Designing Wide-VIN Low-EMI

Power Converters
Tim Reyes
Product Marketing Engineer
Agenda
• Application Uses of Wide Input Voltage (Wide VIN) DC/DC Converters
• Approaches to Mitigate EMI in Switching Power Supply Design
• Identifying EMI Critical Paths
• IC Selection
• PCB Layout
• Spread Spectrum, Slew Rate Control, and Other Techniques
• Input EMI Filter Design
• WEBENCH EMI Tool
 TI Wide Vin DC/DC Converters for Demanding Systems
Applications

Automotive Industrial Communications

12V/24V battery 24V & higher Bus 24V/48V systems
Focus

Buck Controllers Boost and Buck-boost Fly-Buck™ Multi- Voltage References

Products

& Regulators Controllers and Regulators output Circuits

Wide Vin Operation High Efficiency 2MHz Switching Low Iq Low EMI
Benefits
System

Withstands transients Smaller PCB area, AM Longer battery life Ref Lvl
Marker 1 [T1]

33.43 dB æ V
RBW

VBW
10

30
kHz

kHz
RF Att 10 dB

without external protection

80 dB æ V 2.22513840 MHz SWT 5 s Unit dB æ V
80

band avoidance
1 MHz 10 MHz
A

70

SGL

60

circuitry 50

40
LW-AV5

MW-AV5
1
1MA

SW-AV5
30

CB-AV5

20

10

-10

-20
Center 2.121320344 MHz Span 29.85 MHz

Date: 9.OCT.2014 20:04:23

EMI in Switch Mode Power Supplies

Conducted EMI Conducted EMI

Radiated EMI
EMI Noise EMC Noise
GOAL: Generation Compatibility
Engineering Approach To Mitigate EMI
Identify Significant EMI
NOISE SOURCE Sources
Unwanted Emissions

Identify Critical Paths

EMI Filters COUPLING Shielding
Electric Magnetic
Optimize IC Selection and
Conducted Radiated PCB Design
Fields Fields
EMI Filters Shielding Add EMI Filter / Snubber /
Shielding

SUSCEPTIBLE SYSTEM
Identify the Source of EMI – SW Node
HS FET SW Node

Buck

+ -
LS FET
Converter

+ -

• Minimize critical path area

• Separate noisy ground path from quiet ground

6
Noise Source and Mitigation Method
Single-turn air-core inductor
Self-inductance
L  Loop Area

Voltage Spike
di
v  L
Mitigation = dt
Reduce Loop Area
Critical Path Area Comparison
Critical Path Area Reduction Grounding
• Long Critical Path = Large Loop Area

SW
18.1V max

Vout
140mVpp

8
Critical Path Area Comparison
Critical Path Area Reduction Grounding
• Short Critical Path = Small Loop Area

SW
16.2V max

Vout
64mVpp

Comparison SW max (V) Vout p2p (mV) EMI peak (dBµV)

VOUT
Smaller Area 16.2 64 45
Larger Area 18.1 140 50

9
EMI Mitigation by PCB Layout
Critical Path Area Reduction Grounding
• Ground Plane
o Return Current Takes The Least IMPEDANCE Path
o Unbroken Ground Plane Provides Shortest Return Path

Trace or Cut on the

ground plane
Ground
Current flow in top layer trace Plane
Ground
Plane
Return current path in unbroken
ground plane directly under path Return current path enclose much larger area if
- Area minimized, B field minimized the direct path is blocked

10
Pinout Designed With Performance In Mind
Compact, Low EMI, and Excellent Thermal Performance

LM43603
Parallel Input Cap Placement for Automotive
SWITCH

LM53635

GND 1 1 7 GND
10
1 2 8 6

1 3 5
CIN 9 CIN
HF1 HF2

VIN 14 4 VIN

1 5 3

1 6 LM53635 2

1 7 1
1 1 2 2 2
8 9 0 1 2

12
 PCB Layout Example – LM5165 COT Buck Converter
Full layer ground plane under
Remove copper between inductor
converter top side layout
pads to reduce parasitic capacitance
provides H-field cancellation

GND GND
Terminal Terminal

Keep Input Output

Cap close to Cap Output
Input
LM5165 Terminal
Terminal

EN PGOOD
Terminal Terminal

mPower Position Feedback

Converter IC Resistors close to
FB & GND pins
What makes a low EMI Buck
High pass
SW node capacitive coupling to the environment

