Maxim/Dallas > App Notes > AMPLIFIER AND COMPARATOR CIRCUITS AUDIO CIRCUITS

COMMUNICATIONS CIRCUITS INTERFACE CIRCUITS VIDEO CIRCUITS

Keywords: common-mode signals, network, transmission lines, shielded cables, unshielded cables, RS-485,
RS485, RS-422, RS422,

May 21, 2003

APPLICATION NOTE 2045

Understanding Common-Mode Signals

Abstract: To understand how common-mode signals are created and then suppressed, you should first
understand the interaction of shields and grounds in common cable configurations. The following discussion
defines a common-mode signal, reviews the common cable configurations, considers shielded vs. unshielded
cables, and describes typical grounding practices. The article discusses methods whereby common-mode
signals are created and rejected.
The primary focus of this discussion is on RS-485/RS-422 cables and signals, but the discussion also applies to
telephone, audio, video, and computer-network signals.

Common-Mode Signals Defined

When referenced to the local common or ground, a common-mode signal appears on both lines of a 2-wire cable,
in-phase and with equal amplitudes. Clearly, a common-mode signal cannot be present if one of the lines is
connected to local common. Technically, a common-mode voltage is one-half the vector sum of the voltages
from each conductor of a balanced circuit to local ground or common. Such signals can arise from one or more of
the following sources:

Radiated signals coupled equally to both lines,

An offset from signal common created in the driver circuit, or
A ground differential between the transmitting and receiving locations.

Further details about these basic conditions appear in a later section. Before examining those details, however, it
is useful to understand different cable configurations, signal-grounding conventions, and shield-grounding
practices.

General Data-Transmission System

The principal aim of any data-transmission system is to send data from one location to another, whether within a
single box or enclosure, between boxes within an enclosure, between enclosures within a building or defined
area, or between buildings. Figure 1 illustrates an RS-485 signaling situation in which the buildings are supplied
from different power circuits.

Figure 1. This generalized system transmits data between two widely separated buildings, and shows the earth
currents created between ground points in a single-phase power-distribution system. Similar currents are
created in 3-phase, Y-connected systems.
Bonding a power-line subscriber's neutral line to a ground rod sunk in the earth at the power-entry point
establishes the power-line neutral as a safety ground. From that point, a bare or green-insulated wire carries the
safety-ground reference to all electrical outlets and installed equipment throughout the premises. Industrial
chassis frames are bonded to the safety ground at the chassis' power-input point, where it becomes frame
ground.
Circuit common is often connected to the chassis at one or more points, but a single ground point per chassis is
best. In some cases, the circuit common might be isolated from the frame ground. Leakage currents that flow in
the safety-ground wire from machine windings to the case, or more commonly, that flow between the ground
and earth due to AC primary or secondary neutral currents in the power-distribution system, can produce a
potential difference between the neutral and frame ground.
Ground differentials can vary from several volts to several tens of volts. The greatest differentials are found in
single-phase or 3-phase Y-distribution systems, in which the portion of neutral current flowing in the earth can
be 10% to 70% of the total neutral current flowing in the primary circuit. Voltage measurements between
ground points are typically 0.2VRMS to 5VRMS, and (rarely) as high as 65VRMS between widely separated grounds.

Cables and Noise

Noise signals can appear in a cable for several reasons: capacitive coupling of nearby electric fields (E); inductive
coupling of local magnetic fields (M); electromagnetic coupling of radio signals in space (EM); and conduction
through intentional or sneak circuit paths (C). The coupled signal appears as an additional signal in series with
the line or lines (Figure 2). Table 2 lists the type and origin of potential noise sources in cables. Twisted-pair
lines intercept coupled signals equally, so the incident signals appear only as common-mode signals. Twistedpair lines are said to be balanced if the impedances connected from each line to the local common are identical.

