A connector model expressed as an inductance is proposed for use in a previously reported common-mode antenna model. The common-mode antenna model is an equivalent model for estimating only common-mode radiation from a printed circuit board (PCB) more quickly and with less computational resources than a calculation method that fully divides the entire structure of the PCB into elemental cells, such as narrow signal traces and thin dielectric layers. Although the common-mode antenna model can estimate the amount of radiation on the basis of the pin configuration of the connector between two PCBs, the calculation results do not show the peak frequency shift in the radiation spectrum when there is a change in the pin configuration. A previous study suggested that the frequency shift depends on the total inductance of the connector, which led to the development of the connector model reported here, which takes into account the effective inductance of the connector. The common-mode antenna model with the developed connector model accurately simulates the peak frequency shift caused by a change in the connector pin configuration. The results agree well with measured spectra (error of 3 dB).

The plain bend in a pair of differential transmission lines causes a path difference, which leads to differential-to-common mode conversion due to the phase difference. This conversion can cause serious common-mode noise issues. We previously proposed a tightly coupled asymmetrically tapered bend to suppress forward differential-to-common mode conversion and derived the constraint conditions for high-density wiring. To provide sufficient suppression of mode conversion, however, the additional correction was required to make the effective path difference vanish. This paper proposes a practical and straightforward design methodology by using a very tightly coupled bend (decreasing the line width and the line separation of the tightly coupled bend). Full-wave simulations below 20GHz demonstrated that sufficient suppression of the forward differential-to-common mode conversion is successfully achieved as designed. Measurements showed that our design methodology is effective.

In this paper, we propose a tightly coupled asymmetrically tapered bend to suppress differential-to-common mode conversion caused by bend discontinuity in a pair of differential lines. Tightly coupled symmetrically tapered bends have been so far proposed to suppress the mode conversion by decreasing the path difference in the bend. This approach makes the path difference shorter so that the differential lines are coupled more tightly but the path difference of twice the sum of the line width and the line separation still remains. To suppress the remaining path difference, this paper introduces the use of asymmetric tapers. In addition, two-section tapers are applied to reduce differential-mode reflection increased by the tapers and hence improve differential-mode propagation. A full-wave simulation of a right-angled bend demonstrates that the forward differential-to-common mode conversion is decreased by almost 30 dB compared to the symmetrically tapered bend and that the differential-mode reflection coefficient is reduced to the same amount as that of the classic bend. Also, the generality of the proposed bend structure is discussed.

In a differential transmission line, a large common-mode radiation is excited due to its asymmetry. In this paper, the imbalance difference model, which was proposed by the authors for estimation of common-mode radiation, is extended to apply to the differential signaling systems. The authors focus on a differential transmission line with asymmetric property, which consists of an adjacent return plane and two signal lines which are placed close to an edge of the return plane. Three orthogonal transmission modes, a normal mode, a primary common mode and a secondary common mode, are defined. Among these transmission modes, the secondary common mode is dominant in radiation, and a mechanism of the secondary common-mode generation is explained. The radiated emission which was calculated using the imbalance difference model was in good agreement with that obtained by full wave calculation.

We propose a novel technique of matching at both ends of the guard trace to suppress resonance. This approach is derived from the viewpoint that the guard trace acts as a transmission line. We examined that matched termination suppresses guard-trace resonance through simulating a circuit and measuring radiation. We found from these results that the proposed method enables guard-trace voltages to remain low and hence avoids increases in radiation. In addition, we demonstrated that "matched termination at the far end of the guard trace" could suppress guard-trace resonance sufficiently at all frequencies. We eventually found that at least two vias at both ends of the guard trace and only one matching resistor at the far end could suppress guard-trace resonance. With respect to fewer vias, the method we propose has the advantage of reducing restrictions in the printed circuit board layout at the design stage.

