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In various technical areas, the requirements and the complexity of electrically conductive structures (cables, printed circuit board traces) and their insulating materials are increasing, which leads to higher demands on reliability. Therefore, better diagnosis and control functions are needed. Intelligent fusing strategies with electronic fuses, where the current flow can be switched by semiconductors, can play an important role. One approach is to monitor the insulation temperature in order to detect thermal overloads and switch-off a current branch before the insulation is damaged. As especially in cables, a direct temperature measurement is troublesome, most approaches are based on current measurements. From a measured current, the cable insulator temperature can be derived using an electrothermal model. Those models can be very complex, especially when the transient and axial heat flow in a cable should be considered. The computational efforts for the commonly used numerical solution methods are high. Analytical approaches potentially reduce these efforts significantly. In this contribution, a new analytical approach for the calculation of the transient axial temperature distribution along an insulated single wire cable considering the nonlinear temperature dependency of the cable parameters is presented. It enables a precise and fast calculation of cable temperatures.

In this contribution, similarities and differences between electrical and thermal effects on cables are investigated. In the electrical transmission line theory, a wide variety of methods is known to describe the voltage and current along cables. The potential for the adaption of some of those methods to thermal problems is discussed. Exemplarily, for an unshielded single cable, an analytical solution based on the Laplace transform and an approach based on cascaded equivalent circuits are compared with a numerical reference solution and measurement results.

Often, electromagnetic interference (EMI) scanning applications require phase and magnitude information for the creation of equivalent radiation models and far-field predictions. Magnitude information can be obtained using a spectrum analyzer (SA), which is relatively inexpensive compared to phase resolving instruments such as vector network analyzers (VNAs) and oscilloscopes at tens of GHz. This paper introduces and optimizes a cost-effective SA-based phase measurement method and compares the results to a VNA and oscilloscope-based methods for EMI signal sources. The measured-phase distribution obtained from the three different instruments is additionally compared with the simulated phase determined from full-wave simulation. The three measurement methods are compared based on the type of signal spectrum to be measured, such as single or multiple frequencies, signals requiring low-resolution bandwidth measurements, or transient signal events. The SA-based phase measurement technique is designed to operate from 5 to 12 GHz. However, the system frequency bandwidth is limited only by the frequency bandwidth of the individual RF components used in the SA measurement system.

Active cancellation of disturbing signals is a common method in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of power electronic systems. In this paper, a new method of suppressing periodic disturbances is extended and applied. In this method, the disturbing harmonics are suppressed by a synthesized cancellation signal that is synchronized with the converter's operation. Here, the cancellation signal is synthesized from a number of destructive sine waves. The appropriate amplitudes and phases are found via a convenient and robust adaptive approach. As a special feature of this method, many troublesome effects, like delays or complex frequency characteristics, can be compensated easily. Therefore, this method does not suffer from the same limitations as previous active techniques. Until now, the method has only been proven for a small number of harmonics. In this study, it is applied to a wide frequency range of 150 kHz to 30 MHz of a 48-/12-V dc/dc converter, e.g., for automotive applications. An optimization strategy is developed from a causal model of the system. A test setup is realized, and the sensor's and injector's performances are discussed regarding the automotive EMC standard CISPR 25. Measurement results for the artificial network and the antenna are presented. The additional power losses are estimated.

Active cancellation of disturbing signals is a common method in EMC. In this paper, a specialized strategy is presented to minimize the disturbing harmonics of stationary clocked systems by injecting an appropriate harmonic cancellation signal with an adjustable signal synthesizer. The optimum cancellation signal is found via a convenient and robust adaptive approach. Each destructive harmonic is generated individually, and the cancelation signal is the superposition of a set of sinusoidal signals. As a special feature of this method, many troublesome effects, like delays or complex frequency characteristics, can be compensated easily. Several implementation variants can be derived from this general approach. Here, the variant, continuously adapted harmonics cancellation (CAHC), is considered. The system's limitations due to the ADC, the DAC, and the synchronization are described. An FPGA-implementation of CAHC is presented and applied to a dc/dc converter in an automotive component measurement setup to demonstrate the effectivity of the method.

