Omarian notes Advanced issues of measurement What is electromagnetic interference?

Electromagnetic interference (or EMI, also called radio frequency interference or RFI) is disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source.[1] The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit. The source may be any object, artificial or natural, that carries rapidly changing electrical currents, such as an electrical circuit, the Sun or the Northern Lights. Interference tends to be more troublesome with older radio technologies such as analogue amplitude modulation, which have no way of distinguishing unwanted in-band signals from the intended signal, and the omnidirectional dipole antennas used with broadcast systems. Causes electrical and electronic malfunction Prevent proper use of radio frequency Ignite inflammable gas Effect on human tissue What is electromagnetic compatibility or EMC? Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is the branch of electrical sciences which studies the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy with reference to the unwanted effects (Electromagnetic interference, or EMI) that such energy may induce. EMC is defined as "the ability of equipment or a system to perform satisfactorily in its electromagnetic environment without introducing intolerable interference into anything in that environment". The first part of the definition calls for "satisfactory performance" of an equipment under the presence of EMI in its environment. In other words, the equipment must have a certain level of "immunity" to the EMI present in its environment so that it is not "susceptible" to that EMI. The second part of the definition says that the equipment should not introduce "intolerable electromagnetic interference". This means that any "emission" of EMI by the equipment must be below certain level so that it can be tolerated by other equipment in its neighbourhood. 2 Aspects of EMC: The ability of electrical and electronic systems to operate without interfering other systems Operate as intended within the specified electromagnetic environment required The wiki part is just repeated here in the aspects of EMC EMC limits depends on : Frequency ,operating environment ,country regulation etc . Coupling mechanism:

We need to identify the source (killer) and the victim here . here are four basic coupling mechanisms: conductive, capacitive, magnetic or inductive, and radiative. Conductive coupling occurs when the coupling path between the source and the receptor is formed by direct contact with a conducting body, for example a transmission line, wire, cable, PCB trace or metal enclosure. Inductive coupling occurs where the source and receiver are separated by a short distance (typically less than a wavelength). Strictly, "Inductive coupling" can be of two kinds, electrical induction and magnetic induction. It is common to refer to electrical induction as capacitive coupling, and to magnetic induction as inductive coupling. Capacitive coupling occurs when a varying electrical field exists between two adjacent conductors typically less than a wavelength apart, inducing a change in voltage across the gap. Radiative coupling or electromagnetic coupling occurs when source and victim are separated by a large distance, typically more than a wavelength. Source and victim act as radio antennas: the source emits or radiates an electromagnetic wave which propagates across the open space in between and is picked up or received by the victim.

Common impedence coupling : If you've ever noticed the lights flicker when a large home appliance kicks on, you have some experience with common impedance coupling. Common impedance coupling (also called conducted coupling) may occur anytime a source circuit and a victim circuit share part of their respective current paths.Grounds are the most usual source of common impedence.

Common impedance coupling (magnetic induction): not affected by presence or absence of a direct connection between the two circuits /systems. Depends on areas of current loops, orientation, separation distance, load impedance and presence of magnetic screening. Here short length of cable lie in the range of 0.1-0.3H.Decrease with an increasing load impedence.

Do you think any one of the systems might be the source or victim? Well probably depends on which system is of interest here. Electric induction :

Coupling capacitance allows high signal/energy to pass through. How so? Just think about the structure of a capacitor. Two conductors separated by an insulator. Air is an insulator, while the wires are two conduction plates. The value of coupling capacitance depends on distance between the conductors, their effective areas and the presence of any electric screening.2 parallel wires 2.5 mm apart has typically 0.05pF per meter of coupling capacitance. Increases with increasing load impedance.

