Now you can SEE high frequency electromagnetic fields. There are high demands for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of electronic products. The demands are stated in different set of rules, for example: VCCI, ANSI,CISPR, FCC and VDE. These demands are specified for products or systems and not for components or elements. The fact that there is no easy way to find the exact location of a radiating source is a problem for designers today.
Detectus AB has developed several measuring systems with which the designers can measure the intensity and the location of a radiation source at a component level. The results of such a measurement can be shown as two or three dimensional coloured maps.
The patented EMC-scanner measures the emission from components, cables, PCB’s and products. The system consists of an X-Y-Z robot, a spectrum analyzer with near field probes, a GPIB card for communicating with the spectrum analyzer and a personal computer with a software. During measurement the near field probe is moved by the robot to a grid of measuring points above the test object. At each measuring point the location of the probe and the value of the emission intensity is stored in the computer. After the measurement the results can be documented in different types of reports.
One of the most useful features of the EMC Scanner system is that it enables you to make truly objective comparative measurements.
To the right, you can see an example of comparative measurements. The six measurements show the same test object and the same frequency. The difference is the value of the de-coupling capacitor of one IC.
The MultiScan measurement enables you to generate field plots from any frequency within the measured wide band span. This powerful feature is a major improvement and it gives an enormous amount of information. Looking at the screen dump to the left, the main part of the screen shows the field plot of the frequency selected in the top left graph.
The top left graph shows the accumulated trace (a max hold spectra of all measuring points).
The top right graph shows the wide band spectra from a user selectable spot on the field plot.
Import 3D surface models Now you can import 3D surface models in STL file format and create measuring points that follow the surface at a fixed distance. 3D surface models can easily be aligned to the measurement using the 3-point alignment feature.
Earlier emission measurements had to be made by specialists. With the EMC scanner anyone can make a measurement and draw conclusions from the informative and easily interpreted reports. You do not even need to have access to a screened room to make the measurements. The software runs in Windows on a standard PC and is intuitive and user-friendly. Since the system is configurable for most modern spectrum analyzers, you can use your own and do not have to purchase a new one.
It's Useful For...
Design Using the EMC-Scanner during the early stages of design enables you to detect potential emission problems before they become integrated into the product and expensive to correct. If a product has failed a test at a test house, normally you only know which frequency failed. You don’t get to know the location of the source. The EMC-Scanner can help you find the source and repeated measurements while redesigning your product helps you lower the emission levels
Q&A tool The EMC-Scanner can help you maintain
a high quality in the production
line. You can make measurements
on samples from the production line
and easily compare them with a reference.
That way you can make sure
that, for example, a change of supplier
for a component doesn't affect the emission spectra in a negative way.
You save time and money by reducing your need for expensive and time consuming full scale measurement.
You can see the emission at components level.
Early in the design phase you can detect potential emission problems.
You can make comparative measurements to document the effect of a change in design. (Useful when there is a need to archive design changes.)
You can maintain a high quality in the production line by measuring samples and comparing them to a reference.
You do not have to know what frequencies you are looking for thanks to the Prescan function.
You can use your own instruments
You can easily document (ISO900x) the emission spectra of your products in both design and production phase.