Electromagnetic Emissions: IC-Level versus System-Level

The electromagnetic emission (EME) of integrated circuits (ICs) is very often the reason, why an electronic system in which these ICs are implemented will not meet the regulatory limits and performance compatibility with other electronic devices. Even though in the meantime unified measurement methods at the IC-level are proposed in two standards a so-called "missing link" exists between EMC measurements at the IC- and at the system-level, respectively. Furthermore, no information is available how to estimate the EMC behavior of an electronic system from the characterized EMC behavior of the IC, which is used in this system. Besides a brief overview of some legal requirements and measurement methods at the system-level and the measurement methods at the IC-level we present an approach to reduce the gap between the IC- and the system-level by the calculation of the far field emissions from current measurements of IC pins on a printed circuit board (PCB).