Feature Article
Dheena Moongilan, Bell Laboratories, a division of Lucent Technologies
Methods To Reduce Radiated Emissions
From Optical Transceivers
 2003 IEEE. Reprinted with permission, from 2003 IEEE Boston EMC Symposium
Introduction
In the GHz frequency range radiated
fields from small apertures tend have a
narrow beam width and normally do
not diverge as they travel in spaces. In
an open area site the direct path signals
reaching any receive antenna are
considered to be stronger than reflected
signals. However, in a metropolitan
installation site, sufficiently away from
the source, net field intensity due to
reflected path signals reaching an
antenna could be higher than direct
path signals. During radiated emissions
compliance testing, the radiated field
intensity from a transceiver may travel
to the receive antenna through different
paths, but the direct path signal is
always stronger than the reflected path
signals because signals that are
reflected at the ground plane reaching a
receive antenna are attenuated by
longer path loss and reflection loss at
the ground plane. RF radiation from a
transceiver is predominately through
the optical aperture. The aperture width
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is approximately 175mils, and radiation
through it at frequencies above 8 GHz
normally
0
has a narrow beam width
(10 ). Avoiding direct path signals and
minimizing reflected signals reaching
the receive antenna could reduce the
net measured radiation. The placement
of transceivers at a downward angle, in
addition to decreasing optical signal
loss due to tight right-angle bends was
also found to reduce radiated
34 CONFORMITY ® JUNE 2004
emissions. This paper discusses proper
optical transceiver placement angle in
order to prevent the direct waves and
minimize reflected waves reaching the
receive antenna. In this method,
radiation is diverted to the ground plane
rather than into the space.
It should not be construed that this
method may cause interference
problems at lower floors if the system
is installed in multi-story buildings.
The incident energy on the installation
floor is partially attenuated due to
reflection, refraction and absorption.
Reflection occurs when a wave strikes
a dense reflective medium. Refraction
occurs when an incident wave enters
the region of different density.
Irregularities in the floor, further reduce
reflection amplitude because, the
incident wave is scattered in many
directions instead of regularly reflected.
RF attenuation at 5 GHz is
approximately 10 dB for 6” thick
concrete or ESD treated vinyl floors
and therefore it should not cause
interference at lower floors.
Basic Assumptions
The compliance measurement sites
should have a uniform ground plane
and therefore they should meet Snell’s
Law of reflection: the incident and
reflected waves make equal angles with
the normal to the ground plane surface.
The optical transceiver consisted of a
transmitter and receiver. This paper
discusses measurements taken on
transceivers; however, results apply
equally to standalone transmitters or
receivers that are commonly used. Each
transmitter and receiver has an aperture
(ferrule) and a barrel as indicated in
Figure 1. It is assumed that transceivers
have two RF sources one from the
receiver and the other from the
transmitter. Since they are very close
together, according to Huygens
principle, the sources normally result in
a single wave front. Most transmit
barrels are made of metal, and
therefore, they can be modeled as a
grounded monopole enclosed in an
open cubicle volume. The receiver side
with a plastic barrel can be modeled as
a wave-guide antenna.
Figure 1: Front view of transceiver showing
Transmitter and Receiver Aperture (Ferrule)
and Barrel
 Feature Article

Radiation Sources
The electromagnetic radiation from
optical transceivers primarily occurs
due to improper mounting of the casing
and through the aperture and barrel of
the transceivers. The optical transceiver
housings are made of plastic, plastic
covered with metal, or metal
impregnated plastic. In all three cases,
when transceivers are mounted on a
faceplate, the case edge should be
recessed and should not project beyond
the faceplate. The perimeter of the
metal or metal impregnated plastic
casing should make continuous contact
with the faceplate to drain the common
mode noise current flowing on the case
to the faceplate [1]. In Figure 2, the
casing of the optical transceiver is
grounded to the circuit pack faceplate
at point BB’. The protruding length BC
should be as short as possible. The
radiation increases with the length of
BC.
In order to minimize case radiation the
noise current flowing on the transceiver
(I) should be equal to the noise current
(i) flowing on the faceplate. The
radiation through protruding length BC
can be modeled as a grounded
monopole antenna. Some
manufacturers provide separate metal
casings for connection to signal ground
and frame grounds. These grounds are
electrically isolated. Providing two
ground islands on the printed circuit
board (PCB) as shown in Figure 3, one
for signal ground and the other for
frame ground [2] facilitates using
transceivers with single or two ground
casings. The ground islands will be
automatically connected to the
respective ground casings without
changing the PCB layout. Both ground
islands on the PCB are isolated from
the main PCB signal ground layer.

