APPLICATION

NOTE
AP-125
Decembei 1993
Designing Microcontroller
Systems for Electrically
Noisy Environments
TOM WILLIAMSON
MCO APPLICATIONS FNOINFFR
Order Number 210313-002
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DESIGNING
MICROCONTROLLER
SYSTEMS FOR
ELECTRICALLY NOISY
ENVIRONMENTS
CONTENTS PAGE
SYMPTOMS OF NOISE PROBLEMS 1
TYPES AND SOURCES OF
ELECTRICAL NOISE 1
Supply Line Transients 1
EMP and RFI 1
ESD 2
Ground Noise 2
RADIATED AND CONDUCTED
NOISE 2
SIMULATING THE ENVIRONMENT 3
TYPES OF FAILURES AND FAILURE
MECHANISMS 3
THE GAME PLAN 4
CURRENT LOOPS 4
SHIELDING 5
Shielding Against Capacitive Coupling 5
Shielding Against Inductive Coupling 5
RF Shielding 8
GROUNDS 9
Safety Ground 9
Signal Ground 10
Practical Grounding 11
Braided Cable 11
POWER SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION AND
DECOUPLING 13
Selecting the Value of the Decoupling
Cap 14
The Case for On-Board Voltage
Regulation 15
RECOVERING GRACEFULLY FROM A
SOFTWARE UPSET 15
SPECIAL PROBLEM AREAS 17
ESD 17
The Automotive Environment 18
PARTING THOUGHTS 20
REFERENCES 21
AP-125
DigitaI ciicuits aie often thought of as being immune to
noise piobIems, but ieaIIy theyie not. Noises in digitaI
systems pioduce softwaie upsets: piogiam jumps to ap-
paientIy iandom Iocations in memoiy. Noise-induced
gIitches in the signaI Iines can cause such piobIems, but
the suppIy voItage is moie sensitive to gIitches than the
signaI Iines.
Seveie noise conditions, those invoIving eIectiostatic
dischaiges, oi as found in automotive enviionments,
can do peimanent damage to the haidwaie. FIectiostat-
ic dischaiges can bIow a ciatei in the siIicon. In the
automotive enviionment, in oidinaiy opeiation, the
12V powei Iine can shown
a
and
b
400V tiansients.
This AppIication Note desciibes some eIectiicaI noises
and noise enviionments. Design consideiations, aIong
the Iines of PCB Iayout, powei suppIy distiibution and
decoupIing, and shieIding and giounding techniques,
that may heIp minimize noise susceptibiIity aie ie-
viewed. SpeciaI attention is given to the automotive and
FSD enviionments.
Symptoms of Noise Problems
Noise piobIems aie not usuaIIy encounteied duiing the
deveIopment phase of a miciocontioIIei system. This is
because benches iaieIy simuIate the systems intended
enviionment. Noise piobIems tend not to show up untiI
the system is instaIIed and opeiating in its intended en-
viionment. Then, aftei a few minutes oi houis of noi-
maI opeiation the system finds itseIf somepIace out in
Ieft fieId. Inputs aie ignoied and outputs aie gibbeiish.
The system may iespond to a ieset, oi it may have to be
tuined off physicaIIy and then back on again, at which
point it commences opeiating as though nothing had
happened. Theie may be an obvious cause, such as an
eIectiostatic dischaige fiom somebodys fingei to a key-
boaid oi the upset occuis eveiy time a copiei machine
is tuined on oi off. Oi theie may be no obvious cause,
and nothing the opeiatoi can do wiII make the upset
iepeat itseIf. But a few minutes, oi a few houis, oi a few
days Iatei it happens again.
One symptom of eIectiicaI noise piobIems is iandom-
ness, both in the occuiience of the piobIem and in what
the system does in its faiIuie. AII opeiationaI upsets
that occui at seemingIy iandom inteivaIs aie not neces-
saiiIy caused by noise in the system. MaiginaI VCC,
inadequate decoupIing, iaieIy encounteied softwaie
conditions, oi timing coincidences can pioduce upsets
that seem to occui iandomIy. On the othei hand, some
noise souices can pioduce upsets downiight peiiodicaI-
Iy. NeveitheIess, the moie difficuIt it is to chaiacteiize
an upset as to cause and effect, the moie IikeIy it is to
be a noise piobIem.
Types and Sources of Electrical Noise
The name given to eIectiicaI noises othei than those
that aie inheient in the ciicuit components (such as
theimaI noise) is FMI: eIectiomagnetic inteifeience.
Motois, powei switches, fIuoiescent Iights, eIectiostatic
dischaiges, etc., aie souices of FMI. Theie is a veiitabIe
aIphabet soup of FMI types, and these aie biiefIy de-
sciibed beIow.
SUPPLY LINE TRANSIENTS
Anything that switches heavy cuiient Ioads onto oi off
of AC oi DC powei Iines wiII cause Iaige tiansients in
these powei Iines. Switching an eIectiic typewiitei on
oi off, foi exampIe, can put a 1000V spike onto the AC
powei Iines.
The basic mechanism behind suppIy Iine tiansients is
shown in Figuie 1. The batteiy iepiesents any powei
souice, AC oi DC. The coiIs iepiesent the Iine induc-
tance between the powei souice and the switchabIe
Ioads R1 and R2. If both Ioads aie diawing cuiient, the
Iine cuiient fIowing thiough the Iine inductance estab-
Iishes a magnetic fieId of some vaIue. Then, when one
of the Ioads is switched off, the fieId due to that compo-
nent of the Iine cuiient coIIapses, geneiating tiansient
voItages, v
e
L(di/dt), which tiy to maintain the cui-
ient at its oiiginaI IeveI. Thats caIIed an inductive
kick. Because of contact bounce, tiansients aie genei-
ated whethei the switch is being opened oi cIosed, but
theyie woise when the switch is being opened.
An inductive kick of one type oi anothei is invoIved in
most Iine tiansients, incIuding those found in the auto-
motive enviionment. Othei mechanisms foi Iine tian-
sients exist, invoIving noise pickup on the Iines. The
noise voItages aie then conducted to a susceptibIe cii-
cuit iight aIong with the powei.
EMP AND RFI
Anything that pioduces aics oi spaiks wiII iadiate eIec-
tiomagnetic puIses (FMP) oi iadio-fiequency inteifei-
ence (RFI).
2103131
Figure 1 Supply Line Transients
1
AP-125
Spaik dischaiges have piobabIy caused moie softwaie
upsets in digitaI equipment than any othei singIe noise
souice. The upsetting mechanism is the FMP pioduced
by the spaik. The FMP induces tiansients in the cii-
cuit, which aie what actuaIIy cause the upset.
Aics and spaiks occui in automotive ignition systems,
eIectiic motois, switches, static dischaiges, etc. FIectiic
motois that have commutatoi bais pioduce an aic as
the biushes pass fiom one bai to the next. DC motois
and the univeisaI (AC/DC) motois that aie used to
powei hand tooIs aie the kinds that have commutatoi
bais. In switches, the same inductive kick that puts
tiansients on the suppIy Iines wiII cause an opening oi
cIosing switch to thiow a spaik.
ESD
FIectiostatic dischaige (FSD) is the spaik that occuis
when a peison picks up a static chaige fiom waIking
acioss a caipet, and then dischaiges it into a keyboaid,
oi whatevei eIse can be touched. WaIking acioss a cai-
pet in a diy cIimate, a peison can accumuIate a static
voItage of 35kV. The cuiient puIse fiom an eIectiostat-
ic dischaige has an extiemeIy fast iisetime - typicaIIy,
4A/ns. Figuie 2 shows FSD wavefoims that have been
obseived by some investigatois of FSD phenomena.
It is enIightening to caIcuIate the L(di/dt) voItage ie-
quiied to diive an FSD cuiient puIse thiough a coupIe
of inches of stiaight wiie. Two inches of stiaight wiie
has about 50 nH of inductance. Thats not veiy much,
but using 50 nH foi L and 4A/ns foi di/dt gives an
L(di/dt) diop of about 200V. Recent obseivations by
W.M. King suggest even fastei iisetimes (Figuie 2b)
and the occuiience of muItipIe dischaiges duiing a sin-
gIe dischaige event.
ObviousIy, FSD-sensitivity needs to be consideied in
the design of equipment that is going to be subjected to
it, such as office equipment.
GROUND NOISE
Cuiients in giound Iines aie anothei souice of noise.
These can be 60 Hz cuiients fiom the powei Iines, oi
RF hash, oi ciosstaIk fiom othei signaIs that aie shai-
ing this paiticuIai wiie as a signaI ietuin Iine. Noise in
the giound Iines is often iefeiied to as a giound Ioop
piobIem. The basic concept of the giound Ioop is
shown in Figuie 3. The piobIem is that tiue
eaith-giound is not ieaIIy at the same potentiaI in aII
Iocations. If the two ends of a wiie aie eaith-giounded
at diffeient Iocations, the voItage diffeience between the
two giound points can diive significant cuiients (sev-
eiaI ampeies) thiough the wiie. Considei the wiie to be
pait of a Ioop which contains, in addition to the wiie, a
voItage souice that iepiesents the diffeience in poten-
tiaI between the two giound points, and you have
the cIassicaI giound Ioop. By extension, the teim is
used to iefei to any unwanted (and often unexpected)
cuiients in a giound Iine.
