Academy of EMC

​​This book gave me the initial start to understanding what good EMC design is. Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering is a must-have for every electronic design engineer, especially PCB design engineers and layout designers. It really gets you to know the subject and more important to understand the subject EMC! If you want to buy just one book on the subject EMC: buy that one, the money is very well invested, and the book is worth every penny.

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• Very well written and understandable

• Dives deep into the EMC/EMI theory

• The EMC reference book

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Reviewed and recommended for every electrical engineer by Reto B. Keller, 2018.

​​This book contains a huge amount of information to the very last detail about EMC. This is one of my all-time favorite books on EMC because it strikes a good balance between mathematical formulas and practice. This book presents the topic of EMC from the mathematical side with formulas, calculations, and numerical examples. To be honest: This book explains EMC in such an accurate and detailed manner, like no other book I know of. For EMC enthusiasts like me, it is a pleasure to read it.

The 3rd edition is an update of the 2nd edition by Robert C. Scully and Mark A. Steffka, ten years after Clayton R. Paul passed away (2012). From my point of view, the updates from the 2nd to the 3rd edition were only minor. If you find the 2nd edition at a bargain price: go for it.

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• EMC explained from the mathematical side

• Dives deep into the EMC/EMI theory

• Many mathematical calculation examples

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Reviewed and recommended (especially for lectures) by Reto Keller, 2023.

It is not up to me - the author - to write a review about my own book. However, I give you here an overview of the book's content. This book is an introduction to EMC and covers the fundamental concepts of "design for EMC": components (R, C, L, ferrite beads, TVS-diodes), filters, grounding, shielding, and my personal EMC design guidelines. The book's content is compressed and therefore not useful for in-depth research on EMC. However, the book can be used for students as an introduction to EMC and for practicing engineers as a quick reference book with concrete EMC design guidelines. This is an open-access book; you can download the PDF-version of the book for free from Springer Link's website.

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• Introduction to EMC and its regulations

• Fundamentals about design for EMC

• Practical and simple design guidelines

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The author Reto B. Keller, 2022.

What a wonderful collection of really practical EMC questions and answers. The best part is that the answers are well-reasoned. It is clear that the author Todd H. Hubing has a lot of practical experience and knows the pitfalls when it comes to EMC compliant design. The questions cover topics like: PCB design, ESD, transient protection, EMC regulations and testing, filtering, shielding, EMC coupling mechanisms etc.

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• Covers EMC regulations, test and design

• Useful practical EMC questions and answers

• Recommended for EMC newbies to seniors

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Reviewed and recommended for every electronics development engineer. Reto Keller, 2021.

This book is not "just" about grounding and shielding. It also covers the physical fundamentals of fields in electrical engineering: field theory, and magnetism. The basics of electronics are also taught: digital and analog electronics, PCB structure, transmission lines, skin effect, etc. This means that five chapters serve as an introduction and then one chapter each is dedicated to "Grounding" (Chapter 5). a chapter "Shielding (Chapter 7). The Grounding chapter deals with grounding of devices and building facilities and not with running ground on a PCB. So anyone looking for a book to seek help with their ground design of a circuit board will disappointed. The chapter on shielding has some good calculation examples.

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• Thorough introduction to electric and magnetic field theory

• Grounding of devices, building installations, lightning protection (not PCB layouts)

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Reviewed and recommended for electrical engineers (not necessarily PCB designers) by Reto Keller, 2024.

Wow. What a fantastic book for EMC design and EMC test engineers likewise. The depth in which the phenomenon of ESD is discussed here is stunning. It covers the "Human Body Model", the "Machine Model", the "Human Metal Model (HMM)" and the "Charged Device Model (DCM)". Very exciting. Furthermore, test methods and test standards are discussed in depth: Transmission Line Pulse (TLP) Testing (ESD testing of components), Very Fast TLP (VF-TLP) Testing (ESD testing of components), IEC 61000-4-2 (ESD immunity testing of systems) and IEC 61000-4-5 (surge immunity testing).
The book contains theoretical explanations and practical examples of ESD protection on semiconductor component level (chip) and on circuit board level.

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• Stunning background information on ESD

• Very comprehensive and well-structured

• Contains problems and solutions

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Reviewed and recommended for every EMC engineer by Reto Keller, 2024.

The main focus of this book is filters against RF interference, although it has a short chapter on filters against fast voltage transients (ESD, burst, surge). The various filter components (coils, capacitors) are discussed in detail and it is shown in which case which type should be chosen and which properties you should look for in the filter components. Common mode filters are also discussed in detail and specific filter components for common mode noise are explained (common mode noise is one of the main problems with unwanted radiated emissions). Filter requirements for aviation (400 Hz), military standards (MIL-STD-461), and medical devices (leakage current) are repeatedly highlighted in the book (which shows the practical relevance of the book).

