AUTOMOTIVE BATTERY MANAGEMENT GENERAL ENGINEERING TOPICS Nov 29, 2000

POWER-SUPPLY CIRCUITS PROTOTYPING AND PC BOARD LAYOUT

Proper Layout and Component Selection Controls

EMI
Understanding the physics of voltage regulator topologies is important in
designing power systems for EMI and EMC compliance. In particular, the
physical principles behind switching regulators (buck, boost, flyback, and
SEPIC topologies) guide component choice, magnetics design and PC
board layout. Parasitic elements such as leakage inductance, ESR, and ESL
are significant when optimizing circuit performance.

Most portable devices include a regulator or other form of power supply, and the lower supply
voltages associated with smaller-lithography ICs have mandated these power circuits in many
nonportable devices as well. Though not fully understood by many designers, the trade-off
among different types of regulators and power supplies can have a major effect on battery life,
compliance with electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC)
regulations, and even the basic operation of a product under design. The following overview
covers the mechanisms and the physical principles governing the generation and the
propagation of electrical noise in power supplies.

Voltage Regulators

The most common power converter is the voltage regulator. It accepts a voltage that varies over
a given range, and it generates an output voltage that does not vary. Regulators comprise two
main categories: switching types and all others (mainly the linear and shunt types). Unlike
switching regulators, linear and shunt types are limited by the fact that their output voltage must
remain less than the input voltage. Also, the efficiency of most switching regulators is better than
that of an equivalent linear or shunt regulator. Nevertheless, the low noise and the simplicity of
linear/shunt types make them an attractive alternative to switching regulators.

The simplest type of voltage regulator is a shunt regulator, which merely adjusts current through
a resistor to drop the input voltage to a regulated output level. Zener diodes also function this
way, but power dissipation in a zener is high, and its load regulation (change in output voltage
with change in load current) is poor. Some shunt regulators let you set the regulation voltage
with a voltage divider, but those types usually appear as building blocks in more complex
regulators or power supplies. Generally, shunt regulators are appropriate for low-power systems
in which the variation of load current is small. This narrow range of application can be expanded,
however, by adding an active pass element (usually a bipolar transistor) that transforms the
shunt into a linear regulator.

Linear Voltage Regulators

Linear voltage regulators use an active pass element (bipolar or MOSFET) to drop the input
voltage down to the regulated output voltage. Among these devices, the low-dropout (LDO)
types have become popular over the last decade. Dropout refers to the minimum difference
(between input and output voltage) that sustains regulation. Dropout voltages as high as 1V
have been called LDO, but a more typical value is between 100mV and 300mV.

Because a linear regulator's input current is approximately equal to its output current, its
efficiency (output power divided by input power) is a function of the output/input voltage ratio.
Thus, dropout is important, as lower dropout means higher efficiency. However, if the input
voltage is much higher than the output voltage, or if it varies widely, then maximum efficiency is
difficult to achieve. Another function of LDO regulators (to be discussed) is to serve as a barrier
to the noise generated by a switching regulator. In that role, the LDO regulator's low-dropout
characteristic improves the circuit's overall efficiency.

Switching Regulators

If the performance of a linear or shunt regulator is not adequate for the application, then the
designer must turn to a switching regulator. Along with improved performance, however, come
the drawbacks of larger size and cost, greater sensitivity to (and generation of) electrical noise,
and a general increase in complexity.

Noise generated by a switching regulator or power supply can emerge through conduction or
radiation. Conducted emissions can take the form of voltage or current, and each of these can
be further categorized as common-mode or differential-mode conduction. To complicate matters,
the finite impedance of connecting wires enables voltage conduction to cause current
conduction and vice versa, and differential-mode conduction to cause common-mode
conduction and vice versa.

However, generally you can optimize a circuit to reduce one or more of these emissions.
Conducted emission usually poses a greater problem for fixed systems than for portable
systems. Because the portable device operates from batteries, its load and source have no
external connections for conducting emissions.

To understand the source of noise in a switching regulator, you must first understand its
operation. Descriptions of the many types of switching regulators are beyond the scope of this
article. But, basically, a switching regulator converts the source voltage/current to load
voltage/current by employing active elements (transistors and diodes) to shuttle current through
storage elements (inductors and capacitors). To illustrate, the MAX1653 DC/DC converter
controller forms a typical synchronous-rectified step-down converter (Figure 1).

