This document outlines guidelines for achieving electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) in circuit and system design, emphasizing the importance of minimizing electromagnetic interference (EMI) through careful design practices. Key considerations include managing power supply layouts, signal lines, PCB layout techniques, and component placement to reduce emissions and susceptibility to noise. Recommendations highlight the significance of grounding strategies, isolation of sensitive components, and the use of proper filtering and shielding to enhance overall system performance.

1. EMI EMC GUIDE LINES
20 MARCH 2015
+91 9952967626/9496276116
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2. INTRODUCTION
• The regulations regarding electromagnetic
compatibility (EMC) can affect many aspects of
circuit and system design. However, there are many
considerations that can be applied generally to
reduce both the emissions from and susceptibility
to electromagnetic interference (EMI).
• Our design should be capable of minimizing
emissions and committed to achieve EMC
compliance by correct component choice and
design. For this every design shall be complied
with the list of general design considerations .
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3. EMC FUNDAMENTALS
The coupling path is frequency dependent
 High frequencies are radiated
 Low frequencies are conducted
 The boundary is typically about 30 MHz
There are 5 aspects to EMC when finding the problem
 Frequency - Where in the spectrum is the problem observed?
 Amplitude - How strong is the energy source?
 Time - Is it continuous or intermittent with operation?
 Impedance - What is the Z of the source and receiver?
 Dimensions - What are the physical dimensions of the device which will
allow emissions? (RF currents will leave through openings which are
fractions of a wavelength!)
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4. How PCB’s Radiate RF Energy
• Digital signals with fast rise/fall times contain
very high frequency components even for low
clock frequencies! Fmax = 1/π tr
• The RF currents from the switching choose the
low impedance path
• The Z0 of air is about 377Ω
• Discontinuities in the RF return path ZRF>> 377Ω.
• RF current leaves the board in favor of the air =
EMI
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5. Radiated Emissions
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6. GROUND SYSTEM
• Low inductance ground System, Maximizing
ground plane reduces inductance and
capacitance reduces EM emission and Cross talk.
Distributed ground system reduces return
currents.
• The ground connections should be laid out as a
ground plane to avoid generating stray
inductance that can negate the effect of the
capacitors, or worse, generate a resonant circuit
that can lead to parasitic oscillations.
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7. POWER SUPPLY CONSIDERATIONS
• Eliminate loops in supply
lines (see figure ).
• Decouple supply lines at
local boundaries (use RCL
filters with low Q, see
figure ).
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8. POWER SUPPLY CONSIDERATIONS
• Place high speed sections
close to the power line input,
slowest section furthest away
(reduces power plane
transients, see Figure
• Isolate individual systems
where possible (especially
analogue and digital systems)
on both power supply and
signal lines (see figure ).
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9. SIGNAL LINE CONSIDERATIONS
• Use low pass High pass and band
pass filters wherever applicable
to limit the band width to
optimum.
• Keep feed and return loops close
on wide bandwidth signal lines.
• Terminate lines carrying HF or RF
signals correctly (this minimizes
reflection, ringing and overshoot,
see figure ).
• Terminate lines carrying signals
external to a board at the board
edge, avoid lead terminations
within the board and loose leads
crossing the board.
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10. SIGNAL LINE CONSIDERATIONS
• Track all signals on the
board, avoid flyi g
leads a ross the oard.
• Minimize rise and fall
times on signal and
clock edges (sharp
edges produce wide hf
spectra), slew rate
limiting also reduces
crosstalk (see figure ).
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11. PCB CONSIDERATIONS
• Avoid slit apertures in PCB layout,
particularly in ground planes or near
current paths.
• Areas of high impedance give rise to
high EMI, use wide tracks for power
lines on the trace side.
• Make signal tracks strip line and
include a ground plane and power
plane whenever possible.
• Keep HF and RF tracks as short as
possible, lay out the HF tracks first
(see figure ).
• Avoid track stubs, these cause
reflection and harmonics (see
figure).
