Launched 3D EMC Adviser, the industry’s first EMC verification tool for PCB design

Zuken Inc. (Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan; President and COO Jinya Katsube; hereinafter “Zuken”) will begin sales of 3D EMC Adviser, the industry’s first^* EMC verification tool for printed circuit board design that integrates electrical and mechanical elements.

EMC solutions for electronic products must take into account various noise propagation paths and effects. This includes not only the printed circuit boards installed with electronic components and circuits that are noise sources but also the chassis, harnesses, and communication lines that connect multiple boards. Normally, EMC verification is performed on the printed circuit board alone at the design stage. However, the final EMC test is conducted using a prototype to confirm the presence of noise. Thus, if a problem is detected at this point, it becomes necessary to go back to the PCB design or mechanical design and change the design, which has been a cause of serious design delays.

The new “3D EMC Adviser” can perform EMC verification by incorporating mechanical data during PCB design and integrating multiple objects such as “electronic and mechanical elements” and “board-to-board” in the 3D space of the board design CAD “CR-8000 Design Force,” taking into account their positional relationship in the product. This allows designers to avoid factors that can cause EMC problems during the design process and to minimize design changes after verification of the actual product, which can cause significant losses in terms of development lead time and cost.
The “3D EMC Adviser” is equipped with two new cutting-edge verification functions, namely “Board Shielding” and “Intra-noise Interference,” which are in high demand in the market, and the sequential enhancement of these verification functions is planned.