V1.

0 Spectrum Analyzer

EMC pre-compliance testing with spectrum analyzers

CISPR requirements:
• CISPR filters
• CISPR detectors
• Frequency spacing / span
• Dynamic range
• Sweep speed / dwell time

Sensitivity requirements:
• Limit levels
• Attenuation / Gain
• Resolution bandwidth

Distortion:
• Second order distortion
• Third order distortion

RF input protection:
• Inherent weakness
• Transients
• Residual 50 Hz amplitude
• Sub-harmonics
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
amplitude units

RF applications
• RF building blocks are typically designed to 50 Ohm
• dBm is the predominant amplitude unit – logarithmic power into 50 Ohm

EMC applications
• Impedance of EUTs and power sources are hardly predictable
• dBµV and dBµA are the predominant amplitude units
• Transducers establish interfaces with defined impedance in order to connect
50 Ohm measurement equipment

dBcalc:
• Free calculator from Tekbox
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
IF filters (RBW)
Resolution bandwidth
• Standard spectrum analyzer filter implementations s follow a 1 – 3 – 10
sequence; 100 Hz, 300 Hz, 1 kHz, 3 kHz, …
• Standard filter bandwidth is specified over the 3 dB bandwidth
• CISPR filter bandwidth: 200 Hz, 9 kHz, 120 kHz, 1 MHz
• CISPR filter bandwidth is specified over the 6 dB bandwidth
• Radiated emissions
• Radiated immunity

CISPR specifies frequency bands and the corresponding filter bandwidth

CISPR band Frequency range Resolution bandwidth

A 9 kHz – 150 kHz 200 Hz
B 150 kHz – 30 MHz 9 kHz
C 30 MHz – 300 MHz 120 kHz
D 300 MHz – 1 GHz 120 kHz
E > 1 GHz 1 MHz
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
IF filters (RBW)

Implications of RBW
• Sweep speed
• Base noise level

Spectrum analyzer base noise level versus resolution bandwidth

Transition from 9 kHz to 120 kHz RBW at 30 MHz – step in base noise level
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
frequency resolution
Spectrum analyzers sweep the frequency range in discrete steps. Typically,
the number of frequency steps per sweep is identical to the number of
display pixels in X-direction

Example: analyzer with 2.1 GHz span, 751 frequency points, 1 MHz max. RBW

2.8 MHz spacing between

adjacent frequency
points

Example: conducted emission measurement, 9 kHz – 30 MHz, 751 frequency points, 9 kHz RBW

30 MHz / 751 = 39.9 kHz spacing between adjacent frequency points. At 9 kHz RBW,
a significant part of the spectrum would not be measured at all
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
frequency resolution

CISPR 16 specification:
Adjacent frequency points shall not be spaced more than half of the resolution bandwidth

Number of measurement points per sweep: 751 (Siglent SSA3021X)

Frequency range CISPR filter bandwidth Maximum frequency span
9 kHz – 150 kHz 200 Hz 75 kHz
150 kHz – 30 MHz 9 kHz 3.38 MHz
30 MHz – 1 GHz 120 kHz 45 MHz
Above 1 GHz 1 MHz 375 MHz

Consequently, a conductive emission measurement for the frequency range 150 kHz to 30 MHz
has to be split into at least 29.85 / 3.38 = 9 segments with a span of 3.38 MHz.

Modern types of spectrum analyzers contain an EMI mode that meets this criterion by
providing more frequency points each sweep.
However, in general, the EMI mode of analyzer does not provide the convenience of
use that specialised EMC software does.
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
frequency resolution

EMCview software:
Tekbox EMCview software splits the measurement into consecutive sweep segments. The
measurement values of all sweeps are then stitched together to a single graph for easy
analysis and reporting. EMCview also simplifies EMI measurements by providing a vast list
of preconfigured measurements.

Conducted noise measurement with EMCview.

The 30 MHz sweep is built from 12 segments with a 2.5 MHz span each

EMCview enables for segment-specific measurement. When re-measuring EMI-

performance following EUT modifications, the measurement can be reduced to
crucial frequency segments.
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sweep time

Narrowband noise – wideband noise:

• Narrowband noise: e.g. clock signals
• Wideband noise: data and control signals
Depending on the processes executed on the controller, signals may or may not be present.
Sweeping too quickly would miss pulses and result in an inaccurate measurement of the
wideband noise spectrum.

