Host Integration of Pre‑Certified Radio Modules
Expert Insights
EMC Concepts Explained
Hot Topics in ESD
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ISSN 1948-8262 (online)
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The Commission voted to enact a rulemaking detailed in a draft Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will ban recognition of testing labs, testing certification bodies, and laboratory accreditation bodies located in or operating within countries that do not have a Mutual…
In a statement issued the day after the FCC’s vote to approve restrictions on testing labs, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that “the FCC has abandoned the principle of technology neutrality, overstretched the concept of national security, and repeatedly imposed restrictive measures without factual basis…
n the realm of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), grounding and bonding are fundamental practices that ensure the safe and effective operation of electrical systems. Proper grounding and bonding minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI) and enhance the performance, reliability, and safety of electronic devices. This article delves into the principles of grounding and bonding in EMC, explores common practices across various industries, and highlights successful implementations through case studies.
ew equipment is being developed for a new or updated aircraft. The concept looks promising until the EMC requirements are given. Then it appears the laws of physics must be broken to achieve the requirements. What do you do?
This is not as uncommon as you may think. Two requirements conflict, making it impossible to meet both at the same time. A promise is made that ensures a sale, but may be unrealistic and unnecessary for the aircraft. An overcautious manager may redraw a limit line to ensure the margin will always be adequate, with notches so deep that they cannot be measured at room temperature because the thermal noise floor exceeds the limit even using a 1 Hz bandwidth.1
hen faced with excessive conducted emissions from switching power supplies, one of the first things to investigate is the adequacy of the power line filter. Line-powered switching supplies generally have both common mode (CM) and differential mode (DM) sections of the filter, as shown in the generalized schematic in Figure 1.
ince 2019, I’ve been part of a fantastic standards working group helping draft the standard IEEE P2855 “Recommended Practices for the Electromagnetic Characterization of Cable/Connector Assembly Shielding Effectiveness in Frequency Range of Direct Current (DC) to 40 GHz.” This group has consistently been meeting monthly, and we’re just getting ready to submit a draft for balloting—which gives you an idea of the speed of standards development, even when everything goes very well and you have a very conscientious working group chair, secretary, and membership.
Reviewing the draft got me thinking about transfer impedance (Zt) and shielding effectiveness (SE). When I was just starting out, someone told me they’re reciprocals of each other, that SE was just 1/Zt. That’s directionally true—when you have a very good shield, Zt will tend to be very small and SE will tend to be very large. However, it isn’t technically true, since Zt and SE are measured in quite different ways.
luetooth® technology is the dominant technology for short-range, low-power wireless communication widely used in consumer products. As a radio (or an intentional radiator, a wireless device), a Bluetooth device must comply with regulatory requirements prior to being placed on the market.
Global market access (GMA) involves navigating international laws, regulations, standards, and equipment authorization procedures (e.g., certification, registration, declaration of conformity (DoC), supplier’s declaration of conformity (SDoC)).
This article focuses on the radio transmitter portion of Bluetooth device regulations, providing an overview of global regulatory requirements. Table 1 lists regulatory authorities, laws, regulations, technical standards, regulatory schemes, local representative requirements, and labeling for 30 countries/economies.
IL-STD-461H was released on April 17, 2026, and became effective on programs initiated after that date.1
As background, MIL-STD-461 is officially prepared by the U.S. Air Force, but it is the product of a Tri-Service Working Group (TSWG) made up (not surprisingly!) of representatives from the Army and Navy as well. In addition to service members, there are industry representatives (of which the author of this article is one).
Since 1993, MIL-STD-461 has been on a five-year review cycle to ensure that it remains current and useful. This does not mean a new revision has to be released every five years, but just that a review must be performed on that cycle. It would be entirely acceptable to simply reaffirm the old version with no changes, or to entirely sunset the standard. To date, neither of these alternatives has been selected.
he use of pre-certified radio modules by product manufacturers has been growing in popularity. The process of designing a radio transceiver and meeting all the “Country Specific” regulatory requirements through extensive testing and documentation can be a long process. One of the many benefits of using a pre-certified radio module is that it significantly reduces both the cost of development and the time to market.
If used in accordance with the module’s Grant of Certification and integration instructions, it can limit the EMI/wireless testing to a minimal “spot-check” verification of the radiated emissions with the module installed in the host product. When performing this spot check, a certified test lab will only need to focus on the worst-case conditions from the original certification. Test engineers will be checking the band edges to ensure the product is not operating out of band and verifying that the harmonics from the transmitter are still compliant.
his article presents a concept of the loss tangent of the medium, which is often used to determine if a medium is a good conductor. A good conductor is defined as a medium in which the conduction current density is much greater than the displacement current density, or equivalently, the loss tangent of a medium (σ ⁄ ωε >> 1). The loss tangent of the medium is used to obtain an approximate solution for the shielding effectiveness in the far field, which in turn leads to the formulas for the shielding effectiveness in the near field [1].
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