[en] A gliding arc discharge driven by magnetic field at atmospheric pressure can generate non-equilibrium plasma with good confinement property, and has extensive application in the areas of microelectronic fabrication, environmental engineering, etc. The magnetic circuit of the generator is designed with the permeance method, and analytic expression is obtained on the magnetic induction, the permeant magnetic material thickness and length of air gap. The results have been compared with those of the finite element method, the difference is 3.1%. But the permeance method is more concise and convenient and more universal and economical. So the permeance method is a more credible and useful engineering arithmetic