Hosang LEE Jawad YOUSAF Kwangho KIM Seongjin MUN Chanseok HWANG Wansoo NAH
This paper analyzes and compares two methods to estimate electromagnetically coupled noises introduced to an antenna due to the nearby circuits at a circuit design stage. One of them is to estimate the power spectrum, and the other one is to estimate the active S11 parameter at the victim antenna, respectively, and both of them use simulated standard S-parameters for the electromagnetic coupling in the circuit. They also need the assumed or measured excitation of noise sources. To confirm the validness of the two methods, an evaluation board consisting of an antenna and noise sources were designed and fabricated in which voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) chips are placed as noise sources. The generated electromagnetic noises are transferred to an antenna via loop-shaped transmission lines, degrading the performance of the antenna. In this paper, detailed analysis procedures are described using the evaluation board, and it is shown that the two methods are equivalent to each other in terms of the induced voltages in the antenna. Finally, a procedure to estimate antenna performance degradation at the design stage is summarized.
Yingzhe WU Hui LI Wenjie MA Dingxin JIN
With the advantages of higher blocking voltage, higher operation temperature, fast-switching characteristics, and lower switching losses, the silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET has attracted more attentions and become an available replacement of traditional silicon (Si) power semiconductor in applications. Despite of all the merits above, electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues will be induced consequently by the ultra-fast switching transitions of the SiC MOSFET. To quickly and precisely assess the switching behaviors of the SiC MOSFET for EMI investigation, an analytical model is proposed. This model has comprehensively considered most of the key factors, including parasitic inductances, non-linearity of the junction capacitors, negative feedback effect of Ls and Cgd shared by the power and the gate stage loops, non-linearity of the trans-conductance, and skin effect during voltage and current ringing stages, which will considerably affect the switching performance of the SiC MOSFET. Additionally, a finite-state machine (FSM) is especially utilized so as to analytically and intuitively describe the switching behaviors of the SiC MOSFET via Stateflow. Based on double pulse test (DPT), the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed model are validated through the comparison between the calculated and the measured waveforms during switching transitions. Besides, the model can appropriately depict the spectrum of the drain-source voltage of the MOSFET and is suitable for EMI investigation in applying of SiC devices.
Coil-shaped structures are proposed to enhance sensitivity and spatial resolution for EMI near-field probe. This design yields a high sensitivity and a good spatial resolution to find the EMI source in near-field region. Both characteristics are crucial to diagnosis of emissions from electrical and electronic devices. The new design yields a superior sensitivity, which is in general 15 dB greater than conventional probes. This new probe helps practitioners to quickly and correctly locate noise emission source areas on printed circuit boards and devices. Two prototypes of different sizes were fabricated. The larger one provides a high sensitivity while the smaller one can pinpoint emission source locations. The new probe design also has an orientation invariance feature. Its noise response levels are similar for all probe directions. This characteristic can help reduced the probability at miss-detection since sensitivity is largely invariant to its orientation. Extensive measurements were performed to verify the operation mechanism and to assess probe characteristics. It suits well to the electromagnetic interference problem diagnosis.
Keonil KANG Kyung-Young JUNG Sang Won NAM
Recently, H-bridge pulse width modulation (PWM) micro-stepping motor drivers have been widely used for 3-D printers, robots, and medical instruments. Differently from a simple PWM motor driver circuit, the H-bridge PWM micro-stepping motor driver circuit can generate radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic interference (EMI) noises of up to several hundred MHz frequencies, due to digital interface circuits and a high-performance CPU. For medical instrument systems, the minimization of EMI noises can assure operating safety and greatly reduce the chance of malfunction between instruments. This work proposes a passive-filter configuration-based circuit design for reducing up-to-several-hundred-MHz EMI noises generated from the H-bridge PWM micro-stepping motor driver circuit. More specifically, the proposed RF EMI reduction approach consists of proper passive filter design, shielding in motor wires, and common ground design in the print circuit board. The proposed passive filter configuration design is validated through the overall reduction of EMI noises at RF band. Finally, the proposed EMI reduction approach is tested experientially through a prototype and about 16 dB average reduction of RF EMI noises is demonstrated.
