BEng.

(Hons) Electronics Engineering

Cohort: BTEL/11/FT

Examinations for 2013 - 2014/ Semester 2

MODULE: ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY

MODULE CODE: TELC3110

Duration: 2 ½ Hours

Instructions to Candidates:

1. Answer ALL 4 (four) questions.

2. Questions may be answered in any order but your answers must show
the question number clearly.
3. Always start a new question on a fresh page.
4. All questions carry equal marks.
5. Total marks 100.

This question paper contains 4 questions and 7 pages.

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Electromagnetic Compatibility (ARCS1101) SITE/VK 2013-2014 S2
 ANSWER ANY 4 (FOUR) QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: (25 MARKS)

a) On May 4th, 1982, during the Falkland Islands War, the H.M.S. Sheffield's search
radar was turned off due to electromagnetic interference problems with the ship's
satellite communication system. This disabled the ship's anti-missile defense systems
and enabled an Exocet missile to hit the ship resulting in the loss of the ship and 20
lives.

i) What is the definition of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) according to the

IEC?
(2 marks)

ii) Briefly explain how the problem encountered by the H. M. S Sheffield is related
to EMC?
(2 marks)

iii) A large proportion of EMC problems can be avoided at the design stage of
electronic systems. Briefly explain how.
(2 marks)

b) Two aspects of EMC are emission and immunity. Briefly discuss both and explain how
they relate to the “live and let live” adage.
(2 + 2 marks)

c) Briefly explain what you understand by the term interference in terms of the following
elements: “intentional emitters”, “intentional receptors”, “unintentional emitters” and
“unintentional receptors”?
(3 marks)

P.T.O

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Electromagnetic Compatibility (ARCS1101) SITE/VK 2013-2014 S2
d) EMC problems are categorized into inter-system EMC and intra-system EMC.
Differentiate between the two by providing an example for each case. Also explain which
types of coupling are more likely to be encountered inter-system EMC and intra-system
EMC respectively.
(4 + 2 marks)

e) Three techniques to reduce electromagnetic interference are to:

Suppress the source producing the EMI
Make the coupling path as inefficient as possible
Harden the receptor (making it less susceptible)

Provide an example of each of the above techniques.

(3 x 2 marks)

QUESTION 2: (25 MARKS)

a) EMC requirements on electronic equipment can be categorized as:

those imposed on products marketed in the United States
Those imposed on products marketed outside the United States border

The FCC is responsible for the first category while the CISPR is responsible for the
second.

i) What is the range of frequencies considered by the FCC to be “radio

frequencies”?
(1 mark)
ii) Both the FCC and CISPR breaks digital devices into class A and class B
devices. Briefly describe the two classes.
(2 marks)
iii) For which class is the FCC and CISPR tests more stringent and why?
(1 + 1 marks)

P.T.O

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Electromagnetic Compatibility (ARCS1101) SITE/VK 2013-2014 S2
b) Compliance for radiated emissions can be tested either at an open field test site or a
semi-anechoic chamber.

i) Briefly explain how the semi-anechoic chamber is equivalent to the open field
test site.
(2 marks)

ii) Briefly explain the procedure for measuring the radiated emission limits for
CISPR class A or class B devices.
(3 marks)

c) Consider Table 2.1 and 2.2.

Table 2.1: FCC Radiated Emission Limits for Class B Digital Devices

Table 2.2: CISPR radiated limits for class B devices

i) Rewrite the two tables, filling in the missing values.

(2 + 2 marks)
P.T.O

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 ii) Measurements are usually taken in terms of quasi-peak (QP) value for
measuring radiated emissions below 1 GHz. Briefly explain what is meant by a
quasi-peak value, and why is it more important than peak value for
measurements under 1 GHz.
(3 marks)

iii) Assume you are required to make a comparison FCC and CISPR radiated
emission limits for class B devices measured at a distance of 3 meters. Which
table would need to be modified and why?
(1 + 1 marks)

iv) Following iii) above, sketch a graph of FCC Class B and the CISPR Class B
limits measured at a distance of 3 meters. List the range of frequencies for which
the FCC is more stringent and the range of frequencies for which the CISPR is
more stringent.
(4 + 2 marks)

QUESTION 3: (25 MARKS)

a) Most electronic circuits nowadays operate at high frequency. Hence the importance of
studying the behavior of circuit elements when frequency increases to ensure that
operation works as designed.

i) What happens to the resistance of conductors when the frequency increases?

Briefly explain why.
(1 + 3 marks)

ii) For a round conductor, the current density at any distance from its surface is
d
given by J J se , where J s is the current density at the surface of the

conductor, d is the distance from the surface and where is the

2
angular frequency of operation, is the permeability of the surrounding medium
and is
P.T.O
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Electromagnetic Compatibility (ARCS1101) SITE/VK 2013-2014 S2
 the conductivity of the conductor. Starting with the definition of the skin depth, ,
show that the latter is given by:
1
(3.1)
f
(3 + 2 marks)

iii) Given that the conductivity of copper is 5.8 x 107 S/m, calculate the skin depth
of a copper conductor at an operating frequency of 1 KHz and 1 GHz (assume
that 4 10 7 H/m). What do you observe? Briefly explain.
(1 + 1 + 1 + 2 marks)

b) If the per-unit resistance at dc (of a round wire) is given by:

1
Rdc
r2 (3.2)

i) Show that at high frequencies, the resistance can be derived as:

1
Rhf
2 r (3.3)

(3 marks)

ii) Using the results of equation (3.3), show that:

1 r
Rhf Rdc (3.4)
2 r 2
(3 marks)

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Electromagnetic Compatibility (ARCS1101) SITE/VK 2013-2014 S2
 r
iii) Sketch a graph of per-unit length resistance versus the ratio . When the

frequency is high enough, the resistance will be proportional to f . Show that

such proportionality is equivalent to an increase of 10 dB/decade.
(3 + 2 marks)

QUESTION 4: (25 MARKS)

Two common elements that is used in electrical circuits are: the inductor and the
capacitor.

a) Briefly illustrate how a capacitor could be used to protect an electrical device from
being affected by a high frequency noise current?
(3 marks)

b) Sketch the bode plots of an ideal inductor and capacitor.

(2 + 2 marks)

c) Draw the simplified equivalent circuit of a practical inductor and a practical capacitor
and briefly describe the various elements of the models.

(4 + 4 marks)

d) Sketch the bode plots of the practical inductor and practical capacitor. Indicate on the
sketches the frequencies at which the elements are resistive, capacitive and inductive
respectively
(4 + 4 marks)

e) Briefly explain what would happen if the frequency of operation was beyond the
resonant frequency of both the practical inductor and capacitor of part a).
(2 marks)

***END OF QUESTION PAPER***

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