This paper investigates a device model of the power current used for an LSI/IC. The model is proposed to analyze the power bus noise in digital circuit boards. This model is defined in the frequency domain and constructed with an equivalent internal impedance and an equivalent internal current source. Accordingly, the output current of the model is affected by power bus impedance, such as the capacitance of bypass capacitors and the parasitic inductance of power bus wiring. Therefore, the model is useful for analyzing the effectiveness of bypass capacitors and power bus wiring. The structure of equivalent internal impedance for a simple logic IC, such as 74HCXX, can be represented as an RLC series circuit. These parameters are identified by applying the least square method. To demonstrate the validity of the model, an experimental study was conducted. As a result, it was shown that the output current of the model corresponds to the measured current under a variety of power bus impedance levels within 6 dB.

Side-channel (SC) leakage from a cryptographic device chip is simulated as the dynamic current flowing out of the chip. When evaluating the simulated current, an evaluation by comparison with an actual measurement is essential; however, it is difficult to compare them directly. This is because a measured waveform is typically the output voltage of probe placed at the observation position outside the chip, and the actual dynamic current is modified by several transfer impedances. Therefore, in this paper, the probe voltage is converted into the dynamic current by using an EMC macro-model of a cryptographic device being evaluated. This paper shows that both the amplitude and the SC analysis (correlation power analysis and measurements to disclosure) results of the simulated dynamic current were evaluated appropriately by using the EMC macro-model. An evaluation confirms that the shape of the simulated current matches the measured one; moreover, the SC analysis results agreed with the measured ones well. On the basis of the results, it is confirmed that a register-transfer level (RTL) simulation of the dynamic current gives a reasonable estimation of SC traces.

Power bus noise problem has become a major concern for both EMC engineers and board designers. A fast algorithm, based on the cavity-mode model, was employed for analyzing resonance characteristics of multilayer power bus stacks interconnected by vias. The via is modeled as an inductance and its value is given by a simple expression. Good agreement between the simulated results and measurements demonstrates the effectiveness of the cavity-mode model, together with the via model.

A guard trace placed near a signal line reduces common-mode radiation from a printed circuit board. The reduction effect is evaluated by the imbalance difference model, which was proposed by the authors, when the guard trace has exactly the same potential as the return plane. However, depending on interval of ground connection of the guard trace, the radiation can increase when the guard trace resonates. In this paper, the authors show that the increase of radiation is caused by the common mode, and extend the imbalance difference model to explain a mechanism of increase of common-mode radiation. Additionally, the effective via location of the guard trace is proposed to reduce the number of vias. The guard trace voltage due to the resonance excites the common mode at the interface where the cross-sectional structure of the transmission line changes since the common-mode excitation is expressed by the product of the voltage and the difference of current division factors. To suppress the common-mode excitation, the guard trace should be grounded at the point where the cross-sectional structure changes. As a result, the common-mode radiation decreases even when the guard trace resonates.

Placing a guard trace next to a signal line is the conventional technique for reducing the common-mode radiation from a printed circuit board. In this paper, the suppression of common-mode radiation from printed circuit boards having guard traces is estimated and evaluated using the imbalance difference model, which was proposed by the authors. To reduce common-mode radiation further, a procedure for designing a transmission line with guard traces is proposed. Guard traces connected to a return plane through vias are placed near a signal line and they decrease a current division factor (CDF). The CDF represents the degree of imbalance of a transmission line, and a common-mode electromotive force depends on the CDF. Thus, by calculating the CDF, we can estimate the reduction in common-mode radiation. It is reduced not only by placing guard traces, but also by narrowing the signal line to compensate for the variation in characteristic impedance due to the guard traces. Experimental results showed that the maximum reduction in common-mode radiation was about 14 dB achieved by placing guard traces on both sides of the signal line, and the calculated reduction agreed with the measured one within 1 dB. According to the CDF and characteristic impedance calculations, common-mode radiation can be reduced by about 25 dB while keeping the characteristic impedance constant by changing the gap between the signal line and the guard trace and by narrowing the width of the signal line.