A Segmentation Strategy for Structures with Common Mode Coupling

The level of electromagnetic coupling to electronic devices can vary widely from one device to another. When considering the induced voltage from an incoming plane wave on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and their attached cable harnesses, there is significant variety in the configuration of the devices that could be seen. This encourages the use of segmentation, so that the components of these devices (PCBs, connectors, and harnesses) can be modeled separately to alleviate simulation burden. This allows for a more flexible model and a “toolbox” to construct devices with. The goal of this work is to use segmentation to model the external electromagnetic radiation from these devices. The radiation pattern and reciprocity theory can later be used to calculate the voltage coupled from an incident plane wave. Most realistic devices exhibit strong common mode (or antenna mode) coupling that cannot be ignored during segmentation. When segmenting such structures, a multi-modal approach is needed to incorporate coupling from both the common (CM) and differential (DM) modes and to allow these currents to flow properly between the blocks. This work introduces the concept by segmenting a simple dipole, which requires the common mode only, and then applies the complete methodology to a more complicated structure that requires the incorporation of both modes.