the highlighted pair is MIPI_DPHY1_RX_D0P / D0N.
Real image: CORE3588, rendered by KiCad from our board file
11 mm
The same 5 x 4 mm as the fab will make it (KiCad 3D render).

How it works

WHAT TRAVELS ON THE TWO WIRESone wire: the voltage swings up and down against groundPN (mirror image)noise from outside hits both wires the same wayreceiver:P minus Nthe noise cancels out; the signal remainsonly if P and N stay side by side and equal in length

Where it fits

USB (D+/D-), camera and display lanes (MIPI) and PCIe all use pairs. Their impedance (90 ohm for USB, 100 ohm for MIPI) depends on the width and gap, and on the ground plane underneath.

Pairs are routed as one unit; a via or a gap in the ground plane affects both wires. See also signal Integrity (SI) and clearance.

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