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Electromagnetic interference - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electromagnetic interference
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electromagnetic interference (EMI, also called

radio-frequency interference or RFI when in radio
frequency) 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. These effects can range from a simple
degradation of data to a total loss of data.[2] 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.
Electromagnetic interference in analog TV signal

EMI can be intentionally used for radio jamming, as

in some forms of electronic warfare, or can occur
unintentionally, as a result of spurious emissions for example through intermodulation products, and the
like. It frequently affects the reception of AM radio in urban areas. It can also affect cell phone, FM
radio and television reception, although to a lesser extent.

Contents
1 Types
2 Susceptibilities of different radio
technologies
3 Interference to consumer devices
4 History
5 Standards
6 EMI in integrated circuits

EMI sound sample 1

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A GSM mobile phone signal interferes

with a speaker system.
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EMI sound sample 2

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A Wi-Fi signal interferes with a

speaker system.
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6.1 RF immunity and testing

7 RFI in radio astronomy
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Types
Narrowband EMI or RFI interference typically emanates from intended transmissions, such as
radio and TV stations or cell phones.
Broadband EMI or RFI interference is unintentional radiation from sources such as electric power
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transmission lines.[3][4][5]
Conducted electromagnetic interference is caused by the physical contact of the conductors as opposed
to radiated EMI, which is caused by induction (without physical contact of the conductors).
Electromagnetic disturbances in the EM field of a conductor will no longer be confined to the surface of
the conductor and will radiate away from it. This persists in all conductors and mutual inductance
between two radiated electromagnetic fields will result in EMI.

Susceptibilities of different radio technologies

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 antennas used with broadcast systems. Newer radio systems incorporate several
improvements that enhance the selectivity. In digital radio systems, such as Wi-Fi, error-correction
techniques can be used. Spread-spectrum and frequency-hopping techniques can be used with both
analogue and digital signalling to improve resistance to interference. A highly directional receiver, such
as a parabolic antenna or a diversity receiver, can be used to select one signal in space to the exclusion
of others.
The most extreme example of digital spread-spectrum signalling to date is ultra-wideband (UWB),
which proposes the use of large sections of the radio spectrum at low amplitudes to transmit highbandwidth digital data. UWB, if used exclusively, would enable very efficient use of the spectrum, but
users of non-UWB technology are not yet prepared to share the spectrum with the new system because
of the interference it would cause to their receivers. The regulatory implications of UWB are discussed
in the ultra-wideband article.

Interference to consumer devices

In the United States, the 1982 Public Law 97-259 allowed the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to regulate the susceptibility of consumer electronic equipment.[6]
Potential sources of RFI and EMI include:[7] various types of transmitters, doorbell transformers, toaster
ovens, electric blankets, ultrasonic pest control devices, electric bug zappers, heating pads, and touch
controlled lamps. Multiple CRT computer monitors or televisions sitting too close to one another can
sometimes cause a "shimmy" effect in each other, due to the electromagnetic nature of their picture
tubes, especially when one of their de-gaussing coils is activated.
Electromagnetic interference at 2.4 GHz can be caused by 802.11b and 802.11g wireless devices,
Bluetooth devices, baby monitors and cordless telephones, video senders, and microwave ovens.
Switching loads (inductive, capacitive, and resistive), such as electric motors, transformers, heaters,
lamps, ballast, power supplies, etc., all cause electromagnetic interference especially at currents above 2
amps. The usual method used for suppressing EMI is by connecting a snubber network, a resistor in
series with a capacitor, across a pair of contacts. While this may offer modest EMI reduction at very low
currents, snubbers do not work at currents over 2 A with electromechanical contacts.[8][9]
Switched-mode power supplies can be a source of EMI, but have become less of a problem as design
techniques have improved, such as integrated power factor correction.

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Most countries have legal requirements that mandate electromagnetic compatibility: electronic and
electrical hardware must still work correctly when subjected to certain amounts of EMI, and should not
emit EMI, which could interfere with other equipment (such as radios).
Radio frequency signal quality has declined throughout the 21st Century by roughly one decibel per year
as the spectrum becomes increasingly crowded. This has inflicted a Red Queen's race on the mobile
phone industry as companies have been forced to put up more cellular towers (at new frequencies) that
then cause more interference thereby requiring more investment by the providers and frequent upgrades
of mobile phones to match.[10]

