Another EMC resource

from EMC Standards

PCB Design and Layout Techniques for EMC (1-day

course)

Helping you solve your EMC problems

9 Bracken View, Brocton, Stafford ST17 0TF T:+44 (0) 1785 660247 E:[email protected]
PCB Design and Layout Techniques for EMC
The EMC techniques now generally required
for all PCBs

A One-day Training Course

by
EurIng Keith Armstrong
Cherry Clough Consultants Ltd, U.K.

Synopsis
Provides training for engineers and their managers in the use of EMC design, layout,
manufacturing and assembly practices for printed circuit boards (PCBs – also known as printed
wiring boards, PWBs) made necessary by modern silicon transistors and ICs.
Every two years, on average, every type of semiconductor that is available on the market goes
through a die-shrink, which makes their emissions and immunity worse. This applies to older
device types, like 74-series TTL and HCMOS, as well as to the latest microprocessors, so
designing with the same old parts does not protect us from this problem.
So PCB technology must continually advance, to design PCBs that don’t have EMC problems.
This course is kept up-to-date as technology advances, so is never the same from one 6 months
to the next. It is much more up-to-date than any textbook can ever be.
A companion course on Advanced PCB design and layout techniques for EMC is also available.

Objective
The most cost-effective EMC techniques are those applied at PCB/PWB level.
This course provides a practical grounding in PCB/PWB EMC design and layout techniques that
have been proven in real life over many years to help companies quickly improve their
commercial and financial performance by:
• Bringing advanced products to market more quickly
• Reducing unit manufacturing costs
• Reducing warranty costs and costs of ownership by improving reliability
• Easily complying with legal EMC requirements
• Reducing financial risks and improving Return On Investment

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Who Should Attend
All electronic and PCB/PWB designers, and their managers, in all industry areas, including:
Automotive Medical and healthcare
Consumer Household (domestic) appliances
Information Technology (IT) Industrial instrumentation or control
Railway Marine
Aerospace Military
Telecommunications Radiocommunications

Prerequisites
Familiarity with circuit (hardware) design and/or the layout of PCBs/PWBs.
Plain English is used, with a small amount of very easy mathematics

Course Methodology
This course is presented classroom style using a PowerPoint slideshow containing practical
illustrations of the techniques to aid understanding.
Case studies that are relevant to the trainees will be included verbally.
Each attendee will be presented with a bound copy of the PowerPoint slides used during the
training, printed at 6 slides per page. The spaces around the slides usually suffice for taking extra
notes.
Copies of the textbook ““EMC for Printed Circuit Boards, basic and advanced design and layout
techniques”, Armstrong/Nutwood January 2007, ISBN: 978-0-95555118-0-6 (spiral bound to lie
flat when open) or 978-0-9555118-1-3 (perfect bound), can be provided at extra cost.

Course Duration
One (1) day: For example: 9:00am – 5:00pm (for example)
This is an intensive course with a very large amount of practical detail.
If presented as an in-house course it can be very usefully combined with individual consultancy
for each engineer or manager, to help him or her apply the material to his or her current projects.

Venue and Date

To be decided. The course could be provided as a public course, or as an in-house course. As an
in-house course, it has the added value of allowing confidential discussions on how best to apply
the material to particular projects or products.

Reviews of this course

Delegates world-wide have always awarded this course an overall score of at least 80%.

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COURSE OUTLINE

The EMC techniques now generally required for all PCBs

Saving time and money
Segregation
Interface analysis, filtering and suppression
0V and power planes
PCB-chassis bonding
Power supply decoupling
Transmission line techniques
Layer stacking
Some useful references and sources

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Course Instructor

Academic Qualifications
nd
BSc (Elec.Eng), Upper 2 Class with Honours, Imperial College
of Science & Technology, London, UK, 1972

Professional Qualifications
Fellow IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology, formerly the
Institution of Electrical Engineers, IEE), London, UK (Member since 1977) 2010
Senior Member IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc.) USA,
member of its EMC, Product Safety Engineering Societies since 1998 2010
Associate of the City and Guilds Institute, London, UK 1972
UK Chartered Engineer, Engineering Council, London, UK 1978
Group 1 European Engineer (EurIng), FEANI, Paris, France 1988

Professional Activities
Chair of IET’s Working Group on EMC and Functional Safety 1997-date
Chair of IEEE EMC Soc. Special Committee on Risk Management of EMC 2012-date
UK expert appointed (by invitation) to IEC maintenance team MT23
for IEC 60601-1-2 (Medical Equipment/Systems EMC) 2006-date
UK expert appointed (by invitation) to IEC maintenance team MT15
for IEC 61000-1-2 (EMC & Functional Safety) 2003-date
UK expert appointed to IEC 61000-6-7 (EMC & Functional Safety, Generic) 2010-date
Member EMC Industries Association (EMCIA) 2003-date
Member EMC Test Labs Association (EMCTLA) and its Working Group B 2001-date
Technical Panel, IET Functional Safety Professional Network 2003-date
Technical Panel, IET EMC Professional Network 2001-date
Editor, Inside Functional Safety magazine 2010-date
Editorial Advisory board member, Interference Technology magazine 2007-date
Editorial Advisory board member, Compliance Engineering magazine 1998-date
EMCIA representative to BSI GEL 210/12 EMC committee 2009-date
President of the EMC Industries Association (EMCIA) 2008-2010
Vice-President of the EMC Industries Association (EMCIA) 2010-2012
Chair of IEE's EMC Professional Group (E2) 1997-1999

RECENT RELEVANT EXPERIENCE (1990-PRESENT)

Started Cherry Clough Consultants in 1990, Director of the Limited Company since 2010.
External lecturer for the Sensors and Electronic Instrumentation MSc course at the University of
Manchester, teaching an IET-accredited module on practical EMC design techniques.
The services that Keith provides for Cherry Clough Consultants include:
• Product, system, and installation EMC and safety good practices for reliability and
cost-effective regulatory compliance
• Assessment of electromagnetic environments
• Control plans, test plans, etc., for effective management of EMC and safety in projects
of all sizes

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 • Company procedures for EMC and safety, for financial benefits and/or regulatory
compliance
• Production / QA procedures for maintaining regulatory compliance in volume
manufacture and custom engineering
• Testing and remedial work to meet EMC and safety standards
• Creation of EMC Directive Technical Construction Files and other compliance
documentation
• Assessment of EMC Directive Technical Construction Files for a number of EMC
Competent Bodies
• Education and training for designers and managers on cost-effective EMC and Safety
techniques; and on “EMC for Functional Safety, high-reliability and legal metrology”
• Education and training for executives in EU compliance; liability; financial benefits of
using good EMC techniques; and related marketing issues
The above services have been applied in the following areas – this is not a complete listing:
Systems and installations:
Machinery and manufacturing/process plant of all sizes
Robotics
Air traffic control towers Computer and telecommunication rooms
Administration centres Financial dealer rooms
Professional audio systems and installations (e.g. theatres, opera houses, recording studios)
Steel rolling mills Hospitals
Hotels Chemical and pharmaceutical processing plant
Nuclear processing plant Bottling and canning lines
Road tunnel lighting schemes Broadband-Over-Power-Line (BPL) systems
Synchrotrons (e.g. the Diamond Light Source, Harwell, Oxfordshire)
Railway systems Mobile X-ray systems for shipping containers
Products and items of equipment:
Industrial instrumentation, control, and machinery of all sizes
Variable speed AC and DC motor drives from very small to 10MW
Automotive engine control units (ECUs) and other electronic subassemblies (ESAs)
Information technology equipment (ITE) e.g. computers, servers, RAID arrays
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and other hand-held wireless-enabled computing devices
Marine equipment Computers
Photocopiers Digital Signal Processing
Datacommunications devices Professional audio consoles and other equipment
Professional video projectors Lighting
Telephones and telecommunications Consumer electronics (TV, Hi-Fi, etc.)
Radiocommunications, cellphones and pagers
Lifts (elevators) Domestic (household) appliances
Gambling machines Gas boilers
Electricity meters Electrical power generators (small scale)
Building electrical services equipment Subsea oil and gas production equipment
Robots Solar power converters
Military avionics Medical equipment (various)
Microscope manipulators Coin mechanisms
Security equipment Mains-borne communications
Induction heating Laser welding
Digital microwave radio Variable-speed winch for a military submarine

PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (1982-1990)

Keith was mostly involved with the design and development of state-of-the-art capital equipment
during the period 1968 to 1990. He has wide experience in electronic product design and project

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management in the UK, South Africa and France, after finishing graduate apprenticeship with
Thorn Automation in 1973.
Technically, he started in analogue design in 1968; adding digital control of analogue circuits in
1978, and A/D and D/A conversion in 1980. Project and departmental management experience
was gained from 1983 onwards, including teams of more than 20 engineers and scientists (this
was for the Microwave division of Marconi Instruments Ltd, Stevenage, UK, 1983-1988).

BOOKS, PUBLICATIONS and PAPERS

EMC Design Techniques for electronic engineers
Nutwood UK November 2010, ISBN: 978-0-9555118-4-4, full colour graphics throughout.
Order from www.emcacademy.org/books.asp. Covers all electronic applications, with a very
practical approach to good design practices that will save time and cost, reduce time-to-market,
and reduce warranty costs and financial risks.
(Chapter 2 of this book is the complete text of "The Physical Basis of EMC" (below), so don't purchase both!)
The Physical Basis of EMC
Nutwood UK October 2010, ISBN: 978-0-9555118-3-7, full colour graphics throughout.
Order from www.emcacademy.org/books.asp. Provides an understanding of electromagnetic
phenomena, in a way that can be easily understood by practising electronic engineers.
(Chapter 2 of my book "EMC Design Techniques for electronic engineers" (above) is the complete text of
this book, so don't purchase both of them!)
EMC for Printed Circuit Boards – Basic and Advanced Design and Layout Techniques
Nutwood UK December 2010, ISBN 978-0-9555118-5-1, full colour graphics throughout. (2nd
Edition, identical to 1st Edition except for format.) From www.emcacademy.org/books.asp
Practical good-practice EMC design techniques for printed circuit board (PCB) design and layout,
for designers of electronic circuits and PCB designers themselves. All application areas are
covered, from household appliances, commercial and industrial equipment, through automotive to
aerospace and military. This book is used by some University courses.
The First 500 ‘Banana Skins’
Nutwood UK, 2007, 500 reports and anecdotes concerning electromagnetic interference (EMI),
collected and edited by Keith Armstrong. Read it at www.theemcjournal.com, or buy from
www.emcacademy.org/books.asp. More ‘Banana Skins’ are published 6 times a year in ‘The
EMC Journal’, available free at www.theemcjournal.com or www.compliance-club.com
EMC for Systems and Installations
By Tim Williams and Keith Armstrong, Newnes, 2000, ISBN: 0-7506-4167-3,
www.bh.com/newnes, RS Components part number: 377-6463
Keith has written and presented a great many papers for a wide range of symposia, conferences,
colloquia, and seminars worldwide, including ERA, IEE, IET, IEEE EMC Society and IEEE
Product Safety Engineering Society events. Too many to list here, please ask for further details.
He has also published a great many articles on EMC for publication in professional journals and
trade magazines worldwide, including the following five annual series for the EMC Compliance
Journal (visit http://www.compliance-club.com/keith_armstrong.asp):
• “Designing for EMC” (6 parts 2006-8, updating the 1999 series)
• “EMC for Systems and Installations” (6 parts, 2000)
• “EMC Testing” (7 parts, 2001-2)
• ”Advanced PCB Design for EMC” (8 parts, 2004-5)
Keith has written 17 informative booklets on electromagnetic phenomena, what they are, what
causes them, how they cause interference, and how to test for them using IEC and EN standard
methods, plus 5 booklets (so far) on EMC issues in Installations, for example: Power Quality,
Good EMC Engineering Practices, Variable-Speed Drives, etc. They can all be downloaded for
free from www.reo.co.uk/knowledgebase.
Please visit www.cherryclough.com for more information.

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