Evaluation of Data-Dependent Transmission Errors in Inter-IC Communication With Isolated I/O PDNs Under IEMI

Intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI) can induce transient data errors in electronic devices, posing threats to their confidentiality and integrity. This letter experimentally investigates the mechanisms and data dependency of IEMI-induced transmission data errors in parallel inter-IC communication. We focus on the symmetry of the power-distribution networks (PDNs) between the transmitter and receiver and the output states of input/output (I/O) circuits. The experimental results reveal that transmission errors occur only when the PDNs of the transmitter and receiver are physically isolated. Moreover, small voltage drops caused by the output state of the I/O circuits and variations in the return loss of the I/O PDN were found to contribute to the occurrence of errors under IEMI. These findings indicate that both the power configuration between ICs and the transmitted data must be considered when evaluating the IEMI immunity of electronic devices employing inter-IC communication.