Naoki TANAKA Takashi HIKAGE Toshio NOJIMA
This paper describes a numerical assessment methodology of pacemaker EMI triggered by HF-band wireless power transfer system. By using three dimensional full-wave numerical simulation based on finite element method, interference voltage induced at the connector of the pacemaker inside the phantom that is used for in-vitro EMI assessment is obtained. Simulated example includes different exposure scenarios in order to estimate the maximum interference voltage.
Wei LIAO Jingjing SHI Jianqing WANG
In this study, we propose a two-step approach to evaluate electromagnetic interference (EMI) with a wearable vital signal sensor. The two-step approach combines a quasi-static electromagnetic (EM) field analysis and an electric circuit analysis, and is applied to the EMI evaluation at frequencies below 1 MHz for our developed wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) to demonstrate its usefulness. The quasi-static EM field analysis gives the common mode voltage coupled from the incident EM field at the ECG sensing electrodes, and the electric circuit analysis quantifies a differential mode voltage at the differential amplifier output of the ECG detection circuit. The differential mode voltage has been shown to come from a conversion from the common mode voltage due to an imbalance between the contact impedances of the two sensing electrodes. When the contact impedance is resistive, the induced differential mode voltage increases with frequency up to 100kHz, and keeps constant after 100kHz, i.e., exhibits a high pass filter characteristic. While when the contact impedance is capacitive, the differential mode voltage exhibits a band pass filter characteristic with the maximum at frequency of around 150kHz. The differential voltage may achieve nearly 1V at the differential amplifier output for an imbalance of 30% under 10V/m plane-wave incident electric field, and completely mask the ECG signal. It is essential to reduce the imbalance as much as possible so as to prevent a significant interference voltage in the amplified ECG signal.
Masamitsu HONDA Satoshi ISOFUKU
This paper shows that the induced peak voltage on the short monopole antenna by the EM field radiated from a small gap discharge when the gap width was experimentally changed from 10 to 360µm was not directly proportional to the discharge voltage between the gap. It was found that the 10mm short monopole antenna induced peak voltage had a peak value between 40 and 60µm gap width.
Yasushi MATSUMOTO Kia WIKLUNDH
This paper presents a method for evaluating the maximum bit error probability (BEP) of a digital communication system subjected to interference by measuring the amplitude probability distribution (APD) of the interfering noise. Necessary conditions for the BEP evaluation are clarified both for the APD measuring receiver and the communication receiver considered. A method of defining emission limits is presented in terms of APD so that the worst BEP of a communication system does not exceed a required permissible value. The methods provide a theoretical basis for a wide variety of applications such as emission requirements in compliance testing, dynamic spectrum allocations, characterization of an electromagnetic environment for introducing new radio systems, and evaluation of intra-system interference.
In this paper, we propose a new design technique called extit{asynchronous multi-frequency clocking} for suppressing EMI at a chip design level by combining two independent EMI-suppressing approaches: extit{multi-frequency clocking} and extit{asynchronous circuit design} techniques. To show the effectiveness of our approach, a five-stage pipelined asynchronous MIPS with multi-frequency clocking has been implemented on a commercial Xilinx FPGA device. Our approach shows 11.05 dB and 5.88 dB reductions of peak EM radiation in the prototyped implementation when compared to conventional synchronous and bundled-data asynchronous circuit counterparts, respectively.
Yu-ichi HAYASHI Takaaki MIZUKI Hideaki SONE
Increased inductance values and contact resistance in connector contact surfaces due to degradation of connector contact performance have been reported. In particular, inductance increases while degradation remains minimal. We focus on slight loosening in which increased inductance values are observed without increased resistance values, and investigate the effect of loose connectors on transmission line coupling noise under such circumstances. We find a proportional relation between coupled noise current and frequency. Moreover, we find a proportional relation between the increased inductance value, which depends on the change in connector contact distribution, and the coupled noise current in the transmission line.