Figure 1. This illustrative step-down switching regulator features an external switching transistor
(N1) and synchronous rectifier (N2).

During normal operation, the circuit conducts current from input to output when the high-side
switch (N1) is on, and it continues conducting through the inductor when N1 is off and the
synchronous rectifier (N2) is on. First-order approximations of the current and voltage
waveforms (Figure 2) lead to a flawed assumption that all the components are ideal, but the
parasitic effects of these components will be covered later.
Figure 2. These waveforms from the circuit in Figure 1 are based on an assumption of ideal
components.

Because N1 is on only part-time, the input source and input capacitor (CIN) see discontinuous
currents. CIN supplies the excess current (iL -iINPUT) while N1 is on, and it stores charge from
the input current while N1 is off. If CIN were of infinite value, with zero equivalent series
resistance (ESR) and equivalent series inductance (ESL), the voltage across it would remain
constant during these partial charge and discharge cycles. Actual voltage fluctuates over each
cycle, of course. The current pulses divide between CIN and the input source, based on the
relative conductance at or above the converter's switching frequency.

One way to eliminate these conducted emissions is the brute force approach: Connect low-
impedance bypass capacitors at the input. Yet a more subtle approach can save cost and board
area: Add impedance between the source and the converter, making sure the necessary DC
current can pass. The best impedance is an inductor, but take care that the converter's input
impedance remains low up to its loop crossover frequency. (The loop crossover for most DC/DC
switching converters is between 10kHz and 100kHz.) Otherwise, input-voltage fluctuations can
destabilize the output voltage.

Current ripple on the output capacitor (COUT) is much less than on CIN. Its amplitude is lower,
and (unlike the input capacitor) its current is continuous, and therefore has less harmonic
content. Normally, each turn of the coil is covered with wire insulation, forming a small capacitor
between each pair of turns. Adding these parasitic capacitors in series forms a small equivalent
capacitor in parallel with the inductor, which provides a path for conduction of current impulses
to COUT and the load. Thus, the discontinuous edges of the voltage waveform at the switching
node (LX) conduct high-frequency current to COUT and the load. The usual result is spikes on
the output voltage, with energy in the 20MHz to 50MHz range.

Often the load for this type of converter is some form of microelectronics susceptible to
conducted noise, and fortunately the converter's conducted noise is easier to control at the
output than at the input. As for the input, output conducted noise can be controlled by very low
impedance bypassing or secondary filtering. One should be cautious of secondary (post)
filtering, however. Output voltage is a regulated variable in the control loop, so an output filter
adds delay or phase (or both) to the loop gain, possibly destabilizing the circuit. If a high-Q LC
post-filter is placed after the feedback point, the inductor's resistance will degrade the load
regulation, and transient load currents can cause ringing.

Other Topologies

Other switching-converter topologies have problems similar to those of the step-down converter.
A step-up converter (Figure 3), for example, has the basic structure of a step-down converter,
but with inputs and outputs swapped. Thus, problems at the input of a step-down converter
apply to the input of a step-up converter as well, and vice versa.
Figure 3. This step-up switching regulator lacks synchronous rectification, but is otherwise
similar to the step-down type, with inputs and outputs swapped.

Step-down converters are limited, because their output voltage must be less than the input
voltage. Similarly, a step-up converter's output voltage must be greater than its input voltage.
This requirement is problematic when the output voltage falls within the input-voltage range. A
topology that solves this problem is the flyback converter (Figure 4).

Figure 4. A flyback regulator maintains regulation for inputs that range above and below the
output voltage.

Because currents at the input and the output are both discontinuous, making conducted
emissions more difficult to control, noise from this converter is generally worse than that of a
step-up or step-down type. Another problem with this converter is that current in each
transformer winding is discontinuous, and these discontinuities act with the transformer's
leakage inductance to produce high-frequency spikes, which can conduct to other circuits.
Physical separation of the primary and secondary windings causes this leakage inductance.
Thus, the leakage inductance results from magnetic fields in the air (because fields in the core
couple both the primary and secondary windings). Spikes due to the leakage inductance
therefore cause magnetic field radiation.