Radiated and Conducted Noise
Radiated noise is noise that aiiives at the victim ciicuit
in the foim of eIectiomagnetic iadiation, such as FMP
and RFI. It causes tioubIe by inducing extianeous voIt-
ages in the ciicuit. Conducted noise is noise that aiiives
at the victim ciicuit aIieady in the foim of an extiane-
ous voItage, typicaIIy via the AC oi DC powei Iines.
One defends against iadiated noise by caie in designing
Iayouts and the use of effective shieIding techniques.
One defends against conducted noise with fiIteis and
2103132
(a)
2103133
(b)
Figure 2 Waveforms of Electrostatic
Discharge Currents From a
Hand-Held Metallic Object
2
AP-125
suppiessois, aIthough Iayouts and giounding tech-
niques aie impoitant heie, too.
Simulating the Environment
Addiessing noise piobIems aftei the design of a system
has been compIeted is an expensive pioposition. The iII
wiII geneiated by faiIuies in the fieId is not cheap eithei.
Its cheapei in the Iong iun to invest a IittIe time and
money in Ieaining about noise and noise simuIation
equipment, so that contioIIed tests can be made on the
bench as the design is deveIoping.
SimuIating the intended noise enviionment is a two-
step piocess: Fiist you have to iecognize what the noise
enviionment is, that is, you have to know what kinds of
eIectiicaI noises aie piesent, and which of them aie go-
ing to cause tioubIe. Dont ignoie this fiist step, be-
cause its impoitant. If you invest in an induction coiI
spaik geneiatoi just because youi appIication is auto-
motive, youII be stiaining at the gnat and swaIIowing
the cameI. Spaik pIug noise is the Ieast of youi woiiies
in that enviionment.
The second step is to geneiate the eIectiicaI noise in a
contioIIed mannei. This is usuaIIy moie difficuIt than
fiist imagined, one fiist imagines the simuIation in
teims of a wavefoim geneiatoi and a few spaie paits,
and then finds that a wideband powei ampIifiei with a
200V dynamic iange is aIso iequiied. A good souice of
infoimation on who suppIies what noise-simuIating
equipment is the 1981 ITFM Diiectoiy and Design
Ouide (Refeience 6).
Types of Failures and Failure
Mechanisms
A majoi piobIem that FMI can cause in digitaI systems
is inteimittent opeiationaI maIfunction. These softwaie
upsets occui when the system is in opeiation at the time
an FMI souice is activated, and aie usuaIIy chaiactei-
ized by a Ioss of infoimation oi a jump in the execution
of the piogiam to some iandom Iocation in memoiy.
The peison who has to iion out such piobIems is tempt-
ed to say the piogiam countei went ciazy. Theie is
usuaIIy no damage to the haidwaie, and noimaI opeia-
tion can iesume as soon as the FMI has passed oi the
souice is de-activated. Resuming noimaI opeiation usu-
aIIy iequiies manuaI oi automatic ieset, and possibIy
ie-enteiing of Iost infoimation.
FIectiostatic dischaiges fiom opeiating peisonneI can
cause not onIy softwaie upsets, but aIso peimanent
(haid) damage to the system. Foi this to happen the
system doesnt even have to be in opeiation. Sometimes
the peimanent damage is Iatent, meaning the initiaI
damage may be maiginaI and iequiie fuithei aggiava-
tion thiough opeiating stiess and time befoie peima-
nent faiIuie takes pIace. Sometimes too the damage is
hidden.
One FSD-ieIated faiIuie mechanism that has been iden-
tified has to do with the bias voItage on the substiate of
the chip. On some CPU chips the substiate is heId at
b
2.5V by a phase-shift osciIIatoi woiking into a capac-
itoi/diode cIamping ciicuit. This is caIIed a chaige
pump in chip-design ciicIes. If the substiate wandeis
too fai in eithei diiection, piogiam iead eiiois aie not-
ed. Some designs have been known to aIIow eIectiostat-
ic dischaige cuiients to fIow diiectIy into poit pins of
an 8048. The iesuIting damage to the oxide causes an
inciease in Ieakage cuiient, which Ioads down the
chaige pump, ieducing the substiate voItage to a mai-
ginaI oi unacceptabIe IeveI. The system is then unieIi-
abIe oi compIeteIy inopeiative untiI the CPU chip is
iepIaced. But if the CPU chip was subjected to a dis-
chaige spaik once, it wiII eventuaIIy happen again.
Chips that have a giounded substiate, such as the 8748,
can sometimes sustain some oxide damage without ac-
tuaIIy becoming inopeiative. In this case the damage is
piesent, and the incieased Ieakage cuiient is noted,
howevei, since the substiate voItage ietains its design
vaIue, the damage is IaigeIy hidden.
2103134
Figure 3 What a Ground Loop Is
3
AP-125
It must theiefoie be iecognized that connecting poit
pins unpiotected to a keyboaid oi to anything eIse that
is subject to eIectiostatic dischaiges, makes an extieme-
Iy dangeious configuiation. It doesnt make any diffei-
ence what CPU chip is being used, oi who makes it. If
it connects unpiotected to a keyboaid, it wiII eventuaIIy
be destioyed. Designing foi an FSD-enviionment wiII
be discussed fuithei on.
We might note heie that MOS chips aie not the onIy
components that aie susceptibIe to peimanent FSD
damage. BipoIai and Iineai chips can aIso be damaged
in this way. PN junctions aie subject to a haid faiIuie
mechanism caIIed theimaI secondaiy bieakdown, in
which a cuiient spike, such as fiom an eIectiostatic
dischaige, causes micioscopicaIIy IocaIized spots in the
junction to appioach meIt tempeiatuies. Low powei
TTL chips aie subject to this type of damage, as aie
op-amps. Op-amps, in addition, often caiiy on-chip
MOS capacitois which aie diiectIy acioss an exteinaI
pin combination, and these aie susceptibIe to dieIectiic
bieakdown.
We ietuin now to the subject of softwaie upsets. Noise
tiansients can upset the chip thiough any pin, even an
output pin, because eveiy pin on the chip connects to
the substiate thiough a pn junction. Howevei, the most
vuIneiabIe pin is piobabIy the VCC Iine, since it has
diiect access to aII paits of the chip: eveiy iegistei, gate,
fIip-fIop and buffei.
The menu of possibIe upset mechanisms is quite
Iengthy. A tiansient on the substiate at the wiong time
wiII geneiaIIy cause a piogiam iead eiioi. A faIse IeveI
at a contioI input can cause an extianeous oi misdiiect-
ed opcode fetch. A distuibance on the suppIy Iine can
fIip a bit in the piogiam countei oi instiuction iegistei.
A shoit inteiiuption oi ieveisaI of poIaiity on the sup-
pIy Iine can actuaIIy tuin the piocessoi off, but not Iong
enough foi the powei-up ieset capacitoi to dischaige.
Thus when the tiansient ends, the chip staits up again
without a ieset.
A common faiIuie mode is foi the piocessoi to Iock
itseIf into a tight Ioop. Heie it may be executing the
data in a tabIe, oi the piogiam countei may have
jumped a notch, so that the piocessoi is now executing
opeiands instead of opcodes, oi it may be tiying to
fetch opcodes fiom a nonexistent exteinaI piogiam
memoiy.
It shouId be emphasized that mechanisms foi upsets
have to do with the aiiivaI of noise-induced tiansients
at the pins of the chips, iathei than with the geneiation
of noise puIses within the chip itseIf, that is, its not the
chip that is picking up noise, its the ciicuit.
The Game Plan
Pievention is usuaIIy cheapei than suppiession, so fiist
weII considei some pieventive methods that might heIp
to minimize the geneiation of noise voItages in the cii-
cuit. These methods invoIve giounding, shieIding, and
wiiing techniques that aie diiected towaid the mecha-
nisms by which noise voItages aie geneiated in the cii-
cuit. WeII aIso discuss methods of decoupIing. Then
weII Iook at some schemes foi making a giacefuI iecov-
eiy fiom upsets that occui in spite of pieventive mea-
suies. LastIy, weII take anothei Iook at two speciaI
piobIem aieas: eIectiostatic dischaiges and the automo-
tive enviionment.
Current Loops
The fiist thing most peopIe Ieain about eIectiicity is
that cuiient wont fIow unIess it can fIow in a cIosed
Ioop. This simpIe fact is sometimes tempoiaiiIy foigot-
ten by the oveiwoiked engineei who has spent the past
seveiaI yeais masteiing the intiicacies of the DO Ioop,
the timing Ioop, the feedback Ioop, and maybe even the
giound Ioop. The simpIe cuiient Ioop piobabIy owes its
appaient demise to the invention of the giound symboI.
By a stioke of the pen one avoids having to diaw the
ietuin paths of most of the cuiient Ioops in the ciicuit.