Figure 2: Noise current on metal case of an Optical Transceiver Figure 3: Signal ground and frame ground islands for connecting a
mounted in a Faceplate transceiver that has a single or split casing
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o
Figure 4: Transceiver downward angular placement showing direct Figure 5: Direct and reflective path not reaching antenna for 63.4
waves and reflected waves from ground plane transceiver angular placement.

36 CONFORMITY ® JUNE 2004

 Feature Article

Sometimes, the main PCB signal normally lower than the

ground layer and the signal ground direct path signal under the
island are connected through two to following conditions: [4]
four zero ohm resistors [3]. This 1. The measurements must
method minimizes noise current pick be made at far field.
up from the main PCB signal ground 2. The height of the radiating
layer to the transceiver and vice-versa. source and the height of
The unshielded cross sectional area the measurement antenna
exposed at BB’ acts similar to a horn should be at least four
antenna aperture. The radiated field times the diameter of the Figure 6: Block diagram of the Simulated Box
intensity is proportional to the area of source or receive antenna.
the aperture and inversely proportional
to the square of the wavelength. The
transceiver generated frequencies as
well as frequencies that are contained
in the circuit pack in which the
transceiver is mounted may be radiated
by protruding length BC and the
aperture. The radiation through the
barrel of the transceiver normally is
generated within the transceiver.

The radiation through the aperture and

barrel must be minimized during the
design phase of the transceiver.
Improper EMC design of the
transceiver results in radiation. The
angular placement method to minimize
radiation through the aperture and
barrel is discussed in this paper. The
length of BC and the unshielded
aperture area exposed through the
faceplate should as small as possible
whether
o
the transceiver is mounted at
90 to the faceplate (straight) as shown
in Figure 2 or mounted in an angular
fashion.

Dielectric Enclosure In Tranceivers

The effect of dielectric material used in
transceivers considerably increases
resonant wavelength. The increase in
electrical length for a given physical
1/2
length will thus be shorter than ε .
Therefore, for the same physical length,
dielectric BC in Figure 2 can radiate
more than metallic BC. Therefore, the
length of BC should be kept as short as
possible. In spite of reduced resonant
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frequency, high frequencies (> 8 GHz)

are being attenuated by the transceiver
enclosure, dust cover and the fiber.
Therefore radiated emissions levels are
normally higher for open transceivers
than transceivers with fiber or dust
cover termination (approximately 5 dB
at 15 GHz).

Direct And Reflected Path Signals

The reflected path signal amplitudes are
Go to www.conformity.com/INFODIRECT Input #19

JUNE 2004 CONFORMITY ® 37

 Feature Article
3. The beam width of the radiating
source is such that ? dB points of the
beam fall just outside the receive
antenna.
Most regulatory compliance radiated
emissions tests are performed in an
absorber lined shielded room or at an
open area test site. The ground plane is
Graph 1: Simulated Transceiver Radiated emissions
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Graph 2: Transceiver Radiated Emissions
38 CONFORMITY ® JUNE 2004
the only reflective surface in both
cases. The measurement distance,
measurement horn antennas and
transceiver radiation aperture normally
satisfy all three conditions and
therefore, transceiver direct path signals
are predominately stronger than
reflected path signals.
Optimal Downward Angle
Figure 4 shows downward placement
angles for a transceiver located 2.5 m
above the ground plane. Assuming the
lower part of the receive antenna
aperture is at ≥ 1 m above from the
ground plane any direct pencil beam
emanating from the transceiver will not
reach the receive antenna
located at 3 m
measurement distance if the
transceiver
o
is placed at
63.4 and the reflected
beam will not reach the
receive antenna if the
transceiver
o
is placed at
40.4 . Similarly, downward
placement angles for
different placement location
heights can be calculated.
Figure 5 shows that for a
downward angularo
placement at 63.4 , if
transceivers are installed in
a frame at a height between
0.5 and 2.5 m from the
ground plane, either direct
or reflected path narrow
beam width signals would
not reach the measurement
antenna.
Experimental Verification
A 100 mil diameter helical
antenna was placed inside a
2” L x 1”Wx 1” D, 30 mil
thick shielded metallic box
(Figure 6). The metal box
was placed on a pole 2.5 m
high in the middle of a
turntable. The radiation
emanating from the box
through a small hole for 5
dBm signal generator input o
level was measuredo
ato 90
straight
o
and 22.5 , 45 , and
67.5 downward placement
angles of the box in the
frequency range 5 to 18
GHz. The pitch of the
helical antenna inside the
box, and the diameter of
radiating hole were
adjusted to maximize the
radiation intensity levels
and to reduce the beam
width. The box had a 100
mil diameter hole for
frequencies below 10 GHz

