OnTrack: The PCB Design Podcast

How does Denpaflux simplify EMC testing? In this episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast, host Zach Peterson interviews Reinhard Neureiter, CEO of Denpaflux, to explore their groundbreaking AI-powered tools for tackling EMI and EMC challenges. Learn why 70% (or maybe more) of designs fail EMC testing and how Denpaflux helps engineers fix critical issues faster, from optimizing board stackups to pinpointing high-priority EMI risks.

Discover how this platform combines human expertise with AI to make EMC consulting accessible, effective, and efficient. Whether you’re a seasoned engineer or just starting out, Denpaflux offers insights and tools to streamline your workflow and reduce costly delays.

Don't miss this deep dive into the future of EMI/EMC solutions and the innovative technologies reshaping PCB design.

We are very delighted to have Dr. Min Zhang in this episode. Min is an independent EMC consultant based in the UK. Today, we'll be talking about EMC, both on board and off the board. It will be a very interesting discussion because we will look a little bit deeper at the system level of the board.

Show Highlights:

• Zach met Min at EMCLive 2021
• Let’s hear more about Min’s background and his early exposure to EMI issues
  • Earlier in his career, he worked with big companies as a motor drive engineer and power electronics design engineer for 10 years
  • He started his engineering consulting business, Mach One Design EMC Consultants 2 years ago
  • His first experience dealing with EMI issues was at the university while doing research for his PhD
• The lack of education in the university in regards to EMI issues is one of the reasons that sparked Min’s interest in EMI
  • The university he went to specializes in motor and power converter design, but did not offer any solutions in fixing the EMI issues
  • Min recalls being fascinated by his first time seeing an EMI diagnosis kit composed of the spectrum analyzer, lots of ferrites, and cable shooting copper tape in a suitcase
  • It was his first time seeing a step-by-step diagnosis and troubleshooting EMI issues - checking the grounding, checking the bonding, and applying ferrites at the right place, performed by his friend’s father who was then a principal engineer in the European Space Agency
• Min’s recommendation to design engineers solving EMI issues is to understand the fundamentals – “only when you understand the fundamentals, understand the basics, and the first principle, then you can really design a system” - Min Zhang
• What happens when EMI problems exist off the board and they interfere with the system or create so much noise that the system is never going to pass EMC?
  • Min answers by recommending Rick Hartley's famous YouTube video about grounding
  • He continues with his answer with an example involving a three-phase brushless DC motor drive
• How to deal with cables connected to another system that is outside of the shielding?
  • Shielding is a good solution, but understanding fundamentals are necessary to avoid increased cost, weight, and also the bending ratio would be affected
• Min shares a recent video he did with Robert Feranec which discusses the topic of EMI troubleshooting on immunity
• 70% of the EMI issues are somehow related to resonance
  • For high-speed design, PCB designers really need to understand how the wave propagates
• Ferrite is not a 100% inductive component
• Min recommends the book by Douglas Smith – High Frequency Measurements and Noise in Electronic Circuits which focuses on the test and measurements in terms of high-speed design
• Other experts to learn from in terms of EMI troubleshooting and high speed designs are Eric Bogatin, Steve Sandler and Heidi Barnes

Links and Resources:

Learn more about Min Zhang and his company Mach One Design EMC Consultants
Watch Min’s Keynote at EMCLive 2021
Watch How a Few Components Make a Big Difference in EMC/EMI with Min and Robert Feranec 
Read Min Zhang’s article on SI Journal
Great book recommendation: High Frequency Measurements and Noise in Electronic Circuits
Watch Rick Hartley's famous YouTube video about grounding
Watch previous episodes with EMI and High-speed experts:
    Eric Bogatin Debunks Common Misconceptions About Transmission Lines
    Secrets of PCB Optimization with Rick Hartley
    Being Right Matters! When, Why and What to Simulate with Steve Sandler
    Power Integrity and Simulations with Heidi Barnes

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Making electromagnetic analysis accessible to anyone in the industry is what inspired Yuriy to create SIMBEOR^® Electromagnetic Signal Simulator.