Another topology that solves the problem of overlapping input and output voltages is the single-
ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC). Similar to a flyback circuit, the SEPIC converter
connects a capacitor between the transformer's primary and secondary windings (Figure 5). This
capacitor, which provides a path for current in the primary and secondary windings during the
time that flyback currents are off, improves the flyback circuit by making the primary and
secondary currents continuous. On the other hand, adding input or output capacitance to a
flyback circuit can often improve its emissions sufficiently to make that topology just as
acceptable. If conducted and radiated noise is expected to be a problem, however, the SEPIC
circuit can be preferable to the flyback.

Figure 5. Otherwise similar to a flyback regulator, the single-ended primary inductance converter
(SEPIC) has continuous primary and secondary currents that generate less noise.

Linear Post-Regulation

For some applications in which output noise must be minimized, the efficiency deficit of using a
linear regulator is not acceptable. A switching regulator followed by a linear post-regulator can
be suitable in these cases. The post-regulator attenuates high-frequency noise generated by the
switching regulator, resulting in noise performance approaching that of a lone linear regulator.
Because most voltage conversion occurs in the switching regulator, however, the efficiency
penalty is much smaller than for a lone linear regulator.

This scheme can also replace flyback and SEPIC converters in applications for which the input
and output voltages overlap. The step-up converter operates when the input is less than the
output, and the linear regulator operates when the input is greater than the output. A step-up
converter and a low dropout (LDO) linear regulator can be combined in a single IC (Figure 6).
This device also includes a track mode in which the step-up converter output voltage is always
300mV above the LDO output voltage. As a result, the LDO regulator maintains sufficient PSRR
and headroom (input minus output voltage) to attenuate noise from the step-up converter under
all conditions.

Figure 6. As a third option for maintaining regulation when the input range overlaps the output
voltage, this IC combines a switching regulator (for step up) and a linear regulator (for step
down).

Common-Mode Noise

By definition, common-mode conduction is in phase on both connections of the input or the

output. Typically, it poses a problem only for fixed systems that have a path to earth ground. In a
typical offline power supply with common-mode filters (Figure 7), the main source of common-
mode noise is the MOSFET. The MOSFET is usually a major power-dissipating element in the
circuit, and it requires a heatsink.
Figure 7. Common-mode filters in this typical offline power supply reduce noise that is common
to both sides of the input and the output.

For a TO-220 device, the heatsink tab would connect to the MOSFET drain, and in most cases
the heatsink would conduct current to earth ground. Because the MOSFET is both insulated and
electrically isolated from the heatsink, it has some capacitance to earth ground. As it switches
on and off, the rapidly changing drain voltage drives current through the parasitic capacitance
(Cp1) to earth ground. Because the AC line has low impedance to earth ground, these common-
mode currents flow from the AC input to earth ground. The transformer, too, conducts high-
frequency current through the parasitic capacitance (Cp2A and Cp2B) between its isolated
primary and secondary windings. Thus, noise can be conducted to the output as well as the
input.

In Figure 7, the common-mode conducted noise is attenuated by the common-mode low-pass

filters between the noise source (the power supply) and the input or the output. Common-mode
chokes (CML1 and CML2) are generally wound on a single core with the polarity shown. Load
current and the line current driving the power supply are both differential-mode currents (that is,
current flowing in one line flows out the other). By winding the common-mode chokes on a
single core, the fields due to differential-mode currents cancel, allowing use of a smaller core
because very little energy is stored in it.

Many of the common-mode chokes designed for offline power supplies are wound with physical
separation between the windings. This construction adds differential-mode inductance, which
also helps to reduce the conducted differential-mode noise. Because the core links both
windings, fields due to differential-mode current and inductance are in the air rather than the
core, which can produce radiated emissions.

Common-mode noise generated in the power supply's load can be conducted through the power
supply to the AC line by means of parasitic capacitance (Cp2A and Cp2B) in the transformer. A
Faraday shield in the transformer (a ground plane between primary and secondary) can reduce
this noise (Figure 8). The shield forms capacitors from the primary and secondary to ground,
and these capacitors shunt common-mode currents to ground rather than allowing them to pass
through the transformer.
Figure 8. A Faraday shield between primary and secondary blocks common-mode noise that
would otherwise pass through the transformer's parasitic interwinding capacitance.