and a 60 mil diameter hole for
frequencies above 10 GHz.
Radiation from other sources such as
cables, connectors, and box seams was
carefully minimized using silver epoxy
and copper tape. The measurements
were made in a 5 m compliance
chamber at a 3 m measurement
distance. The turntable was rotated 360
for antenna height scans of 1 to 4 m.
However, the field intensity levels were
maximized manually by slightly
adjusting the antenna height and
turntable azimuth angle. Some
frequencies, measurements were made
at a closer distance, then after bore
sighting, the receive antenna was
moved to the 3 m distance. Since theo
receive antenna is always placed 90 to
the antenna mast, bore sighting the
angular radiated beam will be difficult.
The turntable azimuth angle and
antenna height could be slightly
different for different measurement
distances. The amplifier factor, cable
loss and antenna factors were not
accounted for in all measurements. The
results are presented in Graph 1.
Two transceivers were installed at 2.5
m high in an optical network frame.
Radiated emission
o
measurements
o
were
made for 90 straight and 45 downward
placement in the frequency range 2.4 to
9 GHz for the first transceiver and in
the frequency range 10 to 32 GHz for
the second transceiver. These
measurements were made in a 10 m
open area test site (OATS) at a 3 m test
distance. The measurement procedures
are similar to the metal box test.
However, measurements were first
made at a 1 m test distance and final
data were recorded at the 3 m test
distance. Actual field intensity levels
are plotted in Graph 2.
Both chamber and OATS meet site
attenuation characteristics specified in
ANSI 63.4-2001 for the frequency
range 30 to 1000 MHz [5]. Within the
chamber and OATS, the field levels
above 1GHz fall inversely with
measurement distance.
Results
Radiated emissions measured from the
shielded metal box are presented in
Feature Article
Graph 1. It can be seen from Graph 1 International Symposium on EMC,
that up to 8 GHz, the angular pp 495-500
placement of the metal box does not [4] A.W. Rudge, K. Milne, A.D. Oliver,
change the radiation levels because the P. Kinght “The handbook of Antenna
beam width seemed to be broader in Design” 1986: Peter Peregrines Ltd,
those frequencies. Above 8 GHz,
o pp 663-668.
radiated emission levels at 45 were [5] ANSI C63.4-2001 “American
lower than other angles because the National Standard for Methods of
o
direct beam was diverted to the ground Radio Noise Emissions from Low-
plane and the reflected beam did not voltage Electrical and Electronic
reach the
o
antenna. Measurements o
made Equipment in the frequency Range
at 22.5 were higher than at 45 but of 9 kHz to 40 GHz” pp 19-30.
lower than other angles because the
direct beam did not reach the antenna About The Author
and received signals are reflected from
the ground plane. Graph 2 shows data Dheena Moongilan can be reached at
presented from two transceivers placed moongilan@lucent.com.
o o o
at 45 and 90 . The 45 placement
transceiver producedo
lower signals
compared to the 90 placement.
Photographs of the practical
implementation of transceivers at a
downward angle are shown in Figures
7 and 8. Figure 7 shows a circuit pack
in a frame. The transceiver apertures
are covered with dust covers. Figure 8
shows one method of constructing a
faceplate to accommodate downward
placement for optical transceivers.
Conclusion
Transceiver downward angular
placement was found to produce lower Figure 7: Circuit pack with Optical
radiated emission levels compared to a transceivers placed at downward angle
o
straight 90 installation. The placement
of transceivers at a downward angle, in
addition to decreasing optical signal
loss due to tight right-angle bends was
also found to reduce the chance of
direct laser energy exposure to human
eyes. 
References
[1] D. Moongilan and T. S.
Palaniswamy, “Backplane grounding
models for controlling common-
mode radiation,” IEEE 1999
International Symposium on EMC,
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pp212-297
[2] D. Moongilan, “Skin effect
Modeling of radiated emissions from
Backplanes,” IEEE 1996
International Symposium on EMC,
pp332-337
[3] D. Moongilan, “Grounding
optimization techniques for
controlling radiation and crosstalk in Figure 8: Faceplate with optical transceivers
placed at downward angle
mixed signal PCBs,” IEEE1998
JUNE 2004 CONFORMITY ® 39