Fundamentals of Electromagnetic

Compatibility (EMC) Design

ED5052

Kavitha Arunachalam
Dept of Engineering Design
(akavitha@iitm.ac.in)
Objectives:
• To introduce fundamental behavior of analog circuit components and their non-
ideal behavior in a system with emphasis on product design, and EMC directives
for compliance aspects of electronic products

Outcomes:
• Knowledge of device design for compliance to EMC directives, EMC directives for
product development

• Credits – 12
• E slot – Tue, Wed, Thu
• Q slot – Practical (End of lectures)

• Quiz 1 (20), Quiz 2 (20), End sem (40), Lab (20)

• Text Book:
– Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility, P. R. Clayton, Wiley India Pvt. Ltd.,
ISBN13: 9788126528752, ISBN 10:8126528753, 2006.2. EMC for Product Designers, T.
Williams, Elsevier Science, ISBN-10: 0750681705, ISBN-13: 9780750681704, 2007.
• Reference:
– Lecture notes.
 Introduction - EMC
• Basic understanding of electrical engineering courses
– Electric circuit analysis
– Signals and systems
– Electronics (Analog & Digital)
– Electromagnetic field theory

• Builds on basic principles and concepts of the above for

design of electronic systems so that they
– operate compatibly with other electronic systems and
– Also comply with regulations on EM emissions

• EMC – deals with interference and prevention of it

through design on electronic systems
EMI/EMC
 EMC Directives
▪ CISPR- International Special committee on Radio
Interference
▪ IEC/EN-International Electro Technical Commission
(European Standard)
▪ ISO-International Organisation for Standardization
(Automotive)
▪ FCC- Federal Communications Commission
(American Standard)
▪ ANSI- American National Standards Institute
• etc.,
 Standards
Basic Standard

Basic standards for measurement of radio disturbance over

frequency range 9kHz - 18GHz

CISPR 16 Series, IEC/EN/K 61000-4 Series for ESD, RS/CS, Surge, EFT
burst tests
Generic Standard
Generic standards – Immunity (EMS) and emission (EMI) for residential,
commercial and light-industrial environments

IEC/EN/K 61000-6-1 & IEC/EN/K 61000-6-2 for EMS

IEC/EN/K 61000-6-3 & IEC/EN/K 61000-6-4 for EMI
8
 Standards (cont…)
Product Family Standard
CISPR 11(ISM),
CISPR 12(vehicles, boats, combustion engine)
CISPR 13(EMI for broadcasting receiver)
CISPR 14-1(EMI for home appliances)
CISPR 14-2(EMS for home appliances)
CISPR 15(lightening equipment)
CISPR 2013(EMS for broadcasting receiver)
CISPR 22(EMI for Information Technology Equipment (ITE))
CISPR 24(EMS for ITE)
CISPR 25(vehicles, boats, combustion engine)
CISPR 32 and CISPR 35(multimedia)

9
 Standards (cont…)
• IEC 60945(Maritime Navigation and Radio communication Equipment and
Systems)
• IEC 60533(Electrical and electronics installation in ships)
• IEC 61326(Electrical equipment for measurement, control and laboratory use)
• IEC 61131-2(Programmable controllers )
• IEC 61204-3(Low voltage power supplies)
• and many more…
 EMC Testing
EMC
TESTING

IMMUNITY ESD EMISSION

CONDUCTED RADIATED CONDUCTED RADIATED

 EMI/EMC Testing Instruments

Oscilloscope

ESD Generator
EMI test Receiver

Signal Generator
Spectrum Analyzer LISN

EFT/Surge Generator Network Analyzer

Antenna 30
 Brief history
• Prior 1930s – Natural noise sources such as lightning or sunspots
• Man made noise sources
– information carrying signals from telephone, TV and radio communication systems
– dc motors, ac power lines, relays, and fluorescent light bulbs
• 1933 – CISPR produced document regarding equipment for measuring EMI
emissions
• World war II (1939-45)
– burst in use of radar and telecomm system
– Electronic warfare to disrupt radio communication
• Post war – EM pulse generated by a nuclear blast damaged/destroyed
certain types of electronic equipment

• 1960's, MIL-STD-461 was imposed by USA, regulating not only

electromagnetic emissions, but susceptibility as well
• FCC was formulated in USA for digital devices (clock speed >9kHz)
• CISPR was adopted by EU
 Analysis of EMI
• Major elements – source,
path, receptor
• Source (sometimes referred
to as an emitter or a threat)
which may be a noisy
component, or a transmitter
• a receptor (sometimes
referred to as a victim)
which is a component or
device that receives noise
or interference
• a coupling path which
transmits the interference
signal from the source to
the receptor
 EMI prevention
• EMI prevention
– suppress emissions at the source
– interrupt or reduce the efficiency of the coupling path
– make the receptor immune to emissions

• In designing and troubleshooting electronic systems for EMC,

removing one of these elements will eliminate EMI

• Of the three elements of the source-path-receptor model,

clearly the receptor is the easiest element to identify, due to
the fact that it does not function properly
• The source is usually identified by examining the type of
interference which is plaguing the receptor.
• The most often overlooked component of this model is the
coupling path.
 Coupling paths
• Coupling paths are typically classified as
– Conductive: E.g. power cord, interface cables, antenna input
terminals, ground returns, or unintentional external conductors such
as metallic cases or housings