Then giound tuins into an infinite cuiient sink, so
that any cuiient that fIows into it is gone and foigotten.
Foigotten it may be, but its not gone. It must ietuin to
its souice, so that its path wiII by aII the Iaws of natuie
foim a cIosed Ioop.
The physicaI geometiy of a given cuiient Ioop is the
key to why it geneiates FMI, why its susceptibIe to
FMI, and how to shieId it. SpecificaIIy, its the aiea of
the Ioop that matteis.
Any fIow of cuiient geneiates a magnetic fieId whose
intensity vaiies inveiseIy to the distance fiom the wiie
that caiiies the cuiient. Two paiaIIeI wiies conducting
cuiients
a
I and
b
I (as in signaI feed and ietuin Iines)
wouId geneiate a nonzeio magnetic fieId neai the wiies,
wheie the distance fiom a given point to one wiie is
noticeabIy diffeient fiom the distance to the othei wiie,
but faithei away (ieIative to the wiie spacing), wheie
the distances fiom a given point to eithei wiie aie about
the same, the fieIds fiom both wiies tend to canceI out.
Thus, maintaining pioximity between feed and ietuin
paths is an impoitant way to minimize theii inteifei-
ence with othei signaIs. The way to maintain theii
pioximity is essentiaIIy to minimize theii Ioop aiea.
And, because the mutuaI inductance fiom cuiient Ioop
A to cuiient Ioop B is the same as the mutuaI induc-
tance fiom cuiient Ioop B to cuiient Ioop A, a ciicuit
that doesnt iadiate inteifeience doesnt ieceive it ei-
thei.
Thus, fiom the standpoint of ieducing both geneiation
of FMI and susceptibiIity to FMI, the haid iuIe is to
keep Ioop aieas smaII. To say that Ioop aieas shouId be
minimized is the same as saying the ciicuit inductance
4
AP-125
shouId be minimized. Inductance is by definition the
constant of piopoitionaIity between cuiient and the
magnetic fieId it pioduces: w
e
LI. HoIding the feed
and ietuin wiies cIose togethei so as to piomote fieId
canceIIation can be desciibed eithei as minimizing the
Ioop aiea oi as minimizing L. Its the same thing.
Shielding
Theie aie thiee basic kinds of shieIds: shieIding against
capacitive coupIing, shieIding against inductive cou-
pIing, and RF shieIding. Capacitive coupIing is eIectiic
fieId coupIing, so shieIding against it amounts to shieId-
ing against eIectiic fieIds. As wiII be seen, this is ieIa-
tiveIy easy. Inductive coupIing is magnetic fieId cou-
pIing, so shieIding against it is shieIding against mag-
netic fieIds. This is a IittIe moie difficuIt. StiangeIy
enough, this type of shieIding does not in geneiaI in-
voIve the use of magnetic mateiiaIs. RF shieIding, the
cIassicaI metaIIic baiiiei against aII soits of eIectio-
magnetic fieIds, is what most peopIe pictuie when they
think about shieIding. Its effectiveness depends paitIy
on the seIection of the shieIding mateiiaI, but mostIy, as
it tuins out, on the tieatment of its seams and the ge-
ometiy of its openings.
SHIELDING AGAINST CAPACITIVE COUPLING
Capacitive coupIing invoIves the passage of inteifeiing
signaIs thiough mutuaI oi stiay capacitances that aient
shown on the ciicuit diagiam, but which the expeii-
enced engineei knows aie theie. Capacitive coupIing to
ones body is what wouId cause an unstabIe osciIIatoi to
change its fiequency when the peison ieaches his hand
ovei the ciicuit, foi exampIe. Moie impoitantIy, in a
digitaI system it causes ciosstaIk in muIti-wiie cabIes.
The way to bIock capacitive coupIing is to encIose the
ciicuit oi conductoi you want to piotect in a metaI
shieId. Thats caIIed an eIectiostatic oi Faiaday shieId.
If coveiage is 100%, the shieId does not have to be
giounded, but it usuaIIy is, to ensuie that ciicuit-to-
shieId capacitances go to signaI iefeience giound iathei
than act as feedback and ciosstaIk eIements. Besides,
fiom a mechanicaI point of view, giounding it is aImost
inevitabIe.
A giounded Faiaday shieId can be used to bieak capac-
itive coupIing between a noisy ciicuit and a victim cii-
cuit, as shown in Figuie 4. Figuie 4a shows two ciicuits
capacitiveIy coupIed thiough the stiay capacitance be-
tween them. In Figuie 4b the stiay capacitance is intei-
cepted by a giounded Faiaday shieId, so that inteifei-
ence cuiients aie shunted to giound. Foi exampIe, a
giounded pIane can be inseited between PCBs (piinted
ciicuit boaids) to eIiminate most of the capacitive cou-
pIing between them.
Anothei appIication of the Faiaday shieId is in the eIec-
tiostaticaIIy shieIded tiansfoimei. Heie, a conducting
foiI is Iaid between the piimaiy and secondaiy coiIs so
as to inteicept the capacitive coupIing between them. If
a system is being upset by AC Iine tiansients, this type
of tiansfoimei may piovide the fix. To be effective in
this appIication, the shieId must be connected to the
gieenwiie giound.
SHIELDING AGAINST INDUCTIVE COUPLING
With inductive coupIing, the physicaI mechanism in-
voIved is a magnetic fIux density B fiom some exteinaI
inteifeience souice that Iinks with a cuiient Ioop in the
victim ciicuit, and geneiates a voItage in the Ioop in
accoidance with Lenzs Iaw: v
e b
NA(dB/dt), wheie
in this case N
e
1 and A is the aiea of the cuiient Ioop
in the victim ciicuit.
Theie aie two aspects to defending a ciicuit against
inductive pickup. One aspect is to tiy to minimize the
offensive fieIds at theii souice. This is done by minimiz-
ing the aiea of the cuiient Ioop at the souice so as to
piomote fieId canceIIation, as desciibed in the section
on cuiient Ioops. The othei aspect is to minimize the
inductive pickup in the victim ciicuit by minimizing the
aiea of that cuiient Ioop, since, fiom Lenzs Iaw, the
induced voItage is piopoitionaI to this aiea. So the two
aspects ieaIIy invoIve the same coiiective action: mini-
mize the aieas of the cuiient Ioops. In othei woids,
minimizing the offensiveness of a ciicuit inheientIy
minimizes its susceptibiIity.
2103135
(a) Capacitive Coupling
2103136
(b) Electrostatic Shielding
Figure 4 Use of Faraday Shield
5
AP-125
2103137
Figure 5 External to the Shield w
e
0
ShieIding against inductive coupIing means nothing
moie noi Iess than contioIIing the dimensions of the
cuiient Ioops in the ciicuit. We must Iook at foui ex-
ampIes of this type of shieIding: the coaxiaI cabIe, the
twisted paii, the giound pIane, and the giidded-giound
PCB Iayout.
The Coaxial Cable-Figuie 5 shows a coaxiaI cabIe
caiiying a cuiient I fiom a signaI souice to a ieceiving
Ioad. The shieId caiiies the same cuiient as the centei
conductoi. Outside the shieId, the magnetic fieId pio-
duced by
a
I fIowing in the centei conductoi is can-
ceIIed by the fieId pioduced by
b
I fIowing in the
shieId. To the extent that the cabIe is ideaI in pioducing
zeio exteinaI magnetic fieId, it is immune to inductive
pickup fiom exteinaI souices. The cabIe adds effective-
Iy zeio aiea to the Ioop. This is tiue onIy if the shieId
caiiies the same cuiient as the centei conductoi.
In the ieaI woiId, both the signaI souice and the ieceiv-
ing Ioad aie IikeIy to have one end connected to a com-
mon signaI giound. In that case, shouId the cabIe be
giounded at one end, both ends, oi neithei end! The
answei is that it shouId be giounded at both ends. Fig-
uie 6a shows the situation when the cabIe shieId is
giounded at onIy one end. In that case the cuiient Ioop
iuns down the centei conductoi of the cabIe, then back
thiough the common giound connection. The Ioop aiea
is not weII defined. The shieId not onIy does not caiiy
the same cuiient as the centei conductoi, but it doesnt
caiiy any cuiient at aII. Theie is no fieId canceIIation at
aII. The shieId has no effect whatsoevei on eithei the
geneiation of FMI oi susceptibiIity to FMI. (It is, how-
evei, stiII effective as an eIectiostatic shieId, oi at Ieast
it wouId be if the shieId coveiage weie 100%.)
Figuie 6b shows the situation when the cabIe is giound-
ed at both ends. Does the shieId caiiy aII of the ietuin
cuiient, oi onIy a poition of it on account of the shunt-
ing effect of the common giound connection! The an-
swei to that question depends on the fiequency content
of the signaI. In geneiaI, the cuiient Ioop wiII foIIow the
path of Ieast impedance. At Iow fiequencies, 0 Hz to
seveiaI kHz, wheie the inductive ieactance is insignifi-
cant, the cuiient wiII foIIow the path of Ieast iesistance.
Above a few kHz, wheie inductive ieactance piedomi-
nates, the cuiient wiII foIIow the path of Ieast induc-
tance. The path of Ieast inductance is the path of
2103138
(a) Shield Has No Effect
2103139
(b) Two Return Paths
Figure 6 Use of Coaxial Cable
minimum Ioop aiea. Hence, foi highei fiequencies the
shieId caiiies viituaIIy the same cuiient as the centei
conductoi, and is theiefoie effective against both genei-
ation and ieception of FMI.
Note that we have now intioduced the famous giound
Ioop piobIem, as shown in Figuie 7a. FoitunateIy, a
digitaI system has some buiIt-in immunity to modeiate
giound Ioop noise. In a noisy enviionment, howevei,
one can bieak the giound Ioop, and stiII maintain the
shieIding effectiveness of the coaxiaI cabIe, by inseiting
an opticaI coupIei, as shown in Figuie 7b. What the
opticaI coupIei does, basicaIIy, is aIIow us to ie-define
the signaI souice as being ungiounded, so that that end
of the cabIe need not be giounded, and stiII Iets the
shieId caiiy the same cuiient as the centei conductoi.
ObviousIy, if the signaI souice weient giounded in the
fiist pIace, the opticaI coupIei wouIdnt be needed.
The Twisted Pair-A cheapei way to minimize Ioop
aiea is to iun the feed and ietuin wiies iight next to
each othei. This isnt as effective as a coaxiaI cabIe in
minimizing Ioop aiea. An ideaI coaxiaI cabIe adds zeio
aiea to the Ioop, wheieas meieIy keeping the feed and
ietuin wiies next to each othei is bound to add a finite
aiea.
Howevei, two things woik to make this cheapei meth-
od aImost as good as a coaxiaI cabIe. Fiist, ieaI coaxiaI
cabIes aie not ideaI. If the shieId cuiient isnt evenIy
distiibuted aiound the centei conductoi at eveiy cioss-
6
AP-125
21031310
(a) The Ground Loop
21031311
(b) Breaking the Ground Loop
Figure 7 Use of Optical Coupler
section of the cabIe (it isnt), then fieId canceIIation ex-
teinaI to the shieId is incompIete. If fieId canceIIation is
incompIete, then the effective aiea added to the Ioop by
the cabIe isnt zeio. Second, in the cheapei method the
feed and ietuin wiies can be twisted togethei. This not
onIy maintains theii pioximity, but the noise picked up
in one twist tends to canceI out the noise picked up in
the next twist down the Iine. Thus the twisted paii
tuins out to be about as good a shieId against inductive
coupIing as coaxiaI cabIe is.
The twisted paii does not, howevei, piovide eIectiostat-
ic shieIding (i.e., shieIding against capacitive coupIing).
Anothei opeiationaI diffeience between them is that
the coaxiaI cabIe woiks bettei at highei fiequencies.
This is piimaiiIy because the twisted paii adds moie
capacitive Ioading to the signaI souice than the coaxiaI
cabIe does. The twisted paii is noimaIIy consideied use-
fuI up to onIy about 1 MHz, as opposed to neai a OHz
foi the coaxiaI cabIe.
The Ground Plane-The best way to minimize Ioop
aieas when many cuiient Ioops aie invoIved is to use a
giound pIane. A giound pIane is a conducting suiface
that is to seive as a ietuin conductoi foi aII the cuiient
Ioops in the ciicuit. NoimaIIy, it wouId be one oi moie
Iayeis of a muItiIayei PCB. AII giound points in the
ciicuit go not to a giounded tiace on the PCB, but
diiectIy to the giound pIane. This Ieaves each cuiient
Ioop in the ciicuit fiee to compIete itseIf in whatevei
configuiation yieIds minimum Ioop aiea (foi fiequen-
cies wheiein the giound path impedance is piimaiiIy
inductive).
Thus, if the feed path foi a given signaI zigzags its way
acioss the PCB, the ietuin path foi this signaI is fiee to
zigzag iight aIong beneath it on the giound pIane, in
such a configuiation as to minimize the eneigy stoied
in the magnetic fieId pioduced by this cuiient Ioop.
MinimaI magnetic fIux means minimaI effective Ioop
aiea and minimaI susceptibiIity to inductive coupIing.
The Gridded-Ground PCB Layout-The next best
thing to a giound pIane is to Iay out the giound tiaces
on a PCB in the foim of a giid stiuctuie, as shown in
Figuie 8. Laying hoiizontaI tiaces on one side of the
boaid and veiticaI tiaces on the othei side aIIows the
passage of signaI and powei tiaces. Wheievei veiticaI
and hoiizontaI giound tiaces cioss, they must be con-
nected by a feed-thiough.
Have we not cieated heie a netwoik of giound Ioops!
Yes, in the IiteiaI sense of the woid, but Ioops in the
giound Iayout on a PCB aie not to be feaied. Such
inoffensive IittIe Ioops have nevei caused as much noise
pickup as theii avoidance has. Tiying to avoid innocent
IittIe Ioops in the giound Iayout, PCB designeis have
foiced cuiient Ioops into geometiies that couId swaIIow
a whaIe. That is exactIy the wiong thing to do.
The giidded giound stiuctuie woiks aImost as weII as
the giound pIane, as fai as minimizing Ioop aiea is con-
ceined. Foi a given cuiient Ioop, the piimaiy ietuin
path may have to zig once in a whiIe wheie its feed path
zags, but you stiII get a mathematicaIIy optimaI dis-
7
AP-125
21031312
Figure 8 PCB with Gridded Ground
tiibution of cuiients in the giid stiuctuie, such that the
cuiient Ioop pioduces Iess magnetic fIux than if the
ietuin path weie iestiained to foIIow any singIe given
giound tiace. The key to attaining minimum Ioop aieas
foi aII the cuiient Ioops togethei is to Iet the giound
cuiients distiibute themseIves aiound the entiie aiea of
the boaid as fieeIy as possibIe. They want to minimize
theii own magnetic fieId. Just Iet them.
RF SHIELDING
A time-vaiying eIectiic fieId geneiates a time-vaiying
magnetic fieId, and vice veisa. Fai fiom the souice of a
time-vaiying FM fieId, the iatio of the ampIitudes of
the eIectiic and magnetic fieIds is aIways 377X. Up
cIose to the souice of the fieIds, howevei, this iatio can
be quite diffeient, and dependent on the natuie of the
souice. Wheie the iatio is neai 377X is caIIed the fai
fieId, and wheie the iatio is significantIy diffeient fiom
377X is caIIed the neai fieId. The iatio itseIf is caIIed
the wave impedance, F/H.
The neai fieId goes out about 1/6 of a waveIength fiom
the souice. At 1 MHz this is about 150 feet, and at 10
MHz its about 15 feet. That means if an FMI souice is
in the same ioom with the victim ciicuit, its IikeIy to
be a neai fieId piobIem. The ieason this matteis is that
in the neai fieId an RF inteifeience piobIem couId be
aImost entiieIy due to F-fieId coupIing oi H-fieId cou-
pIing, and that couId infIuence the choice of an RF
shieId oi whethei an RF shieId wiII heIp at aII.
In the neai fieId of a whip antenna, the F/H iatio is
highei than 377X, which means its mainIy an F-fieId
geneiatoi. A wiie-wiap post can be a whip antenna.
Inteifeience fiom a whip antenna wouId be by eIectiic
fieId coupIing, which is basicaIIy capacitive coupIing.
Methods to piotect a ciicuit fiom capacitive coupIing,
such as a Faiaday shieId, wouId be effective
against RF inteifeience fiom a whip antenna. A giid-
ded-giound stiuctuie wouId be Iess effective.
In the neai fieId of a Ioop antenna, the F/H iatio is
Iowei than 377X, which means its mainIy an H-fieId
geneiatoi. Any cuiient Ioop is a Ioop antenna. Inteifei-
ence fiom a Ioop antenna wouId be by magnetic fieId
coupIing, which is basicaIIy the same as inductive cou-
pIing. Methods to piotect a ciicuit fiom inductive cou-
pIing, such as a giidded-giound stiuctuie, wouId be ef-
fective against RF inteifeience fiom a Ioop antenna. A
Faiaday shieId wouId be Iess effective.
A moie difficuIt case of RF inteifeience, neai fieId oi
fai fieId, may iequiie a genuine metaIIic RF shieId. The
idea behind RF shieIding is that time-vaiying FMI
fieIds induce cuiients in the shieIding mateiiaI. The in-
duced cuiients dissipate eneigy in two ways: I
2
R Iosses
in the shieIding mateiiaI and iadiation Iosses as they ie-
iadiate theii own FM fieIds. The eneigy foi both of
these mechanisms is diawn fiom the impinging FMI
fieIds. Hence the FMI is weakened as it penetiates the
shieId.
Moie foimaIIy, the I
2
R Iosses aie iefeiied to as absoip-
tion Ioss, and the ie-iadiation is caIIed iefIection Ioss.
