Groundloop

How to ground and power complex circuits

As electronics applications continue to become more compact and has more and more features in same package (think about modern smart phone or tablet), requires system engineers to use multiple power rails and mixed disciplines of circuit design (mix both analogue and digital parts tightly). A typical tablet will consist of items such as a

Audio off ground

EDN magazine has a very good article series on audio electronics related to ground loop issues (issue I have written myself in this blog and my ground loop documents). The article series is based on material that has originally appeared in Linear Audio, a book-format audio magazine published half-yearly by Jan Didden. The G word:

USB and ground loops

USB was originally designed for desktop use, but it is increasingly used for industrial applications. For USB to survive in those environments, it needs to be made more rugged. It means that ruggedizing USB for ground loops and using better (more protection and better locking) connectors are often needed. Ruggedize USB connections for tough environments

Shields are your friend, except when…

Shields are your friend, except when… article tells that engineers just love to put shields on circuits, mostly as a defensive measure against signals on the outside getting into and disturbing our circuits, but they also keep signals inside from getting out and this really makes the folks responsible for EMI compliance happy. Even on

Ground Loop Tutorial

I was just pointed to a new interesting ground loop document few days ago. Ground Loop Tutorial is a tutorial on electrical interference with emphasis on ground loops. It distinguishes several different types of interference and discusses the underlying physics at a basic level. In the end there is a good list of Methods for

Noise Reduction and Isolation in Measurement

Grounding, or connecting some part of an electrical circuit to ground ensures safety for personnel and it usually improves circuit operation. Unfortunately, a safe environment and a robust ground system often do not happen simultaneously. It takes planning based on systematically understanding how electricity behaves in various types of circuits. Preventing electrical shocks and electrical

Understanding grounding, shielding, and guarding

Inadequate shielding and bad grounding are often blamed when measurements are inaccurate, especially in high-impedance applications. Understanding grounding, shielding, and guarding in high-impedance applications article tells tells that in fact, shielding and grounding problems are frequently responsible for measurement errors, but many test system developers aren’t quite sure why. Many measurement errors can be traced

HDMI and ground loops

In my Audio and video signal susceptibility classes I wrote that digital video interfaces like DVI and HDMI can also have ground loop noise problems as they use a combination of balanced and unbalanced signals. Ground loop problem is one very possible source of intermittent problems over long distance in HDMI installations. This article is