Course: ES 10 105 A /VL 11 105 A - Electronic System design

PCBDESIGNGUIDELINES
FORREDUCEDEMI

Faculty: Anoop Mathew, HoD ECE

3/21/15

CausesofEMI
Thebiggestproblemisnoisefromthe
integrated-circuit(IC)input/output(I/O)
pins.Becausetheareacoveredbytraces
connectedtothemonthePCBformalarge
antenna.
Thesecondmost-importantcontributoristhe
power-supplysystem,whichincludesthe
voltageregulationandthebypassing
capacitorsatboththeregulatorandatthe
microcomputer.

Surface-MountDevicesVs
Through-HoleComponents
Surface-mountdevices(SMD)arebetterthan
leaded devices in dealing with RF energy
because of the reduced inductances and
closercomponentplacementsavailable.
StaticPinsvsActivePinsvsInputs
The amount of noise is based on the
impedance of whatever is connected to the
pin.
The higher the impedance, the more noise
comesoutofthemicrocomputer.
That is why unused inputs should be tied to
the lowest-impedance rail: ground, by direct
short,ifpossible.

DifferentialvsCommonModeNoise

BoardLayout
Grounds and Power:
Theonlynon-dccurrentthatshouldflowin
thepowerroutingofthePCBisthecurrent
requiredtotop-upthebypassingcapacitor.
High-frequencycurrentusedinsidethe
microcomputerthatisswitchedontheinput
clockedgesshouldcomefromthebypassing
capacitors,notfromthepowersupply.
Inductance:
Inductanceincreaseswithincreasinglength
anddecreases(ataslowerrate)with
increasingwidthoftheconductor.
AnytracecarryingRFenergyshouldbeas
lowaninductanceaspossible.

Microcomputer Grounds in One- and Two-Layer

Designs
Amicrocomputergroundisagroundareaon
thebottomlayerunderneaththe
microcomputer.
Groundconnectionsforthepower-supply
bypassingcapacitorsandanybypassing
capacitorsonthepinsalsoshouldtietothis
ground.

Signal Return Grounds

Aloopismadebyasignal,andtheground
returnpathfromthereceiverdevicebackto
thesignalsource.
Signalreturnpathspresentthemostdifficult
designprobleminPCBlayout.
Reducingtheloopareabyroutingthereturn
forthesignalunderneaththesignaltraceis
mosteffectiveway.

AnalogvsDigitalvsHighPower
DigitalgroundandpowercarrytheRFenergy
thatneedstobecontained,soitisbestto
isolateitfromanyotherpowerandground.

PowerPlane-DosandDontsforFour-LayerBoards

Pay utmost attention to how the holes

and cutouts in the planes are done.
Avoid buried traces in the ground plane.
When making through holes for 100mil-center-spacing leads in the plane,
place a small trace between each pin.
Breaking up the plane with a row of
holes is much better than having a long
slot.

LayoutConsiderations

BypassingandFerriteBeads
Useaferritebeadandabypassingcapacitor
(0.1For0.01F),placingthecapacitors
insidetheferritebead.
Placea1000-pFcapacitoroutsidetheferrite
bead,creatinga-filter.
Theferritebeadisusedonlyon+V,noton
ground.
Applythe3:1length-to-widthrulefortraces
inthebypassingloop,tominimizeimpedance
inthishigh-frequencypath.
Makethebypassingloopsassmallas
possibleinareaandlength.
Itisacceptableandbeneficialtouseferrite
beadsandthesamebypassingvalueson
four-layerboards.

KeepingNoiseClosetotheChip
Thisappliestopinsthatareusedforsimple
digitalI/O,notforpinsusedinthememoryexpansionbus.
Putahighervalueresistor(50100)in
serieswitheveryoutputpin,andlowervalue
(3550)resistoroneveryinputpin.
Higherresistancesarebetterforoutputs,but
usuallydonotimprovecharacteristicsof
inputs.
Placetheresistorascloseaspossibletothe
microcomputer,overlappingthe
microcomputergroundifpossible.
Bypassanypinonthemicrocomputerto
groundusinga1000-pFcapacitor,provided
theedgerateneededforthesignallineisnot
fasterthan100ns.

KeepingNoiseClosetotheChip
Forpinsusedforinputonly,placethe
capacitorinside,onthemicrocomputerside,
oftheresistortoreducethelooparea.
Ifproperspacingbetweentheoscillator
componentsandotherunrelatedcomponents
andtracesismaintained,thereshouldnotbe
aneedforoscillatorsignalconditioning.
Unusedpinsshouldbeconfiguredasinputs
andtieddirectlytothemicrocomputer
ground.

