This paper reviews recent developments in small-sized broadband antennas for EMI measurements, especially in the microwave frequency region. Transient EMI measurements are also discussed by introducing complex antenna factors and conversion of frequency-domain data into time-domain data. This paper also focuses on considerable improvements achieved in calibration techniques for conventional EMI antennas in VHF/UHF bands.

For a wireless communication system to work effectively without interference, the electromagnetic environment needs to be controlled. We experimentally and analytically investigated the requirements for controlling the electrical field strength and delay spread so as to achieve the best communication without electromagnetic interference in selected regions for a 2.4-GHz-band wireless LAN system. To control the coverage, partitions were placed around desks in a test environment and covered on the inside with electromagnetic absorbing board from the top of the desks to the top of the partitions; four indoor environments that combined one of two wall-material types and one of two partition heights were used. The transmission loss and delay spread were measured, then calculated using ray tracing to verify the effectiveness of using ray-tracing calculation. The throughput and BER characteristics were measured for the same environments to clarify the requirements for controlling the coverage. We found that covered and uncovered regions could be created by using partitions with absorbing boards and that the delay spread must be less than 15 ns and the received-signal must be stronger than -75 dBm for a region to be covered. We verified that the delay spread can be calculated to within 5 ns and the received-signal level can be calculated to within 5 dB of the measured data by using ray tracing. Therefore, ray tracing can be used to design antenna positions and indoor environments where electromagnetic environments are controlled for 2.4-GHz-band wireless LAN systems.

This paper proposes a design method of impedance stabilization network (ISN) which can measure disturbance at balanced multiple-pair telecommunication ports for both analog and digital signal transmission. The proposed design method of ISN is studied on the basis of the equivalent circuit of ISN and the requirements for ISN. The parameters for designing of ISNs up to 100-wires are studied and determined. An ISN for 4-wire signal ports is constructed on the basis of the proposed design method, and the characteristics of the ISN are experimentally examined. The results show the ISN satisfies the requirements for ISN. Furthermore, the measurement deviation is within 1dB compared with other ISN, and the disturbance measured by the ISN shows a good correlation with that measured by a current probe.

An electric filed sensor using Mach-Zehnder interferometers has been designed to operate more than 10 GHz. The velocity of optical wave on the waveguide is investigated to determine the electrode length, and the characteristics of frequency response are analyzed using the moment method to determine the sensor element length. The electrode length of 1 mm and the element length of 8 mm are settled by these investigations. An isotropic electric field sensor is constructed using three sensors. The minimum detectable electric field strength is 22 mV/m at frequency bandwidth of 100 Hz. This is about 100 times for the conventional electric field sensor using the similar element. The sensitivity deviation is within 3 dB when temperature changes from 0 degree to 40 degree. The deviation of directivity can be tuned within 1 dB to calibrate the sensitivity of the each element. The sensitivity degradation is within 6 dB up to 5 GHz and within 10 dB up to 10 GHz. This is almost agree with the calculated results. The sensor can measure almost the same waveform as the applied electric field pulse whose width is 6 ns and rise time is less than 2.5 ns.

Since mobile communication systems using optical rays (optical mobile communication systems) do not radiate radio waves from the mobile terminals, they are expected to be used in environments containing sensitive electronic equipment. However, the placement and direction of the optical receivers must be suitably determined for mobile communication because light has high directivity. In optical mobile communication systems, the communication quality varies with the direction of the mobile terminal. Therefore, we examined the angle over which communication is possible at various measurement points and defined it as the communication angle. The mean opinion score (MOS) was obtained to assess the communication quality using the communication angle as a parameter. In this paper, the two situations, walking and sitting down, was considered the way optical mobile communication systems actually used. We found that for walking, when the communication angle was over 180 degrees, the MOS was over 3 and over 50% of users could communicate usefully. When used sitting down, the communication quality did not depend on the communication angle, but only on whether or not the user could communicate in the direction he/she was facing. Thus, if the communication angle in the service area is over 180 degrees, it is possible to communicate in practical situations, even while walking.

