VELTECH MULTITECH Dr. RANGARAJAN Dr.

SAKUNTHALA
ENGINEERING COLLEGE, AVADI, CHENNAI
DEPARTMENT OF ECE
Prof. B.G. GOPAL
EC6011 ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE AND COMPATIBILITY
TWO MARK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
UNIT II COUPLING MECHANISM
1. What are the different methods of noise coupling? (or) List out the types of coupling
between cables (or) List the EMI coupling methods.
Typical modes of noise coupling are
Conductive coupling through cables.
Coupling through common impedance.
Coupling by radiated E and H field.
Ground loop coupling.
2. Define Common and Differential Mode Noise. (or) Draw common mode and differential
mode coupling in circuits (or) Draw CM and DM coupling in circuits

CM : Interference signal in two lines are unidirectional and return through ground. It is
common to both the lines
DM : Interference signal in two lines are oppositely directed and thus no ground current
path is required. The difference between the signals in two lines.

3. Differentiate Differential Mode interference and Common Mode interference.

The electromagnetic disturbances carried by electrical power supply lines are classified as
common mode interference or differential mode interference.
Differential Mode Interference

Common Mode Interference

Defined as the unwanted electrical potential
Defined as the unwanted potential
differences between any (or all) current
differences between any two current
carrying conductor(s) and the reference
carrying conductors.
ground.
Thus Vd=(VPG-VNG)/2
Thus Vc=(VPG+VNG)/2
VPG - voltages between phase and ground wires
VNG voltages between neutral and ground wires
4. Brief about power supply and power main coupling?
Sufficiently strong electromagnetic fields radiated into the atmosphere can couple electromagnetic
energy or disturbances into exposed transmission lines such as the power supply lines or exposed
wire communication lines.
Transients carried by the electrical power lines can be divided into
1. Transient over-voltages

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VELTECH MULTITECH Dr. RANGARAJAN Dr. SAKUNTHALA

ENGINEERING COLLEGE, AVADI, CHENNAI
DEPARTMENT OF ECE
Prof. B.G. GOPAL
2. Sudden decrease or increase in the mains voltage
3. Burst of high frequency noise
These transients called as Surges travels along the power supply lines. As they travel, surges are
attenuated with the distance.
5. What is the various type of radiation coupling in EMI?
The radiation coupling between an emitter and a receptor results from a transfer of electromagnetic
energy through a radiation path. Various types of radiation coupling are:
a. Coupling of natural and similar electromagnetic environment to the receptor such as a
power line.
b. Coupling of electromagnetic energy from nearby equipment via direct radiation.
The radiation paths are: antenna to antenna, Box to wire, Antenna to box , Antenna to wire, Wire
to wire, Box to box
6. Define Ground coupled Interference.
The coupling of the electromagnetic interference disturbance through the neutral line or
grounded line in electrical or electronic circuits is the Ground coupled interference. This is a type
of conducted coupling. This happens generally when an analog circuit and digital circuits uses a
same ground return path. The ground potential varies in accordance with the digital signals. Thus
digital noise couples to the analog circuits. An isolation of the grounds can avoid this problem.
7. What is mean by ground loop coupling? (or) What is GLC? (or) What is Ground loops
and how it is a means of noise coupling?
Ground loops at times can be a source of noise. When multiple ground points are separated by a
large distance and are connected to the ac power ground the ground loop noise coupling happens.
This is due to the grounds are at different ground potentials.

A ground loop between two circuits.

8. How the ground loop coupling can be reduced or eliminated?
Two things can be done to reduce or eliminate this coupling:
(i) Converting the system to a single point ground
(ii) Isolating the subsystem by a) transformers b) common-mode chokes c) optical couplers
d)balanced circuitry e) frequency selective grounding.
9. What is transient coupling? (or) Define Transient Coupling.
Transients are the spike voltages acutely developed in circuits or transmission lines due to
ON/OFF of switches, relays, lightning effects etc., This exists for a short moment but enough
dangerous to damage the internal circuitry of an electronic or electrical system.

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VELTECH MULTITECH Dr. RANGARAJAN Dr. SAKUNTHALA

ENGINEERING COLLEGE, AVADI, CHENNAI
DEPARTMENT OF ECE
Prof. B.G. GOPAL

10. What is conducted coupling of EMI?

The conduction coupling between an emitter and a receptor occurs via a direct conduction path
between the emitter and receptor. Examples of such coupling are:
Interferences can be carried by power supply lines when emitter and receptor operate from
the same power supply line. Common mains power supply is a frequent source of
conducted interference.
Interferences are also carried from emitter to receptor by signal or control lines, which are
connected between the two.
E.g. Internal power supply lines or the distribution system, control wires, data transmission lines,
buses etc., Earth cables (PE, PEN etc), Earth, stray capacitance etc.,