As it tuins out, absoiption Ioss is the piimaiy shieIding
mechanism foi H-fieIds, and iefIection Ioss is the pii-
maiy shieIding mechanism foi F-fieIds. RefIection Ioss,
being a suiface phenomenon, is pietty much indepen-
dent of the thickness of the shieIding mateiiaI. Both
Ioss mechanisms, howevei, aie dependent on the fie-
quency (0) of the impinging FMI fieId, and on the
peimeabiIity (m) and conductivity (s) of the shieIding
mateiiaI. These Ioss mechanisms vaiy appioximateIy as
foIIows:
iefIection Ioss to an F-fieId (in dB)
E
Iog
s
0m
absoiption Ioss to an H-fieId (in dB)
E
t00sm
wheie t is the thickness of the shieIding mateiiaI.
The fiist expiession indicates that F-fieId shieIding is
moie effective if the shieId mateiiaI is highIy conduc-
tive, and Iess effective if the shieId if feiiomagnetic, and
that Iow-fiequency fieIds aie easiei to bIock than high-
fiequency fieIds. This is shown in Figuie 9.
21031313
Figure 9 E-Field Shielding
8
AP-125
21031314
Figure 10 H-Field Shielding
Coppei and aIuminum both have the same peimeabiIi-
ty, but coppei is sIightIy moie conductive, and so pio-
vides sIightIy gieatei iefIection Ioss to an F-fieId. SteeI
is Iess effective foi two ieasons. Fiist, it has a somewhat
eIevated peimeabiIity due to its iion content, and sec-
ond, as tends to be the case with magnetic mateiiaIs, it
is Iess conductive.
On the othei hand, accoiding to the expiession foi ab-
soiption Ioss to an H-fieId, H-fieId shieIding is moie
effective at highei fiequencies and with shieId mateiiaI
that has both high conductivity and high peimeabiIity.
In piactice, howevei, seIecting steeI foi its high peime-
abiIity invoIves some compiomise in conductivity. But
the inciease in peimeabiIity moie than makes up foi the
deciease in conductivity, as can be seen in Figuie 10.
This figuie aIso shows the effect of shieId thickness.
A composite of F-fieId and H-fieId shieIding is shown
in Figuie 11. Howevei, this type of data is meaningfuI
onIy in the fai fieId. In the neai fieId the FMI couId be
90% H-fieId, in which case the iefIection Ioss is iiieIe-
vant. It wouId be advisabIe then to beef up the absoip-
tion Ioss, at the expense of iefIection Ioss, by choosing
steeI. A bettei conductoi than steeI might be Iess expen-
sive, but quite ineffective.
A diffeient shieIding mechanism that can be taken ad-
vantage of foi Iow fiequency magnetic fieIds is the abiIi-
ty of a high peimeabiIity mateiiaI such as mumetaI to
diveit the fieId by piesenting a veiy Iow ieIuctance path
to the magnetic fIux. Above a few kHz, howevei, the
peimeabiIity of such mateiiaIs is the same as steeI.
In actuaI fact the seIection of a shieIding mateiiaI tuins
out to be Iess impoitant than the piesence of seams,
joints and hoIes in the physicaI stiuctuie of the encIo-
suie. The shieIding mechanisms aie ieIated to the in-
duction of cuiients in the shieId mateiiaI, but the cui-
21031315
Figure 11 E- and H-Field Shielding
ients must be aIIowed to fIow fieeIy. If they have to
detoui aiound sIots and hoIes, as shown in Figuie 12,
the shieId Ioses much of its effectiveness.
As can be seen in Figuie 12, the seveiity of the detoui
has Iess to do with the aiea of the hoIe than it does with
the geometiy of the hoIe. Compaiing Figuie 12c with
12d shows that a Iong naiiow discontinuity such as a
seam can cause moie RF Ieakage than a Iine of hoIes
with Iaigei totaI aiea. A peison who is iesponsibIe foi
designing oi seIecting iack oi chassis encIosuies foi an
FMI enviionment needs to be famiIiai with the tech-
niques that aie avaiIabIe foi maintaining eIectiicaI con-
tinuity acioss seams. Infoimation on these techniques is
avaiIabIe in the iefeiences.
Grounds
Theie aie two kinds of giounds: eaith-giound and sig-
naI giound. The eaith is not an equipotentiaI suiface, so
eaith giound potentiaI vaiies. That and its othei eIectii-
caI piopeities aie not conducive to its use as a ietuin
conductoi in a ciicuit. Howevei, ciicuits aie often con-
nected to eaith giound foi piotection against shock
hazaids. The othei kind of giound, signaI giound, is an
aibitiaiiIy seIected iefeience node in a ciicuit-the
node with iespect to which othei node voItages in the
ciicuit aie measuied.
SAFETY GROUND
The standaid 3-wiie singIe-phase AC powei distiibu-
tion system is iepiesented in Figuie 13. The white wiie
is eaith-giounded at the seivice entiance. If a Ioad cii-
cuit has a metaI encIosuie oi chassis, and if the bIack
wiie deveIops a shoit to the encIosuie, theie wiII be a
shock hazaid to opeiating peisonneI, unIess the encIo-
suie itseIf is eaith-giounded. If the encIosuie is eaith-
9
AP-125
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
21031316
Figure 12 Effect of Shield Discontinuity on Magnetically Induced Shield Current
giounded, a shoit iesuIts in a bIown fuse iathei than a
hot encIosuie. The eaith-giound connection to the
encIosuie is caIIed a safety giound. The advantage of
the 3-wiie powei system is that it distiibutes a safety
giound aIong with the powei.
Note that the safety-giound wiie caiiies no cuiient,
except in case of a fauIt, so that at Ieast foi Iow fiequen-
cies its at eaith-giound potentiaI aIong its entiie
Iength. The white wiie, on the othei hand, may be sev-
eiaI voIts off giound, due to the IR diop aIong its
Iength.
21031317
Figure 13 Single-Phase Power Distribution
SIGNAL GROUND
SignaI giound is a singIe point in a ciicuit that is desig-
nated to be the iefeience node foi the ciicuit. Common-
Iy, wiies that connect to this singIe point aie aIso ie-
feiied to as signaI giound. In some ciicIes powei
suppIy common oi PSC is the piefeiied teiminoIogy
foi these conductois. In any case, the mannei in which
these wiies connect to the actuaI iefeience point is the
basis of distinction among thiee kinds of signaI-giound
wiiing methods: seiies, paiaIIeI, and muItipoint. These
methods aie shown in Figuie 14.
The seiies connection is pietty common because its
simpIe and economicaI. Its the noisiest of the thiee,
howevei, due to common giound impedance coupIing
between the ciicuits. When seveiaI ciicuits shaie a
giound wiie, cuiients fiom one ciicuit, fIowing thiough
the finite impedance of the common giound Iine, cause
vaiiations in the giound potentiaI of the othei ciicuits.
Oiven that the cuiients in a digitaI system tend to be
spiked, and that the common impedance is mainIy in-
ductive ieactance, the vaiiations couId be bad enough
to cause bit eiiois in high cuiient oi paiticuIaiIy noisy
situations.
The paiaIIeI connection eIiminates common giound im-
pedance piobIems, but uses a Iot of wiie. Othei disad-
vantages aie that the impedance of the individuaI
giound Iines can be veiy high, and the giound Iines
themseIves can become souices of FMI.
10
AP-125
In the muItipoint system, giound impedance is mini-
mized by using a giound pIane with the vaiious ciicuits
connected to it by veiy shoit giound Ieads. This type of
connection wouId be used mainIy in RF ciicuits above
10 MHz.
PRACTICAL GROUNDING
A combination of seiies and paiaIIeI giound-wiiing
methods can be used to tiade off economic and the
vaiious eIectiicaI consideiations. The idea is to iun se-
iies connections foi ciicuits that have simiIai noise
piopeities, and connect them at a singIe iefeience
point, as in the paiaIIeI method, as shown in Figuie 15.
In Figuie 15, noisy signaI giound connects to things
Iike motois and ieIays. Haidwaie giound is the safety
giound connection to chassis, iacks, and cabinets. Its a
mistake to use the haidwaie giound as a ietuin path foi
signaI cuiients because its faiiIy noisy (foi exampIe,
its the haidwaie giound that ieceives an FSD spaik)
and tends to have high iesistance due to joints and
seams.
21031318
Series Connection
21031319
Parallel Connection
21031320
Multipoint Connection
Figure 14 Three Ways to Wire the Grounds
21031321
Figure 15 Parallel Connection
of Series Grounds
Sciews and boIts dont aIways make good eIectiicaI
connections because of gaIvanic action, coiiosion, and
diit. These kinds of connections may woik weII at fiist,
and then cause mysteiious maIadies as the system ages.
Figuie 16 iIIustiates a giounding system foi a 9-tiack
digitaI tape iecoidei, showing an appIication of the se-
iies/paiaIIeI giound-wiiing method.
