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LISN Supply Path

Hardware version

CANBench Duo v1.1 — Fabricated prototype, sole built unit. V1.1 is electrically identical to the V1.2 schematic refresh but predates the InvenTree symbol-library migration; the schematic component metadata reflects legacy SCADYS naming. Testing and bench validation reference this V1.1 hardware.

Other versions: v1.2 — schematic refresh (next version)

LISN Supply Path schematic (lisn_supply_path)

Overview

The LISN supply path is the four-stage passive front-end of the CANBench Duo. It implements a CISPR 25-style dual-line 5 µH artificial network for DC conducted-emissions measurement. The path takes a bench DC supply at the SOURCE banana sockets, delivers a filtered RF-stabilised copy of that supply to the DUT banana sockets, and presents a stable mostly-inductive source impedance to the DUT across the CISPR 25 measurement band (150 kHz to 108 MHz).

The entire stage is passive and bidirectional with respect to RF currents. There is no MCU, no firmware, no switching converter — only fuses, MOSFETs, diodes, ferrite beads, inductors, capacitors, and resistors.

This page covers a single sub-circuit — the LISN supply path — drawn on the lisn_supply_path KiCad sheet.

Functional specification and design objectives

The LISN supply path must:

  • pass a 9–48 V DC bench supply from the SOURCE banana pair to the DUT banana pair at up to 4.0 A continuous (25 °C ambient), with a DC path drop of < 0.5 V at 4 A;
  • present a CISPR 25-style 5 µH dual-line artificial-network impedance to the DUT across the 150 kHz – 108 MHz measurement band (≈ 4.7 Ω at 150 kHz, rising toward the inductive asymptote ≈ 31–37 Ω at 1 MHz);
  • decouple the DUT's RF disturbance behaviour from the upstream bench-supply source impedance, so the measured emission signature is repeatable independent of the supply used;
  • keep the impedance-vs-frequency curve smooth across the band (no sharp Q-peaks between ladder resonances) via frequency-staggered shunt-cap damping;
  • protect against reverse polarity at SOURCE (FET ideal-diode pair) and clamp ESD / bench-class transients (TVS) without acting as an ISO 7637-2 load-dump absorber; and
  • maintain rail-to-rail symmetry so that mode conversion does not corrupt the downstream measurement-port outputs.

LISN supply path

How it works

Power flows in four stages from the bench-supply input on the front faceplate to the DUT-side banana pair at the back faceplate.

Stage 1 — Protection

The positive rail enters from J5 (SRC+) and is fused immediately by F1, a 5 A Littelfuse Nano2 Slo-Blo in an OMNI-BLOK 154 series holder. The post-fuse net is clamped by D3 (SMCJ58CA, 58 V bidirectional TVS) to GNDREF. The negative rail (J7, SRC−) has its own TVS D4 directly to GNDREF.

Each rail then passes through a MOSFET acting as a reverse-polarity protection switch:

  • Q2 — VBsemi SUD50P08 (P-channel TO-252, V_DSS = 100 V) on the positive rail, drain on the post-fuse net, source on VSS+
  • Q3 — STMicroelectronics STD80N10F7 (N-channel TO-252, V_DSS = 100 V) on the negative rail, drain on SUPPLY−, source on VSS−

The gate bias uses a discrete self-biased scheme: each FET's gate sits on a 10:1 divider (a 1 MΩ resistor from gate to source — R5/R13 — and a 100 kΩ resistor from gate to the opposite rail — R7/R15). A 47 Ω stopper (R4/R12) sits between the divider node and the gate to suppress oscillation. With correct polarity at SOURCE, the divider pulls each gate well past V_th toward the opposite rail (about −12 V for Q2, +12 V for Q3 at a 13 V CAN supply), turning the FETs hard on. With reversed polarity, both FETs sit at V_GS ≈ 0 V and only the body diodes can conduct — and they are oriented to block reverse current.

A 15 V Zener (D2 for Q2, D5 for Q3) clamps each FET's V_GS to a safe value against supply transients.

Why the VBsemi SUD50P08 100 V variant rather than the original Vishay 80 V part? Margin. The SMCJ58CA TVS clamps at 93.6 V peak during an ESD event. The 100 V V_DSS rating gives 6.8 % margin to the clamp voltage. The Vishay 80 V variant would have exceeded the rating by 17 % which is not acceptable for repeated events.

