Design approach for high efficiency NFC systems with magnetic shielding materials
The performance of a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna may be diminished when it is placed close to any conductive surface such as a metallic case or a battery. This degradation is caused due to the stray magnetic field created by the eddy currents induced on the surface, which is opposite to the intended field generated by the NFC antenna. One of the first solutions that come to mind to designers when facing this problem is the use of high permeability magnetic shielding based on sintered ferrite sheets. This is a good approach but something that is not generally taken into account is that these materials introduce an additional inductance to the NFC antenna. If the permeability of th…
Analysis of different Sleeve Ferrite Cores Performance according to their Dimensions
Sleeve ferrite core is an EMI suppressor widely used to reduce the conductive and radiated electromagnetic noise in cables. The interconnection of different electronic systems through cables is becoming more difficult due to the hard restrictions related to EMC compliance requirements. Thereby, the research of new solutions able to provide a great attenuation ratio in a wide frequency band is a challenge. This contribution focuses on analyzing and comparing the performance of a novel sleeve ferrite solution based on a nanocrystalline (NC) structure with several materials with different compositions. This component is able to provide a high initial permeability value at the same time that ma…
Study of a Novel High Permeability Ferrite Sheet Intended for Near Field Communication Systems
The reduction of embedded portable devices involves a magnetic field interference problem when it integrates Near Field Communication (NFC) due to the presence of conductive surfaces such as ground planes, batteries or metallic enclosures. This contribution is focused on analyzing the ability of an innovative magnetic shielding based on flexible sintered ferrite sheets (FSFS) with the aim of improving the performance of that kind of systems. Thereby, a NFC emitter antenna is characterized when it is close to a conductive surface through an electromagnetic (EM) scanner. The EM scanner composed by a matrix of near field probes that make it possible to determine the effectiveness of the FSFS. …
Improving the Efficiency of NFC Systems Through Optimizing the Sintered Ferrite Sheet Thickness Selection
The reduction of embedded portable devices involves a magnetic field interference problem when it integrates near field communication (NFC) due to the presence of conductive surfaces, such as ground planes, batteries, or metallic enclosures. Flexible sintered ferrite sheets (FSFS) represent an interesting shielding solution to prevent electromagnetic interferences problems related to NFC, thanks to their ability to control the magnetic flux. The characterization of FSFS effectiveness is analyzed as a function of the sheet thickness in this contribution. This is performed with the aim of determining which is the optimum thickness value to retune an NFC antenna to its original operation frequ…
Determination of Core Size Dependency on the EMI Suppression in Cable Ferrites
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) engineering should be approached via the systems approach, considering EMC throughout the design to anticipate possible electromagnetic interferences (EMI) problems. Nevertheless, an EMI source may appear when the designed device is supplied via an external power system or it is connected to another device to communicate to it. In these both cases, the cables or interfaces that interconnect the systems could represent the EMI source. Thereby, one of the most common techniques for reducing EMI in cables is the application of an EMI suppressor such as sleeve ferrite cores to them. The advantage of this solution is that it does not involve redesign the elect…
Characterization of electromagnetic noise suppression sheet for aerospace applications
Electromagnetic noise suppression sheets based on absorber materials can be an interesting solution to reduce or suppress noise emissions at a high-frequency region that may cause complex EMI problems. These materials usually are characterized by their permeability but their performance also depend on other factors such as dimension, geometry, thickness or noise source kind. Three experimental methods are proposed in order to characterize absorber sheets in different kind of applications taking into account the last factors. These setups make it possible to test several samples with different characteristics and to analyse the absorption capacity in applications with transmission line probl…
Design and Study of a Wide-Band Printed Circuit Board Near-Field Probe
Magnetic near-field probes (NFP) represent a suitable tool to measure the magnetic field level from a small electromagnetic interference (EMI) source. This kind of antenna is useful as a magnetic field probe for pre-compliance EMC measurements or debugging tasks since the user can scan a printed circuit board (PCB) looking for locations with strong magnetic fields. When a strong H-field point is found, the designer should check the PCB layout and components placement in that area to detect if this could result in an EMI source. This contribution focuses on analyzing the performance of an easy to build and low-cost H-field NFP designed and manufactured using a standard PCB stack-up. Thereby,…
Transmission Attenuation Power Ratio Analysis of Flexible Electromagnetic Absorber Sheets Combined with a Metal Layer.