Figuie 17 shows a simiIai sepaiation of giounds at the
PCB IeveI. Cuiients in muItipIexed LFD dispIays tend
to put a Iot of noise on the giound and suppIy Iines
because of the constant switching and changing in-
voIved in the scanning piocess. The segment diivei
giound is ieIativeIy quiet, since it doesnt conduct the
LFD cuiients. The digit diivei giound is noisiei, and
shouId be piovided with a sepaiate path to the PCB
giound teiminaI, even if the PCB giound Iayout is giid-
ded. The LFD feed and ietuin cuiient paths shouId be
Iaid out on opposite sides of the boaid Iike paiaIIeI fIat
conductois.
Figuie 18 shows iight and wiong ways to make giound
connections in iacks. Note that the safety giound con-
nections fiom paneI to iack aie made thiough giound
stiaps, not paneI sciews. Rack 1 coiiectIy connects sig-
naI giound to iack giound onIy at the singIe iefeience
point. Rack 2 incoiiectIy connects signaI giound to
iack giound at two points, cieating a giound Ioop
aiound points 1, 2, 3, 4, 1.
Bieaking the eIectionics giound connection to point
1 eIiminates the giound Ioop, but Ieaves signaI giound
in iack 2 shaiing a giound impedance with the ieIative-
Iy noisy haidwaie giound to the iefeience point, in fact,
it may end up using haidwaie giound as a ietuin path
foi signaI and powei suppIy cuiients. This wiII pioba-
bIy cause moie piobIems than the giound Ioop.
BRAIDED CABLE
Oiound impedance piobIems can be viituaIIy eIiminat-
ed by using biaided cabIe. The ieduction in impedance
is due to skin effect: At highei fiequencies the cuiient
tends to fIow aIong the suiface of a conductoi iathei
11
AP-125
21031322
Figure 16 Ground System in a 9-Track Digital Recorder
21031323
Figure 17 Separate Ground for Multiplexed LED Display
12
AP-125
21031324
Figure 18 Electronic Circuits Mounted in Equipment Racks Should Have Separate Ground
Connections Rack 1 Shows Correct Grounding Rack 2 Shows Incorrect Grounding
than unifoimIy thiough its buIk. WhiIe this effect tends
to inciease the impedance of a given conductoi, it aIso
indicates the way to minimize impedance, and that is to
manipuIate the shape of the cioss-section so as to pio-
vide moie suiface aiea. Foi its buIk, biaided cabIe is
aImost puie suiface.
Power Supply Distribution and
Decoupling
The main consideiation foi powei suppIy distiibution
Iines is, as foi signaI Iines, to minimize the aieas of the
cuiient Ioops. But the powei suppIy Iines take on an
impoitance that no signaI Iine has when one consideis
the fact that these Iines have access to eveiy PC boaid
in the system. The veiy extensiveness of the suppIy cui-
ient Ioops makes it difficuIt to keep Ioop aieas smaII.
And, a noise gIitch on a suppIy Iine is a gIitch deIiveied
to eveiy boaid in the system.
The powei suppIy piovides Iow-fiequency cuiient to
the Ioad, but the inductance of the boaid-to-boaid and
chip-to-chip distiibution netwoik makes it difficuIt foi
the powei suppIy to maintain VCC specs on the chip
whiIe pioviding the cuiient spikes that a digitaI system
iequiies. In addition, the powei suppIy cuiient Ioop is a
veiy Iaige one, which means theie wiII be a Iot of noise
pick-up. Figuie 19a shows a Ioad ciicuit tiying to diaw
cuiient spikes fiom a suppIy voItage thiough the Iine
impedance. To the VCC wavefoim shown in that figuie
shouId be added the inductive pick-up associated with a
Iaige Ioop aiea.
Adding a decoupIing capacitoi soIves two piobIems:
The capacitoi acts as a neaiby souice of chaige to sup-
pIy the cuiient spikes thiough a smaIIei Iine imped-
ance, and it defines a much smaIIei Ioop aiea foi the
highei fiequency components of FMI. This is iIIustiat-
ed in Figuie 19b, which shows the capacitoi suppIying
the cuiient spike, duiing which VCC diops fiom 5V by
the amount indicated in the figuie. Between cuiient
spikes the capacitoi iecoveis thiough the Iine imped-
ance.
One shouId iesist the temptation to add a iesistoi oi an
inductoi to the decoupIei so as to foim a genuine RC oi
LC Iow-pass fiItei because that sIows down the speed
with which the decoupIei cap can be iefieshed. Oood
fiIteiing and good decoupIing aie not necessaiiIy the
same thing.
The cuiient Ioop foi the highei fiequency cuiients,
then, is defined by the decoupIing cap and the Ioad
ciicuit, iathei than by the powei suppIy and the Ioad
ciicuit. Foi the decoupIing cap to be abIe to piovide the
cuiient spikes iequiied by the Ioad, the inductance of
this cuiient Ioop must be kept smaII, which is the same
as saying the Ioop aiea must be kept smaII. This is aIso
the iequiiement foi minimizing inductive pick-up in
the Ioop.
Theie aie two kinds of decoupIing caps: boaid decou-
pIeis and chip decoupIeis. A boaid decoupIei wiII noi-
maIIy be a 10 to 100 mF eIectioIytic capacitoi pIaced
neai to wheie the powei suppIy enteis the PC boaid,
but its pIacement is ieIativeIy non-ciiticaI. The puipose
of the boaid decoupIei is to iefiesh the chaige on the
chip decoupIeis. The chip decoupIeis aie what actuaIIy
piovide the cuiient spikes to the chips. A chip decou-
pIei wiII noimaIIy be a 0.1 to 1 mF ceiamic capacitoi
pIaced neai the chip and connected to the chip by
tiaces that minimize the aiea of the Ioop foimed by the
cap and the chip. If a chip decoupIei is not piopeiIy
pIaced on the boaid, it wiII be ineffective as a decoupIei
13
AP-125
21031325
(a) Drawing Current Spikes
through the Line Impedance
21031326
(b) Drawing Current Spikes
from a Decoupling Capacitor
Figure 19 What a Decoupling Capacitor Does
and wiII seive onIy to inciease the cost of the boaid.
Oood and bad pIacement of decoupIing capacitois aie
iIIustiated in Figuie 20.
Powei distiibution tiaces on the PC boaid need to be
Iaid out so as to obtain minimaI aiea (minimaI induc-
tance) in the Ioops foimed by each chip and its decou-
pIei, and by the chip decoupIeis and the boaid decou-
pIei. One way to accompIish this goaI is to use a powei
pIane. A powei pIane is the same as a giound pIane, but
at VCC potentiaI. Moie economicaIIy, a powei giid
simiIai to the giound giid pieviousIy discussed (Figuie
8) can be used. ActuaIIy, if the chip decoupIing Ioops
aie smaII, othei aspects of the powei Iayout aie Iess
ciiticaI. In othei woids, powei pIanes and powei giid-
ding aient needed, but powei tiaces should be Iaid in
the cIosest possibIe pioximity to giound tiaces, piefei-
There must be a very low inductance between decoupling capacitor
and the IC
21031327
The decreased area of loop between capacitor IC decreases
inductance
Figure 20 Placement of Decoupling Capacitors
abIy so that each powei tiace is on the diiect opposite
side of the boaid fiom a giound tiace.
SpeciaI-puipose powei suppIy distiibution buses which
mount on the PCB aie avaiIabIe. The buses use a paiaI-
IeI fIat conductoi configuiation, one conductoi being a
VCC Iine and the othei a giound Iine. Used in conjunc-
tion with a giidded giound Iayout, they not onIy pio-
vide a Iow-inductance distiibution system, but can
themseIves foim pait of the giound giid, thus faciIitat-
ing the PCB Iayout. The buses aie avaiIabIe with and
without enhanced bus capacitance, undei the names
Mini/Bus and Q/PAC fiom Rogeis Coip. (5750 F.
McKeIIips, Mesa, AZ 85205).
SELECTING THE VALUE OF THE
DECOUPLING CAP
The effectiveness of the decoupIing cap has a Iot to do
with the way the powei and giound tiaces connect this
capacitoi to the chip. In fact, the aiea foimed by this
Ioop is moie impoitant than the vaIue of the capaci-
tance. Then, given that the aiea of this Ioop is indeed
minimaI, it can geneiaIIy be said that the Iaigei the
vaIue of the decoupIing cap, the moie effective it is, if
the cap has a mica, ceiamic, gIass, oi poIystyiene di-
eIectiic.
Its often said, and not aItogethei accuiateIy, that the
chip decoupIei shouIdnt have too Iaige a vaIue. Theie
aie two ieasons foi this statement. One is that some
capacitois, because of the natuie of theii dieIectiics,
tend to become inductive oi Iossy at highei fiequencies.
This is tiue of eIectioIytic capacitois, but mica, gIass,
14
AP-125
ceiamic, and poIystyiene dieIectiics woik weII to sevei-
aI hundied MHz. The othei ieason cited foi not using
too Iaige a capacitance has to do with Iead inductance.
