/// CERTIFICATION \\\


All change for wideband testing


Rob Campling, manager for global market access at TÜV SÜD, explains the latest iterations of European regulations on wideband testing


S


tandard EN 300 328 covers wideband data transmission equipment which op- erates in the unlicensed 2.4GHz ISM


band. This includes WiFi, Bluetooth and Zig- bee devices, as well as other technologies such as proprietary wideband transmission systems and frequency-hopping spread spec- trum (FHSS) devices, and covers both trans- mitters & receivers. After 6 August this year,


the latest version (V2.2.2) must be followed to provide a “presumption of confor- mity” to the EU’s Radio Equipment Directive or UK’s Radio Equipment Regula- tions. As EN 300 328 is one of the most frequently used standards for approval tests for products with radio technologies, these changes affect millions of devices.


Radio testing


updates \\\ The minimum performance criteria for receiver block- ing has been updated to allow for a frame error rate (FER) of less than or equal to 10 per cent. This will result in a more consistent and quantifiable means of test, but it does mean less flexibility for manufacturers. For devices that do not facilitate a packet error rate (PER) or FER, the standard mandates that there must be no loss of transmission for the in- tended use of equipment. A change in the test requirement mandates that all receiver categories should now fea- ture a blocking signal power of -34dBm at the receiver of the equipment, after having com- pensated for in-band antenna assembly gain in conducted measurements or power flux density (PFD) in radiated measurements. This is a much more stringent requirement than previously. All receiver categories feature a wanted


signal mean power from companion device (WSMPCD) that is derived from a calculation based on the occupied bandwidth (OCBW) of the device. The WSMPCD no longer uses cal- culations based on the level of the wanted signal at the input of the equipment (Pmin), unless in a radiated test where the wanted signal from the companion device cannot be determined. This will result in a more consis-


clare against the previous version of the standard. FHSS equipment capable of employing both


adaptive and non-adaptive modes must com- ply with the requirements for non-adaptive FHSS equipment. Equipment must also meet the requirements for accumulated transmit time, frequency occupation and hopping se- quence.


Emissions \\\ The updated standard also


relaxes the transmitter un- wanted emissions in the spurious domain require- ment. Previously, equip- ment had to meet -54dBm from 470MHz to 862MHz and -36dBm from 862MHz to 1GHz (when measured with a resolution bandwidth (RBW) of 100kHz). Therefore, a device which complies with the more stringent lim- its in V2.1.1 also complies with the limits in V2.2.2. The measurement proce-


dure for determining the number of operating chan-


Changes to wideband data transmission equipment


effective from August this year will affect millions of WiFi,


Bluetooth, Zigbee and other devices, above; Rob Campling of TÜV SÜD says new tests


must be undertaken regardless of compliance to the old version of the standard


tent approach to testing and ensure the min- imum receiver sensitivity for all devices. All receiver categories must also be tested


to new blocking signals defined in V2.2.2 that were not required in V2.1.1. This means that all equipment will need to be re-assessed to the revised receiver blocking requirements of V2.2.2 and manufacturers cannot self-de-


nels in the hopping sequence previously used an RMS detector. It is now specified that a peak detector must be used. However, as the change of detector type is unlikely to affect the number of channels detected, a device previously deemed compliant against V2.1.1 can therefore be considered compliant with V2.2.2.


Updates to standards can often causeprob-


lems for designers and manufacturers, as they may be confused as to what applies to their products and how tests should be ap- plied. In the case of V2.2.2, if a product was compliant with the old version (V2.1.1) there is no presumption of conformity and new tests must be undertaken regardless. The Techni- cal Construction File and Declaration of Con- formity must also be updated to V2.2.2 accordingly. THDx


2021 /// Test House Directory Extra \\\ 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40