Radiated coupling: Wave impedance; the ratio of the electrical to magnetic field strengths. It tells us the efficiency of coupling in addition to the dominant coupling field. Hugh impedance: electric field, low current high voltage radiator Low impedance: Magnetic field, low voltage high current radiator Emission:PCB emission estimation ,approximated as an small antenna ,max electric field at 10 m apart :

F is obviously the frequency, A is effective loop area ,Is is the source current ,lol,killer current .MULTIPLY BY A FACTOR OF 2 FOR WORST CASE SCENARIO(REFLECTION). Cable emission estimation:dominated at region of 3o to 100 mega hertz.

f = frequency (MHz) assume single frequency,L = Cable length (m),ICM = Common mode current (mA) assume dominant

What the fuck is a common mode current ?

The radiation from a cable is directly proportional to the common-mode current on that cable. The common-mode current is the unbalanced current (current not returned) on the cable. If this current is not returned on the cable, where does it go? Into radiation, that's where! In the case of intentional signals that flow down one wire of the cable and return on another wire, the net current is zero. Amazing isnt it? For cables shorter than one meter, the allowable CM current can be increased proportional to how much the cable is shorter than one meter,ex= 0.5m cable the maximum current would be 2x the limit of 1m cable. All cables should be measured regardless of their intended purpose. Reducing the CM current on one cable, often increase the CM current on another cable. There is one slide on protection, just read it when you know too.

Lecture 2:Ground,shield and guard

Layout and grounding: The two system are likely to affect each other in an undesired manner. We must isolate them if we can, PARTITION THE SYSTEM. Placement of GROUNDING POINTS and GROUND IMPEDENCE are very important (not just resistance ,impedance includes resistance, capacitance and inductance, keep that in mind ) A brief note on ground impedance from the internet :

The goal of any grounding system is to provide a low impedance path for fault or transient currents to the earth. Grounding may be described as the process of making this electrical

connection to the general mass of the earth. The characteristic primarily determining the effectiveness of a grounding system is the impedance this connection provides to the earth. The importance of ensuring that the system provides a low earth impedance, and not simply a low earth resistance, must be understood. A spectral study of the typical waveform associated with transient impulses such as those characteristic of lightning and switching surges, reveals both high frequency and low frequency components. The high frequency is associated with the extremely fast rising "front" of the transient while the lower frequency component resides in the long tail of the decaying impulse.

Minimise radiated emission : Radiated emission is the unintentional release of electromagnetic energy from an electronic device.

In general, radiated emissions are usually associated with non-intentional radiators, but intentional radiators can also have unwanted emissions at frequencies outside their intended transmission frequency band. As was discussed in the EMC Regulations module, the allowable radiated emissions from electronic modules are regulated by various organizations and agencies. Currents on parallel conductors can be split into two types: differential mode currents and common mode currents. his type of current mode is usually assumed in circuit theory. Common mode currents are equal in magnitude and have the same direction on parallel conductors. This type of current is not predicted by circuit theory and presents the largest problems for EMC issues.(Thing taken from the internet,no deep understanding required,now back to the lecture notes) Carefully layout high di/dt sections.High di/dt loop causes magnetic field radiation.Can be minimized by reducting the loop area or by reducing di/dt .

Remember the labels of the diagram, the explanation should not be hard . Grounding: escape route for hazardous fault currents, and referencing external connections to the system.First ensured proper partitioning and then proper grounding. It serves as a reference right? Zero voltage as far as I can recall. The classical definition of ground is that it is an equipotential point or plane which serves as a reference for a circuit or a system.The definition is meaningless in the presence of ground current flow. There will always be some ground currents present due to environmental magnetic and electric field,which causes shifts in the ground potential.A good system wil minimize this but nothing can eliminate them.Ground impedance must be low in order for the current to return to the source(alternative definition).GROUND CURRENT ALWAYS CIRCULATE AS A PART OF A LOOP,the task is to design the loop in such a way that induced voltage remains low wnough at critical places. Actual path of ground return current must be determined in the design of ground layout

Z2 is a non zero impedance ,depending on its magnitude and pahse the circuit will oscillate.This an instance of common impedance coupling.

