The mythology of ground bounce

Abstract

The concepts of "ground bounce" or "noisy reference planes" or "voltage drops along ground" are all tied in with the idea that a ground plane (or just a length of wire for that matter) can be modeled as an equivalent lumped inductor. If care is taken to consider the entire circuit, and mutual inductances are properly taken into account, this inductor model works. However, it appears that this model is often interpreted too literally. One notices that in the literature, authors often refer to "voltage drops" along ground. Some even purport to be able to measure this voltage. Others claim that this voltage is real and causes "ground bounce". Still others claim that this voltage can be used to drive antenna elements. In this paper we show that this voltage is a fiction. The above inductor model is valid only when measuring a voltage from well-defined model "terminals" or "ports". Misuse of the model can lead to erroneous conclusions.