– Radiative: through free space, or other non-conductive medium, when

distances between source and receptor are on the order of several
wavelengths. Because of this wide separation, the source is usually not
affected by the presence of the receptor, 

– Inductive: Present in near-fields where magnetic field is dominant,

distance between source and receptor<<

– Capacitive: Present in near-fields where electric field is dominant,

distance between source and receptor<<
 Types of noise and interference
• External noise
– atmospheric noise (lightning, electrical discharges during
thunderstorms, <30 MHz)
– extraterrestrial noise (solar flares, sunspots, cosmic – outer space,
distant stars, 20 MHz-120 MHz)
• Manmade
– intentional radiators: E. g. radio and radar transmitters, cellular
phones, remote controls for car alarms, etc
– unintentional radiators: E.g. digital devices, motors, relays and
switches, an intentional radiator may also be an unintentional radiator
at frequencies other than those at which it normally transmits
• Internal noise - thermal, shot, and contact noise (electronic
devices)
 EMC criteria
• An electromagnetically compatible system satisfies three
criteria:
– It does not interfere with the operations of other systems
– It is immune from the emissions of other systems
– It does not interfere with its own operation

• Interference transfer modes

– radiated emissions
– radiated susceptibility
– conducted emissions, and
– conducted susceptibility
 Interference transfer modes
• radiated emissions and susceptibility
– Long power cord may act as antenna and broadcast noise or receive
signals from other sources. E.g. 50 Hz cord can have higher freq signals
– Unshielded components – transformers, processors, clocks may radiate
or receive signals
– Internal cables/interconnections – long data ribbons/busses may act as
antennas
– Metallic shielding enclosure improperly
 Interference transfer modes
• Conducted susceptibility - External signals
conducted to components/device via
power chord, grid or internal cables
• Noise conducted over power grid
conducted to components via power
chord
• Noise signals may be conducted via
improperly designed shields or metallic
enclosures

• Noisy component can create interference

which can be conducted through power
chord on to power grid – conducted
emission
• Noise on power grid can radiate and
become radiated emission
 Electrical dimensions and waves
• Most electrical systems obey Maxwell’s equations
– Circuit theory - Simplified method of analysis at low frequency
– To understand non-ideal behavior of electrical components
• Review of EM fundamentals and electrical systems is essential
to understand EMC
• Fundamental quantities
– speed of light in free space (299,792,458 m/s), c  3x108 m/s
– Permittivity and permeability in free space:
– Wavelength in lossless media, : distance between two adjacent equi-
phase points on a wave

x=0 x=d


0 2
• Consider a component with leads and total length, L
• In lumped circuit analysis (KVL/KCL), leads and interconnect
wires are neglected
• Let a current pass through the component.
• Current travelling through it is a function of space and time
• Time delay in travelling through the component is given by,
TD=L/v;
v: velocity of current wave in the component
z
v depends on medium
EM material properties

Effect of element leads

• Current is a function of space and time,
• Let, i(z,t) =I cos(t-z)
: phase constant, =2f
• As current travels through the component,
it undergoes phase shift of = L (radians)
• Distance the wave must travel to undergo
2 phase shift is 1 wavelength (=2)
• i(z,t)=I cos(t- 2 (z/)); z/ factor is
important than L.
• z/: electrical length
• As t increases, a point on the wave travels
to a new position along z. Thus, (t-
z)=constant
• Velocity of current wave, v=dz/dt= /= f
• Wavelength, =v/f
• For L= , phase change is 360
• For L= /100, phase change is 3.6
• In lumped circuit model (KVL/KCL), L/ is negligibly small and
so is the phase shift.
• Thus, electrical dimension, L/ is important not L.
• Wave propagation in media other than air is

• Teflon (dielectric),

• = =0.69 v0

• Electrically large structures and components must be analyzed

using Maxwell’s equations not lumped circuit model
• For a current wave, =v/f
– ; v=c in free space

– Thus, wavelength is shorter in material than free space or vacuum

– A device length (l) determines how it interacts with EM fields

– Electrical dimensions of a device, de=l/ ;  - wavelength at highest
frequency of interest
– Structures/components less than /10 are electrically small
– Components on a PCB may be electrically larger than in air due to PCB
material property
– E.g. capacitor with high is electrically larger than an air filled
capacitor
 Units
• Quantities of interest
– Conducted emissions in terms of voltage (V) and ampere (A)
– Radiated emissions in terms of electric (V/m) and magnetic (A/m) field
– Associated quantities: power (W) or power density W/m^2
– Electric field emission has a very large range. Eg. 1 V/m to 200 V/m.
– Due to the large dynamic range , EMC units are in decibel (log scale)
 Power loss in cables
• Power loss in long cables in defined in dB scale
• Assume single frequency sinusoidal excitation in a
transmission line
• Steady state behavior is given by,

• V(z), I(z): phasor line voltage and current, respectively.

• Phasor line voltage and current are function of space, z i.e.
position along the line.
• The net line voltage and current is given by

• where

– Vf and Vb are forward and backward travelling waves respectively.

– In time domain,
• Line voltage reflection coefficient,

• At the load (z=L),

Zc: characteristic impedance of transmission line/media
• Substituting we get,

• Phasor line voltage and current in terms of reflection coeff.

• Average power delivered,

• Average power at a point along transmission line:

• Input power to cable

• Power delivered to load

• Power loss in cable

• In ratio,

• Power loss in cable in dB,