The solution:The path of the current is now free of such impedance ,no Z2 in its path while returning to the source.Simple,isnt it ? Single-point grounding :Eliminates common impedance ground coupling and low frequency ground loops(A ground-loop in an electrical system, is an unwanted current that flows in a conductor connecting two points that are nominally at the same potential, i.e., ground, but are actually at different potentials [ground conductors have some other value than zero resistance]. For example, the electrical potential at different points on the surface of the Earth can vary by hundreds of volts, primarily from the influence of the solar wind. Such an occurrence can be hazardous to personnel working on long grounded conductors such as metallic telecommunications cable pairs.)Each circuit module has its own connection to a single ground.

Distance to grounding point may be too long: Causing added impedance but works well upto MHz.Cable longer more than a quarter wavelength will behave like antenna. Modified single point grounding:

Ties together those circuit modules with similar characteristics and takes each common point to the single ground.This allows a degree if common impedence coupling between those circuits where it wont be a problem and at the same time allows grounding of high frequency circuits to remain local:When a single module has more than one ground ,these grounds are tied together with back-to-back diodes,used to prevent damage during disconnection .Noisiest circuit should be closest to the common point.(did not fully understand this part) Multi-point and hybrid grounding:

Hybrid grounding uses reactive components to make the grounding system act differently at low frequencies and at radio frequency. Hybrid and multipoint grounding system can overcome the radio frequency problems associated with pure single point systems. Multipoint grounding is necessary for digital and large signal high-frequency systems. Modules and circuits are bonded together with many short (<0.1) links to minimize ground-impedance-induced common mode voltages. Shielding:

Protection of conductiong wire from external electromagnetic interference .Problems assicaited with shielding:Imbalance,Parasitic capacitance,Leakage. Guarded shielding reduces the leakage(current between the centre conductor and the shield,remember that for current to flow potential difference is a MUST!)

Guard maintains small potential difference between shield and the center conductor ,reducing leakage. Slide(12-18 not included) As I cudnt understand

Voltage measurements
The course talks about high resistance source measurements.The word high resistance is of importance here as if the source resistance is of significant percentage of the voltmeter(voltmeter has infinite input resistance ) it will cause voltage loss.This type of errors between voltmeter and circuit to be measured are classified as laoding error .The initiative we take is called Gurading. We will deal with preactical voltemeters Vm(an ideal voltmeter in parallel with a resitance called Rin ) Input resistance loading: Error caused by meter input resistance and the source Vs(perfection means Vm=Vs) being of high resistance Rs and also by leakage resistance(The resistance of the path over which leakage current flows; it is normally high.)

Vm is the measurement we observe:

Vms accuracy is affected by Rin and Rs(try making Vs multiple close to unity by makinf Rs as insignificant as possible or making Rin as hig as possible) Input bias current loading: Potential difference cause currents and vice-versa,if there is bias current present at the instrument input then there will be potential difference and will affect our measurement of poptential difference for sure.The main cause of bias current internal instrument circuitry and the internal bias voltage(now this is very easy to remember)

One thing to be noted is that the Rin was avoided, as we are talking about a new source of error for simplicity and greater understanding of this particular error type other sources are not included.

Shunt resistance loading: We talked about resistance and currents being a source of error. Now is shunt resistance turn. Leaky cables and dirty insulator causes leakage currents where there is current there is resistance as well or more precisely potential difference as well. Leakage is never a part of the circuit and hence leakage paths will eat out voltages of the source causing inaccurate readings.

The calculation is the same as that for Rin.Sources of shunt resistance:Cable leakage

Guarding comes in now to help us (notice that his diagram is electrically the same but with more visual details )

The cable shield is now connected to output of the guard buffer not to the meter LO anymore.Rg is the resistance from cabel shield to meter LO.Ig os the current through rG as a result of drving the the shiled to the same potential as the HI terminal.Ig is supplied by guard buffer.(Read more from PDF later)

this formula needs to be remembered.

Shunt capacitance Loading and guarding: Issues with settling time or response time if you may due to shunt capacitance.Settling time affected by RC time constant of the shunt capacitance and source resistance .

Setup similar to other shunt circuits.