CISPR 16; minimum sweep time

Frequency range Average detector Peak detector Quasi-peak detector

9 kHz – 150 kHz 100 ms / kHz 100 ms / kHz 20 s / kHz
150 kHz – 30 MHz 100 ms / MHz 100 ms / MHz 200 s / MHz
30 MHz – 1 GHz 1 ms / MHz 1 ms / MHz 20 s / MHz

CISPR 25; minimum sweep time

Frequency range Average detector Peak detector Quasi-peak detector

150 kHz – 30 MHz 10 s / MHz 10 s / MHz 200 s / MHz
30 MHz – 1 GHz 100 ms / MHz 100 ms / MHz 20 s / MHz
above 1 GHz 100 ms / MHz 100 ms / MHz n.a.
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sweep time

Longer sweep times have an averaging effect, reducing the noise level:

Analyzer base noise (DANL) with 500 ms sweep time versus 10 s sweep time
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Detectors
Most conducted and radiated emission tests have limits specified for
average detector and quasi-peak detector or quasi peak detector only

The measurement result of the peak detector is always higher than the
measurement result of the average detector.
The measurement result of the quasi-peak detector will always be somewhere in
between the results of the average and peak detector. The measurement result of
the quasi-peak detector will never be higher than the measurement result of the
peak detector.
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Detectors
A single, complete measurement scan using the QP detector may take several
hours.

Workaround:
Quasi-Peak measurements are done selectively. The scan is first carried out with
the Peak detector and only frequencies with the levels exceeding the limits are
re-measured using the QP detector.
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Detectors

Example switched mode regulator:

The switching frequency may drift depending on time, temperature, load.

Example of spurious drifting over time. Both measurements were taken with the
same settings, but with a time difference of 15 minutes.

Workaround:
QP-remeasurement is performed on a frequency window surrounding the peak
rather than on a single frequency.
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Internal Attenuator, pre-amplifier:

• Noise floor
• Distortion
• RF-input protection
• CISPR 16 requirements

Spectrum analyzer DANL versus internal attenuator / pre-amplifier settings.

RF input terminated with 50 Ohm
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Spectrum analyzer base noise versus internal attenuator / pre-amplifier settings. RF input fed
with CW signal; constant amplitude, but shifted 5 MHz at each setting for better visibility

Most conducted emission projects in EMCview are configured with 10 dB internal attenuation,
pre-amplifier off, to avoid intermodulation distortion and/or ADC saturation caused by large
amplitude transients. Some standards, however, have very low limit levels and require
minimal internal attenuation, such as CISPR 25 Class 5 conducted emissions.
Radiated emission measurements necessitate extreme sensitivity. Typical default EMCview
project settings are 0 dB internal attenuation and pre-amplifier on.
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Non-linear distortions:
Distortions may lead to incorrect measurement results

Adding a 10 dB external attenuator to validate a signal with respect

to intermodulation distortion
 V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

CISPR 16 requirement:
• the base noise of the measurement setup has to be at least 6 dB below the limit
lines in order to have sufficient dynamic range to reliably measure critical spurious

Example CISPR 32 Class A, conducted emissions, mains supply line:

There is sufficient dynamic range.

• Turn the pre-amplifier off and set the internal attenuator to 10 dB in order to avoid
non-linear distortions.
• Use an external 10 dB attenuator to protect the RF-input of the spectrum analyzer.
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Example CISPR 25 Class 5, conducted emissions, supply line, voltage method:

The measurement requires relatively high sensitivity.

• Turn the pre-amplifier off for peak and average measurement
• Turn the pre-amplifier on for quasi peak measurement
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Example CISPR 25 Class 5, conducted emissions, supply line, current method:

Spectrum analyzer base noise

Att = 0 dB, PreAmp=ON

The measurement requires high sensitivity.

• Turn the pre-amplifier on
• Set the internal attenuator to 0 dB
• Use a RF current monitoring probe with a transimpedance of 15 … 20 dB Ohm
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Example CISPR 25 Class 5, conducted emissions, supply line, current method:

The measurement requires high sensitivity.

• Turn the pre-amplifier on
• Set the internal attenuator to 0 dB
• Use a TBCP2-500 or TBCP2-750 RF current monitoring probe
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Example CISPR 25 Class 5, radiated emissions, TEM-cell:

Spectrum analyzer base noise

Att = 0 dB, PreAmp=ON

The measurement requires high sensitivity.

• Turn the pre-amplifier on
• Set the internal attenuator to 0 dB
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Example CISPR 32 Class A, radiated emissions, antennas:

The measurement requires high sensitivity.

• Turn the pre-amplifier on
• Set the internal attenuator to 0 dB
V1.0 CISPR requirements –
Sensitivity

Example CISPR 32 Class A, radiated emissions, antennas:

Real world scenario

• Make a spectral plot in a TEM cell to differentiate between ambient
noise and emissions from the EUT
• Use an antenna with lower antenna factor?
• Reduce distance between EUT and antenna as a last resort
V1.0 Spectrum analyzer–
input protection

Simplified RF frontend:

Typical GaAs input switch:

Inherent weakness at lower frequencies

 V1.0 Spectrum analyzer–
input protection

Residual 50 Hz voltage at the RF output of LISN:

• 0.1….0.5µF + 1KΩ (// 50Ω) forms a voltage divider

• Residual 50 Hz voltage can be as high as 30V, if not terminated with 50 Ohm
• RF measurement equipment often has now specified impedance at very low frequencies
• Use a 9 kHz or 150 kHz highpass filter to protect against residual 50 Hz and subharmonics

Inherent weakness at lower frequencies

Further information on www.tekbox.com