2.4-GHz-band mid-speed (1- to 2-Mbit/sec) wireless LAN systems are being widely used in offices and factories. Electromagnetic interference can occur between these systems because they use the same frequency range. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of the interference between wireless LAN systems that use direct-sequence (DS) systems and frequency-hopping (FH) systems. The interference characteristics were measured for three DS systems and one FH system that meet the IEEE 802.11 and RCR standards and that use different modulation methods. Our results indicate that throughput depends on the system and the modulation method. We have also developed a model that can be used to calculate the interference characteristics between DS and FH systems by considering the bandwidth of their transmission signals, the dwell time of the FH system, and the time that the DS system needs to transmit a data frame. We used this model to calculate the bit error rate (BER) characteristics of the systems used in our experiment, and the results indicate that BER characteristics depend on the modulation method. The throughput characteristics of the systems used in our experiment were also calculated, and agreed with the experiment results within +/- 5 dB. The throughput characteristics of wireless LAN systems based on IEEE 802.11 were also calculated when the signal level was higher than the receiver noise level. The results show that FH systems require a D/U ratio about 7 or 8 dB higher than the ratio required in DS systems because the parameters in the standard differ between FH and DS systems.

Lightning surges induced on subscriber lines in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which is located in a tropical region, were observed at telecommunication centers. More than 100 surges per line were observed during a three-month period. Peak values, observed using a lightning surge counter, show that lightning surge current occurrences normalized by the number of thunderstorm days and number of subscriber lines closely agreed with data observed in temperate areas, e.g., Japan. Surge waveforms appearing at several points ranging from underground cable ducts to exchange equipment were observed using a wave memory system. The results show that lightning surge currents on the cables were larger than those on a wire, but the correlation between them was weak. Common and differential mode surge waveforms observed using the wave memory system were almost the same. These results will be useful in designing protection circuits for equipment used in tropical areas.

An electric field is created around a telecommunications line by common-mode currents caused by clock signals, switching pulses and digitally transmitted signals. This field is a potential source of interference to radio reception. This paper describes measurement results for interference fields radiated from a telecommunications line. A method using optical fiber was used to measure the relation between common mode voltage and radiated electric field, and the results were compared with the calculated results discussed in IEC/CISPR. Our results show that the limits discussed in the CISPR are effective in restricting the electromagnetic interference due to conducted disturbances at telecommunication ports. The electric field strength from the telecommunications line caused by telecommunications signals is estimated on the basis of the relation between the common mode voltage and the radiated field strength. In this estimation, the dependence on the longitudinal conversion loss (LCL) of the telecommunications line is taken into account. The results show that the telecommunications signal on the ISDN basic access interface is not an interference source provided that the LCL of the telecommunications system meets the requirements for the ISDN interface.

This letter describes a highly sensitive broadband electric field sensor that uses a LiNbO3 optical modulator. A broad-band, low driving-power optical modulator and high-power optical source are used to achieve high sensitivity. The minimum detection level of 1 mV/m and band-width of 1GHz are obtained.

We investigated the effect of a high-speed power line communication (PLC) signal induced into a very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) system by conductive coupling based on a network model. Four electronic devices with AC mains and telecommunication ports were modeled using a 4-port network, and the parameters of the network were obtained from measuring impedance and transmission loss. We evaluated the decoupling factor from the mains port to the telecommunication port of a VDSL modem using these parameters for the four electric and electronic devices. The results indicate that the mean value of the decoupling factor for the differential and common mode signals were more than 88 and 62 dB, respectively, in the frequency range of a PLC system. Taking the following parameters into consideration; decoupling factor Ld, the average transmission signal powers of VDSL and PLC, desired and undesired (DU) ratio, and transmission loss of a typical 300-m-long indoor telecommunication line, the VDSL system cannot be disturbed by the PLC signal induced into the VDSL modem from the AC mains port in normal installation.

