EMI/EMC and co-existence analyses of digital and RF wireless interfaces on consumer and mobile products

Electrical Co-design of IC-package-PCB products for consumer or mobile applications has been changing dramatically in the recent years. Increased integration of RF wireless interfaces on the platforms has to be done very carefully and co-existence with new standards of high-speed digital interfaces (HDMI2.0, USB3.1, LP/DDR4...) and new processors (A53, A57...) must be ensured. EMI/EMC (Electro-Magnetic Interferences and Compatibility) issues can potentially cause bandwidth reduction and integrity problems on RF interfaces. In some cases, fixing the issues requires a re-design of the product and delays mass-production. Based on a recent Set-Top Box product development, this paper presents the challenges and the achievements in the development of a new simulation methodology in order to estimate, investigate and address radiated EMI/EMC/Co-existence issues. The first part of this paper introduces a Set-Top Box (STB) platform and the potential radio-frequency interferences which can occur. Then SI and EMI/transient co-simulation analysis and methodology are presented along with correlations. The example of an aggressor (HDMI 1.4b/2.0) which interferes with a victim (WiFi 802.11an) is used. The last part reports the evaluation of several Co-existence mitigation techniques.