Routing Guide: Separation
A guide to establishing orthogonal routing paths to eliminate Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) between AC power lines and low-voltage audio/data lines.
The EMI Problem
Running a 120V AC power cord parallel to an unshielded analog audio cable or a delicate data line induces a magnetic field, resulting in audible 60Hz hum in speakers, or packet loss in network cables. This is inevitable in a standard cable tray where everything is zip-tied together into a single "trunk" line.
The Orthogonal Solution
The SmartCableBoard's grid allows you to create separate lanes. The cardinal rule of EMI mitigation in cabling is: If power and data must cross, they must cross at exactly 90 degrees.
- 1 Route all AC Power lines horizontally along the PDU spine.
- 2 Route all Data/Audio lines vertically (perpendicular to the spine).
[ Diagram: Orthogonal Cable Crossing ]
Imagine a vertical blue line crossing a horizontal red line at a strict right angle.
Imagine a vertical blue line crossing a horizontal red line at a strict right angle.