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12. PCB CONSIDERATIONS
• On sensitive components and
terminations use surrounding
guard ring and ground fill where
possible (see figure ).
• A guard ring around trace layers
reduces emission out of the board,
only connect to ground at single
point and make no other use of
the guard ring (i.e. do not use to
carry ground return from a circuit).
• A guard ring around trace layers
reduces emission out of the board,
only connect to ground at single
point and make no other use of
the guard ring (i.e. do not use to
carry ground return from a circuit).
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13. PCB CONSIDERATIONS
• Avoid overlapping power
planes, keep separate over
common ground (reduces
system noise and power
coupling, see figure ).
• Power plane conductivity
should be high, therefore
avoid localized
concentrations of via and
through hole pads (surface
mount is the preferred
assembly technology)
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14. PCB CONSIDERATIONS
• Track mitring (bevelling the edges at
corners) reduces field concentration
(see figure ).
• If possible make tracking run
orthogonally between adjacent layers
(see figure ).
• Do not loop tracks, even between layers,
this forms a receiving or radiating
antenna.
• Do not leave any floating conductor
areas, these act as EMI radiators, if
possible connect to ground plane (often
these sections are placed for thermal
dissipation, hence polarity should be
unimportant but check component data
sheet, see figure).
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15. PCB CONSIDERATIONS
Board Layers
• Care must be taken that the ground layer should
always be between high-frequency signal traces
and the power plane. If a two-layer board is used
and a complete layer of ground is not possible,
then ground grids should be used. If a separate
power plane is not used, then ground traces should
run in parallel with power traces to keep the supply
clean.
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16. COMPONENT CONSIDERATIONS
• Locate biasing and pull up/down
components close to driver/bias points.
• Minimize output drive from clock
circuits.
• Use common mode chokes between
current carrying and signal lines to
increase coupling and cancel stray
fields (see figure 14).
• Decouple close to chip supply lines,
reduces component noise and power
line transients (see figure 15).
• Use low impedance capacitors for
decoupling and bypassing (ceramic
multilayer types are preferred due to
high resonant frequency and stability).
• Use discrete components for filters
where possible (surface mount is
preferable due to lower parasitic and
aerial effects of terminations on
through hole parts). tyjose@gmail.com
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17. COMPONENT CONSIDERATIONS
• Ensure filtering of cables and over voltage protection at the
terminations (this is especially true of cabling that is external to the
system, if possible all external cabling should be isolated at the
equipment boundary).
• Minimize capacitive loading on digital output by minimizing fan-out,
especially on CMOS ICs (this reduces current loading and surge per
IC).
• If available, use shielding on fast switching circuits, mains power
supply components and low power circuitry (shielding is expensive
a d should e a last resort optio ).
• In general, keeping the bandwidth of all parts of the system to a
minimum and isolating circuits where possible reduces susceptibility
and emissions. Considerations which are applicable to reducing noise
levels are equally applicable to EMC compliance, EMC compliant
circuits should obviously exhibit low noise levels.
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18. COMPONENT CONSIDERATIONS
• Connectors should be placed on side or corner of the board-Locating the
connectors on one edge of the board makes it much easier to hold them
all to the same reference potential. This is extremely important for boards
with high-frequency components that will not be housed in a shielded
enclosure. Some designs require that connectors be located on different
sides of the board. In these cases, every effort should be made to avoid
placing high-frequency circuits between any two connectors. When
placing high-frequency circuits between connectors is unavoidable, a
metal enclosure and filtering to chassis ground is generally necessary to
keep the board from being able to drive common-mode currents on to
the attached cables.
• A device on the board that communicates with a device off the board
through a connector should be located as close as possible (e.g. within 2
cm) to that connector.
• All off-board communication from a single device should be routed
through the same connector.
• Components not connected to an I/O net should be located at least 2 cm
away from I/O nets and connectors.