This paper deals with the application of spread spectrum techniques on power electronic converters to reduce electromagnetic disturbances. These techniques aim for a spreading of the harmonics in a frequency domain in order to distribute the power over a wider frequency range. By doing so, the levels of the harmonics drop. In this paper, both peak and average detector measurements are considered. It is shown that different parameters are required to minimize either peak or average emissions. The reduction of peak and/or average emissions is mathematically described for a sine wave as a harmonic of pulse width modulation signals. These spread harmonics overlap for high orders and/or high-frequency variations. It is shown that this effect is a limiting factor for spread spectrum in practical applications. The resulting maximum achievable reduction is analyzed. From these results, parametrization strategies are derived to fulfill specific requirements. In test setups, the precision of the proposed parametrization strategies is demonstrated. Additionally, it is shown that the results for peak measurements can also be applied to quasi-peak measurements.

Continuously increasing requirements for on-board system performances lead to new topologies for the energy distribution in vehicles. One promising concept is the usage of a dual-battery system instead of the conventional lead-acid “starting lightening ignition” battery. As this system is not able to control the current share between the two batteries, its performance depends on the actual battery specific operating points.The initial conditions of state of charge, voltage level and temperature influence the current share and lead to a different voltage drop of the system. This paper yields to, the basic understanding of the current share between the two batteries. The conventional performance estimation method for standalone lead-acid batteries can no longer be applied to this system. Therefore, a new algorithm for the voltage drop calculation of the dual-battery system is proposed. Measurements at different temperatures, states of charge and voltage levels show the system behavior and prove the functionality of the algorithm.

Several immunity test procedures for narrowband radiated electromagnetic energy are available for automotive components. The ISO 11452 series describes the most commonly used test methods. The absorber line shielded enclosure (ALSE) is often considered as the most reliable method. However, testing with the bulk current injection (BCI) can be done with less efforts and is often preferred. As the test setup in both procedures is quite similar, there were several trials for finding appropriate modifications to the BCI in order to increase the matching to the ALSE. However, the lack of knowledge regarding the impedance of the tested component, makes it impossible to find the equivalent current to be injected by the BCI and a good match cannot be achieved. In this paper, three approaches are proposed to estimate the termination impedance indirectly by using different current probes.

Radiated electromagnetic fields from a PCB can be estimated when the source current distribution is known. From a measured near-field distribution, the PCB source current distribution can be found. Accuracy depends on the measurement method and its limitations, the radiation model and the choice of the observation area. Many known methods are based on optimization algorithms for inverse problems that vary a set of elementary radiation sources and create a radiation model. However, apart from the time-consuming optimization process, such methods find one possible solution for a near-field distribution. As this distribution might not reflect the real current distribution, accuracy outside of near-field scan area can be low. Furthermore numerical problems can often be observed. Solving the given inverse problem with a system of linear equations and complex near-field data it can be very sensitive to noise. Regularization methods and an adjusted preconditioning can increase the accuracy. In this paper, an improved radiation model creation approach based on complex near-field data is presented. This approach is based on regularization methods and extended by current estimations from near-field data. Preconditioning is done considering some physical properties of the PCB and its possible current paths. Accuracy and stability of the method are investigated in the presence of noisy data.

Automotive electric components are required to pass radiated emission tests. According to CISPR-25 standard (ALSE method), an expensive anechoic chamber is needed for conducting the field emission testing. Reproducibility due to high sensitivity to chamber and setup details is poor. Alternative methods, which perform measurements without using a chamber are preferred. This paper provides an alternative pre-compliance method for predicting the fields of CISPR-25 results for frequencies below 30 MHz, based mainly on electric near-field measurements. The motivation is that common-mode current measurements or magnetic near-field measurement based methods give good field prediction above 30 MHz, but fail below 30 MHz. The proposed method applies Huygens' Principle for field prediction. The electric field distribution for the defined Huygens' surface and the equivalent currents are estimated from a small number of field measurements close to the ground plane. It is shown that the electric field can be well predicted, compared with a full-wave simulation the deviation is within 4 dB, compared with a standard antenna measurement up to 3 MHz the deviation is less than 1 dB.