CapacitiveandInductiveCrosstalk
Capacitiveandinductivecrosstalkoccurs
betweentracesthatrunparallelforevena
shortdistance.
Theamountofnoiseonthevictimis
proportionalto:
-theparalleldistance
-thefrequency
-theamplitudeofthevoltageswingonthe
source
-theimpedanceofthevictim
andinverselyproportionaltotheseparation
distance.

Measuresthatreducecrosstalk
KeepingRF-noise-carryingtracesthatare
connectedtothemicrocomputerawayfrom
othersignalssotheydonotpickupnoise.
Signalsthatmaybecomevictimsofnoise
shouldhavetheirreturngroundrun
underneaththem,whichservestoreduce
theirimpedance,thusreducingthenoise
voltageandanyradiatingarea.
Neverrunnoisytracesontheoutsideedgeof
theboard.
Ifpossible,groupanumberofnoisytraces
togethersurroundedbygroundtraces.
Keepnon-noisytracesawayfromareason
theboardweretheycouldpickupnoise,such
asconnectors,oscillatorcircuits,relays,and
relaydrivers.

AntennaFactorLengthRules
Tracelengthbecomesimportantwhenitis
greaterthan1/10ofthewavelength.
traceslongerthan4inchescanbeaproblem
forFM-bandnoise.
Someformofterminationisrecommendedto
preventringing.

SeriesTermination,Transmission
Lines
Themainpurposeofterminationistoprovide
critical damping to achieve the highest
possible data transmission rates with the
least-possibleovershoot.
Series resistance is an inexpensive solution
to termination and ringing problems, and is
the preferred method for microcomputerbased systems where minimizing the
differential-modenoiseisalsoaconcern.

Differential-ModeandCommon-Mode
Noise
Common-modenoiseiscorrectedeitherat
thesource,byreducingtheimpedanceofthe
commonnode,orreducedbyplacingaferrite
beadaroundtheentirecable.
Differential-modenoiseisduetotheloopof
thesignalanditsreturn.Thisloopis
minimizedbyhavingasmanyreturnsas
possibleandbytwistingeachsignaland
returnpair.Thelattercausesfield
cancellationatsomedistanceaway,inthe
samemannerasroutingpoweroverground.

Guidelinesindesigningsignalandreturn
lines
Thebestpracticeistohaveoneground
returnforeachsignalinthecable,asa
twistedpair.
Neverrunlessthanonegroundreturnfor
everyninesignallines,evenifitisjustthe
jumpercabletothefront-paneldisplayina
completelysealedmetalbox.
Ifthecableisoveronefootlong,itshould
haveonegroundreturnlineforfoursignal
lines.
Whenpossible,thereshouldbeasolidmetal
bracket,usedasamechanicalbrace,
solderedbetweenthetwoboards,toserveas
amountingbracketandasarobustRF
groundreturn.

I/ORecommendationsforOff-PCB
Signals
ThePCBshouldhavealargegroundareatied
totheenclosureshieldthatservesasthe
groundforthebypassingcapacitorsoneach
ofthewiresenteringorleavingthe
enclosure.

KeepingNoiseandElectrostaticDischarge
(ESD)Out
NoiseandESDincidentonthecableare
intendedtopassthroughthebypass
capacitoratthecableonthePCBandoutto
theshield(chassis).

LayoutforSusceptibility
Susceptibilityoccursasincidentelectricor
magneticfieldscoupleontosignaltraces.
Thecoupledsignalisalternatingcurrent,the
sinewaveissuperimposedonvoltage
alreadypresentonthetrace.
Whenthedcvoltagegetslargeenoughto
shifttheinputawayfromtheswitching-point
voltage,theintendedswitchingfunctionisno
longerseenbythemicrocomputer.

Autorouters
AUTOROUTERS for PCBs do not take any
noise reduction actions; therefore, care
shouldbetakenintheiruse.
Powerandgroundrouting,aswellassignals
that impact susceptibility, should be laid out
byhand.
Signals with switching rates below 50 kHz
canbeleftsafelytotheAUTOROUTER.
Routing near the crystal, and the crystal and
tankcircuititself,shouldbechecked.

Thank You

Queries ???
Mail to: anoopmathew@ieee.org
3/21/15

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