Stage 2 — Ferrite filter

Each post-protection rail (VSS+, VSS−) passes through a 30 Ω @ 100 MHz power ferrite bead (FB1 upper, FB2 lower — muRata BLE32PN300SN1L, R_DC = 1.6 mΩ). The ferrites couple in series and present a frequency-dependent loss that decouples the DUT's RF disturbance behaviour from the upstream bench supply's source impedance — a fundamental LISN function.

At the ladder entry, both rails carry an identical three-decade shunt stack to GNDREF:

  • A 22 µF X7R bulk reservoir (C3 / C10, PSA Prosperity Dielectrics 2220), damped through a 1.2 Ω series resistor (R39 / R44) to prevent it from forming a high-Q tank with the upstream impedance. V1.0 of the design used a Panasonic FK electrolytic at this position whose intrinsic ESR provided the damping; V1.1 swapped to a higher-stability MLCC and added the explicit damping resistor.
  • 2.2 µF X7R (C1 / C8) and 100 nF X7R (C2 / C9) MLCCs, undamped — providing mid-band and HF decoupling.
  • Bleed resistors R6 / R14 (100 kΩ from VSF± to GNDREF) provide a high-impedance discharge path when SOURCE is removed.

The post-ferrite rails (VSF+, VSF−) are the actual LISN-ladder inputs.

Stage 3 — 5 µH LISN ladder

Each rail then passes through a five-stage LC ladder with Q-damped shunt caps at each intermediate node. The upper rail is:

VSF+ → L1 → C4 (220 nF, damped by R8 = 10 Ω) → L2 → C5 (33 pF, damped by R9 = 470 Ω) → L3 → … → L5 → DUT+

Each series inductor is identical: 1 µH / 7 mΩ DCR (Shouhan CYA0630-1.0UH, rated 12 A saturation). Five series 1 µH per rail = 5 µH total, matching the CISPR 25 artificial-network target.

The frequency-staggered Q-damping is the standout feature of this design. Each shunt cap has a different RC corner determined by its series damping resistor:

Ladder nodeCapDamperRC cornerRole
Between L1 and L2C4 (220 nF)R8 (10 Ω)72 kHzBulk shunt; kicks in below the LISN band edge
Between L3 and L4C5 (33 pF)R9 (470 Ω)10 MHzMid-band ringing damper
At DUT+ outputC6 (1 nF)R10‖R11 (0.34 Ω)~ 470 MHzHF ringing damper at the DUT-facing end

The deliberate frequency stagger avoids the impedance peaks that an undamped multi-stage ladder would exhibit between the ladder's natural resonances. The result is a smooth band-wide impedance curve, ideal for repeatable conducted-emissions measurement.

A 33 pF C0G shunt (C7) sits at the DUT+ output direct-to-GNDREF (no series damper), providing the final fast HF roll-off at the DUT-facing end.

The lower rail is structurally identical with L6L10, C11/R16, C12/R17, C13/R18‖R19, C14.

Stage 4 — Output to DUT

L5 and L10 hand off directly to DUT+ and DUT−, which leave this sheet on global labels and reach the DUT banana sockets (J1, J3) on the connectors-and-mechanical sheet, and also pin 2 / pin 3 of the M12 N2K connector (J10).

The DUT+ and DUT− outputs are also the RF tap points feeding the downstream LISN measurement-port sheets. The measurement-port chain AC-couples from these nets via three parallel capacitors (C15+C18+C19 on the upper rail, C20+C23+C24 on the lower) and presents the RF disturbance signal at SMA outputs J2 (RF_LISN_P) and J4 (RF_LISN_N). This is the standard CISPR LISN measurement geometry — the measurement port samples the RF voltage at the DUT-side rail, where the DUT's disturbance currents flow.

Performance

The values below are design intent, calculated against the as-installed V1.1 component datasheet specs in performance_review/lisn-supply-path.md. Empirical confirmation via thermal and VNA testing on the V1.1 hardware is pending.