Figure 2. These transmission-cable configurations show the locations of possible noise sources.
Table 1. Electrical Cable Types and Applications
Description
Electrical Return Route Typical Applications
Single-Wire Line

Earth or frame

Early telephone and telegraph signaling circuits,

automotive power distribution

Single-Wire Shielded Cable

Shield

Single-wire shielded microphone cable or coaxial

cable for video or radio-frequency (RF) signals

Unshielded Parallel Pair

Second wire of the pair

Signaling or AC power distribution

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

Second wire of the pair

Single-line telephone, signaling, or data cables

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

Second wire of the pair

Balanced microphone cable, twin-axial RF cable, or

shielded data-transmission cables

Unshielded Multiple Twisted Pair Second wire of the pair

26-pair telephone cable and 4-pair EIA/TIAdesignated Categories 1 through 6

Shielded Multiple Twisted Pair

Intercom cable and EIA/TIA CAT 5 Class D or CAT 7

Second wire of the pair

Table 2. Noise Sources for Listed Cable Configurations

en2
en3
en1
Description
Single-Wire Line,
Earth or Frame
Return

Single-Wire
Shielded Cable

Radiated E, EM,
or M

If radiated or
conducted noise
enters an
unshielded
portion of the
main conductor
or appears
between source
common and a
ground point at
cable ends

Earth currents

en4

Notes

Receiving circuit
must be insensitive
to the sum of en1
+ en2 at load.

Radiated E,
EM, or M
along length
of shield

Conduction by
electrical currents
flowing in
external ground
path if both ends
of shield are
grounded.

Copper shield
ineffective for
inductively-coupled
noise. en1 is
insignificant if:
inductive coupling
is absent; shielding
is complete from
source to load; and
ground points are
connected directly
to circuit common
at source and load.
en1 and en2 will

Unshielded Parallel
Pair

Unshielded Twisted
Pair (UTP), or
Unshielded Multiple
Twisted-Pair

Radiated E, EM,
or M

Radiated E,
EM, or M

partially cancel if
the lines are
parallel and closely
spaced.
Twisted lines make
en1 and en2 equal

Radiated E, EM,
or M

Radiated E,
EM, or M

in amplitude and
phase. Receiving
circuit must reject
the VCM signal.
Neither en3 nor en4

Shielded Twisted
Pair (STP), or
Shielded Multiple
Twisted-Pair

Radiated M

Radiated M

Radiated E,
EM, or M
along length
of shield

Conduction by
electrical currents
is flowing in the
external ground
path if both ends
of the shield are
grounded.

appear in the
signal path, but
could cause
circulating current
if both ends of the
shield are
grounded.
Receiving circuit
must reject VCM
signal if en1 and
en2 are present.

Circuit and Shield Grounding

Single line with earth return: The signal common line connects to earth ground at the source and load by the
earth (frame) return path. Circuit commons must also be connected to the earth (frame) ground.
Single-wire shielded: Signal current is always carried on the shield, so connections to the circuit common must
be present at both source and load. Table 3 lists the shield-grounding connections for various conditions.

Table 3. Shield Grounding for Single-Wire Shielded Cables

When

Shield Is Grounded Conditions

Source Floats

At load only

Source is battery powered or is an unpowered transducer,

such as a microphone, although the microphone case may be
connected to the shield.

Load Floats

At source only

Load is isolated, such as a battery-powered device. Such a

line may be used to transmit signals to a remote ungrounded
load as, for example, an antenna with isolated ground plane.

Source and Load Grounded At both ends

Source and load grounds are at equal voltages, otherwise

circulating currents in the shield create a noise source in the
signal path. Double grounding is thus used only: within a
single chassis or enclosure; or between several enclosures
sharing a common iso-potential frame ground or having no
frame ground at all. Audio and video cables within a home
entertainment system are examples of this use.

Two-wire parallel: Each conductor carries an equal amount of signal current, but in opposite directions. Table
4 lists line-grounding connections for various conditions.
Table 4. Line Grounding for Two-Wire Parallel Cables
When
Shield Is Grounded Conditions
Source Floats

At load only

Source is battery-powered.

Load Floats

At source only

Source is electronic and the load is passive or nonelectronic

(headphones or loudspeaker). Found in AC power-distribution
systems, where the power enters a user's premises.

Source and Load Grounded At both ends

Electronic signaling systems such as RS-232. Note, however,

that RS-232 commonly utilizes twisted-pair cabling.