Guarding shunt capacitance similar to guarding that as it too involves .A good thing hee is it does not only reduce the sunt resistance effects but also shunt capacitance ,killing two with just a single bullet.End of basics just rad a bt further before exam

Low current measurements

Sources of error are internal and external: ammeters voltage burden and input offset current; triboelecric or piezoelectric effects. In voltage measurements our concern was unwanted degradation or inclusion of potential difference and for this case the potential difference must be replaced with current. When we deal with low currents to be measured other sources of low currents is significant for giving error. One such currents are leakage currents generated by stray resistance paths between resistance paths between the measurement circuit and nearby voltage sources. Fight this by good quality insulators and reduce level of humidity in the test environment. Humidity may also degrade low current measurements. Different types of insulators will absorb varying amounts of water from the air, so its best to choose an insulator on which water vapour doesnt readily form a continuous film.
The Use of Guarding Using an Electrometer Ammeter or Picoammeter:

Our aim is to measure the current from the ionization chamber with great accuracy,the problem however is the leakage which gives rise to IL which adds up with the Ic so we are measuring the sum of two which is not desired.Guarding is necessary.The second guarded configuration introduces the idea of adding a conncetion called metal guard ring causinf leakage resistanc to two aprt Rl1 and Rl2 ,the latter is a part of the loop for holding the leakage current away from the ammeter and as a

result Im=Ic.However some current exists other than the Ic that is the current due to the voltage burden, but not big of an issue . The use of guarding with one SMU Ammeter:

Did not understand (lecture notes has this thing in just one slide, not of significant importance) Noise and source impedance: Source resistance like voltage measurement here too will produce affect, in voltage measurement it was responsible for the ratio which determined the voltage left at the voltmeter. We arent measuring voltage here and here it is a source of noise. In a word source impedance (resistance and capacitance) affect the noise performance of ammeters, feedback ammeter to be precise.

Amplifier amplifies noise, as the source resistance is reduced ,the noise gain of the ammeter will increase as can be seen from the equation above. For capacitance:

NOTE IF Cs increases in value Zs decrease in value, herby increasing the noise gain .In general if source capacitance increase the noise gain increases too. Zero drift: Gradual change of zero offset with no input signal. Corrected by zero correct/zero check. Most electrometer has means to correct for zero drift. A zero check switch is used to configure meters to display any internal voltage offsets, this feature allows fast checking and adjustment of the amplifier zero. Both this features are used for correcting internal voltage offsets, if external use SUPPRESS or REL. Generated current: Offset currents: can be generated both internally(input) or externally(external) Input offset:evn when the input is open some current flows,caused by biased currents of active device and leakage current through insulators.

Needs to be subtracted from measurement ,or use REL or zero functions of the ammeter as discussed earlier.The above one is when generated internally.

External offset current:Ionic contamination of the insulators connected to the ammeter.Or by triboelectric/piezoelectric

External offset currents can be suppressed with current suppression feature of the instrument. Triboelectric effect: charges created between conductor and an insulator due to friction. Cure: use low noise cable effect of friction reduced as uses lubricant which is also a conductor (graphite);inner insulator of polyethylene coated with graphite underneath the outer shield

Still we will encounter some noise, when subjected to vibration and expansion and contraction so all connections should be kept short, and also from temperature changes. Also keep away from source of vibration like motors and pumps. Piezoelectric effect: when mechanical stress is applied to certain crystalline materials when used for insulated terminals and interconnecting hardwares.Cure: Remove mechanical stress from the insulator and use materials with minimal piezoelectric and stored charge effects. Contamination and humidity: error currents generated when ionic chemicals create weak battery, as this whole topic is about measuring low currents even this weak battery is significant. Clean circuit board thoroughly to get read of contamination and perform insulation resistance test . Dielectric absorption: voltage across the insulator causes positive and negative charges within the insulator to polarize, when voltage removed decay current produced. Cure: Avoid applying volts greater than a few to insulators being used for sensitive current measurement.