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19. COMPONENT SELECTION
Isolated DC-DC Converters
• An isolated DC-DC converter can provide a significant benefit
to reducing susceptibility and conducted emission due to
isolating both power rail and ground from the system supply.
Isolated DC-DC converters are switching devices and as such
have a characteristic switching frequency which may need
some additional care and filtering.
Segregation of components
• Components need to be segregated with functionality –
Analog, Digital, high speed digital, RF and so on. The tracks
for each group should stay in their designated area. For a
signal to flow from one subsystem to another, a filter should
be used at subsystem boundaries
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20. RF Sources for EMI/EMC
• Noise in Micro computer Chips- traces acts as antenna
• I/O Pins of digital ICs- traces acts as antenna
• Power Supply: Switching harmonics. Traces
• Oscillator circuits:
• Loops and Dipoles: Loops and dipoles are antennas. Their
radiating efficiency increases up to 1/4 wavelength (l) of the
frequency of interest. Geometrically, that means, in the case
of a loop, that the larger the laid-out area of the loop, the
stronger the radiation until one or both legs of the loop
reach 1/4 wavelength. In the dipole, the longer the antenna,
the more radiation, until the length of the antenna reaches
1/4 wavelength. At 1 MHz, 1/4 l = 75 m. At 300 MHz, 1/4 l =
25 cm, or about 10 inches.
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21. GENERAL
Digital Circuits
• When dealing with digital circuits, extra attention must be given to clocks and other
high speed signals. Traces connecting such signals should be kept as short as possible
and be adjacent to the ground plane to keep radiation and crosstalk under control.
With such signals, engineers should avoid using Vias or routing traces on the PCB edge
or near connectors. These signals must also be kept away from the power plane since
they are capable of inducing noise on the power plane as well. While routing traces for
an oscillator, apart from ground no other trace should run in parallel or below the
oscillator or its traces. The crystal should also be kept close to the appropriate chips.
Clock Termination
• Traces carrying clock signals from a source to a device must have matching terminations
because whenever there is an impedance mismatch, a part of the signal gets reflected.
If proper care is not provided to handle this reflected signal, large amount of energy will
be radiated. There are multiple forms of effective termination, including source
termination, end termination, AC termination, etc.
Analogue Circuits
• Traces carrying analog signals should be kept away from high-speed or switching signals
and must always be guarded with a ground signal. A low pass filter should always be
used to get rid of high-frequency noise coupled from surrounding analog traces. In
addition, it is important that the ground plane of analog and digital subsystems not be
shared.
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22. GENERAL
Decoupling
• Any noise on the power supply tends to alter the functionality of
a device under operation. Generally, noise coupled on the power
supply is of a high frequency, thus a bypass capacitor or
decoupling capacitor is required to filter out this noise.
Cables
• Most EMC-related problems are caused by cables carrying digital
signals that effectively act as an efficient antenna. Ideally, the
current entering a cable leaves it at the other end. In reality,
parasitic capacitance and inductance emit radiation. Using a
twisted pair cable helps keep coupling to a low level by cancelling
any induced magnetic fields. When a ribbon cable is used,
multiple ground return paths must be provided. For high-
frequency signals, shielded cable must be used where the
shielding is connected to ground both at the beginning and at the
end of the cable.
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23. GENERAL
• Shielding: Shielding is not an electrical solution but a
mechanical approach to reducing EMC. Metallic packages
(conductive and/or magnetic materials) are used to prevent
EMI from escaping the system. A shield may be used either to
cover the whole system or a part of it, depending upon the
requirements. A shield is like a closed conductive container
connected to ground which effectively reduces the size of
loop antennas by absorbing and reflecting a part of their
radiation. In this way, a shield also acts as a partition
between two regions of space by attenuating the radiated
EM energy from one region to another. A shield reduces the
EMI by attenuating both the E-Field and H-field component
of radiating wave. tyjose@gmail.com
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24. GENERAL
• Connectors should be located on one edge or on one
corner of a board.
