Ideally, an initial spectrum supportability risk assessment is generated in the first phase of the DoD acquisition process. Early identification of spectrum and EMC related regulatory and technical issues allows program management personnel to focus attention and resources on critical spectrum issues in the remaining acquisition phases. The SSRA’s author uses inputs from … [Read more...]

Just One More Thing on the List!Available expertise and the existence of service Spectrum and E3 related organizations notwithstanding, it is widely known in the DoD Spectrum Management community that program offices, for a variety of reasons, including a lack of understanding of the requirements and their importance, frequently avoid spectrum supportability considerations … [Read more...]

The Central Texas PresentationThe potential audience stayed away in droves with the result that the number attending the presentation was disappointing. This seems strange when you consider the Central Texas Chapter capture area has two major EMC chamber manufacturers, and that previous presentations I have given attracted a big audience. A lot of pizza was taken home – but … [Read more...]

As we noted, the purpose of the spectrum supportability risk assessment is to identify and assess regulatory, technical, and operational spectrum issues with the potential to affect the required operational performance of the candidate system. For example, in addition to determining that a system’s bandwidth requirement complies with an individual nation’s frequency allocation … [Read more...]

I apologize for the prolonged absence, my career has taken a new path and the preparation for this took up all my spare time. Things are freeing up once more, so I am glad to say I can now return slowly to blog writing.I actually made the time recently to attend a technical presentation on obtaining wireless device approvals, jointly hosted by the Dallas IEEE EMC Chapter and … [Read more...]

To understand Spectrum Supportability Risk Assessments, we need a little background. In the DoD acquisition process, spectrum management usually begins with equipment spectrum certification, a process whereby a system is approved to operate in a particular spectral band. To actually operate the system, spectrum certification must be followed by obtaining specifically assigned … [Read more...]

The first in a series of discussions on a DoD acquisition requirementEarly consideration of spectrum supportability in spectrum dependent (S-D) system acquisitions is a fundamental criterion that must be satisfied before the DoD develops and fields communications-electronics (CE) equipment and related weapons systems. Development or acquisition of systems that meet operational … [Read more...]

The requirements for SAR levels have remained largely unchanged for many years (requirements depend on the country/region). In fact, the FCC mobile/handset specific regulations are derived from levels determined in the 1960s during early research of radiation hazards.Meanwhile, mobile phone designs advanced at light speed while the systems and methods made to test the SAR of … [Read more...]

What is an EMC Design Review?Most hardware engineers are used to doing functional design reviews on their circuit boards and systems before pressing the 'go' button for manufacturing. In the engineering teams I've worked with, that type of design review has usually taken the form of standing around a board room table with a red pen and the largest print outs of the schematics … [Read more...]

As mentioned in the upcoming article ‘Applying Stealth Technology to EMC Chamber Designs’, and also mentioned during the recent EMC-LIVE webinar ‘Elephants in the TestRoom,’ the intention is to use 3D EM simulation software to explore possible design improvements to today’s under- performing chambers. The article itself is not out yet, but we can make useful progress in the … [Read more...]