C = 7fF

Return path of coupling is over Input wires SW Near E-Field

dV/dt coupling
-> Now it’s source of the Common Mode Noise Buck
EMI Filter

DC Input cable Output cable

Load
Source SW
L
Low pass
Output Noise
140uV pkpk 9mV pkpk
Examples:
1mV pkpk on PCB trace
Input Noise
140uV pkpk with
unshielded Cable
similar to CISPR
-12dB/Oct -40dB/Dec
Buck Switch Node Voltage Ringing Due to Circuit Parasitics
VCC
DBST VIN
HB Switch node ringing generates EMI in the FM Band> 30
CBST MHz
HO RHO

SW

VCC
CVCC
LO RLO

PGND

15
FET Package and PBC Parasitics
VCC VIN
DBST
HB LDRAIN
• MOSFET package inductance, and
CBST
capacitance
• PCB inductance and capacitance HO RHO
CFET

LSOURCE
SW DHO

VCC LDRAIN
CVCC
LO RLO
CFET

LSOURCE

PGND

16
Buck Switch Node with Slew Rate Control
VCC
DBST V
HB
IN
Using slew rate control the
CBST switch node ringing is
HO RHO eliminated

HOL RHOL

SW
VCC
CVCC
RLO
LO

LOL
RLOL

PGND RHOH=10 ohms

RHOL=0 ohms
LLOH=10 ohms
RLOL=10 ohms

17
 Benefits of Gate Driver Slew Rate Control HB

HOH

• Gate turn-on and turn-off times can be independently HOL

controlled via series resistors SW
• Optimizing gate drive slew rate reduces EMI with ~1% VCC

reduction in efficiency (as measured on LM5140 EVM) LOH

LOL

LM5140 PGND

No Slew Rate Control RBW 100 kHz RF Att 0 dB

With Slew Rate Control RBW 100 kHz RF Att 0 dB
Ref Lvl VBW 300 kHz
Ref Lvl VBW 300 kHz
70 dB æ V SWT 3 s Unit dB æ V
70 dB æ V SWT 10 s Unit dB æ V
70
100 MHz 70
A 100 MHz
A

60
59 dBµV SGL
60 SGL

50
50
39 dBµV
1MA

Measured on
VHF1-PK5 1MA
VHF1-PK5
40
VHF2-PK5
FM-PK5 40
VHF2-PK5
FM-PK5
TVI-PK5

LM5140 Standard EVM:

TVI-PK5

30
30

20
20
2.2MHz, 3.3V/5.0Vout
10
10

0
0
Start 30 MHz Stop 108 MHz
Start 30 MHz Stop 108 MHz
Date: 15.OCT.2014 20:22:18
Date: 15.DEC.2014 13:52:01

18
Spread spectrum/Dithering – What is it?
• Spread spectrum is a means of reducing EMI interference by dithering the switching
regulator frequency, in the case of LM53600/53601, by +/-4%. This has the effect of
spreading the noise spectrum and reducing the fundamental energy, as shown
Fundamental with
narrow spectrum
and high amplitude

Spread spectrum reduces

the fundamental signal
energy and the overall peak
value while widening the
spectrum

19
Differential Mode Conducted EMI

• Differential Mode Conducted EMI

o In DC-DC converter topology differential mode noise usually dominates common mode
o Involves the Normal Operation of the Circuit
o Only Related to CURRENT, not voltage
o For example, with the same power level Buck converter, lower input voltage means higher input current,
thus worse conducted EMI
• Why we care?
o Excessive Input and/or Output Voltage Ripple can compromise operation of Supply and/or Load

20
Input Filter Design for Conducted EMI
There are two basic requirements for the conducted EMI filter:
• Meet noise attenuation requirement (i.e. CISPR 25)
• Not interfere with the normal operation of the SMPS converter Conducted EMI plot of LM53603
without Input Filter
RBW 10 kHz RF Att 10 dB

Ref Lvl VBW 30 kHz

80 dB æ V SWT 10 s Unit dB æ V
80
1 MHz 10 MHz
A

Example of a Buck regulator 70 LW_PK5

SGL

60

• No input filter 50 LW-AV5

MW_PK5
SW_PK5

1MA
CB_PK5

• Fails CISPR 25 regulation limits

2AV
40

MW-AV5
SW-AV5
30

But how do we estimate how much filter attenuation to 20

CB-AV5

add? 10

-10

-20
Start 150 kHz Stop 30 MHz

Date: 3.MAR.2015 14:25:04

21
Necessary Input Filter Attenuation
Methods of estimating the filter attenuation prior to making a certified measurement with a LISN (Line
Impedance Stabilization Network) and Spectrum Analyzer
• Method 1 – estimation using oscilloscope measurement
• Measure the input ripple voltage using a wide bandwidth scope and calculate the attenuation.
VinRipple pk  pk
| Att |dB  20  log( )  VMAX
1mV
• VMAX is the allowed dBμV noise level for the particular EMI standard.
• Method 2 – Estimation using the first harmonic of input current
• Assume the input current is a square wave (small ripple approximation)

