X-EMI, a fabless semiconductor company, has developed a new approach to electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction that ensures regulatory compliance at first pass. This week the company unveiled its XM1001 transceiver at EMC 2005 in Chicago, Ill. The XM1001 is the first of several products that significantly reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) in electronics systems.

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The XM1001 provides translation between the extreme EMI reduced clock (XClk) and normal clocking, resulting in at least 25 dB of EMI reduction with no added jitter, shielding, or other design changes. The XM1001 is a stand-alone clock generator/clock transceiver useful for PCI Express and many other applications. It conveys clock timing reference signals effortlessly, at full signal strength, with vastly reduced EMI radiation. To date, the XM1001 is the only stand-alone EMI-reduction solution that works without design gimmicks or clock dithering in electronics system that use PCI Express–and other interconnects–and that operate at faster system speeds. Unlike current EMI-reduction methodologies, the XM1001 works not by making more jitter, but by making less jitter. The XM1001 uses an internal crystal oscillator or it can be driven externally by either a single-ended or differential input at frequencies up to 250 MHz.

The XM1001 uses optimized spectral diffusion or OSD, which is an optimization of what the company terms spectral diffusion (SD). The SD technology works by multiplication of both source and destination signals with identical digital noise sources. The modified source signal is sent to the destination where the original signal is recovered. OSD applies sophisticated analytical algorithms to produce a low peak EMI signal. Larry Woodson, CEO of X-EMI, said that the company is being conservative in its EMI reduction claims. “We tested the XM1001 both internally, and externally in an independent lab environment, where the results were actually greater than 25 dB of EMI reduction,” said Woodson. “However, we know that real life does not often imitate a lab environment, no matter how careful we are to replicate it. We also know that our best endorsements come from outside experts and our customers who are currently sampling the product.”

Volume production of the XM1001 is slated for the fourth quarter.