Yangbae CHUN Seongwook PARK Jonghoon KIM Jiseong KIM Hongseok KIM Joungho KIM Nam KIM Seungyoung AHN
We present the concept of an on-line electric vehicle (OLEV) and its wireless power transfer mechanism and analyze the electromagnetic compatibility characteristics. As magnetic fields transfer 100kW of power to the vehicle, reduction of electromagnetic field (EMF) noise is a critical issue for protection of the human body. Also, with respect to electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise, a proper measurement method has not yet been established for this low frequency high power system. In this paper, low frequency magnetic field shielding methods and application of the shields to the OLEV system are presented. Furthermore, a standard low frequency magnetic field measurement is suggested as an EMI test.
Naoki MASUNAGA Koichi ISHIDA Takayasu SAKURAI Makoto TAKAMIYA
This paper presents a new type of electromagnetic interference (EMI) measurement system. An EMI Camera LSI (EMcam) with a 124 on-chip 25050 µm2 loop antenna matrix in 65 nm CMOS is developed. EMcam achieves both the 2D electric scanning and 60 µm-level spatial precision. The down-conversion architecture increases the bandwidth of EMcam and enables the measurement of EMI spectrum up to 3.3 GHz. The shared IF-block scheme is proposed to relax both the increase of power and area penalty, which are inherent issues of the matrix measurement. The power and the area are reduced by 74% and 73%, respectively. EMI measurement with the smallest 3212 µm2 antenna to date is also demonstrated.
Yu-ichi HAYASHI Yoshiki KAYANO Takaaki MIZUKI Hideaki SONE Hiroshi INOUE
When contact failure occurs in a connector in a coaxial high-frequency (HF) signal transmission line, it is well known that common-mode (CM) radiation occurs on the line. We focus on contact conditions in a connector causing such CM radiation. Experiments and simulations verify that CM radiation increases as the contact resistance increases. While the CM current strongly depends on the distribution pattern of contact resistances at a low resistance, the CM current does not depend on these pattern at a high resistance. Our results indicate that it is important to maintain a symmetrical distribution of contact spots whenever the number of such spots is four or more.
Sai-Wing LEUNG Kwok-Hung CHAN Chi-Kit TANG
Owing to the concerns about electromagnetic interference (EMI) from wireless local area networks (WLAN), an investigation into its impact on medical equipment is carried out. The results indicate that there is no evidence of 802.11 Wireless LAN systems being unsafe for installation inside hospital premises and only one piece of equipment was found to be susceptible to IEEE 802.11b standard.
Shiho HAGIWARA Koh YAMANAGA Ryo TAKAHASHI Kazuya MASU Takashi SATO
A fast calculation tool for state-dependent capacitance of power distribution network is proposed. The proposed method achieves linear time-complexity, which can be more than four orders magnitude faster than a conventional SPICE-based capacitance calculation. Large circuits that have been unanalyzable with the conventional method become analyzable for more comprehensive exploration of capacitance variation. The capacitance obtained with the proposed method agrees SPICE-based method completely (up to 5 digits), and time-linearity is confirmed through numerical experiments on various circuits. The maximum and minimum capacitances are also calculated using average and variance estimation. Calculation times are linear time-complexity, too. The proposed tool facilitates to build an accurate macro model of an LSI.
In this paper a new electromagnetic (EM) interference analysis is proposed using the total harmonic distortion (THD) measurement of the audio signal by the 900 MHz cordless telephones. The cordless telephone network in 900 MHz was built up to be weak in EM interference. 400 and 800 Hz of the sine-wave signal were used in transmitter (TX) system, and the receiver (RX) system was exposed to the EM interference. The THD value varies as the level of the exposed EM interference changes. The model of the cordless telephone also affects the THD value. By using fluctuation of the THD value depending on the amount of the exposure, the threshold value of the interference electric field strength was derived. Based on the derived threshold value of the electric field strength, validity of the regulation value for low power radio devices by CISPR 22 [CLASS B] and FCC is discussed.