The capacitoi with its Iead inductance foims a seiies
LC ciicuit. BeIow the fiequency of seiies iesonance, the
net impedance of the combination is capacitive. Above
that fiequency, the net impedance is inductive. Thus a
decoupIing capacitoi is capacitive onIy beIow the fie-
quency of seiies iesonance. The fiequency is given by
f
0
e
1
2q0LC
wheie C is the decoupIing capacitance and L is the Iead
inductance between the capacitoi and the chip. On a
PC boaid this inductance is deteimined by the Iayout,
and is the same whethei the capacitoi diopped into the
PCB hoIes is 0.001 mF oi 1 mF. Thus, incieasing the
capacitance Ioweis the seiies iesonant fiequency. In
fact, accoiding to the iesonant fiequency foimuIa, in-
cieasing C by a factoi of 100 Ioweis the iesonant fie-
quency by a factoi of 10.
Figuies quoted on the seiies iesonant fiequency of a
0.01 mF capacitoi iun fiom 10 to 15 MHz, depending
on the Iead Iength. If these numbeis weie accuiate, a
1 mF capacitoi in the same position on the boaid wouId
have a iesonant fiequency of 1.0 to 1.5 MHz, and as a
decoupIei wouId do moie haim than good. Howevei,
the numbeis aie based on a piesumed inductance of a
given Iength of wiie (the Iead Iength). It shouId be not-
ed that a Iength of wiie has no inductance at aII,
stiictIy speaking. OnIy a compIete cuiient Ioop has in-
ductance, and the inductance depends on the geometiy
of the Ioop. Figuies quoted on the inductance of a
Iength of wiie aie based on a piesumabIy veiy Iaige
Ioop aiea, such that the magnetic fieId pioduced by the
ietuin cuiient has no canceIIation effect on the fieId
pioduced by the cuiient in the given Iength of wiie.
Such a Ioop geometiy is not and shouId not be the case
with the decoupIing Ioop.
Figuie 21 shows VCC wavefoims, measuied between
pins 40 and 20 (VCC and VSS) of an 8751 CPU, foi
seveiaI conditions of decoupIing on a PC boaid that has
a decoupIing Ioop aiea sIightIy Iaigei than necessaiy.
These photogiaphs show the effects of incieasing the
decoupIing capacitance and decieasing the aiea of the
decoupIing Ioop. The indications aie that a 1 mF capac-
itoi is bettei than a 0.1 mF capacitoi, which in tuin is
bettei than nothing, and that the boaid shouId have
been Iaid out with moie attention paid to the aiea of the
decoupIing Ioop.
Figuie 21e was obtained using a speciaI-puipose expeii-
mentaI capacitoi designed by Rogeis Coip. (Q-Pac Di-
vision, Mesa, AZ) foi use as a decoupIei. It consists of
two paiaIIeI pIates, the Iength of a 40-pin DIP, sepaiat-
ed by a ceiamic dieIectiic. Sandwiched between the
CPU chip and the PCB (oi between the CPU socket
and the PCB), it makes connection to pins 40 and 20,
foiming a IeadIess decoupIing capacitoi. It is obviousIy
a configuiation of minimaI inductance. UnfoitunateIy,
the paiticuIai sampIe tested had onIy 0.07 mF of capac-
itance and so was unabIe to pievent the 1 MHz iippIe
as effectiveIy as the configuiation of Figuie 21d. It
seems appaient, though, that with moie capacitance
this pait wiII aIIeviate a Iot of decoupIing piobIems.
THE CASE FOR ON-BOARD VOLTAGE
REGULATION
To compIicate matteis, suppIy Iine gIitches aient aI-
ways picked up in the distiibution netwoiks, but can
come fiom the powei suppIy ciicuit itseIf. In that case,
a weII-designed distiibution netwoik faithfuIIy deIiveis
the gIitch thioughout the system. The VCC gIitch in
Figuie 22 was found to be coming fiom within a bench
powei suppIy in iesponse to the FMP pioduced by an
induction coiI spaik geneiatoi that was being used at
InteI duiing a study of noise sensitivity. The VCC
gIitch is about 400 mV high and some 20 ms in duia-
tion. NoimaI boaid decoupIing techniques weie ineffec-
tive in iemoving it, but adding an on-boaid voItage ieg-
uIatoi chip did the job.
Thus, a good case can be made in favoi of using a
voItage ieguIatoi chip on each PCB, instead of doing aII
the voItage ieguIation at the suppIy ciicuit. This eases
iequiiements on the heat-sinking at the suppIy ciicuit,
and aIIeviates much of the distiibution and boaid de-
coupIing headaches. Howevei, it aIso biings in the pos-
sibiIity that diffeient boaids wouId be opeiating at
sIightIy diffeient VCC IeveIs due to toIeiance in the
ieguIatoi chips, this then Ieads to sIightIy diffeient Iogic
IeveIs fiom boaid to boaid. The impIications of that
may vaiy fiom nothing to Iatch-up, depending on what
kinds of chips aie on the boaids, and how they ieact to
an input high that is peihaps 0.4V highei than IocaI
VCC.
Recovering Gracefully from a Software
Upset
Fven when one foIIows aII the best guideIines foi de-
signing foi a noisy enviionment, its aIways possibIe foi
a noise tiansient to occui which exceeds the ciicuits
immunity IeveI. In that case, one can stiive at Ieast foi a
giacefuI iecoveiy.
OiacefuI iecoveiy schemes invoIve additionaI haidwaie
and/oi softwaie which is supposed to ietuin the system
to a noimaI opeiating mode aftei a softwaie upset has
occuiied. Two decisions have to be made: How to iec-
ognize when an upset has occuiied, and what to do
about it.
15
AP-125
21031328
(a) No Decoupling Cap
21031329
(b) 01 mF Decoupler in Place on the PCB
21031330
(c) 01 mF Decoupler Stretched Directly
from Pin 40 to Pin 20 under the Socket
(The difference between this and 21b is
due only to the change in loop geometry
Also shown is the upward slope of a ripple
in VCC The ripple frequency is
1 MHz the same as ALE)
21031331
(d) 10 mF Decoupler Stretched Directly
from Pin 40 to Pin 20 under the Socket
(This prevents the 1 MHz ripple but theres
no reduction in higher frequency components
Further increases in capacitance
effected no further improvement)
21031332
(e) Special-Purpose Decoupling Cap
under Development by Rogers Corp
(Further discussion in text)
Figure 21 Noise on VCC Line
16
AP-125
21031333
Figure 22 EMP-Induced Glitch
If the designei knows what kinds and combinations of
outputs can IegaIIy be geneiated by the system, he can
use gates to iecognize and fIag the occuiience of an
iIIegaI state of affaiis. The fIag can then tiiggei a jump
to a iecoveiy ioutine which then may check oi ie-ini-
tiaIize data, peihaps output an eiioi message, oi genei-
ate a simpIe ieset.
The most ieIiabIe scheme is to use a so-caIIed watchdog
ciicuit. Heie the CPU is piogiammed to geneiate a
peiiodic signaI as Iong as the system is executing in-
stiuctions in an expected mannei. The peiiodic signaI is
then used to hoId off a ciicuit that wiII tiiggei a jump to
a iecoveiy ioutine. The peiiodic signaI needs to be AC-
coupIed to the tiiggei ciicuit so that a stuck-at fauIt
wont continue to hoId off the tiiggei. Then, if the pioc-
essoi Iocks up somepIace, the peiiodic signaI is Iost and
the watchdog tiiggeis a ieset.
In piactice, it may be convenient to diive the watchdog
ciicuit with a signaI which is being geneiated anyway
by the system. One needs to be caiefuI, howevei, that
an upset does in fact discontinue that signaI. SpecificaI-
Iy, foi exampIe, one couId use one of the digit diive
signaIs going to a muItipIexed dispIay. But dispIay
scanning is often handIed in iesponse to a timei-intei-
iupt, which may continue opeiating even though the
main piogiam is in a faiIuie mode. Fven so, with a IittIe
extia softwaie, the signaI can be used to contioI the
watchdog (see Refeience 8 on this).
SimpIei schemes can woik weII foi simpIei systems.
Foi exampIe, if a CPU isnt doing anything but scan-
ning and decoding a keyboaid, theies IittIe to Iose and
much to gain by simpIy iesetting it peiiodicaIIy with an
astabIe muItivibiatoi. It onIy takes about 13 ms (at 6
MHz) to ieset an 8048 if the cIock osciIIatoi is aIieady
iunning.
A zeio-cost measuie is simpIy to fiII aII unused pio-
giam memoiy with NOPs and JMPs to a iecoveiy iou-
tine. The effectiveness of this method is incieased by
wiiting the piogiam in segments that aie sepaiated by
NOPs and JMPs. Its stiII possibIe, of couise, to get
hung up in a data tabIe oi something. But you get a Iot
of piotection, foi the cost.
Fuithei discussion of giacefuI iecoveiy schemes can be
found in Refeience 13.
Special Problem Areas
ESD
MOS chips have some buiIt-in piotection against a stat-
ic chaige buiId-up on the pins, as wouId occui duiing
noimaI handIing, but theies no piotection against the
kinds of cuiient IeveIs and iise times that occui in a
genuine eIectiostatic spaik. These kinds of dischaiges
can bIow a ciatei in the siIicon.