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• Sound filter theory

• RF filter, filter against fast transients

• Very well-founded and well structured

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Reviewed and recommended for every EMC engineer by Reto Keller, 2024.

Mr. Tim Williams deserves lots of respect. In my eyes, it is one of the most comprehensive EMC books these days. The book has three parts: Legislation and standards, Testing and Design. All chapters are well structured and the topics are explained without complicated mathematical formulas. If you are already familiar with electronics design and you just want to buy one single book about EMC: this is a good choice.

Last but not least, this book is up-to-date (e.g. it even contains details about CISPR 32, the CISPR 22 replacement).

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• A lot of historical background

• EMC explained with a minimum of math

• Very comprehensive and well-structured

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Reviewed and recommended for every EMC engineer by Reto Keller, 2019.

​​This book is the best signal integrity book that I have ever read. It is up-to-date and it contains countless useful and well-explained step-by-step examples about decoupling, PCB layer stackup, cross-talk and simulation examples (SPICE), and so on. The Power Distribution Network (PDN) chapter about combining multiple capacitors for decoupling is one of my favorite sections in this book.

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• Best book about signal integrity I know

• Comprehensive and well explained

• Perfectly structured

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Reviewed and recommended for every electrical engineer by Reto Keller, 2019.

Kenneth Wyatt is a well-known EMC expert with over 30 years of experience. In this handy book, you will find all sorts of useful hints and honest views on the price and value of EMC troubleshooting equipment. It is a perfect starting point if you consider building up an in-house EMC troubleshooting.

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• Overview of EMC troubleshooting equipment

• Useful price estimates of EMC test equipment

• Do-it-yourself instructions for EMC equipment

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Reviewed and recommended for EMC design engineers and troubleshooters. Reto Keller, 2022.

This book presents practical techniques for radiated and conducted emissions troubleshooting. Are you an electronics design engineer that has to deal with pre-compliance EMC testing? Then this book is definitely something for you. You learn how to perform pre-compliance emissions testing with low-budget equipment for FCC standards, IEC/CISPR standards (e.g. CISPR 11, CISPR 32, CISPR 25) and MIL standards (e.g. RE102. CE102 of MIL-STD-461). You also learn about the most common EMC emissions issues and how to fix them.

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• EMC emissions troubleshooting equipment

• How to troubleshoot and most common issues

• FCC, CISPR, and MIL-STD-461 standards

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Reviewed and recommended for electronic design engineers and troubleshooters. Reto Keller, 2022.

This book presents practical techniques for EMC immunity troubleshooting. Are you an electronics design engineer that has to deal with pre-compliance EMC testing? Then this book is definitely something for you. You learn how to perform pre-compliance immunity testing for IEC standards (IEC 61000-4-2, -3, -4 and -5) ISO standards (ISO 11453-1 and -2, ISO 11452), and MIL standards (RS103 of MIL-STD-461). You also learn about the most common EMC immunity issues (radiated immunity against RF fields, ESD, burst (EFT), surge) and how to fix them.

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• EMC emissions troubleshooting equipment

• How to troubleshoot and most common issues

• IEC, ISO and MIL-STD-461 standards​​

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Reviewed and recommended for electronic design engineers and troubleshooters. Reto Keller, 2022.

This book discusses​ EMC for immobile installations in buildings and EMC for large and complex systems. It gives guidance for many topics with a focus on installations and with reference to current IEC standards: risk assessment, grounding, earthing, shielding and wiring of mains and data (Ethernet) cables. This book is not suitable for engineers who would like to get an introduction to EMC in general. The book is an excellent choice for engineers and installers in the field of immobile installations and large and complex systems.

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• Excellent and a must have for installers and engineers in the field of large and complex systems

• Very well structured from basics to special topics

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Reviewed and recommended for installers and EMC engineers of large and complex systems. Reto Keller, 2020.

The trilogy of magnetics is structured into three parts: basic principles, components, and applications. In practice, magnetics are not always easy to handle, as they can saturate and suddenly change their behavior. This book gives a very thorough introduction to magnetic components and shows examples of real-world EMI filters with e.g. coils, chokes, TVS diodes and ferrites. There are also examples of LTspice filter and component simulations in the book. And of course, because this book is from Würth, the main focus lies on Würth components: ferrites, chokes, inductors, transformers, coils and varistors, and TVS diodes.

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• Real-world EMI filter examples

• A thorough introduction to magnetics

• LTspice simulation examples for filters

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Reviewed and recommended for EMI filter designers and every electronics hardware engineer. Reto Keller, 2021.