Just as conducted emissions can be in the form of voltage or current, radiated emissions can be
in the form of electric or magnetic fields. Because fields exist in space rather than in conductors,
however, there is no distinction between differential-mode and common-mode fields. An electric
field exists in the space between two potentials, and a magnetic field exists around a current
traveling through space. Both fields can exist in a circuit, because capacitors store energy in
electric fields and inductors/transformers store/couple energy in magnetic fields.

Electric Fields

Because an electric field exists between two surfaces or volumes with different potentials, it is
relatively easy to contain the electric field noise generated within a device by surrounding the
device with a ground shield. Such shielding is common practice in the construction of CRTs,
oscilloscopes, switching power supplies, and other devices with fluctuating high voltages.
Another common practice is the use of ground planes on circuit boards. Electric fields are
proportional to the potential difference between surfaces and inversely proportional to the
distance between them. They exist, for instance, between a source and any nearby ground
plane. Multilayer circuit boards therefore let you shield circuitry or traces by placing a ground
plane between them and any large potential.

Yet one should be cautious of capacitive loading on high-voltage lines when using ground
planes. Capacitors store energy in electric fields, so placing the ground plane near a conductor
forms a capacitor between the conductor and ground. A large dv/dt signal on the conductor can
cause large conducted currents to ground, thereby degrading the conducted emissions while
controlling the radiated emissions.

If electric field emissions are present, the most likely culprit is the highest potential in the system.
In power supplies and switching regulators, beware of the switching transistors and rectifiers,
because they normally have high potentials and can also have large surface areas due to
heatsinking. Surface-mount devices can have this problem, too, as they often require lots of
circuit-board copper for heatsinking. In that case, also watch out for capacitance between any
large-area heatsink plane and the ground plane or a power-supply plane.

Magnetic Fields

Electric fields are relatively easy to contain, but magnetic fields are a different proposition.
Enclosing a circuit in high-µ material can provide an effective shield, but that approach is difficult
and costly. Usually the best way to control magnetic field emissions is to minimize them at the
source. In general, this requires that you choose inductors and transformers designed to
minimize radiated magnetic fields. What is equally important is for the circuit-board layout and
interconnect wiring to be configured to minimize the size of current loops, especially in high-
current paths. Not only do high-current loops radiate magnetic fields, but they also increase the
inductance of conductors, which can cause voltage spikes on lines that carry high-frequency
current.

Inductors

Circuit designers not experienced in transformer or inductor design are likely to choose off-the-
shelf transformers and inductors. Even so, a bit of knowledge about magnetics can enable a
designer to select the optimal components for an application.

The key to reducing inductor emissions is using high-µ material for keeping the field in the core
and out of the surrounding space. Magnetic fields have a proportionally higher density in higher-
µ material. This is much like parallel conductance: A 1S conductance (i.e., a 1 resistor) in
parallel with a 1mS conductor (1k resistor) has 1000 times' the current of the 1mS conductor.
A magnetic field density divides in a ratio of 1000:1 between a 1000µ, 1in2 core and a 1µ, 1in2
core. High-µ materials cannot store a lot of energy, so for compact inductors one must employ a
high-µ core with an air gap.

To understand why, look at Figure 9. The B-field (X-axis) is proportional to V*t/N, where N is the
number of turns. The H-field (Y-axis) is proportional to N*i. Thus, the slope of the curve
(proportional to µ) is also proportional to the inductance (L = V/[di/dt]). Adding a gap to this
ferrite (or any other high-µ core) reduces the slope, thereby lowering the effective µ and
consequently the inductance. Inductance decreases by the change in slope, maximum current
increases by the change in slope, and the saturation B-field remains the same. Therefore, the
maximum energy (1/2LI2) stored in the inductor increases. This increase can also be illustrated
by applying a voltage to the inductor and noting the amount of time to reach Bsat. Energy stored
in the core is the integral of (V*i)dt. Because the current associated with a gapped core is higher
for the same voltage and time, the corresponding level of stored energy is higher.
Figure 9. Gapping a ferrite core forces magnetic flux out of the core and allows the inductor or
transformer to store energy in a field surrounding the device.