Electromagnetic noise absorber sheets have become a solution for solving complex electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems due to their high magnetic losses. This contribution is focused on characterizing a novel structure that is based on an absorber film with a metal layer attached on its top side. Two different absorber compositions were combined with Al and Cu metal layers in order to study the improvement on the performance of these structures, depending on the complex permeability, absorber film thickness, and type of metal. The transmission attenuation power ratio of the absorber films is analyzed and compared to the performance of absorber and metal structures. The measurement pro…
Performance Study of Split Ferrite Cores Designed for EMI Suppression on Cables
The ideal procedure to start designing an electronic device is to consider the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) from the beginning. Even so, EMC problems can appear afterward, especially when the designed system is interconnected with external devices. Thereby, electromagnetic interferences (EMIs) could be transmitted to our device from power cables that interconnect it with an external power source or are connected to another system to establish wired communication. The application of an EMI suppressor such as a sleeve core that encircles the cables is a widely used technique to attenuate EM disturbances. This contribution is focused on the characterization of a variation of this cable …
Analysis of EMI Shielding Effectiveness for plastic fiber composites in the 5G sub-6 GHz band
The study and modeling of EMC are becoming more critical than ever due to the ubiquitous presence of electronic circuits in all aspects of our lives. Specifically, it is crucial to extend these studies to the new frequencies that, in a few years, will be a reality in modern telecommunications systems, such as 5G and its derived technologies. A specific critical field where the proper EMI shielding has been ensured to avoid EMC problems is the electric autonomous vehicles (EAVs). The huge number of electronics systems in new vehicles will dramatically extend the demands on the EMI shielding solutions used to attenuate the radiated emissions that could affect circuits in the vehicle. Metals o…
Optimization of a Time-to-Digital Converter and a coincidence map algorithm for TOF-PET applications
This contribution describes the optimization of a multichannel high resolution Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) initially capable of obtaining time resolutions below 100ps for multiple channels. Due to its fast propagation capability it has taken advantage of the FPGA internal carry logic for accurate time measurements. Furthermore, the implementation of the TDC has been performed in different clock regions and tested with different frequencies as well, achieving improvements of up to 50% for a pair of channels. Moreover, since the TDC is potentially going to be used in a trigger system for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), the algorithm for coinci…
Characterization of Different Cable Ferrite Materials to Reduce the Electromagnetic Noise in the 2–150 kHz Frequency Range
The gap of standardization for conducted and field coupled electromagnetic interferences (EMI) in the 2–150 kHz frequency range can lead to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) problems. This is caused by power systems such as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controlled rectifiers, photovoltaic inverters or charging battery units in electric vehicles. This is a very important frequency spectral due to interferences generated in a wide range of devices and, specifically, communication problems in the new technologies and devices incorporated to the traditional grid to convert it into a Smart Grid. Consequently, it is necessary to provide new solutions to attenuate this kind of interference, which…
Characterization of Different Cable Ferrite Materials to Reduce the Electromagnetic Noise in the 2–150 kHz Frequency Range
The gap of standardization for conducted and field coupled electromagnetic interferences (EMI) in the 2–150 kHz frequency range can lead to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) problems. This is caused by power systems such as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controlled rectifiers, photovoltaic inverters or charging battery units in electric vehicles. This is a very important frequency spectral due to interferences generated in a wide range of devices and, specifically, communication problems in the new technologies and devices incorporated to the traditional grid to convert it into a Smart Grid. Consequently, it is necessary to provide new solutions to attenuate this kind of interference, which…