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...]
EMI Pre-Compliance Testing
Introduction This article describes how I perform pre-compliance testing for the top four EMI issues I constantly run into; conducted emissions, radiated emissions, radiated immunity, and electrostatic discharge. Of these, the last three are the most prevalent issues, with radiated emissions typically being the biggest compliance challenge during certification testing. If … [Read more...]
Review of MIL-STD-1275 Requirements
Introduction This may seem disassociated from the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) theme of this publication but issues dealing with power quality and the qualification testing has a direct link to EMC. Frequently the EMC engineers and technicians are tasked taking care of the power quality, so I believe that reviews of these standards are appropriate. MIL-STD-1275 deals … [Read more...]
New and Proposed Changes to CISPR SC I Standards
Are you familiar with CISPR 32 and CISPR 35? CISPR 32 was originally published in 2012, followed by a pair of corrigenda and then the 2nd edition was published in 2015. CISPR 32 replaced CISPR 13 (Broadcast receivers emissions) and CISPR 22 (ITE emissions), both of which were withdrawn by the IEC on March 5, 2017. In the EU CISPR 32 is published as EN 55032 and it has … [Read more...]
Review of Space Applications EMC Requirements
The Contract Having been a long-time manufacturer of oxygen concentrator equipment, when I saw an opportunity to bid on a job to provide an oxygen concentrator system (OCS) for a satellite project I jumped at the chance. The specifications were normal for this type of system and of course electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements were included. Having experience with … [Read more...]
HEMP Protection Strategy for Power System’s Electronic Equipment
Annotation The issue of protecting electronic equipment from the electromagnetic pulse of a high-altitude nuclear explosion is very relevant and important for the power industry. Current knowledge about individual HEMP protection elements, their specifications and application features is very important, but, at the same time, limited to ensure efficient protection of power … [Read more...]
Review of MIL-STD-1399-300-1 Requirements
Introduction The electrical power system of a ship functions like a city’s electrical grid from the power generation to medium voltage distribution to the low voltage networks located in various sections of the ship’s structure. It only makes sense to treat the power system like a city’s power system, after all larger vessels include services that a city would … [Read more...]
Controlling EMI in High-Speed PCB Design
Patrick Carrier - Mentor Graphics, a Siemens Business Antennas come in all shapes in sizes. In addition to wireless communications, they are becoming ubiquitous in the automotive space as well. Similarly, very high speed digital circuits are pervading these realms. It is the unintentional creation of antennas in these high speed digital circuits that cause Electromagnetic … [Read more...]
Software-Defined Analog Filters to Modernize and Improve Radio Filters
Filters are some of the most common components found in wireless system designs. They are typically used to block interference from various sources. As limited spectrum resources are allocated to ever increasing number of users, more conflicts between these users arise and more filters are constantly needed. Nowadays, interference is quite common between cellular base stations, … [Read more...]
Review of MIL-STD 704 Requirements
Introduction This article discusses the power quality test and evaluation with a review of MIL-STD-704 and the relationship with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). MIL-STD-704 deals with aircraft electric power characteristics, and provides the standard to ensure compatibility between the aircraft power system (including external power) and the utilization … [Read more...]
