Internationally-known testing firm Intertek sponsored a roundtable discussion: the Third Annual Broad Spectrum EMC Forum–“What Trends Will Effect You, and What Can You Do About Them?” Moderated by Intertek’s Roland Gubisch, the panel included Kurt Fischer of NIST, Lee Hill of Silent Solutions, Derek Walton of LF Research, and Werner Schaefer of Cisco Systems.The remarkably frank discussion covered a range of issues with both good humor and some important insights. As to what you can do about trends, probably nothing except to be aware of them and to react pragmatically and with a good dose of common sense. One tongue-in-cheek topic was introduced as “Are OATS strictly for horses?” While everyone acknowledged the historical importance of open-air testing, the modern world affords fewer geographical locations for using an OATS. Expect more troubleshooting and debugging to take place in the “wonderful” convenience of today’s anechoic chambers. Another frequently encountered conundrum involved the requirements for testing in either a 10-meter chamber or a less expensive 3-meter one. One participant pointed out that he doesn’t keep his computer 10 meters away from his printer and that there’s no guarantee that someone won’t walk by using a cell phone. He concluded that there can be very good reasons for testing in relatively small spaces. An additional key topic was laboratory accreditation. The ultimate conclusion was that accreditation is a minimum–it’s the low point for setting the bar. Another participant pointed out that no accreditation process is spread out over four weeks. Labs are accredited after some, but by no means all, of their procedures and practices are carefully evaluated. In short, there’s no substitution for inquiring about a test facility and assessing its reputation for competence in a given area. Yet another lively topic was standards. The witticism was how can the laws of physics differ from country to country, or how can FCC standards differ from CISPR ones. It was also noted that almost four decades ago when man first landed on the moon, we did not have the plethora of standards that we have today. That being said, it was agreed that standards are no substitute for curiosity, competence, and zeal. Still, they have a vital role to play and should spell out expressly what are, and are not, acceptable practices. Most importantly, compliance with international standards creates the element of trust, an element vital to international commerce.A significant facet of dealing with standards is the glacial pace at which international standards are put in place. In short, achieving global agreement can be a long, even tedious, process. Also, creating uniform standards for an entire industry can be a lengthy process. Hence, we find the Big Three automotive manufacturers clinging to their own standards which serve their testing purposes.A final quandary in peering into the future will be the challenge of designing and testing hybrid or wholly-electronic vehicles. The predictions were that sensor manufacturers may be in for some unwelcome surprises and that intra-vehicle interference may present some significant challenges. Learn more testing capabilities at the Intertek website.http://www.intertek.com/
News from 2008 EMC Detroit: Intertek Sponsors Roundtable Discussion on EMC Trends