Recent progress in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) technology has created a need for small and wideband antennas that can be used to measure the quality of EMC measurement facilities and to measure electric field strength for immunity tests and human hazard studies. Antennas using fiber optics are being developed because this kind of antenna has the wideband property and can eliminate the influence of the coaxial cable. This paper first summarizes the development of fiber optic antennas for EMC measurement and the construction of practical fiber optic antennas. It then describes the recent progress that has been made in Japan. This progress includes the electromagnetic source and the electric field sensor using a spherical dipole antenna with O/E or E/O converters, and it includes a wideband electric field sensor using electro-optical crystals.

Information technology equipment connected to telecommunications line can be a source of electromagnetic interference. Two sources of interference have been under evaluation. One is the digital pulses in the switching regulator and the clock oscillator, and the other is the signal's common mode voltage. In this paper, the interference-inducing mechanism for the signal's common mode voltage and a method for measuring the interference are described. An equivalent circuit representing both the equipment and the line is derived on the basis of the interference-inducing model. A method for estimating the signal's common mode voltage from the differential mode voltage and the line unbalance is obtained using the equivalent circuit. It is confirmed that the level difference between the estimated and the measured common mode level is less than 3dB.

The electromagnetic field emitted from UTP cable has been calculated by the 4-port network method from 30 MHz to 1 GHz. However it has not been clarified as to whether this method was effective in the frequency range of more than 1 GHz or not. In this paper, the electromagnetic field emitted from UTP cable was calculated by the moment method and it was compared with the calculated results by the 4-port network method. The wire grid model was developed to represent the propagation constants of UTP cable. The comparison of calculated and measured results confirms the validity of the model. A hybrid coupler was used to generate differential mode signal for the measurement. The comparison indicated that the calculated results by the moment method closely agreed with the measured results in the frequency range of 0.3 to 2 GHz and the difference was smaller than the results by the 4-port network method.

The design method for sensitivity and frequency response of an electric field sensor using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (an optical E-field sensor) has been developed in order to measure electromagnetic environments and the performance of measuring facilities. The designs of the optical modulator, sensor elements, and sensitivity were analyzed theoretically by using an accurate equivalent circuit of the sensor. Then an actual sensor was fabricated, and its characteristics of the sensor were evaluated experimentally. The results show that the designed sensitivity and frequency response were optimal. The optical output deviation when the temperature increased from 0 to 40 was reduced to within 2 dB. The minimum detectable electric field strength was 17 dBµV/m (8 µV/m), and the dynamic range was more than 100 dB. The frequency response of the sensitivity was almost flat between 200 Hz and 900 MHz.

In order to efficiently mitigate emissions radiated from electrical equipment, emission source visualization methods need to be studied. In this paper, we propose a new macroscopic visualization method based on an optimization process which uses only cylindrically-scanned electric field amplitude data from an EMI test facility as specified by CISPR, and so does not need a special measurement system. The presented method divides the visualization space into three-dimensional rectangular cells, and estimated current values through the optimization process are sorted into each corresponding cell. By displaying the summed value of every cell, the emission source can be visualized. For this study, the spatial resolution was evaluated by computer simulation, with a result of around 0.2 m using a cell size of 0.1 m. With subsequent experimental verification using a comb generator in a semi-anechoic chamber, the visualization deviation was found to be less than 0.1 m in a frequency range of 100 MHz to 800 MHz. When two spherical dipole antennas were used, the deviation was less than 0.15 m. Finally, visualization results from a facsimile unit and a PC as real EUTs were shown and basic applicability of this method demonstrated.

