Abstract:

Modal analysis is a mathematical tool of paramount importance in EMC since it allows identifying and characterizing the dominant phenomenon responsible for the propagation and coupling of EM energy in terms of common-mode and differential-mode quantities. Modal analysis provides essential guidelines for EMC-oriented design of products and interconnections, as well as best practices for troubleshooting solutions (e.g., guidelines for filter design). In this framework, a key role is played by mode conversion, which often occurs due to undesired asymmetries affecting the transmission structure and/or the terminal networks. This talk will illustrate these concepts by presenting practical application examples, and introducing suitable modelling approaches based on modal analysis. Particularly, the assumption of weak imbalance will be introduced and used to investigate the mechanism of mode conversion in differential-line interconnects. By the light of such an assumption, a circuit interpretation of the phenomenon is presented, where the effects owing to mode conversion are included into modal circuits by lumped and distributed voltage and current sources. The strict analogy between mode conversion and crosstalk is then emphasized through examples involving microstrip lines.

Biography:

Flavia Grassi received the Laurea (M.Sc.) and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, in 2002 and 2006, respectively. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano. From 2008 to 2009, she was with the European Space Agency (ESA), ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands, as a Research Fellow. Her research interests include: Theoretical and experimental characterization of EM interference via lumped and distributed circuit modeling; characterization and development of measurement procedures and setups for EMC assessment of avionic, automotive, and power systems; statistical techniques, EMC and coexistence issues in power systems.
Dr. Grassi received the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Young Scientist Award in 2008, and the IEEE Young Scientist Award at the 2016 Asia-Pacific Int. Symposium on EMC (APEMC), the IEEE EMC Society 2016 and 2021 Transactions Prize Paper Award, and the Best Symposium Paper Award at the 2015 and 2018 APEMC. She is currently serving as the vice-chair of the IEEE EMC-S Technical Advisory Board (TAC), and the chair of the IEEE EMC-S Technical Committee “TC7-Low Frequency EMC”.