SINGAPORE – Researchers from A*Star and Samsung Electronics have developed a fast and accurate way to estimate electromagnetic emissions from printed circuit boards.

To ensure emissions are within acceptable limits, products such as mobile phones and laptops undergo tests for "electronic smog." The mathematical model developed by A*Star translates near-field measurements into an accurate estimate of far-field radiation in fewer than 10 min. using a standard desktop computer.

The model mathematically mimics the readings from a scan of the near-field above a PCB. Their simulation relies on a series of virtual magnetic dipoles that collectively replicate the variations in the measured magnetic field.

The simulation runs iteratively, each time altering the magnetic dipoles so that they fit the data better. This process of ‘differential evolution’ eventually produces a solution that is a sufficiently close match to the circuit board’s near field. The researchers then use those magnetic dipoles to simplify their calculation of the far-field radiation produced by the device.

The researchers tested their model using simulated near-field data from a thin, L-shaped metal strip laid on a small circuit board. The data contained 1,273 sample points, each 10mm above the board. The model could approximate this magnetic field using a few virtual magnetic dipoles. The match improved as they added more dipoles, until they reached very good agreement at nine dipoles; adding a tenth did not significantly improve the match.

The team is now working to refine the system to make it suitable for use by the electronics industry.

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