A TEM-cell based method for radiative susceptibility characterization of low-power microcontrollers

Author

Engel, Andy ; Astrain, Hector ; Cagle, John ; Ledford, Steven ; Mahalingam, Mali

Author_Institution

AISL, Tempe, AZ, USA

fYear

1996

fDate

19-23 Aug 1996

Firstpage

76

Lastpage

81

Abstract

The recent explosion in the portable electronics market combined with an increasingly hostile electromagnetic environment have intensified the need to include EM susceptibility design and test methods in applicable low-power ICs. This work presents and applies a TEM-cell based method of testing two key aspects-quiescent current and memory integrity-of the radiative susceptibility of low-power microcontrollers. The units were exposed to radiated EM fields of 20 to 1000 V/m at various frequencies from 0.1 to 1000 MHz. Significant changes in quiescent current occurred only at field values above 70 V/m, which is a much larger ambient field than the microcontroller is expected to experience when used in personal portable electronics products. RAM was changed only after illumination by fields of greater than 275 V/m

Keywords

electromagnetic interference; integrated circuit testing; microcontrollers; 0.1 to 1000 MHz; EM field; RAM; TEM cell; low-power microcontroller; memory integrity; portable electronics; quiescent current; radiative susceptibility; testing; Consumer electronics; Design methodology; Digital integrated circuits; Electromagnetic interference; Electromagnetic radiation; Electronic equipment testing; Explosions; Integrated circuit noise; Integrated circuit testing; Microcontrollers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electromagnetic Compatibility, 1996. Symposium Record. IEEE 1996 International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Santa Clara, CA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3207-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISEMC.1996.561205

Filename

561205