As with any high speed design, there are many factors which influence the overall performance. The following list indicates critical areas for consideration during design.

• Use 100-Ω impedance traces. Length matching on the P and N traces should be done on the single-end segments of the differential pair.
• Use uniform trace width and trace spacing for differential pairs.
• Place AC-coupling capacitors near to the receiver end of each channel segment to minimize reflections.
• For Gen3, AC-coupling capacitors of 220 nF are recommended, maximum body size is 0402, and add cutout void on GND plane below the landing pad of the capacitor to reduce parasitic capacitance to GND.
• Back-drill connector vias and signal vias to minimize stub length.
• Use Reference plane vias to ensure a low inductance path for the return current.