Gapping the core, however, increases magnetic field radiation in the space around the inductor.
Bobbin cores, for example, whose large air gap makes them notorious generators of magnetic
field radiation, are generally avoided in some noise-sensitive applications for that reason. The
bobbin core, which is just a bobbin-shaped piece of ferrite, is one of the simplest and cheapest
types of gapped ferrite core. Wire is wound around the center post to make an inductor. Costs
are low because the wire can be wound directly around the core with no extra work other than
terminating the wire. In some cases the wires are terminated on a metallized area at the bottom
of the core, allowing the inductor to be surface-mounted. In other surface-mounted components,
the inductor is mounted on a ceramic or plastic header, to which the wires are terminated.

Some manufacturers put ferrite shields around the bobbin core to help reduce field emissions.
This measure helps, but it also reduces the gap and therefore decreases the energy that can be
stored in the core. Because the ferrite itself can store very little energy, a small gap is often
retained between the shield and the core, which allows some unwanted radiation of magnetic
fields in this type of inductor. Depending on the level of acceptable emissions, however, the
bobbin core can be a good compromise between cost and EMI.

Various other core shapes can be gapped (or not) according to the requirements of the
application. Pot cores, E-I cores, and E-E cores, for example, all have center legs or posts that
can be gapped (Figure 10). Gapping the center of the core, which is completely surrounded by
the coil, helps to reduce the emissions radiated from the air gap. These inductors are usually
more expensive, because the coil must be wound separately from the core, and the core parts
assembled around the coil. For easy design and assembly, cores can be purchased with a
pregapped center leg.
Figure 10. Different core geometries offer trade-off among energy storage, field emission, and
ease of assembly. All can be gapped.

Perhaps the best core for reducing radiated emissions is the distributed-gap toroid. This core is
made by pressing a mixture of filler and high-µ metal powder into the doughnut shape of a
toroid. The grains of metal powder, separated by nonmagnetic filler, have small air gaps
between them that create an overall "air gap" distributed evenly throughout the core. The coil is
wound through the center and around the outside of this core, making the field travel in a circle
along the middle of the coil. As long as the coil is wound around the whole circumference of the
toroid, it shields the outside by surrounding the magnetic field completely.

The loss in a typical distributed-gap toroidal core is sometimes higher than for gapped ferrites,
because metal grains in the toroid are susceptible to eddy currents that generate heat and
reduce power-supply efficiency. Toroids are also expensive to wind, because wire must be fed
through the center of the core. Machines can do this, but they are slower and more expensive
than traditional coil-winding machines.
Some ferrite toroidal cores have a discrete air gap. The resulting magnetic field emissions are
higher than those of distributed-gap cores. Yet typical gapped toroids have lower losses,
because they contain the field better than other discretely gapped ferrite cores. The coil reduces
emission by shielding the gap, and the toroidal shape helps to keep the field inside the core.

Transformers

Transformers have many limitations in common with inductors, because they are wound on the
same cores. Some issues are unique to transformers, however. The performance of actual
transformers can approach that of an ideal transformer: coupling voltage from primary to
secondary with a ratio of voltages proportional to the ratio of turns in each winding.

The equivalent circuit of a transformer (Figure 11) models the interwinding capacitance as CWA
and CWB. The problem posed by these parameters is mainly that of common-mode emissions in
isolated power supplies. Winding capacitances CP and CS are small and usually negligible at the
operating frequencies of switching power supplies and regulators. The magnetizing inductance
LM is important, because too much magnetizing current can cause the transformer to saturate.
As for inductors, saturation increases the magnetic field emission from the transformers.
Saturation also causes higher core loss, higher temperature (with the possibility of thermal
runaway), and a degradation of coupling between the windings.

Figure 11. Parasitic elements in the equivalent model for a transformer modify its ideal behavior.

Leakage inductance is caused by a magnetic field that links one winding but not the other.
Though some coupled inductors and transformers (like the common-mode choke discussed
earlier) are designed for a high level of this parameter, leakage inductances LLP and LLS are the
most problematic parasitic elements in a switching power supply. Magnetic flux that links two
windings couples those windings together. All transformer windings are around the core, so any
leakage inductance is outside the core, in the air, where it can cause magnetic field emissions.

Another problem with leakage inductance is the large voltage generated when the current
changes quickly, as it does in the transformer of most switching power supplies. Such voltage
can overstress the switching transistor or rectifier. Dissipative snubbers (usually a series resistor
and capacitor) are often used to control this voltage by dissipating the energy of the voltage
spike. On the other hand, some switching devices are designed to withstand repetitive
avalanche breakdowns and can dissipate the energy without external snubbers.

