Masters Theses

Keywords and Phrases

Cavity resonators; Electromagnetic coupling; Electromagnetic interference; Noise isolation; Power/ground noise

Abstract

"Achieving highs levels of isolation between different functionalities in a PCB can be challenging. One of the major issues is that vertically adjacent planes or area fills in a PCB can form a parallel-plate waveguide with no cutoff frequency and serve as an efficient coupling mechanism between interconnects. Due to the finite size of the conductors, reflections off the edges of these parallel-plate cavities can result in the formation of standing-wave patterns with very high field strengths, resulting in high coupling at certain frequencies. This noise coupling mechanism can be suppressed by connecting the parallel plates together with an adequate amount of vias. However, adjacent power and ground conductors can not be conductively connected together because they are at different DC potentials. As a result, there is no way to eliminate the existence of parallel-plate noise in a power/ground cavity. A fundamental understanding of this problem is needed to determine how it can be mitigated.

The first part of the thesis develops a qualitative understanding of the underlying physics of how noise is coupled to the parallel plates from a variety of interconnects and how the noise can spread throughout the design. This discussion is then expanded to more complex geometries that are representative of what could occur in actual designs. Test vehicles are created to study the noise coupling to various interconnects from noise injected into the power distribution network by an amplifier. Parameters affecting the transfer of noise from an amplifier to the power distribution network, such as the addition of capacitors, are then explored. An expression to predict the noise coupling using S-parameter measurements of the PCB and the amplifier is developed. It is demonstrated that results from full-wave electromagnetic simulation can be used to predict the amount of noise coupling before PCB fabrication. General design recommendations are then presented to improve design robustness to the parallel-plate noise"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Drewniak, James L.

Committee Member(s)

Pommerenke, David
Beetner, Daryl G.

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Electrical Engineering

Sponsor(s)

United States. Department of Energy. Kansas City National Security Campus
Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, LLC

Comments

This work has been funded by the Department of Energy’s Kansas City National Security Campus which is operated and managed by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, LLC under contract number DE-NA0002839.

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Fall 2018

Pagination

xii, 152 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 146-151).

Rights

© 2018 Zachary Joel Legenzoff, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 11429

Electronic OCLC #

1084479470

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