Ifong WU Shinobu ISHIGAMI Kaoru GOTOH Yasushi MATSUMOTO
The attenuation effect of the walls of a building on the electromagnetic (EM) field generated by an indoor power line communication (PLC) system is numerically investigated using the finite integration (FI) method. In particular, we focus on the frequency range 2-6 MHz, for which the attenuation effect has not yet been sufficiently analyzed. We model a single, finite-sized wall instead of an entire house, to focus on the dependence of the EM field on the wall structure and also reduce the computational resources required. The EM field strength is evaluated at many points on a view plane 10 m from the wall model, and the results are statistically processed to determine the attenuation effect of the wall. We show that the leakage of an EM field at 2-6 MHz is suppressed by about 30 dB by a reinforced concrete wall. We also show that the main contributor to the attenuation effect is the rebar in the wall. We then investigate the relation between the attenuation effect of a single-wall model and that of a house model. The results show that the attenuation effect of a house model is almost the same as that of a 15-m-wall model. We conclude that the use of a single-wall model instead of a house model is effective in determining the attenuation of the EM leakage. This simple structure reduces analytic space, time, and memory in the evaluation of the dependence on the wall structure of the EM leakage from indoor PLC systems.
Louis-Ray HARRIS Takashi HIKAGE Toshio NOJIMA
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible impact of cellular phones' signals on implantable cardiac pacemakers in elevators. This is achieved by carrying out precise numerical simulations based on the Finite-Difference-Time-Domain method to examine the electromagnetic fields in elevator models. In order to examine the realistic and complicated situations where humans are present in the elevator, we apply the realistic homogeneous human phantom and cellular radios operating in the frequency bands 800 MHz, 1.5 GHz and 2 GHz. These computed results of field strength inside the elevator are compared with a certain reference level determined from the experimentally obtained maximum interference distance of implantable cardiac pacemakers. This enables us to carry out a quantitative evaluation of the EMI risk to pacemakers by cellular radio transmission. The results show that for the case when up to 5 mobile radio users are present in the elevator model used, there is no likelihood of pacemaker malfunction for the frequency bands 800 MHz, 1.5 GHz and 2 GHz.
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) driven by a connected feed cable are considered to be one of the main sources of the electromagnetic interference (EMI) from electronic devices. In this paper, a method for predicting the electromagnetic (EM) radiation from a PCB driven by a connected feed cable at up to gigahertz frequencies is proposed and demonstrated. The predictive model is based on the transmission line theory and current- and voltage-driven CM generation mechanisms with consideration of antenna impedance. Frequency responses of differential-mode (DM) and common-mode (CM) currents and far-electric field were investigated experimentally and with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling. First, the dominant component in total EM radiation from the PCB was identified by using the Source-Path-Antenna model. Although CM can dominate the total radiation at lower frequencies, DM is the dominant component above 3 GHz. Second, the method for predicting CM component at lower frequencies is proposed. And its validity was discussed by comparing FDTD calculated and measured results. Specifically, the relationship between the CM current and the terminating resistor was focused as important consequence for the prediction. Good agreement between the measured and predicted results shows the validity of the predicted results. The proposed model can predict CM current with sufficient accuracy, and also identify the primary coupling-mechanism of CM generation. Then far-electric field was predicted by using the proposed method, and it was demonstrated that outline of the frequency response of the undesired EM radiation from the PCB driven by the connected feed cable can be predicted with engineering accuracy (within 6 dB) up to 18 GHz. Finally, as example of application of equivalent circuit model to EMC design, effect of the width of the ground plane was predicted and discussed. The equivalent circuit model provides enough flexibility for different geometrical parameters and increases our ability to provide insights and design guidelines.
A transmission line created by cables adjoined by connectors is influenced by noise from connectors with contact failure, and such noise degrades communication quality. The authors used a model of a connector with increased contact resistance in a coaxial cable and measured the electromagnetic near-field around a cable while changing positions of the model. In this paper, the result shows that the radiated electromagnetic field has no relationship with the position along the cable of a connector with increased contact resistance, when the contact condition of connector, contact resistance value, measurement position, and length of a transmission line are constant.