Wireless communication systems are affected by several factors in the indoor environment. The complexity of this environment, however, has hampered the development of methods for analyzing it. Reported here is our investigation of the relationship between the propagation characteristics and performance of a 2.4-GHz ISM-band wireless LAN in various indoor environments. Our objective was to develop guidelines for designing ideal indoor environments for wireless LANs. A booth constructed of a ceiling, floor, and wall materials that could be changed was used for our investigation. The transmission loss and delay spread were measured for four environments; they were calculated by using a ray-tracing method to verify the effectiveness of the ray tracing calculation. The throughput and BER characteristics were measured for the same environments. The following results were obtained. (1) The transmission loss and delay spread could be estimated by using this ray tracing method because the deviations between the calculated and measured data were within 5 dB for the transmission loss and within 10 ns for the delay spread. (2) Reflections from the walls caused a serious interference problem: throughput was 0.0 at more than 30% of the positions along the center line of the booth when the walls were constructed of high-reflection-coefficient material. (3) The throughput and BER were closely correlated with the delay spread; the number of positions meeting a certain throughput was estimated by the method based on the delay spread calculated using the ray tracing method. It was within 10% of the number measured. The results obtained can be used to design ideal indoor environments for 2.4-GHz ISM-band LAN systems.

Method of measuring disturbances at telecommunication ports has been published by IEC/CISPR. A method using both disturbance voltage and current probes is useful because it does not require any impedance stabilization networks (ISNs). In this paper, the values measured using this method are theoretically and experimentally compared with those measured using ISNs. An experiment using a simple circuit model presents that the value obtained by using this method is lower than that by using ISNs in some cases. A theoretical analysis however derives that the estimated value by adding the margin to the measured value is always guaranteed to be large compared with the value measured by ISNs. The analysis also indicates that the margin is dependent on the deviation of phase angle of ISN and can be calculated by a simple equation. The experiment using actual equipment shows that the estimated results including the margin is always larger than those measured by ISNs. The results of the study show that the method using both disturbance voltage and current probes can be used for measuring the disturbances by taking the margin into account, and this margin can be reduced by improving the phase angle characteristics of the common mode impedance of ISNs.

The site attenuation is an important parameter to evaluate an anechoic chamber. The ray-tracing method has been applied to analyze it. However, the lowest applicable frequency has not been cleared. In this paper, the FDTD method has been applied to analyze the site attenuation of a compact anechoic chamber from 30 MHz to 250 MHz, and this has been compared with the calculated one by the ray-tracing method to evaluate the lowest frequency where the ray-tracing method could be applied. The compact anechoic chamber, where the absorbers are placed on the all walls, has been used for the calculation. For FDTD analysis, the dipole antenna and the absorber have been modeled by using the large cell, whose size is larger than the diameter of the antenna element. For verification, the site attenuation of a compact anechoic chamber has been measured and compared with the calculated values by the FDTD method and the ray-tracing method. As the results, the calculated values by the ray-tracing method have larger deviation than the ones by the FDTD method when the frequency is less than 180 MHz.

An analytic expression of electromagnetic near field emitterd by a single current flow along a straight wire is derived to obtain the radiated EMI limit from the telecommunication lines connected to the equipment. The validity of the theory is tested in the experiment. Calculations show that the conversion factor between the electric field strength and the terminal voltage is not significantly changed by the wire length. A maximum conversion factor of about -30 dB in the frequency range of 0.1 -30 MHz is obtained.

A method of predicting disturbances to TV signal reception has been developed in order to workout countermeasures for interference caused by unwanted emissions from information technology equipment (ITE). The prediction parameters were determined by measuring the emission levels from ITE at an open test site, propagation characteristics of unwanted emissions from ITE in a building, the output power of the TV transmitting station, the propagation characteristics of the TV radio waves, and the directivity of the TV receiving antenna. The possibility of disturbances occurring in the Kanto area was predicted and the results show that, in the worst case, a disturbance will appear in about 11% of the areas within 30 m of a building containing such equipment. This also shows that the disturbance can be suppressed by improving the shielding of the equipment or building by as little as 10 dB.