• A device on the board that communicates with a device off
the board through a connector should be located as close
as possible (e.g. within 2 cm) to that connector
• All off-board communication from a single device should
be routed through the same connector.
• Components not connected to an I/O net should be
located at least 2 cm away from I/O nets and connectors.
• Don’t lo ate ir uitry etween connectors
• Minimize signal current loop areas.
• Avoid sharp corners in traces
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25. EMI SUPPRESSION
• Image Planes
• •The 20-H Rule
• •System Level Grounding
• •Partitioning
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26. EMI SUPPRESSION
• Image Planes
An image plane is a layer of copper (either a voltage or a
ground plane) which physically adjacent to the signal routing
plane. The image plane provides a low impedance path for
the RF currents and reduces the EMI emissions since the RF
currents use the plane instead of the air
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27. EMI SUPPRESSION
Image Plane Violations
Routing traces in the image plane will create slots in
the RF return path and create a large loop area and
potential EMI!!
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28. EMI SUPPRESSION
The 20-H Rule
• RF currents fringing between the power and ground planes
at the edge of the board can result in RF emissions.
• •Reducing the size of the power plane with respect to the
ground plane will reduce these emissions.
• •This increases the intrinsic self-resonant frequency of the
PCB.
• •The ground plane should exceed the power plane by 20•H
where H is the total thickness between the power and
ground planes
• •20-H provides for approximately a 70% reduction of the
fringing flux and changing to 100-H will provide about a 98%
reduction.
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29. EMI SUPPRESSION
•System Level Grounding
There are three main system grounding methods
Single-Point Grounding
 Either Series or Parallel
 Best for frequencies below 1 MHz
 Has the largest amount of ground loop currents
•Multi-point Grounding
 Preferred for frequencies above 1 MHz.
 Minimizes loop currents and ground impedance of planes.
 Lead Lengths must be kept extremely short
 Provides for maximum EMI suppression at the PCB level
Hybrid : A mixture of both Single-Point and Multi-Point Grounding in the same
system.
 •Ground loops cause RF energy to be radiated when high inductance returns are
provided.
 •Note: Do not count on mounting screws to provide low inductance connections.
They are highly inductive and can act as helical antennae at high frequencies (100
MHz-1 GHz)!! (Use conductive gaskets in addition to the screws.)
 •In a Multi-point ground system, the distance between the screws should not
exceed λ/20 of the highest edge rate on the PCB.tyjose@gmail.com
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30. EMI SUPPRESSION
•Partitioning
Portioning consists of breaking a board up into functional
areas with respect to the bandwidth of the functional
block.
Grounding connections are made around the perimeter of
each functional block using spring finger, screws, gaskets,
etc, provided that the method has a sufficiently low
inductance between the ground plane and the chassis
ground.
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31. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
• Ringing and Reflection
• •Cross-Talk
• •Power and Ground Bounce
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32. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Ringing and Reflection•
Transmission line properties which occur between the source
and load. Possible causes:
• •Changes in trace width
• •Improperly matched termination networks
• •Lack of terminations
• •T-stubs, branched or bifurcated traces
• •Varying loads and logic families
• •Large power plane discontinuities
• •Connector transitions
• •Changes in trace impedance
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33. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Signal Distortion:
• Ringing is minimized by proper terminations (e.g. series R)
• •Rounding means the net is over damped. Do t forget
about the shunt capacitance of the trace as well as the load
capacitance. tyjose@gmail.com
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34. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Cross-Talk
• cross-talk requires a 3-wire circuit!
• •Terminating resistors with a common pin susceptible!
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35. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Preventing Cross-Talk :
First, note the following observations:
• •Decreasing the trace separation increases the mutual capacitance Cm and the cross-talk.
• •With parallel traces, longer parallel lengths increase the mutual inductance Lm and the
cross-talk.
• •Decreasing the rise time of the signal, increases the cross-talk.
Some Solutions are:
1. Group and locate logic devices according to functionality.
2. Minimize routed distance between components
3. Minimize parallel routed trace lengths
4. Locate components away from I/O interconnects and other areas susceptible to data
corruption.