The leakage inductance of a transformer can be determined by shorting the secondary and
measuring the inductance at the primary. This measurement includes any secondary leakage
inductance coupled through the transformer, but in most cases such leakage must be accounted
for anyway because it adds to the primary voltage spike. The corresponding spike energy is
calculated as E = _LI2, so power lost to the leakage inductance is the energy of each spike
multiplied by the switching frequency: P = _LI2f.

Transformer requirements depend on the power-supply topology. Topologies that couple energy
directly across the transformer, such as half-bridge, full-bridge, push-pull, or forward converters,
require a very high magnetizing inductance to prevent saturation. The transformer's primary and
secondary simultaneously conduct current in these circuits, coupling the energy directly through
the transformer. Because little energy is stored in the core, the transformer can be smaller.
These transformers are wound typically on an ungapped core of ferrite or other high-µ material.

Other power-supply topologies require that the transformer core store energy. The transformer
in a flyback circuit stores energy by means of the primary in the first half of the switching cycle.
In the second half of the cycle, energy is retrieved and fed to the output by means of the
secondary. As is true for inductors, an ungapped high-µ core is not suitable for storing energy in
a transformer. Instead, the core must be gapped discretely or have a distributed gap. The
resulting component will be larger than one with an equivalent ungapped core, but it can save
an extra inductor as well as cost and space.

Layout

Component selection is very important in controlling EMI, but the circuit-board layout and
interconnects are equally important. Especially for the high-density, multilayer circuit boards
often used in switching power supplies, layout and component placement are critical to the
circuit's proper operation and interaction. The power switching can cause large dv/dt and di/dt
signals in the circuit-board traces, which lead to compatibility problems by coupling to other
traces. Compatibility problems and expensive circuit-board revisions can be avoided, however,
by taking extra care in the layout of critical paths.

A distinction can be made between radiated and conducted emissions in a system, but the
distinction blurs when talking about interference in a circuit board and wiring. Adjacent traces
that couple electric fields also conduct currents by means of parasitic capacitance. Likewise,
traces that are coupled by magnetic fields act somewhat like transformers. These interactions
can be described in terms of lumped components or through field theory. Which approach to
take depends on which method more accurately describes the interaction.

Crosstalk

Two or more conductors in close proximity are coupled capacitively; therefore, large voltage
changes on one will couple currents to the other. If the conductor's impedance is low, the
coupled currents generate only small voltages. Capacitance is inversely proportional to the
distance between the conductors and proportional to the area of the conductors, so the
conducted noise can be minimized by keeping the area of the adjacent conductors small and
their separation large.

Another method for reducing the coupling between conductors is to add a ground plane or
shield. A ground trace (or in some cases a power-supply bus or other low-impedance node)
between conductors can prevent their interaction by coupling them capacitively to ground
instead of to each other. But exercise caution. Traces carrying fast dv/dt changes, positioned
close to a plane with high-impedance interconnect to ground, can couple these changes to the
ground plane. In turn, the ground plane can couple the signals to sensitive lines, thereby
exacerbating rather than helping the noise problem. If the ground plane doesn't carry large
currents, it can be tempting to connect it to ground through a small wire. Yet the high inductance
of a small wire can cause the ground plane to look like a high impedance to fast-changing
voltages.

One must take care to ensure that a ground plane does not inject noise into sensitive parts of a
circuit. Input and output bypass capacitors, for example, often pass current through a ground
plane, and the high-frequency current components can affect sensitive circuitry. To prevent this
problem, circuit boards often include separate planes for the power and signal grounds.
Connected at a single point, these planes minimize the noise injected into signal ground by
potentials generated across the power-ground plane. This practice is similar to that of a star
ground, in which all components connect to ground at a single point (all traces leave that point in
a "star" pattern). The star ground has the same effect as separate power- and signal-ground
planes, but it isn't practical for large, complex circuit boards including lots of grounded
components.

If a node is known to be sensitive to injected noise, then traces and wires connected to that
node should be routed away from nodes with high-voltage changes. If that isn't possible, add a
good ground or a shield. Good capacitive bypassing of the node can also decrease its
susceptibility to crosstalk. Normally, a small capacitor connected between the node and ground
or between the node and a power-supply bus forms a suitable bypass.

