Dealing With Electromagnetic Interference

62 EE March 1989 DEALING WITH ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE by Alan Baker, BSc(Eng), ACGI, CEng, FIMechE Electromagnetic interference (EMI), almost ignored about ten years ago, has now become important, primarily because of the proliferation of electronic equipment in aerospace, motor vehicles and other industries. A feature of such equipment is its sensi- tivity to electromagnetic emanations in the environment, and it cannot be com- pletely shielded from them. Conse- quently there is widespread interest in assessing the levels of EMI likely to be encountered in various circumstances and in developing valid methods of testing the susceptibility of different types of electronic systems. Laboratories devoted to these activities have therefore sprung up worldwide, some for particular industries and others in university engineering departments. The latest, for the automotive industry, is the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) laboratory officially opened last year for the Motor Indust...