emc

When a manufacturer is thinking of the European Union (EU) as the next market for its electronic equipment, EMC compliance is one of the must-haves on the list of approvals. Unless a company has dedicated quality personnel to ensure testing and certification is done to the letter, the approval process can be quite complicated for engineers – from identifying the correct standards and models for testing to writing the declaration of conformity and preparing the product for testing. This article will explain what engineers need to do to demonstrate compliance.

Shielding to control EMI is a staple in modern electronics, playing a major role in military applications. Internal design practices can do much to control EMI in commercial and industrial electronics, but there is a limit to how much you can do. The EMI demands in military electronics are such that good internal design practices are inadequate - shielding is usually needed.

Electronic products are designed and tested to a variety of EMC requirements. Although specific requirements and test methods can vary by industry, ESD, transient immunity, RF immunity and RF emissions are evaluated for most products – certainly for all products that require a CE Mark.