Introduction The three top product failures I see constantly in my consulting practice are (1) radiated emissions, (2) radiated susceptibility, and (3) electrostatic discharge. After reviewing and testing hundreds of products over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that products fail these tests for five common reasons (somewhat in order of incidence); PC Board … [Read more...]
Ten Tips to Minimize EMI from On-Board DC-DC Converters
It is fairly common to find multiple onboard DC-DC converters on today's portable, mobile, and IoT devices. If the device uses wireless, GPS, or cellular technologies, the EMI from these converters (which generally use switching frequencies between 1 and 3 MHz) often interferes with the receiver performance of the wireless modules. The problem really crops up for low-band … [Read more...]
The Top-Ten Articles and Blogs as of December 2018
Most magazines like to review the top ten most viewed articles this time of year and Interference Technology is no different. We think our readers and authors are awesome and enjoy highlighting some of the most popular articles to date. So, here we go: What is differential and common mode current, by Ron Brewer. Unwanted conductive and radiative emissions can be … [Read more...]
Identifying and Locating Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
Introduction With the plethora of wireless devices, increasing broadcast, communications, and other RF sources all competing for radio spectrum, the chances of radio frequency interference (RFI) will only increase. This article explains how to identify, characterize, and locate typical interfering sources. CATEGORIES OF INTERFERENCE There are two … [Read more...]
Tips for Writing Technical Articles for Magazines
Why write? Pride – To see your work in print is a just reward for a creative person. We all have a built-in desire to be creative and to be recognized for that creativity. Contribution – Well-written technical articles contribute to the total body of knowledge for the engineering community and will potentially help many engineers. Articles do not need to be detailed … [Read more...]
EMI Troubleshooting with Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers
The latest tool for serious EMI troubleshooting or debugging has become the real-time (RT) spectrum analyzer. Because manufacturing costs have been decreasing, some RT analyzers are becoming more affordable than ever. In this article, I’ll show you the advantages in using RT analysis for observing and troubleshooting unusual EMI. INTRODUCTION First, let’s review the … [Read more...]
Basic EMI Concepts
Understanding EMC is all about two important concepts: (1) all currents flow in loops and (2) high frequency signals are propagated as electromagnetic waves in transmission lines and the field energy travels through the dielectric. The two concepts are related because they are intertwined together. Digital signals create the propagating field, which induces the convection … [Read more...]
Call For Authors/Bloggers – Editorial Submissions to Interference Technology Magazine
In over 45 years of publication, Interference Technology has earned a reputation for publishing only the highest quality technical articles that focus on practical and innovative technological developments in the EMC, EMI, and RFI fields. Product designers and EMC/compliance engineers have come to rely on Interference Technology as a source of quality, unbiased, non-commercial … [Read more...]
Book Review: Foundations of Electromagnetic Compatibility (Adamczyk)
OK, this is not a book for the faint-hearted. Bogdan Adamczyk is a professor of engineering and the founder of the EMC Center at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. As such his recent book, Foundations of Electromagnetic Compatibility with Practical Applications (Wiley 2017, ISBN 978-1-119-12078-0) is crammed with derivations of basic electromagnetic … [Read more...]
Troubleshooting Radiated Immunity for Medical Products – Case Study
Introduction Companies making medical products have much more stringent requirements now that the new IEC 60601-1-2 (Edition 4) became effective June 17, 2017. One of the many changes included increased radiated immunity requirements in several specific wireless and communications bands (Table 1). Highlights of all the changes are included in Interference Technology’s free … [Read more...]