It must be iecognized that connecting CPU pins unpio-
tected to a keyboaid oi to anything eIse that is subject
to eIectiostatic dischaiges makes an extiemeIy fiagiIe
configuiation. Buffeiing them is the veiy Ieast one can
do. But buffeiing doesnt compIeteIy soIve the piobIem,
because then the buffei chips wiII sustain the damage
(even TTL), theiefoie, one might considei mounting
the buffei chips in sockets foi ease of iepIacement.
Tiansient suppiessois, such as the TianZoibs made by
OeneiaI Semiconductoi Industiies (Tempe, AZ), may
in the Iong iun piovide the cheapest piotection if theii
zeio inductance stiuctuie is used. The stiuctuie and
ciicuit appIication aie shown in Figuie 23.
The suppiessoi eIement is a pn junction that opeiates
Iike a Zenei diode. Back-to-back units aie avaiIabIe foi
AC opeiation. The eIement is moie oi Iess an open
ciicuit at noimaI system voItage (the standoff voItage
iating foi the device), and conducts Iike a Zenei diode
at the cIamping voItage.
The Iead inductance in the conventionaI tiansient sup-
piessoi package makes the conventionaI package essen-
17
AP-125
Patent Pending 21031334
(a) 21031335
(b)
Figure 23 Zero-Inductance Structure and Use in Circuit
tiaIIy useIess foi piotection against FSD puIses, owing
to the fast iise of these puIses. The zeio inductance
units aie avaiIabIe singIy in a 4-pin DIP, and in aiiays
of foui to a 16-pin DIP foi PCB IeveI piotection. In
that appIication they shouId be mounted in cIose piox-
imity to the chips they piotect.
In addition, metaI encIosuies oi fiames oi paits that
can ieceive an FSD spaik shouId be connected by
biaided cabIe to the gieen-wiie giound. Because of the
giound impedance, FSD cuiient shouIdnt be aIIowed
to fIow thiough any signaI giound, even if the chips aie
piotected by tiansient suppiessois. A 35 kV FSD spaik
can aIways spaie a few hundied voIts to diive a fast
cuiient puIse down a signaI giound Iine if it cant find a
biaided cabIe to foIIow. Think how deIighted youi 8048
wiII be to find its VSS pin 250V highei than VCC foi a
few 10s of nanoseconds.
THE AUTOMOTIVE ENVIRONMENT
The automobiIe piesents an extiemeIy hostiIe enviion-
ment foi eIectionic systems. Theie aie seveiaI paits to
it:
1. Tempeiatuie extiemes fiom
b
40C to
a
125C (un-
dei the hood) oi
a
85C (in the passengei compait-
ment)
2. FIectiomagnetic puIses fiom the ignition system
3. SuppIy Iine tiansients that wiII knock youi socks off
One needs to take a Iong, caiefuI Iook at the tempeia-
tuie extiemes. The aIIowabIe stoiage tempeiatuie iange
foi most InteI MOS chips is
b
65C to
a
150C, aI-
though some chips have a maximum stoiage tempeia-
tuie iating of
a
125C. In opeiation (oi undei bias,
as the data sheets say) the aIIowabIe ambient tempeia-
tuie iange depends on the pioduct giade, as foIIows:
Grade
Ambient Temperature
Min Max
Commercial 0 70
Industrial
b
40
a
85
Automotive
b
40
a
110
Military
b
55
a
125
The diffeient pioduct giades aie actuaIIy the same
chip, but tested accoiding to diffeient standaids. Thus,
a given commeiciaI-giade chip might actuaIIy pass miI-
itaiy tempeiatuie iequiiements, but not have been test-
ed foi it. (Of couise, theie aie othei diffeiences in giad-
ing iequiiements having to do with packaging, buin-in,
tiaceabiIity, etc.)
In any case, its appaient that commeiciaI-giade chips
cant be used safeIy in automotive appIications, not
even in the passengei compaitment. IndustiiaI-giade
chips can be used in the passengei compaitment, and
automotive oi miIitaiy chips aie iequiied in undei-the-
hood appIications.
Ignition noise, CB iadios, and that soit of thing aie
piobabIy the Ieast of youi woiiies. In a pooiIy designed
system, oi in one that has not been adequateIy tested
foi the automotive enviionment, this type of FMI
might cause a few softwaie upsets, but not destioy
chips.
The majoi piobIem, and the one that seems to come as
the biggest suipiise to most peopIe, is the Iine tian-
sients. RegiettabIy, the 12V batteiy is not actuaIIy the
souice of powei when the cai is iunning. The chaiging
system is, and its not veiy cIean. The onIy time the
batteiy is the ieaI souice of powei is when the cai is
fiist being staited, and in that condition the batteiy
teiminaIs may be deIiveiing about 5V oi 6V. As foIIows
is a biief desciiption of the majoi idiosynciacies of the
12V automotive powei Iine.
18
AP-125
21031336
Figure 24 Typical Load Dump Transients
An abiupt ieduction in the aIteinatoi Ioad causes a
positive voItage tiansient caIIed Ioad dump. In a
Ioad dump tiansient the Iine voItage iises to 20V oi
30V in a few ms, then decays exponentiaIIy with a
time constant of about 100 ms, as shown in Figuie
24. Much highei peak voItages and Iongei decay
times have aIso been iepoited. The woist case Ioad
dump is caused by disconnecting a Iow batteiy fiom
the aIteinatoi ciicuit whiIe the aIteinatoi is iunning.
NoimaIIy this wouId happen inteimittentIy when
the batteiy teiminaI connections aie defective.
When the ignition is tuined off, as the fieId excita-
tion decays, the Iine voItage can go to between
b
40V and
b
100V foi 100 ms oi moie.
MisceIIaneous soIenoid switching tiansients, such as
the one shown in Figuie 25, can diive the Iine to
a
oi
b
200V to 400V foi seveiaI ms.
MutuaI coupIing between unshieIded wiies in Iong
hainesses can induce 100V and 200V tiansients in
unpiotected ciicuits.
What aII this adds up to is that peopIe in the business of
buiIding systems foi automotive appIications need a
compiehensive testing piogiam. An SAF guideIine
which desciibes the automotive enviionment is avaiI-
abIe to designeis: SAF J1211, Recommended Fnvi-
ionmentaI Piactices foi FIectionic Fquipment Design,
1980 SAE Handbook Pait 1, pp. 22.8022.96.
Some suggestions foi piotecting ciicuitiy aie shown in
Figuie 26. A tiansient suppiessoi is pIaced in fiont of
the ieguIatoi chip to piotect it. Since the iise times in
these tiansients aie not Iike those in FSD puIses, Iead
inductance is Iess ciiticaI and conventionaI devices can
be used. The ieguIatoi itseIf is pietty much of a necessi-
ty, since a Ioad dump tiansient is simpIy not going to be
iemoved by any conventionaI LC oi RC fiItei.
21031337
Figure 25 Transient Created by De-energizing an Air Conditioning Clutch Solenoid
19
AP-125
21031338
Figure 26 Use of Transient Suppressors in Automotive Applications
SpeciaI I/O inteifacing is aIso iequiied, because of the
need foi high toIeiance to voItage tiansients, input
noise, input/output isoIation, etc. In addition, switches
that aie being monitoied oi diiven by these buffeis aie
usuaIIy iefeienced to chassis giound instead of signaI
giound, and in a cai theie can be many voIts diffeience
between the two. I/O inteifacing is discussed in Refei-
ence 2.
Parting Thoughts
The main souices of infoimation foi this AppIication
Note weie the iefeiences by Ott and by White. Refei-
ence 5 is piobabIy the finest tieatment cuiientIy avaiI-
abIe on the subject. The othei iefeiences piovided spe-
cific infoimation as cited in the text.
Couises and seminais on the subject of eIectiomagnetic
inteifeience aie given ieguIaiIy thioughout the yeai.
Infoimation on these can be obtained fiom:
IFFF FIectiomagnetic CompatibiIity Society
FMC Fducation Committee
345 Fast 47th Stieet
New Yoik, NY 10017
Don White ConsuItants, Inc.
InteinationaI Tiaining Centie
P.O. Box D
OainesviIIe, VA 22065
Phone: (703) 347-0030
The FMC Fducation committee has avaiIabIe a video
tape: Intioduction to FMC-A Video Tiaining
Tape, by Heniy Ott. Don White ConsuItants offeis a
seiies of tiaining couises on many diffeient aspects of
eIectiomagnetic compatibiIity. Most oiganizations that
sponsoi FMC couises aIso offei in-pIant piesentations.
20
AP-125
REFERENCES
1. CIaik, O.M., FIectiostatic Dischaige Piotection
Using SiIicon Tiansient Suppiessois, Proceedings of
the Electrical OverstressElectrostatic Discharge Sympo-
sium ReIiabiIity AnaIysis Centei, Rome Aii DeveIop-
ment Centei, 1979.
2. Keainey, M, Shieve, J., and Vincent, W., Micio-
piocessoi Based Systems in the AutomobiIe: Custom
Integiated Ciicuits Piovide an Fffective Inteiface,
Electronic Engine Management and Driveline Control
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21
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