History
Since the earliest days of radio communications, the negative effects of interference from both
intentional and unintentional transmissions have been felt and the need to manage the radio frequency
spectrum became apparent.
In 1933, a meeting of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in Paris recommended the
International Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR) be set up to deal with the emerging
problem of EMI. CISPR subsequently produced technical publications covering measurement and test
techniques and recommended emission and immunity limits. These have evolved over the decades and
form the basis of much of the world's EMC regulations today.
In 1979, legal limits were imposed on electromagnetic emissions from all digital equipment by the FCC
in the USA in response to the increased number of digital systems that were interfering with wired and
radio communications. Test methods and limits were based on CISPR publications, although similar
limits were already enforced in parts of Europe.
In the mid 1980s, the European Union member states adopted a number of "new approach" directives
with the intention of standardizing technical requirements for products so that they do not become a
barrier to trade within the EC. One of these was the EMC Directive (89/336/EC)[11] and it applies to all
equipment placed on the market or taken into service. Its scope covers all apparatus "liable to cause
electromagnetic disturbance or the performance of which is liable to be affected by such disturbance".
This was the first time there was a legal requirement on immunity as well as emissions on apparatus
intended for the general population. And although there may be additional costs involved for some
products to give them a known level of immunity, it increases their perceived quality as they are able to
co-exist with apparatus in the active EM environment of modern times and with fewer problems.
Many countries now have similar requirements for products to meet some level of EMC regulation.

Standards
The International Special Committee for Radio Interference or CISPR (French acronym for "Comit
International Spcial des Perturbations Radiolectriques"), which is a committee of the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) sets international standards for radiated and conducted
electromagnetic interference. These are civilian standards for domestic, commercial, Industrial and
Automotive sectors. These standards form the basis of other regional and national standards most
notably the European Norms (EN) written by CENELEC (European committee for electrotechnical
standardisation).

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EMI in integrated circuits

Integrated circuits are often a source of EMI, but they must usually couple their energy to larger objects
such as heatsinks, circuit board planes and cables to radiate significantly.[12]
On integrated circuits, important means of reducing EMI are: the use of bypass or decoupling capacitors
on each active device (connected across the power supply, as close to the device as possible), rise time
control of high-speed signals using series resistors,[13] and VCC filtering. Shielding is usually a last
resort after other techniques have failed, because of the added expense of shielding components such as
conductive gaskets.
The efficiency of the radiation depends on the height above the ground plane or power plane (at RF, one
is as good as the other) and the length of the conductor in relation to the wavelength of the signal
component (fundamental frequency, harmonic or transient (overshoot, undershoot or ringing)). At lower
frequencies, such as 133 MHz, radiation is almost exclusively via I/O cables; RF noise gets onto the
power planes and is coupled to the line drivers via the VCC and ground pins. The RF is then coupled to
the cable through the line driver as common-mode noise. Since the noise is common-mode, shielding
has very little effect, even with differential pairs. The RF energy is capacitively coupled from the signal
pair to the shield and the shield itself does the radiating. One cure for this is to use a braid-breaker or
choke to reduce the common-mode signal.
At higher frequencies, usually above 500 MHz, traces get electrically longer and higher above the plane.
Two techniques are used at these frequencies: wave shaping with series resistors and embedding the
traces between the two planes. If all these measures still leave too much EMI, shielding such as RF
gaskets and copper tape can be used. Most digital equipment is designed with metal, or conductivecoated plastic, cases.

RF immunity and testing

Any unshielded Semiconductor (e.g. an Integrated Circuit) will tend to act as a Detector for those radio
signals commonly found in the domestic environment (e.g. cell phones).[14] Such a Detector can
demodulate the high frequency cell phone carrier (e.g., GSM850 and GSM1900, GSM900 and
GSM1800) and produce low-frequency (e.g., 217 Hz) demodulated signals.[15] This demodulation
manifests itself as unwanted audible buzz in audio appliances such as microphone amplifier, speaker
amplifier, car radio, telephones etc. Adding on-board EMI filters or special layout techniques can help in
bypassing EMI or improving RF immunity.[16] Some ICs are designed (e.g., LMV831-LMV834
(http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LMV831.pdf), MAX9724 (http://www.maximic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/4628)) to have integrated RF filters or a special design that helps reduce
any demodulation of high-frequency carrier.
Designers often need to carry out special tests for RF immunity of parts to be used in a system. These
tests are often done in an anechoic chamber with a controlled RF environment where the test vectors
produce a RF field similar to that produced in an actual environment.[15]