Source and Load Floating

Found in transformer-coupled signaling systems (doorbell or

other call systems). These systems are often immune to any
low-level noise signals that may be present.

At neither end

Unshielded twisted pair(s): Any driving or receiving circuit probably includes a connection to local common or
frame ground, but connecting the transmission line itself to frame ground is unnecessary and undesirable. A
differential-mode or balanced-signal source (such as unshielded RS-422 and RS-485 data-transmission circuits)
transmits data signals to a remote location where source and load circuits are both referenced to local ground or
common. Transformer-coupled applications include 10/100 Base-T Ethernet cables.
Shielded twisted pair(s): Grounding the shield of any shielded pair shunts to ground any unwanted signals or
noise intercepted by the shield. Typical shield materials (copper and aluminum) shield the internal conductors
from signals coupled capacitively or electromagnetically, but not from those coupled inductively.
For any shielded pair(s) carrying balanced signals, you should connect the shield to ground at one end, usually
the receiving end. If the transmitting-location ground carries a noise signal different from that at the receiving
location, grounding the shield at both ends causes current flow along the shield. Grounding at both ends is
acceptable if there is no substantial potential difference between the two ground locations. This configuration
includes shielded RS-422 and RS-485 data-transmission circuits. RS-485 Application Guidelines specify
connecting the shield to earth ground, either directly or through a fusible resistor at one or both ends of the
cable shield.

Signal-Mode Definitions
Electrical signals carried on cables can be described as normal mode, differential mode, or common mode.

A normal-mode signal is any type (other than common mode) that appears between a pair of wires, or
on a single wire referenced to (or returned through) the earth, chassis, or shield. Normal-mode signals

are read between two wires in a balanced or unbalanced transmission path. (For a balanced 2-wire path,
one wire is driven positive while the other is driven negative by an equal amount, both with respect to a
static or no-signal condition in which both lines assume the same voltage level relative to circuit
common.)
A differential-mode signal appears differentially on a pair of wires in an ungrounded cable
configuration.
A common-mode signal appears equally (with respect to local circuit common) on both lines of a 2wire cable not connected to earth, shield, or local common. Usually, but not always, this is an unwanted
signal that should be rejected by the receiving circuit. Common-mode voltage (VCM) is expressed
mathematically as the average of the two signal voltages with respect to local ground or common:

Figure 3 shows a 3V differential-mode signal riding on a 2.5V common-mode signal. The DC offset is typical of
differential-mode data transmitters operating from a single supply. The common-mode voltage can be AC, DC, or
a combination of AC and DC. (Figure 3 represents the simplest case, a DC common-mode voltage with no AC
component.)

Figure 3. Typical RS-485 transmitters generate a common-mode DC offset voltage as shown.

When cables are long (as RS-485 data cables can be), the originating signal's common or ground may not have
the same electrical potential as that of the receiving location. The RS-485 specification says to connect the drivecircuit common to frame ground, either directly or through a 100
resistor. The result is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Three types of common-mode signal (eGD, eLC, and EOS) can be present in a 2-wire data-transmission
system.
Signal common can assume a common-mode voltage equal to the vector sum of the ground-potential difference,
the driver-offset voltage, and any longitudinally coupled noise voltage generated along the signal path between
transmitter and receiver:

The Origin of Common-Mode Signals

Three sources of common-mode voltage are represented in Figure 4 as eGD, eLC, and EOS:

EOS is typically a DC offset introduced by a differential-mode driver operating from a single supply, as
represented in Figure 3.
eGD is a noise signal representing the difference in ground potentials at the transmitting and receiving
locations. It is usually an AC signal containing the fundamental and possibly several harmonics of the
power-line frequency.
eLC is a longitudinally coupled noise signal occurring equally on both transmission lines due to capacitive,
electromagnetic, or inductive coupling from extraneous sources.