5. Provide proper terminations on impedance controlled traces or routed traces rich in
harmonic energy
6. Avoid routing traces parallel to each other. Provide sufficient separation between
traces to minimize inductive coupling (The 3 W Rule) or use guard traces.
7. Route adjacent signal layers orthogonal to reduce capacitive coupling between the
layers.
8. Reduce signal-to-ground reference distance separation.
9. Reduce trace impedance and/or signal drive level
10. Isolate signal layers which must be routed in the same axis with a solid planar structure
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36. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Cross-Talk : The 3-W Rule
• This rule for trace separation will reduce the cross-talk
flux by approximately 70%. (For a 98% reduction, change
the 3 to 10.)
• The distance of separation between traces must be three
times the width of the traces, measured center-line to
center-line.
Note that the traces near the edge of the plane need to be
> 1W from the edge!
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37. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Cross-Talk : Guard/Shunt Traces
Guard traces surround the high-threat traces (clocks,
periodic signals, differential pairs, etc.) and are connected
to the ground plane. They are very useful in 2-layer
boards.
The guard trace should be smallest, tolerable
manufacturable spacing from the signal.
The guard trace is connected to ground.
If a ground plane is available, make ground connections
no farther than λ/20 apart.
Shunt traces are traces located immediately above a high-
threat trace and follow the trace along the entire route.
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38. SIGNAL INTEGRITY
Power and Ground Bounce:
• Ground bounce is caused by the simultaneous switching of
drivers in an IC package and may cause functionality as well as
EMI concerns. Ground bounce presents a situation where the
ground reference system is not at a constant 0 V reference
value.
••Be sure to provide a separate ground connection for each
ground pin directly to the ground plane. Connecting two
ground terminals together with a trace to a single via defeats
the purpose of having independent ground leads on the device
package!
••Also, choose component packaging carefully: use devices with
a ground reference in the center of the device to reduce the
Lgnd (4nH vs 15nH). Surface mount devices are preferred over
through-hole packages for this reason.
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39. BYPASSING AND DECOUPLING
• Capacitor Usage and Resonance
• •Parallel Capacitors
• •Placement
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40. BYPASSING AND DECOUPLING
•Types of capacitor usage
There are three primary uses for capacitors:
1. Bulk Used to maintain constant DC voltage and currents when all signal
pins switch. Also prevents power drop out due to dI=dt current surges
from the components.
2. Bypassing Removes unwanted common-mode RF noise from
components or cables by placing an AC-short to ground. This keeps the
unwanted energy from entering a protected area as well as limiting the
bandwidth. Bypassing is also used to divert RF energy from one area to
another.
3. Decoupling Removes RF energy injected into the power planes from
high frequency components o su i g po er at the de i e s s it hi g
speed. They also provide a small amount of energy to function as
localized bulk capacitors.
Remember, the capacitors really have an ESL and ESR.
Through-hole: ESL.35nH and ESR.50mΩ.
Surface Mount: ESL.1nH and ESR.5m Ω.
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41. BYPASSING AND DECOUPLING
Tips on Paralleling Capacitors :
Parallel capacitors of the same value will increase the net
capacitance and reduce the ESL and ESR. The reduction of the
ESL and ESR is the most important property. Improvements of
6dB have been observed (replacing one capacitor with multiple
smaller ones).
••Be careful to remember that the values will be different and
anti-resonance will occur.
••Choose values such that the anti-resonance will not occur at a
harmonic of a generated signal (either a switching or transition
frequency).
••See Printed Circuit Board Design Techniques for EMC
Compliance, for capacitor value design procedure.
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42. BYE PASSING AND DECOUPLING
Capacitor Placement:
• Key idea is to reduce path inductance •location
• •The location of the components is limited by
mechanical constraints
• •SMT parts can be closer than THT parts
• •Trace inductance will be 3-10x larger than plane
inductance
• •Each via adds 1-3 nH of inductance
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