Percept Summer 2005 Percept Newsletter

Get to Market on Time — Two Simple Tests that Take You There

By Dennis King

A Nightmare Scenario

His back was up against a wall. An engineer from a startup company called in a panic because his product had failed FCC radiated emissions testing. Twice. The firm had already spent $3,000 on compliance testing and was no closer to finding a solution than when testing began. Further complicating the situation was the pressure of a looming deadline from a customer who required a fully compliant design in just a matter of weeks or the entire contract was in jeopardy.

Could we help?

Looking for a solution

This was a challenging situation required us to move fast. Why was the product failing FCC testing?

After reviewing test data and scrutinizing the product design, we concluded that the circuit board would have to be re-designed in order to meet the applicable standards.Due to the extremely tight deadline, we began EMI testing using a specialized GTEM (Gigahertz Transverse ElectroMagnetic Cell). The GTEM cell offers a cost-effective solution by providing measurements in a fraction of the time (and cost) it would take to achieve results in a traditional outdoor facility.

Indeed, our team was able to run 53 complete scans, identify and understand the problem fully and determine how the product needed to be redesigned.

By the skin of their teeth

And we made it.

In the end, we were able to save the client from the potentially devastating situation of a broken contract and the resulting revenue loss. Thanks to our ability to respond rapidly using the speed of the GTEM scans and our in-house design consulting expertise, the client was able to deliver a fully compliant design to their distributor. On Time… But barely.

Surely there’s a better way…

The Pressures and Problems

Pressure. Today’s technology companies are under increased pressure every day. Fierce competition, unrelenting consumer demand for increased functionality (and reduced prices) and shrinking time-to-market windows mean shorter and shorter design cycles. This has increased demands for engineers to design, test and release products faster than ever before.

Unfortunately, as pressure to launch products more quickly intensifies, regulatory requirements hold firm. Failing tests mandated by the FCC (in the U.S.) and CE Mark (in the European Union) at the end of a project can be disastrous in terms of monetary expense and time delays.

The Solution: Design for Compliance

Today’s successful companies have learned an important truth: to compete effectively in today’s high tech market a company must “Design for Compliance” from the start.

Savvy program managers understand the importance of pre-compliance design and test. Some have learned the hard way that because they waited until the end of the project to test for FCC or CE Mark requirements, their competitors beat them to market.

How to Get There: Two Simple Tests

Designing for Compliance involves having a qualified EMC and Safety Engineer involved in all phases of the design process including component selection, placement, board layout, mechanical design and virtually every portion of the design process.

Up front pre-compliance testing can identify problem design areas early in the design cycle, so there’s time to address and solve these issues.

The two most common failures for EMC compliance are radiated emissions and ESD. Both of these areas can be addressed in early testing:

Pre-Compliance — Radiated Emissions

Solving EMC/EMI problems in the beginning of the design cycle – at the board level – is the most effective and least expensive way to avoid major compliance problems later. Emissions pre-scans can be conducted as soon as the first circuit boards and mechanical enclosures are available – even before they’re fully functional. These pre-scans often disclose potential problem areas so they can be addressed long before they negatively impact overall design viability or product timelines. Testing on early versions of circuit boards (without enclosures) identifies the sources of the highest amplitude emissions. Design changes to reduce emissions can then be implemented in the next revision of the circuit board with little or no increased circuit board cost or impact to the overall schedule.

By taking a few days to do pre-compliance radiated emissions scans in the early stages of the design process, you can save weeks or even months of potential delays and avoid the huge expense of modifications due to non-compliance issues late in the cycle.

Pre-Compliance — ESD

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) – that familiar and annoying static shock you feel when you touch something while walking across a carpet – is a huge potential problem for producers of technology products. The solution for reducing ESD failure is to identify and fix potential problems – the sooner the better. ESD testing can begin with preliminary versions of software code and electronics and mechanical enclosures. Once again, locating problem areas at this stage allows you to make simple and inexpensive design changes before you’re heavily invested in the design and chosen components.

Pre-compliance testing for ESD only takes a few hours and it can save weeks of re-design time (and the resulting expense) at the end of the project.

Happy Ending

The good news is that no matter where you are today, you can begin to realize significant paybacks and immediate benefits by taking the steps to design for compliance. Just like another client who turned their situation around completely…

This particular company built a fiber optic module that was to be installed in one of their customer’s systems. Because this product would not pass radiated emissions testing, the company was losing millions of dollars worth of sales. To make matters worse, they had tried to implement solutions, and had ended up spending nearly $200,000 and 18 months before seeking the specialized EMC/EMI expertise they needed.

Working together, we designed a specialized pre-compliance test plan and began working at the design level, from both an electrical and mechanical perspective. After involvement in virtually all aspects of the new design, we were able to bring the product into full FCC compliance, and they were able to distribute their product and begin making up for the lost revenues.

What Now?

Clearly, it’s risky and foolish to wait until the end of the design cycle to address compliance issues. Investing a small amount in EMC/EMI pre-compliance expertise in the beginning of a project is a great way to insure success and avoid unnecessary headaches and wasted resources.

Finding the right independent test lab to work with throughout your design cycle to build for and insure compliance into your products is an essential aspect of the process. Look for a lab that specializes in compliance – throughout the entire design process.

Dennis King is a compliance engineer with 17 years of specialized EMC testing experience. Working with Percept Technology Labs, Dennis helps clients pass FCC and CE Mark testing so they can launch their products on time and within budget.