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Active technical contributors to the American National Standards Committee (ANSC) C63 on EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) was convened at ETS-Lindgren’s corporate headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas, from May 16 to 19, 2022. A highlight of the four-day meeting series was the live demonstration time spent in the company’s EMC and Wireless Test Labs. Two demonstrations were conducted to evaluate new test methodologies for consideration in the new draft standard ANSI C63.25.3.

Zhong Chen, ETS-Lindgren’s Director, RF Engineering, and Chair of C63 Subcommittee 1 “Techniques and Development,” conducted the first demonstration with Yibo Wang, ETS-Lindgren’s RF Engineer, and Phil Miller of RATLR Inc. using the 3-Meter EMC Test Chamber. The demonstration showed a new test method using a mode-filtered site voltage standing wave ratio (SVSWR) technique for qualifying chambers in the mmWave range per the draft standard ANSI C63.25.3. 

The second demonstration focused on measurements of total radiated power (TRP) in a Reverberation Chamber using a commercial mmWave base station at 28 GHz (band n261) as the device under test. This activity supports C63’s Subcommittee 4 “Wireless and ISM Equipment Measurements” standards as well as the draft standard ANSI C63.25.3. Two verification engineers from Ericsson, Patrik Hellstrom, and Lars Näs, assisted by Cindy Xie, ETS-Lindgren’s RF/Microwave Systems Engineer, demonstrated the capability of the Reverberation Chamber to correctly estimate the TRP of weak spurious emissions coming from a massive device with a large antenna array and high RF output power. Both demonstrations showed faster, much more efficient measurement techniques as an alternative to those specified in the present standards. As a result of the demonstrations, not only did the committee members learn new test methods to consider including in future standards, but those performing the demonstrations also appreciated suggestions from the committee to further improve these new measurement techniques. 

For reference, C63 maintains a series of site validation standards:

•  C63.25.1 – A published standard for EMC test sites from 1 GHz to 18 GHz
• C63.25.2 – A new standard under review by the C63 Main Committee for EMC test sites from 30 MHz to 1000 MHz
• C63.25.3 – A draft standard under development for EMC test sites from 18 GHz to 40 GHz

“These test site validation standards will play a key role in future revisions to the industry flagship standards ANSI C63.4 ‘Methods of Measurement of Radio-Noise Emissions from Low-Voltage Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the Range of 9 kHz to 40 GHz’ and ANSI C63.5 ‘Radiated Emission Measurements in Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Control Calibration of Antennas (9 kHz to 40 GHz),’” said Dan Hoolihan, Hoolihan EMC Consulting’s President, and ANSC C63 Committee Chair. “Site validation measurement techniques will be removed from these standards and referenced in the C63.25 series of standards as appropriate. With the wider frequency ranges we’re seeing now, in addition to wireless measurements becoming an increasingly important part of our traditional EMC activity, it makes sense to move site validation measurement techniques to its own family of standards based on the frequency range of interest.”

To inform the EMC and wireless communities about this significant activity in C63 standards, Mr. Hoolihan will chair the half-day tutorial “Site Validation Standards by the American National Standards Committee (ANSC) C63® on EMC” scheduled for Wednesday morning, August 3, at the 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal & Power Integrity (EMC+SIPI 2022) in Spokane, Washington. Speakers include Mr. Chen, Andy Griffin, Cisco Systems’ EMC Standardization Expert, and Nick Abbondante, Intertek’s Chief EMC Engineer. Mr. Hoolihan will begin the tutorial with an introduction to the ANSC C63 Committee.

Rules issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) often incorporate by reference the ANSC C63 standards to ensure products and services related to EMC and wireless meet the intended regulatory requirements. Manufacturers of electronic equipment – such as laptops and wireless devices – sold in the US must document compliance with the FCC Rules. This requirement also extends to electronic and wireless products sold in Canada, which has adopted some of the ANSC C63 standards.