Power line communication (PLC) could not be established in automotive environments till now due to concerns with the unavoidable electromagnetic disturbances in the vehicle supply nets. Conducted broad band switching noise and field coupled narrow band noise can disturb the communication and prevent higher data rates. The continuously increasing size of the communication cable harnesses in vehicles is very difficult to handle, and PLC could reduce the complexity of the harness. This paper presents an approach to estimate the theoretical limits of PLC in the presence of noise in automobiles. Signal power and bit error rates are computed and discussed, based on electromagnetic compatibility-standards and PLC-parameter sets from older investigations’ noise levels. Commonly used automotive immunity tests are applied to analyze the signal to noise ratio of the PLC in a simulation environment. Therefore, immunity test setup models are introduced in order to analyze the noise injection and coupling characteristics to the PLC receiver. A virtual direct power injection (DPI) test is carried out with narrow band noise and transient pulse injection. For method validation, BCI measurements of a real PLC transceiver were carried out and failure behavior was compared to DPI simulation results. Immunity improvement for single carrier modulation in PLC is proposed. Finally, an analysis of the immunity to pulses is performed and results are discussed.

According to automotive standard CISPR 25, electronic components or modules are required to be connected to a specific test cable bundle in order to evaluate the radiated emissions. In the absorber-lined shielded enclosure (ALSE) method, also called the antenna method, the cable bundle is often the dominant radiation structure due to its length. This measurement method requires a large anechoic chamber, but often, it is only the impact of the test cable bundle's common-mode (CM) current distribution that is measured. Since the current distribution can be measured easily with current clamps, and with much lower demands to the environment, it is advantageous that the level of radiated fields can be estimated from the measured current distribution. This paper presents a field prediction method, which combines a measured CM current distribution with numerical computations for the radiated fields in the frequency range of 30–1000 MHz. Applicability is discussed based on several complex test cases. Three major problems had to be solved. First, appropriate current phase measurement methods had to be developed since the current amplitudes are not sufficient for estimating the electric fields. Second, a CM radiation model of a cable bundle had to be found. Third, in order to get comparable data for the ALSE test environment, a method had to be developed that could take this influence into account. Different solution approaches are examined here for the problems mentioned above.

In this paper, approaches for the modeling and simulation of thermal destruction of ICs due to ESD are discussed from a system point of view. Considered systems consist of ESD generator, PCB, protection element, and IC. A direct connection between the ESD generator and the system is always assumed. For the modeling of an IC ESD destruction, the electric behavior model of an IC pin to ground or supply is extended with a thermal destruction model. The thermal model consists mainly of a thermal resistance and a thermal capacitance. When structure temperature reaches a threshold, a failure is assumed. All needed model parameters can be found with a set of measurements and tests. No internal knowledge of the IC or protection element structures is required. The methodology was applied to several ICs, protection elements, and system structures with emphasis on automotive electronics. All needed component model parameters were generated from measurements. Models and parameter measurements are described. Results from the system simulation were compared to system test results with hardware. In most cases, the simulation could predict well the destruction behavior of a system. Thermal failure and safe operating area prediction quality are compared. The described simulation method helps with selection of protection strategies and optimization of system ESD robustness.

Many investigations have been published on the transferability of RF immunity test results between system and IC-levels. The RF signal level at DUT (Device under Test) inputs, i.e. either RF voltage amplitude or RF input current, is used as a reference value for the load on the DUT. Existing approaches analyze the DUT response as a function of the RF signal level at a single input pin, e.g. supply voltage. Sufficient accuracy of such an approach could be shown in several cases, but results are not sufficient as a general solution for complex DUT. This paper proposes both theoretical analysis and practical implementation of a DPI setup, where a disturbance, equivalent to system-level BCI setup, can be delivered to multiple DUT input ports.