When choosing the bypass capacitor, make sure it has low impedance over the range of
frequencies that are problematic potentially. Equivalent series resistance (ESR) and equivalent
series inductance (ESL) can cause the impedance to be higher than expected at high
frequencies, so the low ESR and ESL of ceramic capacitors is attractive for bypass applications.
The ceramic dielectric has a major effect on performance as well. Higher-capacitance dielectrics
(such as Y5V) can allow large changes in capacitance over voltage and temperature. At
maximum-rated voltage, capacitors made with these ceramics can exhibit as little as 15% of
their unbiased capacitance. A smaller capacitance value with a better dielectric, yielding
crosstalk attenuation that is not as dependent on bias and temperature, will in many cases
provide better and more consistent bypassing.

The placement of bypass capacitors is also critical. To attenuate high-frequency noise, you must
route the signals in question through the bypass capacitor. In Figure 12a, the length of trace in
series with the capacitor adds to its ESR and ESL, increasing the impedance at high
frequencies and reducing the capacitor's effectiveness as a high-frequency bypass. A better
layout routes the trace through the capacitor, so the traces' stray ESR and ESL aid the bypass
capacitor's filter action rather than degrading it.

Figure 12. Poor bypass connections (a) add trace inductance and resistance to that of the
capacitor. In the better connection (b), trace parasitics add to the capacitor's filter action.

Some nodes should not be bypassed, because doing so changes their frequency
characteristics. An example is the feedback resistor divider. In most switching power supplies, a
resistive feedback divider drops the output voltage down to a level acceptable to the error
amplifier. A large bypass capacitor added to this feedback node forms a pole with the resistance
of that node. Because the divider is part of the control loop, this pole becomes part of the loop
characteristic. If the pole frequency is less than one decade above the crossover frequency, its
phase or gain effects can affect the loop stability adversely.
Inductance

Some currents in a switching power supply switch on and off quickly. Stray inductance in those
current paths can induce large noise voltages, which couple into sensitive circuitry and stress
the components. Lines carrying DC currents seldom lead to problems, because DC does not
cause voltage spikes or couple AC to other traces. A line in series with an inductor, for instance,
is not a problem, because the stray inductance is much smaller than the inductor value. The
large series inductance also prevents discontinuities in the current.

If a circuit produces discontinuous currents, try to prevent the current from traveling in large
loops. Large loops of current produce larger values of inductance, thereby increasing any
consequent magnetic field radiation. This caveat applies to component placements as well,
because current usually switches between active devices such as transistors and diodes.

Consider the step-down converter in Figure 1. When the high-side MOSFET switch (N1) is on,
current travels by means of the input, N1, the inductor, and the load. After N1 turns off, the diode
(D) conducts current until the synchronous rectifier (N2) turns on. Current then flows through N2
until it turns off; then the diode carries current until the cycle starts again. Note that currents
through the inductor and the output capacitor are continuous, and therefore should not be major
contributors to noise. If N1, N2, and D are placed some distance from one another, the
surrounding fields must shift quickly, in response to the rapid current changes within them.
Because the voltage generated is proportional to the change in the magnetic field with time
(d /dt), these rapid field fluctuations can generate large voltage spikes.

Note that the input source and the output load carry high-frequency currents. These currents
should pass through the input and output bypass capacitors; otherwise, they are conducted
through the input or output lines (or both). See the section on conducted emissions. The
impedance of input and output bypass capacitors is important. They should be large enough to
keep the impedance low at input and output, but larger capacitors (tantalum or electrolytic types,
for instance) have higher ESR and ESL than smaller ceramic types. You must therefore ensure
that the impedance of the capacitors is sufficiently low at the frequencies of concern.

One alternative is to parallel a ceramic capacitor with an electrolytic or tantalum capacitor,

because the ceramic capacitor has lower impedance at high frequencies. In most cases,
however, that arrangement is no better than multiple electrolytic or tantalum capacitors in
parallel to reduce ESR and ESL, or multiple ceramic capacitors in parallel to increase the total
capacitance.

A similar article appeared in the October 26, 2000 issue of EDN.

A185, November 2000

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