RFI in radio astronomy

Interference in radio astronomy, where it is commonly referred to as radio-frequency interference (RFI),
is any source of transmission that is within the observed frequency band other than the celestial sources
themselves. Because transmitters on and around the Earth can be many times stronger than the
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astronomical signal of interest, RFI is a major concern for performing radio astronomy. Natural sources
of interference, such as lightning and the sun, are also often referred to as RFI.
Some of the frequency bands that are very important for radio astronomy, such as the 21-cm HI line at
1420 MHz, are protected by regulation due to spectrum management. However, modern radioastronomical observatories such as VLA, LOFAR and ALMA have a very large bandwidth over which
they can observe. Because of the limited spectral space at radio frequencies, these frequency bands can
not be completely allocated to radio astronomy. Therefore, observatories need to deal with RFI in their
observations.
Techniques to deal with RFI range from filters in hardware to advanced algorithms in software. One way
to deal with strong transmitters is to filter out the frequency of the source completely. This is for
example the case for the LOFAR observatory, which filters out the FM radio stations between 90110 MHz. It is important to remove such strong sources of interference as soon as possible, because they
might "saturate" the highly sensitive receivers (amplifiers and analog-to-digital converters), which
means that the received signal is stronger than the receiver can handle. However, filtering out a
frequency band implies that these frequencies can never be observed with the instrument.
A common technique to deal with RFI within the observed frequency bandwidth, is to employ RFI
detection in software. Such software can find samples in time, frequency or time-frequence space that
are contaminated by an interfering source. These samples are subsequently ignored in further analysis of
the observed data. This process is often referred to as 'data flagging'. Because most transmitters have a
small bandwidth and are not continuously present (such as lightning or citizens' band (CB) radio
devices), most of the data remains available for the astronomical analysis. However, data flagging can
not solve issues with continuous broad-band transmitters, such as windmills, digital video or digital
audio transmitters.

See also
Electromagnetic radiation
Faraday cage
Radio receiver
Signal noise
Twisted pair
Interference (communication)

References
1. ^ Based on the "interference" entry of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition, online
2. ^ Sue, M.K. "Radio frequency interference at the geostationary orbit"
(http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19810018807). NASA. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
3. ^ "Radio Frequency Interference - And What to Do About It" (http://www.radiosky.com/journal0901.html).
Radio-Sky Journal (4). Radio-Sky Publishing. March 2001. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
4. ^ Radio frequency interference / editors, Charles L. Hutchinson, Michael B. Kaczynski ; contributors, Doug
DeMaw ... [et al.]. 4th ed. Newington, CT American Radio Relay League c1987.
5. ^ Radio frequency interference handbook. Compiled and edited by Ralph E. Taylor. Washington Scientific
and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; [was for sale by the
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National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.] 1971.

6. ^ RadioFrequency Interference/ElectroMagnetic Interference (http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfigen.html), ARRL
7. ^ "Interference Handbook" (http://www.kyes.com/antenna/interference/tvibook.html). Federal
Communications Commission. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
8. ^ "Lab Note #103 Snubbers - Are They Arc Suppressors?" (http://www.arcsuppressiontechnologies.com/arcsuppression-facts/lab-app-notes/). Arc Suppression Technologies. April 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
9. ^ "Lab Note #105 EMI Reduction - Unsuppressed vs. Suppressed"
(http://www.arcsuppressiontechnologies.com/arc-suppression-facts/lab-app-notes/). Arc Suppression
Technologies. April 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
10. ^ Smith, Tony (7 November 2012). "WTF is... RF-MEMS?"
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/07/wtf_is_rf_mems/). TheRegister.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
11. ^ "Council Directive 89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to electromagnetic compatibility" (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?
uri=CELEX:31989L0336:en:NOT). EUR-Lex. 3 May 1989. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
12. ^ "Integrated Circuit EMC" (http://www.cvel.clemson.edu/emc/ic_emc/ic.html). Clemson University
Vehicular Electronics Laboratory. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
13. ^ " "Don't "despike" your signal lines, add a resistor instead." "
(http://massmind.org/techref/electips.htm#series_resistor). Massmind.org. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
14. ^ Fiori, Franco (November 2000). "Integrated Circuit Susceptibility to Conducted RF Interference"
(http://www.ce-mag.com/archive/2000/novdec/fiori.html). Compliance Engineering. Ce-mag.com. Retrieved
21 January 2014.
15. ^ a b Mehta, Arpit (October 2005). "A general measurement technique for determining RF immunity"
(http://defenseelectronicsmag.com/sitefiles/defenseelectronicsmag.com/files/archive/rfdesign.com/mag/510RFD33.pdf). RF Design. Retrieved 21
January 2014.
16. ^ "APPLICATION NOTE 3660: PCB Layout Techniques to Achieve RF Immunity for Audio Amplifiers"
(http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/an_pk/3660). Maxim Integrated. 2006-07-04. Retrieved 21 January
2014.

External links
ARRL, RFI (http://www.arrl.org/radio-frequency-interference-rfi)
Interference Handbook (http://www.kyes.com/antenna/interference/tvibook.html)
EMC Design Fundamentals (http://www.ieee.li/pdf/viewgraphs/emc_design_fundamentals.pdf)
Clemson's EMC Page (http://www.cvel.clemson.edu/emc/) (EMI Tools and Information)
EMC Tutorials (http://www.learnemc.com/EMC-Tutorials.html)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Electromagnetic_interference&oldid=633577200"
Categories: Electromagnetic compatibility Television terminology
This page was last modified on 12 November 2014 at 21:16.
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