An EMC design approach for integrating COTS equipment into an existing military aircraft

Using commercial off the shelf (COTS) computing equipment in military aircraft applications may cause harmful electromagnetic interference (EMI) to other on-board systems, including communication and navigation equipment. An electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) design approach to successfully integrate COTS equipment into an existing military aircraft is described. The following system design and development steps are outlined: (1) requirements definition, (2) preliminary EMC analysis, (3) EMC control measure design, (4) COTS equipment EMI characterization tests, and (5) system level EMC verification.