11/1/2009

Radiated Digital Ground Noise

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Public Seminar Schedule, taught by Dr. Howard Johnson U. of Oxford, UK June 22-23, 2010 High-Speed Digital Design Phoenix, AZ November 2-3, 2009 Adv. High-Speed Signal Propagation High-Speed Noise and Grounding U. of Oxford, UK Phoenix, AZ coming Spring 2010 June 24-25, 2010 November 4-5-2009

Radiated Digital Ground Noise

HIGH-SPEED DIGITAL DESIGN - online newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 17

*---------------------(QUESTION)---------------------* RADIATED DIGITAL GROUND NOISE David R. Smith writes: I am now reading your book "High Speed Digital Design". I am finding it very interesting, well written and informative. I have now finished Chapter 7 "Vias" but a colleague of mine asked about circuit board grounding to help pass FCC testing of radiated emissions. I let him read section 5.8.2 on Chassis Layers for printed circ uit boards. We both agreed that in our experienc e, tying the digital ground to the chassis at the point of egress from the chassis (say at an output RS-232 connector) will quiet radiated digital noise. We agreed that this technique would put the chassis at the same potential as the digital ground. What we could not explain exactly is how tying the digital ground plane to chassis actually reduces (common mode) radiated emissions from c ircuits going to the outside world (say via the RS-232 cable)? Thank you for your help. *--------------(REPLY FROM DR. JOHNSON)--------------* Thanks for your interest in High-Speed Digital Design. First let me say that tying digital ground (DGND) to chassis can be extremely beneficial, if your power supply architecture permits such a connection to be made. Now let's consider the precise point (or points) at which such a DGND-CHASSIS connection should be made. Let's say your product is composed of a solid metal box, with one cable leading out of the box. Inside the product there is a single digital circuit board (PCB), powered by an on-board battery. The cable is connected to the PCB at the point where the cable exits the box. We will consider two scenarios. In both scenarios the digital board is grounded at one and only one location:

(A)

____________________ | | CABLE | _______________ | PCB | | ______________X | | | | |________________X_|

Here, the digital circuit is grounded to the chassis near the point where the cable exits the box.

(B)

____________________ | | CABLE | _______________ | PCB | | X_____________X |

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Radiated Digital Ground Noise | | | |__X_______________|

In this case the digital circuit is grounded to the chassis at a point OPPOSITE where the cable exits the box. To properly understand this example you need to keep in mind that tiny voltages differences exist at opposite ends of the ground plane of the PCB. These voltages are caused by the digital signal currents moving ac ross the PCB on the signal traces. Every signal c urrent generates an equal and opposite path of return c urrent flowing along the digital power and ground system. As these high- speed currents traverse the finite induc tance of the power and ground planes, they produce tiny voltages. These noise voltages as measured from one end of your ground plane to the other are too small to create a noticeable signal integrity problem, but plenty large enough to cause major EMI difficulties. In case (A), the digital ground is pinned to the chassis at the point of cable exit. The digital ground voltage at that point equals the c hassis potential. As viewed from the exterior of the chassis, the voltage potential on the cable and the chassis are the same. The cable, therefore, does not radiate. Case (B) is different. Now the digital ground is pinned to the chassis opposite the point of cable exit. The digital ground voltage at the cable exit point now equals the chassis potential (from the far side) plus any noise picked up ac ross the ground plane of the circuit card. As viewed from the exterior of the chassis, the voltage potential in case (B) between the cable and the chassis differ. We have constructed an efficient antenna system, with the chassis acting as a grounded object and the cable (the antenna) driven by a voltage source equal in magnitude to the ground noise generated by the digital PCB. Yuk. Ideally, you should ground your digital logic, the chassis, any cable grounds, and the cable shield (if present) to a common point, using broad, wide objec ts to accomplish all c onnections. Best regards, Dr. Howard Johnson

To Subscribe to this HSDD Newsletter, send an email to hsdd-request@freelists.org with 'subscribe' in the subject field. All Publications by Dr. Howard Johnson except as noted. Signal Integrity Training Classes taught exclusively by Dr. Howard Johnson - for full schedule, see www.sigcon.com 1993-2008 Signal Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved. site map

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