Minimizing Common-Mode Signals

EOS can be made quite small, or even zero, by operating a differential-mode driver from balanced supplies. In
contrast, eGD can be minimized only by maintaining a relatively short distance between the transmitting and
receiving locations. eLC can be minimized by using a shielded twisted pair: noise introduced within the cable

arises equally on each of two tightly twisted wires. Otherwise, a normal-mode signal would be present due to the
line's asymmetry with respect to disturbing fields.
The load must also be symmetrical; the resistive and capacitive load impedances on both lines of the twisted pair
must be matched. Inductively coupled signals can be prevented only by using magnetic shielding. (Note that any
wire carrying signal current is a source of magnetic radiation.)

Suppressing Common-Mode Signals

Common-mode signals (VCM) must be rejected in the receiving circuit. That rejection is easily accomplished when
the receiving circuit is passive (headphones or loudspeaker), transformer coupled, isolated and battery operated,
or otherwise not referenced in any way to the transmitting-circuit common (either capacitively or resistively
connected). The configurations noted here are inherently immune to common-mode signals, but receiving
circuits referenced to the transmitting-circuit common must be designed to accept the full range of VCM
presented to them. All such designs involve differential receivers with high common-mode-rejection (CMR). If the
VCM is of relatively low amplitude, a high-CMR receiver alone may be adequate.

How High-CMR Receivers Work

All high-CMR receivers employ either some form of differential pair, or a traditional instrumentation amplifier
consisting of three amplifiers, as indicated in Figure 5. Each amplifier accepts a differential input in the presence
of a limited common-mode voltage, with an acceptable VCM limited to somewhat less than the supply voltages.
Such circuits can handle analog and digital signals.

Figure 5. These differential-amplifier circuits exhibit high common-mode rejection.

Additional isolation must be employed if VCM is to exceed the receiver's common-mode range. Most such circuits
employ a transformer-coupled isolated supply, plus any one of the following:

Optically coupled circuits

Capacitively coupled differential circuits
Inductively coupled circuits
Resistively coupled differential circuits

All the techniques shown in Figure 6 can couple a signal across the isolation barrier in the presence of high
values of VCM. Each depends on the use of an isolated power supply, which is usually transformer coupled.
Isolation voltage limits are determined by the transformer and by the type of isolation chosen. Isolation to 2500V
or more is practical with transformer-, optical-, and capacitive-coupling techniques; resistive coupling is usually
limited to the range of 50V to 100V.

Figure 6. The isolation techniques and typical components shown achieve high common-mode-signal rejection.
Resistive coupling involves transferring data across a resistive attenuator, which attenuates both the data and
the common-mode signals. Thus, resistive isolation is limited by the fraction of VCM that can be accommodated
by the receiving circuit, while reliably detecting a small fraction of the original data signal.
In Figure 6, the various isolation drivers treat the requirement for isolated power in different ways. Today's
inductively-coupled devices make no provision for the power supply, and therefore require external isolated
supplies. Some capacitor-coupled devices include transformer drivers, but they require external transformers.
Maxim's MAX3157 and MAX3250 drivers contain isolated supplies and require external, low-profile, ceramic
charge-pump capacitors. Members of the MAX1480 and MAX1480E families, however, contain fully isolated
supplies including transformers.
Thus, you can choose the cable type and isolation technology intelligently, once the source and magnitude of an
intruding common-mode signal is known. You need only measure or calculate the magnitude of the disturbing
signals, and then select your components to meet the overall requirements of the system.
References
1. From a 1995 survey of 48 utilities, by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission: http://www.
strayvoltage.org/stories/index.php3?Story=20000213_attorneygeneral.inc
2. Documented information is difficult to discover. The cited numbers were obtained in private
communication with engineers at BC Hydro Power, British Columbia, Canada.
3. TIA/EIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS BULLETIN TSB89, Application Guidelines for TIA/EIA-485-A,
Telecommunications Industry Association, June 1998
4. TIA/EIA STANDARD TIA/EIA-485-A, Electrical Characteristics of Generators and Receivers for Use in
Balanced Digital Multipoint Systems, Telecommunications Industry Association, March 3, 1998.

A similar version of this article appeared in the April 17, 2003 issue of EDN magazine.

Application Note 2045: http://www.maxim-ic.com/an2045

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