11. What does coupling mean?

Coupling refers to the linking, transfer or transmission of electromagnetic disturbances from an
emitter to a victim, it may be wire to wire or field to wire i.e., through some conductive paths
and/or radiation paths. This is undesired or unintentional effect which could cause malfunctioning
of the nearby systems.
Coupling is expressed in terms of a coupling coefficient k, expressed in dB.
k = 20 log A (received)/A (transmitted) where A is the amplitude of the disturbance
12. How does one avoid power mains interference?
Power mains interference can be avoided by keeping neutral and ground wire at the same potential
with respect to the phase lines. At the same time, wherever required, it is better to keep the
distance between the ground point and phase lines neither very close nor at far distance.
13. What allows a conductive transfer to occur?
The conductive transfer occurs due to physical conductive paths. Power lines,
interconnecting signal cables and common ground impedance are some of the conductive paths.
14. Explain with neat diagram the phenomenon of common impedance ground coupling (or)
How the noise is coupled through common impedance?
An ideal electrical ground is a soil with zero potential. Grounding is a technique to provide low
resistance return path between equipment and earth. If a ground plane is used as a return path
instead of using a dedicated return wire for signal in a circuit or equipment, sometimes it results in
EMI problems or shock hazard. The finite impedance in ground plane will produce considerable
noise voltage. Since, the ground is common return path for the equipments; noise in one circuit
could couple to another circuit and continue on. Hence the
15. List the various coupling mechanisms.
Corresponding to the different regimes of the EM field impedance there are different EMI coupling
mechanisms:
Capacitive coupling by electric near fields: unexpected shortcuts at high frequency

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VELTECH MULTITECH Dr. RANGARAJAN Dr. SAKUNTHALA

ENGINEERING COLLEGE, AVADI, CHENNAI
DEPARTMENT OF ECE
Prof. B.G. GOPAL

Inductive coupling by magnetic near fields: a nuisance at low frequency

Radiation coupling by electromagnetic far fields
Galvanic coupling by conductive connections
Galvanic coupling comes in various forms: Pickup on power and other supply lines, even
through shields
Common impedance coupling: current 1 modulates voltage 2

16. Name the two factors that tend to affect the amount of interference that would otherwise
be transmitted along a conducted path.
The distance between the two conduction paths and the grounding method are the two factors
which affect the amount of interference. If the conducting paths are close, the coupling is more and
the multiple grounding may cause coupling loops.
18. Define edge rate.
The edge rate is defined as the rate of change of the clock pulse or signal pulse. If the rate is high
then switching control in the high speed digital circuitry is complex. If the rate is low then it
couples more noise during the transition of the pulse from one state to another state. So, the edge
rate should not be too high or too low. It should be in optimum rate in order to make the signal
integrity in the high speed digital circuit design. It is also called as Slew Rate
19. Explain common mode and differential mode impedance coupling
The coupling through the impedance occurs when the impedance is part of both circuits or
different equipment shares the common voltage source or current source.

If the current I1 and current I2 flow through the imepdance are in the same direction, then it rises
the common mode impedance coupling. It they are in opposite direction, then it gives differential
mode impedance coupling.
bgg1969@gmail.com

VELTECH MULTITECH Dr. RANGARAJAN Dr. SAKUNTHALA

ENGINEERING COLLEGE, AVADI, CHENNAI
DEPARTMENT OF ECE
Prof. B.G. GOPAL

20. What is the maximum value of the mutual inductance between two circuits?

h1 h2 d122

0
M
ln
heries/meter where h1 and h2 are the height of the circuits above
4 h1 h2 2 d122
ground plane in meters, d12 is the distance between two circuits. If the two circuits are close then
2

h h

the distance can be neglected and the maximal value of mutual inductance is M 0 ln 1 2 2
4 h1 h2

Coupling through Impedance

Generally low voltage (upto 1000 V) electric power supply lines are 3 wire lines. It has 3 phase
lines, one neutral line and one ground line. The neutral and ground conductors are bonded together
at each service entrance. Thus the distance between the equipment connected to this power line
and the electrical earth is limited. In this case CM surges are smaller than the DM surges. In power
distribution systems with two wire lines, the bond between neutral and earth is located remotely
from the service entrance to the building. In this case, the CM interferences would predominate
over the DM interferences.
Grounding
An ideal electrical earth is the soil having zero potential in which a rod or wire of electrically
conducting material, is driven to provide a low (ideally zero) impedance sink for unwanted
currents. An electrical ground is a low-impedance plane at a reference potential (often 0 V with
respect to earth) to which all the voltages in systems and circuits can be related. Grounding is a
technique that provides a low-resistance path between electrical or electronic equipment and the
earth or common reference low-impedance plane to bypass fault current or EMI signal. Thus,
electrical grounding is essential for the protection or personnel against electrical shock, fire threat
because of insulation burnout from lightning or electrical short circuit, and protection or equipment
and systems against electromagnetic interference (EMI). While there are standard practices
available for safety grounding or earthing, EMI grounding requires a better understanding of the
problem because of the involvement of a large number of electrical parameters.

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