This paper proposes a method to predict and control noise voltage caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD) to electronic equipment. The relationship of grounding system configurations for a typical set of equipment to ESD immunity has been derived using a mechanism of ground potential variations. The equivalent circuit representing ground elements as lumped constants enables us to predict the transient ground potential differences between PCB (Printed Circuit Board) ground planes connected via signal cables and induced noise voltage at the receiving end. The calculation shows that the contribution of ground potential differences to noise voltage is comparable to that of the electromagnetic coupling between the discharge current on the enclosure and the circuit loops. The calculation also shows some characteristic results, such as; the induced noise voltage is remarkably dependent on the unbalance in ground cable lengths and on the impedance of ground conductors connecting PCBs, especially when the equipment uses a single-point grounding system. These characteristics were confirmed by measurements of induced ground potential differences, noise voltage and immunity levels. Thus the proposed method is shown to be very effective to analyze the dependency of grounding conditions on ESD immunity and to improve ESD immunity in equipment design.

It has become very important to study the lightning surges that flow into telecommunications equipment because of the increased use of circuits susceptible to excess voltage. This paper reports for the first time simultaneous measurements of distributed lightning current at many positions in a mountain-top radio relay station caused by natural direct lightning strikes. More than 90% of the direct lightning current flowed from the lightning rod to the ground through building structural components such as antenna tower legs, waveguides, and so on, with the high frequency components of the lightning current tending to flow into the outside parts of those structural components. And then, 25 to 43 % of the lightning current flowed out again to outside telecommunications cables and power lines because the lightning current raised the station's ground potential. Based on these measurements, to help predict lightning current which is dangerous to telecommunications equipment, lightning current occurrence probabilities at the waveguide and cables were estimated by analyzing the distribution ratios between the current in those components.