Articles from Elliott Laboratories Specialists

New CNS 13438 Requirements Slated to Go Into Effect

By Mark Hill

Manufacturers of Information Technology Equipment (ITE) intended for sale in Taiwan should take note ofsome important changes that are slated to go into effect with regard to their EMC testing requirements under emissions standard CNS 13438. The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) recently announced changes to their requirements that are slated to go into affect on October 1, 2010.

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) and the 5GHz Unlicensed Band

By Mark Briggs

Note: This article combines the content from several papers released by Elliott over the last 5 years to provide current DFS information in a single document.

The advent of the 802.11a wireless market and the constant push to open up spectrum for unlicensed use created a requirement for Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), a mechanism to allow unlicensed devices to use the 5 GHz frequency bands already allocated to radar systems without causing interference to those radars. The concept of DFS is to have the unlicensed device detect the presence of a radar system on the channel they are using and, if the level of the radar is above a certain threshold, vacate that channel and select an alternate channel.

Updated EN 55022:2006 Requirements for measurements above 1GHz

By David Bare

As previously reported on this topic, manufacturers of Information Technology Equipment (ITE) intended for sale in the European Union should take note of some important changes that are slated to go into effect with regard to their EMC testing requirements under emissions standard EN55022:2006. In November 2008 the European Union's Official Journal (OJ) published lists of standards for the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive and Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTED). Both lists include references to EN 55022:2006 and its amendment A1, released in 2007.

New EN 55022:2006 Requirements slated to go into Effect

By Mark Briggs and David Bare

Manufacturers of Information Technology Equipment (ITE) intended for sale in the European Union should take note of some important changes that are slated to go into effect with regard to their EMC testing requirements under emissions standard EN55022:2006. In November 2008 the European Union's Official Journal (OJ) published lists of standards for the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive and Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTED). Both lists include references to EN 55022:2006 and its amendment A1, released in 2007.

New EN 61000-6-4 Requirements Slated to Go Into Effect

By David Bare

Manufacturers of who use EN 61000-6-4 for emission evaluations for products to be sold the European Union should take note of some important changes that are slated to go into effect with regard to their EMC testing requirements under EN 61000-6-4. The 2001 version of the standard will be withdrawn as of December 1, 2009. Any products that will be on the market after this withdrawal date will need to be tested to demonstrate compliance with the new 2007 version of the standard.

Proposed Changes in requirements for Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) in the European Union

By Mark Briggs

Manufacturers of Wireless devices operating in the 5GHz band should take note of proposed changes for the European Unions new Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) requirements that are slated to go into effect to prepare for current compliance efforts.

In November 2008 the European Union’s Official Journal (OJ) published a list of standards for the Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTED). The list indicated that the radio spectrum standards for devices using the 5150-5350MHz and 5470-5725MHz unlicensed bands (e.g. WiFi 802.11a/n devices) remain as previously published - this is EN 301 893 V1.4.1 and EN 301 893 V1.3.1, with EN 301 489 V1.3.1 superseded by v1.4.1 on March 31st 2009.

Practical Advice for Meeting the FCC's DFS Testing Requirements

By Juan Martinez and Tom Wetzel

The advent of the 802.11a wireless market and the constant push to open up new spectrum for unlicensed use created a requirement for dynamic frequency selection (DFS), a mechanism to allow unlicensed devices to share spectrum with existing radar sys­tems. The regulatory requirements for DFS, along with requirements for transmit power control (TPC) and uniform channel loading have been adopted in the United States, Europe and Japan and are being considered by many other regulatory domains looking at adopting the 5GHz bands for unlicensed (and possibly licensed) devices.

Plastic Requirements for Product Safety Compliance

By Mike Campi

The usage of plastics in the product manufacturing process has become so commonplace that it has essentially eliminated the usage of many other traditional manufacturing materials. Today, everything from your laptop to your coffee maker to your home stereo are made with extensive use of various types of durable and moderately inexpensive plastics. However, when manufacturers begin to plan for compliance with their applicable Product Safety requirements, there are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration with regard to the usage of plastics.

RoHS Is Here! (Are You Ready?)

by Don Ballard

RoHS (European Union Directive 2002/95/EC on the Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is a directive issued January 27, 2003 by the European Commission (EC). It directs European Union (EU) member nations to enact local legislation by August 13, 2004, which will implement the RoHS directive as regulatory requirements before the activation date of July 1, 2006.

Basic Standard: IEC 60601-1-2 - Essential Performance, Risk Analysis and Immunity Testing

by David W. Bare

Product-specific knowledge and, in many cases, medical expertise are required to make an effective risk analysis that clearly identifies the essential performance and minimizes the number of functions and parameters that need to be evaluated for susceptibility to the EMC phenomena outlined in the second edition of IEC/EN 60601-1-2. The EMC test lab should be able to provide guidance in implementing a test plan based on the essential performance parameters and functions identified by the risk analysis.

Originally published in Conformity Magazine

Avoiding Regulatory Pitfalls When Integrating Wireless Modules Into Your Product

by Mark Briggs and Michael Derby [RFI Global Services Ltd.]

This article reviews the EMC and radio test requirements in the US, Canada and European Union for devices that incorporate wireless modules, with the aim of providing guidelines to assist in understanding the test and regulatory requirements for both the wireless function and the complete product.

Originally published in Conformity Magazine

Power Measurements of OFDM Signals

by Mark Briggs, Juan Martinez, and David Bare

This paper reviews the various methods used to make power measurements of OFDM signal for regulatory purposes and recommends suitable methods for production line measurements of 802.11a and 802.11g devices.

Originally presented as a poster paper at the 2004 IEEE EMC Symposium

EMC for Medical Products

by David W. Bare

This paper presents assessment methods that are required by IEC 60601-1-2 that could affect product design. The definitions of "essential performance" and "risk analysis" are summarized. The EMC requirements of EN 60601-1-2 emissions and immunity tests are described.

Originally presented as a poster paper at the 2004 IEEE EMC Symposium