Yuriy Shlepnev is the founder and president of Simberian. In this episode, he will tell us about Simbeor simulation capabilities, and briefly educate us on rise times, signal integrity, and solving EMI. He will also show us the simulator in action and how it can be a lifesaver to PCB designers like you.

Tune in, enjoy and don't forget to check the additional resources below.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

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Show Highlights:

• uriy talks about his background in computational electromagnetics and how he got started working on simulations for PCBs and magnetic analysis 
  • He realized that the byte rates and data rates were increasing, and everything was getting into the microwave domain
  • In 2006,  Simberian was founded as a project to make electromagnetic analysis accessible to anyone in the industry
  • SIMBEOR^® was created to make electromagnetic analysis mainstream
• Simulation capabilities accessible to lower data rates, Yuriy discusses rise times, signal integrity, and solving EMI simultaneously
• SIMBEOR^® 2022 includes three simulation modes, and one of them is the Fast SI which uses more approximate models for pins, pads, and vias. It is a full wave, but not 3D. It allows simulations to run faster for more mass, included
• Simbeor SDK, a built-in software development kit in Altium Designer’s stackup manager. It uses the SFS solver for cross-sectional analysis, and that benefits Altium customers
• Yuriy shows us the 3D field solver in action
• Simulation of fiber weave effect on PCBs, is it possible? 
  • Coming soon in Simbeor SDK is the ability to build your own simulation tools
  • Monte Carlo analysis is a perfect way to convert numeric model variations into a probability distribution
• What is the future of SIMBEOR^® that designers can use to help them expedite important analyses for high-speed and RF designs?

Links and Resources:

Connect with Yuriy Shlepnev on LinkedIn
Visit Simberian website and learn more about SIMBEOR^® Electromagnetic Signal Integrity Software
Read Yuriy’s Articles in SI Journal
Watch a related podcast episode: Simberian’s 3D Field Solver in Altium Designer

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EMIStream is now available as an Altium Designer^® extension. TechDream CEO Yoshi Fukuwa will tell us how EMIStream can be a lifesaver when addressing EMI issues in your PCB design. Watch through the end, and check out Yoshi’s recent presentation at AltiumLive Connect.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Yoshi founded his company TechDream in Silicon Valley in 2002. Techdream offers EMC, EDA, and PCB solutions. They also carry EDS simulation tools and PCB materials from Oak-Mitsui technologies
• EMIStream was developed by NEC Solution Innovators in Japan about 25 years ago; they tapped TechDream to sell the technology in the United States to help engineers with their EMI problems
  • 150 design rules to solve EMI problems narrowed into 15 most important EMI data and rules implemented in EMIStream
  • Yoshi Maruyama from NEC Solution Innnovtor is the main guy developing EMIStream in Japan
  • EMIStream’s EMI design rule check and plane resonance analysis are available in the Altium Designer environment
• Yoshi explains the two features in EMIStream
  • EMI Design Rule Checker
  • Plane Resonance Analyzer
• Field Solver approach vs. SPICE approach
  • 3D field solver is very good and accurate, but it takes longer to analyze
  • EMIStream’s SPICE approach is 20 times faster than a standard SPICE engine
• What do you need to know about embedded capacitance materials?
• Yoshi reveals the number one problem in PCB design during a survey at AltiumLive
• The benefits of SPICE net format in EMIStream
• Catch Yoshi at DesignCon 2022. He will be joining the FaradFlex booth

Links and Resources:

Connect with Yoshi Fukawa on Linkedin
Watch Yoshi’s AltoiumLive 2022 Connect Presentation: Eliminate EMI Problems at Design Stage, Robust EMI Design Rule Check & Plane Resonance Analysis
Visit TechDream Website
Learn More About EMIStream
 

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Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics