Radio Frequency Interference
<hardware, testing> (RFI) Electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by
electrical circuits carrying rapidly changing signals, as a by-product of their
normal operation, and which causes unwanted signals (interference or noise) to
be induced in other circuits.
The most important means of reducing RFI are: use of bypass or "decoupling"
capacitors on each active device (connected across the power supply, as close to
the device as possible), risetime control of high speed signals using series
resistors and VCC filtering. Shielding is usually a last resort after other
techniques have failed because of the added expense of RF gaskets and the like.
The efficiency of the radiation is dependant on the height above the ground or
power plane (at RF one is as good as the other) and the length of the conductor
in relationship to the wavelength of the signal component (fundamental, harmonic
or transient (overshoot, undershoot or ringing)). At lower frequencies, such as
133 MHz, radiation is almost exclusively via I/O cables; RF noise gets onto the
power planes and is coupled to the line drivers via the VCC and ground pins. The
Rf is then coupled to the cable through the line driver as common node noise.
Since the noise is common mode, shielding has very little effect, even with
differential pairs. The RF energy is capacitively coupled from the signal pair
to the shield and the shield itself does the radiating.
At higher frequencies, usually above 500 Mhz, traces get electrically longer and
higher above the plane. Two techniques are used at these frequencies: wave
shaping with series resistors and embedding the traces between the two planes.
If all these measures still leave too much RFI, sheilding such as RF gaskets and
copper tape can be used. Most digital equipment is designed with metal, or
coated plastic, cases.
Switching power supplies can be a source of RFI, but have become less of a
problem as design techniques have improved.
Most countries have legal requirements that electronic and electrical hardware
must still work correctly when subjected to certain amounts of RFI, and should
not emit RFI which could interfere with other equipment (such as radios).
See also Electrostatic Discharge, Electromagnetic Compatibility.
(1998-01-26)
Nearby terms:
RACF « RAD « Raddle « Radio Frequency
Interference » radiosity » RADIUS » radix
radiosity
<graphics> A method for rendering a view of a three-dimensional scene
that provides realistic lighting effects, such as interobject reflections and
color bleeding. Radiosity methods are computationally intense, due to the use of
linear systems of equations and the spatial complexity of large scenes.
Usenet newsgroup: comp.graphics.
[Is radiosity more accurate than ray tracing? Does it take more computing power?
How does compute time scale with scene complexity?]
(2003-06-01)
Nearby terms:
RAD « Raddle « Radio Frequency Interference «
radiosity
» RADIUS » radix » RAID
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