Modeling and measurement of radiated field emission from a power/ground plane cavity edge excited by a through-hole signal via based on a balanced TLM and via coupling model

A balanced transmission line model (TLM) and via coupling model is proposed for efficient simulation of radiated field emission from a power/ground plane cavity edge, where the radiated field emission is excited by a through-hole signal via in a multilayer package and printed circuit board (PCB). The radiated field emission is simulated and measured with a series of test boards. The simulation agrees fairly well with the measurement confirming the preciseness and usefulness of the proposed model. It is shown that the through-hole signal via is a considerable source of the radiated field emission as well as the signal loss. When the signal trace is switching vertically stacked reference planes, the signal return current path is disconnected at the via and the impedance becomes extremely high. A significant amount of insertion loss and radiated field emission is generated at resonance frequencies of the plane cavity. The effect of a decoupling capacitor fence (De-Cap Fence) at the edge of the board to mitigate the radiated field emission is examined. The proposed model confirms that the De-Cap Fence changes the resonance mode and frequency of the plane cavity, and reduces the radiated field emission.