Today EMC emissions of automotive components are often measured in anechoic chambers by an antenna at fixed position according to CISPR 25 (ALSE-method). The antenna voltage often cannot sufficiently describe the behaviour of the measured electronic components and systems. Furthermore space requirements and costs are very high for the ALSE-method. Field- and cable-scan methods combined with near-field to far-field transformation techniques might be a good alternative. Residual reflections from the walls, the metallic floor, the measuring table, interaction of the antenna with the environment, and other factors affect the measurements. Thus, models which only regard the current distribution for near- and far field calculation cannot produce results equal to a chamber measurement. In this paper methods for computing transfer functions for the substitution of EMC antenna measurements with field- and cable scans in a specified calibration area are introduced. To consider influences of the environment, the environment is characterized in a first step and included with transfer functions in the calculation process for the equivalent ALSE-field.

In the power drive system of the Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), High Voltage (HV) cables play a major role in evaluating the EMI of the whole system. Transfer impedance (ZT) is the most commonly used performance parameter for the HV cable. To analyse and design HV cables and connectors with better shielding effectiveness (SE), appropriate measurement and simulation methods are required. In this paper, Ground Plate Method (GPM) with improvements has been proposed to measure ZT. Use of low-frequency ferrites to avoid ground-loop effects has also been investigated. Additionally, a combination of analytical model with a circuit model has been implemented to simulate limitations (frequency response) of the test setup. Also parametrical studies using the analytical model have been performed to analyse the shielding behaviour of HV cables.

Failures in digital devices can be caused by ESD-pulses coupled directly or indirectly to input pins. Weak pulses will not destroy a device but can be interpreted as logical signals (ESD soft failure). In this paper, a modelling and characterization methodology for a microcontroller input is proposed. With this model the ESD soft failure behaviour can be simulated. First a measurement setup for characterization of input behaviour was developed and applied to a commonly used microcontroller. For the digital input an RC model approximation is used and related parameters are extracted. SPICE simulations have been performed and results have been compared with the measurements. It could be shown that the RC model can predict quite well the ESD soft failure behaviour.

The emission from transmission lines plays an important role in the electromagnetic compatibility of automotive electronic systems. In a frequency range below 200 MHz radiation from cables is often the dominant emission factor. In higher frequency ranges radiation from PCBs and their housing becomes more relevant. Main sources for this emission are the conducting traces. The established field measurement methods according CISPR 25 for evaluation of emissions suffer from the need to use large anechoic chambers. Furthermore measurement data can not be used for simulation model creation in order to compute the overall fields radiated from a car. In this paper a method to determine the far-fields and a simulation model of radiating transmission lines, esp. cable bundles and conducting traces on planar structures, is proposed. The method measures the electromagnetic near-field above the test object. Measurements are done in time domain in order to get phase information and to reduce measurement time. On the basis of near-field data equivalent source identification can be done. Considering correlations between sources along each conductive structure in model creation process, the model accuracy increases and computational costs can be reduced.

Automotive bus systems like FlexRay or CAN transmit safety critical data. To ensure correct functionality under all circumstances, extensive investigations about signal integrity and EMC have to be performed. To be able to use simulation in this validation process, suitable models for the components of the bus systems have to be developed. This paper shows how a combined transceiver model for signal integrity and EMC investigations can be created. The model shows good results in comparison to measurement data.

Computer simulation of electrostatic discharge (ESD) for simplified objects is described and compared to measured transient fields of human/metal ESD. The simulation algorithm uses the method of moments in time domain, coupled with nonlinear arc resistance model. Transient currents and fields are analyzed from the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) point of view. Validation of the numerical simulation is done by comparison to experimental data. The simulated structure models the human/metal ESD in its peak current and field values and their derivatives reasonably well.