Development of an integrated CAD tool for switching power supply design with EMC performance evaluation

A computer-aided tool for the design of switching power supplies integrating a layout editor, autorouter, component library builder and EMI simulator is presented. The software takes on a modular approach and develops the printed circuit board (PCB) layout with emphasis on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The prediction of interference level is achieved by SPICE simulation with suitable model assignments of EMI sources, components, and PCB tracks. An offline forward power converter is built and measured to verify the simulated result. Finally, a performance index is introduced to act as an indicator for the EMC performance of a given PCB layout.