ParameterConditionLimit / specNotes
Operating input voltage (continuous)DC bench use9–48 VTVS clamps remain non-conductive; all downstream parts ≥ 100 V rated
Absolute continuous input ceilingDC bench use≤ 55 VAbove ~ 55–58 V the SMCJ58CA TVS begins to conduct
ESD / benign surge toleranceFast transients on SRC postsClamped by D3 / D4For bench mishaps; not ISO 7637-2 load-dump absorption
Continuous current (as built)25 °C ambient4.0 AComfortable thermal margin
Continuous current (warm ambient)40 °C ambient3.0 A≈ 1 A derate for fuse + bead temperature rise
Short surge current≤ 10 ms, single shotup to 10 ATime-lag fuse rides through
Extended surge current≤ 100 ms, single shotup to 6 ALow duty cycle to prevent heat soak
DC path drop at 4 A bench-to-DUTCalculated≈ 0.47 VDominated by the LISN ladder R_DC contribution
Total board dissipation at 4 ACalculated≈ 2.0 W56 % in the LISN ladder inductors
Inductor saturationSteady or surge≥ 12 A per inductorThe 1 µH parts are not the continuous-current bottleneck

For the full breakdown of component-level dissipations, gate-bias divider analysis, TVS-vs-MOSFET margin, and continuous-current limiting factors, see performance_review/lisn-supply-path.md in the source repository.

Not for ISO 7637-2 transient testing

The TVS clamp at 93.6 V is appropriate for ESD events and bench-class transients. ISO 7637-2 Pulse 5a/5b (load dump, 100–120 V sustained) would exceed the MOSFET V_DSS regardless of TVS behaviour. Do not use the CANBench Duo as a transient-injection compliance test fixture.

Design provenance

This LISN topology follows Jay_Diddy_B's EEVblog 5 µH LISN reference design. The key inherited choices:

  • 5-section 1 µH ladder rather than a single 5 µH inductor — pushes each coil's self-resonance higher and spreads parasitics along the line, giving a flatter impedance vs. frequency than a lumped 5 µH would.
  • Frequency-staggered damping at the ladder shunt-cap nodes — controlled-Q damping at each natural ladder resonance.
  • F.Cu DC-filter islands + minimised pad sizes — parasitic-capacitance minimisation, keeping the ladder's HF behaviour clean.
  • Self-driven ideal-diode reverse-polarity protection with discrete passive gate bias — lower BOM than an ideal-diode IC, with better margin to the TVS clamp voltage given the 100 V VBsemi FET variant chosen here.

PCB Layout

The supply chain is laid out left-to-right across the V1.1 PCB, signal-flow order matching the schematic. Specific layout choices worth calling out:

  • The protection cluster (F1, D3, Q2 on the upper rail; D4, Q3 on the lower) sits near the SRC banana entry at the board's left edge (X ≈ 80–90 mm). The loop area is moderate (~ 150–200 mm²) — sufficient for the bench-class transient response targeted; not minimised because the LISN signal-flow direction makes a tighter loop awkward.
  • The gate-mesh islands (the 1 MΩ + 100 kΩ + 47 Ω + 15 V Zener cluster around each FET's gate-source pins) are placed as compact 4-component islands per FET. The high-impedance gate net Net-(Q2-G) shows just three F.Cu segments — short, clean, away from the high-current source traces.
  • The LISN ladder (L1–L5 upper, L6–L10 lower) is a straight horizontal chain at 9 mm uniform spacing, mirror-symmetric across the board's Y = 90 mm axis. Each chain is 36 mm long total.
  • The damping-resistor row sits below the upper ladder (Y = 107.25 mm) and above the lower ladder (Y = 72.75 mm), parallel to the ladder, with R10 + R11 (and R18 + R19) stacked as parallel pairs for the 0.34 Ω total at the C6 / C13 shunt nodes.
  • The C3 + R39 bulk-reservoir cluster sits at the VSF+ entry (X ≈ 100.7 mm) with R39 collocated 6 mm vertically from C3, both on a narrow PCB strip. The mirror C10 + R44 sits at the VSF− entry.
  • GNDREF continuity beneath the ladder is preserved by the B.Cu flood — no moats, no splits in the ground plane under the LISN region. The F.Cu islands provide local return references for individual filter components without disturbing the B.Cu reference plane.

See pcb_review/lisn-supply-path-layout.md in the source repository for the full per-component coordinate table and verification against the schema-review's layout requirements.