​​Compared to Henry W. Ott's book, this book contains more concrete examples and very good step-by-step instructions on how to find and fix EMC/EMI problems. It is a must-have for every engineer who does in-house EMC-testing and compliance testing at an external test lab. There are plenty of good Do-It-Yourself (DIY) instructions on how to troubleshoot with bargain equipment.

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• Basic EMC/EMI theory

• Excellent guidance for troubleshooting

• Tips on how to build your own low-cost pre-compliance test equipment.

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Reviewed and recommended for every EMC engineer. Reto Keller, 2018.

This book gives a thorough introduction, guidance and a good overview of electromagnetic compatibility analysis, design, verification, and test for spacecraft, as well as how successfully manage EMC during the development process. The scope varies from components to Printed Circuit Boards (PCBAs), to cabling, to units and equipment (e.g. power supplies) and finally to sub-systems and system-level. Instead of using extensive math, the book refers often to the already established standards and best practices from the United States's (US) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), military (MIL) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Here is my personal three-points-summary:

 

• Good overview on how to achieve EMC for spacecraft

• Valuable technical and management guidance for development engineers of spacecraft

• References to the established U.S. (NASA, MIL) and international (ISO) standards

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Reviewed and recommended for every spacecraft development engineer (especially beginners). Reto Keller, 2020.

This book delivers a short introduction to the topic EMC - with a minimum of math - and 76 real world examples of failed EMC test cases and their solutions. It would have been nice if the introduction to EMC had a couple of additional pictures and drawings. However, it is really compressed to the essence. The real-world examples are well-structured on different topics. I am sure there are one or several examples for everybody of us, which we already encountered and also some new problems to solve. A well made book.

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• To-the-point introduction to EMC

• 76 real world EMC issues and solutions

• Recommended for every EMC design engineer

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Reviewed and recommended for every EMC engineer. Reto Keller, 2020.

This book describes the shielding of electromagnetic waves and it points out some potential flaws in the currently widely adopted shielding theory by Sergei Alexander Schelkunoff. For me as a non-shielding expert, it is difficult to judge if I should follow the presented theory in this book or if I should stick to the theory of Schelkunoff. This book is helpful for shielding experts and in areas where requirements regarding shielding and reliability are very high (e.g., military, defense, space, aircraft, or medical industry). It is a book from an expert for experts and therefore not suitable for beginners.

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• Deep dive into the topic of shielding

• Written by a real shielding expert

• Not recommended for non-shielding experts

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Reviewed and only recommended for real shielding experts. Reto Keller, 2022.

​​This book goes into every detail of aircraft and space equipment EMC design and test. Every chapter was written by an industry expert. If you work in the space or aircraft industry and have to deal with EMC: go for this book. However, it is not thought as an introduction to the topic. It is a book from experts for experts.

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• Lightning and HEMP protection circuits for avionic

• Design and test in order to pass RTCA/DO-160, MIL-STD-461, UK DEF-STAN 59-411

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Reviewed and recommended for space and aircraft EMC engineers and technicians. Reto Keller, 2019.

​​There are mistakes in some of the most important formulas and I found the book not well structured (at least for me).

It has some good guidelines and tips in it for PCB layout designers and I am sure the author knows his topic very well. However, if you don't own one of the books presented above, I would go with one from above and not with this one. If you own already all the books above, this one may give you a different viewpoint on EMC.

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• Not as good structured as the books above

• Good PCB design examples

• Tips for PCB layout designers

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Reviewed and recommended for EMC enthusiasts. Reto Keller, 2018.

This book is from 1987. This means that the parts about regulations, compliance, and some of the mentioned technologies are outdated. However, the physics and the concepts to fight EMI are still valid. This book has a good balance between practical examples, theory, math, physics, and practical simplifications. Because there was no internet and only limited graphical tools available in 1987, the information content of the tables and illustrations in this book is extraordinary. Because of its age, this book is a bargain when bought used.

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• Explains basic physics behind EMC/EMI

• Excellent tables and graphs

• Not recommended for EMC newbies

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Reviewed and recommended for EMC enthusiasts and nerds. Reto Keller, 2020.

​​I wouldn't buy this one if you are new to the subjects of EMC and EMI. Although it covers some of the most important topics without long sentences, it does not teach you EMC. It is more thought to be a quick reference guide for already skilled engineers with EMC experiences. Most topics covered by this book can also be found on this website.

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• Can be used as a quick reference

• Basic overview of EMC/EMI

• Not recommended for EMC newbies

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Reviewed and recommended for EMC enthusiasts. Reto Keller, 2018.