EMC testing standards

Compliance with standards assured by the T&M experts who help write them

EMC testing is all about standards. Whether you are developing 5G products, automotive equipment, military equipment or something as simple as an ordinary table lamp, your device – must meet the requirements set by standardization organizations such as IEC, CISPR, ISO, IEEE, CENELEC, ETSI, FCC, ANSI, RTCA or the MIL-STD committee.

Standards are all about committees. Rohde & Schwarz has been providing T&M expertise to EMC standard organizations for more than fifty years; making them insiders for implementing EMC test equipment standards.

Confidence in validity is confidence that measurements are accurate and correctly represent the values of the properties being measured. Detailed knowledge of what is being measured and how it is being measured is essential. As members of standard-defining committees, R&S personnel are leading experts in test requirements, making certain that EMC compliance test requirements are correctly implemented in R&S products.

You can download an overview of the EMC standards and the applicable measurement equipment below.

For more information please contact us.

EMC standards

IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission

The International Electrotechnical Commission is the global leader in publishing consensus-based international standards and manages conformity assessment systems for electric and electronic products, systems and services, collectively known as electro-technology.

IEC publications serve as a basis for national standards and as a reference when drafting international tenders and contracts.

CISPR - International Special Committee on Radio Interference

CISPR sets standards for protecting radio reception from interference by electrical or electronic appliances and systems in the electromagnetic environment and is a part of IEC.

CISPR standards are used when measuring radiated and conducted interference, and immunity for some products. CISPR develops generic standards for emission measurements.

Find out more about latest developments in the CISPR standards.

ISO - International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the global network of the world's leading standardizers. Through its members ISO (the national standards bodies in 164 different countries) brings together experts from all over the world to develop international standards. The principle ISO task is guiding thousands of documents through drafting, review, voting and publication.

ISO standards on EMC are most relevant for automotive EMC issues.

IEEE EMC Society

The IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society is the world's largest organization dedicated to the development and distribution of information, tools and techniques for reducing electromagnetic interference.

The society's fields of interest includes standards, measurement techniques and test procedures. Including the instrumentation, equipment and systems characteristics, interference control techniques and components required. Plus the education, computational analysis, and spectrum management, along with scientific, technical, industrial, professional or other activities that contribute to this field.

CENELEC - European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization

CENELEC is the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization and is responsible for standardization in the electrotechnical engineering field for European countries. CENELEC prepares European Standards (EN); voluntary standards, which help facilitate trade between countries, create new markets, cut compliance costs and support the development of a Single European Market.

CENELEC creates market access at European level but also at international level, adopting international standards wherever possible, through its close collaboration with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), under the Frankfurt Agreement.

ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute

ETSI produces globally applicable standards for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) enabled systems, applications and services. This includes fixed and mobile radio, broadcast and internet technologies.

EMC is a subject of national and international regulation. In Europe it is regulated through the European Commission’s EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and for radio equipment through Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU (RED). These directives are New Approach Directives. As such, they rely for their operation on Harmonised Standards developed by recognized European standards bodies, such as CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. Harmonised Standards define technical characteristics that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements of the directive.

RTCA

RTCA Inc. (formerly known as Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) is a United States not-for-profit organization with the mission of finding consensus among diverse, competing interests for critical aviation modernization issues.

RTCA products serve as the basis for government equipment certification used by the tens of thousands of aircraft that fly in the world’s airspace every day. RTCA works with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop comprehensive, industry-vetted and endorsed standards for compliance with FAA regulations. EMC and electromagnetic co-existence are vital for ensuring the near 100 % correct, predictable, and safe operation of aircraft electrical systems.

The United States Department of Defense issued several military standards to integrate electromagnetic compatibility into the research and development stage for defense communications technology.

FCC - Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international radio, television, wire, satellite and cable communications in the USA and US territories. As independent US government agency overseen by Congress, the commission is the primary US authority for communications laws, regulations and technological innovations.

For EMC measurement methods and associated measurement equipment, the FCC is referring to standards published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).