November 2011

In 2011, Australia and Canada adopted new product safety laws that require manufacturers and others in the supply chain to monitor their products in use, and to report safety issues and take appropriate corrective actions in certain situations. In addition, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has become more aggressive in levying civil penalties on companies who do not report safety problems in a timely fashion.

Wireless technology is experiencing explosive growth. More than just devices of the same kind, there is a proliferation of applications that take advantage of wireless connectivity, using it in new and novel ways. Wireless technology itself is developing and radio access technologies are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated. The result is that today’s electromagnetic environment is changing. This means that old test methods and limits are no longer adequate to insure systems have adequate electromagnetic immunity.

In the middle of the 1970s, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began to look seriously at electromagnetic emissions from electronic data processing (EDP) equipment and office equipment (OE). This growing awareness on the part of the United States telecommunications regulation body was a result of the increasing number of computers being used by society and the increased potential for growth by licensed broadcast services due to the proliferation of electronic-computer sources. The Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (CBEMA) formed a technical subcommittee to assist in preparing an industry response to the concerns of the FCC. This paper reviews the report developed by that technical subcommittee, made public in May of 1977.