The EMC behaviour constitutes a basic quality parameter and must be taken into account from the beginning of the development of new electronic systems. The verification of the EMC characteristics must be the last step in the development cycle of a new product. Besides application of suitable EMC design techniques and rules, EMC test procedures are essential for getting well functioning automotive electronics.
Electronic systems become always more sophisticated.
The trend to miniaturisation and integration of circuits is evolving rapidly, making inaccessible large parts of circuits, and impossible to adjust or trim them after design. Clock rates and operation frequencies are growing, worsening all critical effects of propagation delay and radiation, typical of high frequencies. Such constraints make it difficult to take simple and localised remedial actions at a late stage of design, but often require to reconsider the design philosophy. Previous considerations call for a design that assures as much as possible that the final product performs as requested, without the need for adjustments during the prototype development phase. The aim is thus to use numerical simulations since the early stages of design development, in order to predict possible functioning problems, and take immediate action with the final objective of reaching the testing phase of the product with major problems solved.