• VMAX is the allowed dBμV noise level for the particular EMI standard.
• CIN is the existing input capacitor of the Buck converter.
• D is the duty cycle, I is the output current, Fs is the switching frequency

22
Typical Conducted EMI Filter

Follow the design steps below:

• Calculate the required attenuation using Method 1 or Method 2.
• Capacitor CIN represents the existing capacitor at the input of the switching converter.
• Inductor Lf is usually between 1μH and 10μH, but can be smaller to reduce losses if this is a high current design.
• Calculate capacitor Cf. Use the larger of the two values (Cfa and Cfb) below:

• Capacitor Cd and its ESR provides damping so that the Lf Cf filter does not affect the stability of the switching converter.

23
Conducted EMI Before and After Filter
LM53603 – 150kHz to 30MHz Using guidelines on the
Input 13V, Output 5V@3A, resistor load, CISPR 25 CE setup previous slides, the filter was
Red Line: Class 5 Limits (Peak/Average Detection) implemented and Conducted
Yellow: Peak detection result EMI retaken
Blue: Average detection result
RBW 10 kHz RF Att 10 dB

Ref Lvl VBW 30 kHz

80 dB æ V SWT 10 s Unit dB æ V
80
1 MHz 10 MHz
A

70 LW_PK5

SGL

60

MW_PK5
SW_PK5
50 LW-AV5

1MA
CB_PK5
2AV
40

MW-AV5
SW-AV5
30

CB-AV5

20

10

-10

-20
Start 150 kHz Stop 30 MHz

Date: 3.MAR.2015 14:25:04

No Input Filter With Input Filter

24
COT Converter with EMI Input Filter
EMI filtering
Inrush limit
Low-IQ Synchronous DC/DC Converter, 5V @ 150mA
LIN1 VIN LF VOUT
22μH 10V...65V 220μH 5V
VDC+
VIN SW
LM5165 RESR
Input TVS1 CX1 CX2 CIN1 EN VOUT 1.5W
Supply 43V 1nF 10μF 1μF
COUT
PGOOD SS 22μF
VDC‒
ILIM
HYS CSS
Input Filter & Protection 47nF
RT GND
TVS clamp for surge protection RRT
133kW
Conducted EMI Plots: CISPR 22 Class B (150kHz  30MHz)
Input 13.5V, Output 5V @ 100mA, COT mode, Resistive load, CISPR 22 CE setup
230kHz
RBW 10 kHz RF Att 10 dB RBW 10 kHz RF Att 10 dB
Ref Lvl
70 dB æ V 460kHz
VBW
Unfiltered
SWT
30 kHz
10 s Unit dB æ V
Ref Lvl
70 dB æ V
Input filter: LIN = 22 mH, CX2 = 10mF
VBW
SWT
30 kHz
10 s Unit dB æ V
70 70
1 MHz 10 MHz 1 MHz 10 MHz
690kHz A A

60 60
1.15MHz SGL SGL

CISPR22 CISPR22
50 50

1MA 1MA
40 2AV 40 2AV

30 30
Peak detector Peak detector

20 20

10 10

Average detector
0 0

Average detector
-10 -10
Start 150 kHz Stop 30 MHz Start 150 kHz Stop 30 MHz

Date: 26.FEB.2016 11:18:08 Date: 26.FEB.2016 11:12:48

Red Lines Class B Limits
(a) Yellow Peak detection(b)result
(Peak & Average detection) Blue Average detection result

26
Conducted EMI Filter Design Tool- WEBENCH®

EMI Limits
Spectrum Analysis before
and after input filter
Auto calculated or custom
Input filter

27
Further Reading
• Input Filter Design for Switching Power Supplies (SNVA538)
• Simple Success With Conducted EMI From DC-DC Converters (SNVA489)
• Simple Success with Conducted EMI and Radiated EMI for LMR160X0
(SNVA755)