Electromagnetic self-compatibility of power converters

In this paper, a detailed analysis on EMI effects of power converters is performed. In particular, the self-compatibility problem of converters, i.e. disturbance-immunity interactions among all the power and control circuits inside the converter structure, is taken into account. The aim is to establish the maximum allowable disturbance level for the internal digital circuits, which allows avoiding false switching or static failure. These fault operations occur when the electromagnetic interference, usually coming from the power section of the converter, has amplitude which give rise to undesired changes of state of the logic signals. As example, a MOSFET based dc/dc converter has considered. In particular, the power circuit has been analysed in terms of emission, while the control digital circuit in terms of immunity. An experiment set-up has been assembled and tested in an anechoic chamber. Some results of the detailed self-compatibility analysis are reported in this paper.