Components

RefValueFunctionDatasheet
F15 A Slo-Blo (0154005.DRT)OMNI-BLOK 154-series holder + 449-series Nano² Slo-Blo insert — primary over-current protection on SUPPLY+Littelfuse 154 holder / 449 insert
D3, D4SMCJ58CA58 V bidirectional TVS — clamps SOURCE+ (D3) and SOURCE− (D4) transients to GNDREFLittelfuse SMCJ58CA
Q2SUD50P08P-channel MOSFET (TO-252, 100 V) — high-side reverse-polarity protection on positive railVishay SUD50P08
Q3STD80N10F7N-channel MOSFET (TO-252, 100 V) — low-side reverse-polarity protection on negative railSTMicroelectronics STD80N10F7
D2, D5BZT52C1515 V Zener — clamps Q2 (D2) / Q3 (D5) V_GS against supply transientsDiodes Inc. BZT52C15
R4, R1247 ΩGate series stopper for Q2 (R4) / Q3 (R12) — suppresses gate-drive oscillationYageo PE1206
R5, R131 MΩGate-to-source pull for Q2 (R5) / Q3 (R13) — upper leg of the 10:1 gate-bias dividerYageo RC0603
R7, R15100 kΩGate-to-opposite-rail bias for Q2 (R7) / Q3 (R15) — lower leg of the dividerYageo RC0603
R6, R14100 kΩVSF+ (R6) / VSF− (R14) bleed resistor to GNDREF — discharges the rail when SOURCE is removedYageo RC0603
FB1, FB230 Ω @ 100 MHz (BLE32PN300SN1L)Power ferrite bead on VSF+ (FB1) / VSF− (FB2) — decouples DUT-side RF from the upstream supplyMurata BLE32PN300SN1L
L1–L101 µH / 7 mΩ (CYA0630-1.0UH)LISN ladder series inductors, five per rail = 5 µH per rail (rated 12 A saturation)Shouhan CYA0630-1.0UH — manufacturer page not publicly indexed
C1, C82.2 µF / 100 V X7RVSF+ (C1) / VSF− (C8) mid-band decoupling capMurata GRM32ER72A225KA35L
C2, C9100 nF / 100 V X7RVSF+ (C2) / VSF− (C9) HF decoupling capMurata GCM21BR72A104KA37L
C3, C1022 µF / 100 V X7R (2220)Bulk reservoir on VSF+ (C3) / VSF− (C10), damped through R39 / R44PSA Prosperity Dielectrics FS55X
R39, R441.2 ΩSeries damper between the bulk cap and rail — VSF+ (R39) / VSF− (R44)Yageo PE1206
C4, C11220 nF / 250 V X7RLadder shunt cap at node B, upper (C4) / lower (C11) — damped by R8 / R16Murata GRM32DR72E224KW01L
R8, R1610 Ω (2512, 1 W)Q-damper for C4 (R8) / C11 (R16) — 72 kHz RC cornerYageo RT2512
C5, C1233 pF / 630 V C0GLadder shunt cap at node D, upper (C5) / lower (C12) — damped by R9 / R17Murata GCM31A5C2J330JX01D
R9, R17470 Ω (2512, 1 W)Q-damper for C5 (R9) / C12 (R17) — 10 MHz RC cornerYageo RT2512
C6, C131 nF / 630 V C0GDUT-side ladder shunt, upper (C6) / lower (C13) — damped by R10‖R11 / R18‖R19Murata GRM31B5C2J102JW01L
R10, R11, R18, R190.68 Ω (0805)Parallel-pair Q-damper (0.34 Ω each pair) for C6 (R10‖R11) / C13 (R18‖R19) — ~470 MHz RC cornerYageo RC0805
C7, C1433 pF / 630 V C0GUndamped HF shunt at DUT+ (C7) / DUT− (C14) direct to GNDREFMurata GCM31A5C2J330JX01D

Gaps & next version

Before next production run

  • High-current rail trace widths — segment widths for SUPPLY±, VSS±, VSF±, and DUT± were not extracted in the layout review pass; confirm ≥ 1.5 mm (per IPC-2152 for the actual stackup) before committing to a production run.
  • Empirical impedance / thermal confirmation — the operating envelope and ladder impedance figures are calculated design intent. A VNA port-impedance sweep and a thermal run at 4 A on the as-built hardware are pending to close the analytical bounds.

Next version

  • Enclosure-to-GNDREF bond — J8 (Keystone 1211 chassis-ground stud) is the intended PCB-to-enclosure bond but is DNP on the current build; either populate it on the next revision or formally document chassis bonding through the connector shells (SMA + M12 shield).
  • Inductor MPN metadata — the CYA0630-1.0UH symbol carries no mpn property, so BOM exports omit the MPN string; add it as a library-hygiene follow-up.

References