EMC control[edit]

The damaging effects of electromagnetic interference pose unacceptable risks in many areas of
technology, and it is necessary to control such interference and reduce the risks to acceptable
levels.
The control of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and assurance of EMC comprises a series of
related disciplines:

 Characterising the threat.

 Setting standards for emission and susceptibility levels.
 Design for standards compliance.
 Testing for standards compliance.
For a complex or novel piece of equipment, this may require the production of a dedicated EMC
control plan summarizing the application of the above and specifying additional documents required.

Characterising the threat[edit]

Characterisation of the problem requires understanding of:

 The interference source and signal.

 The coupling path to the victim.
 The nature of the victim both electrically and in terms of the significance of malfunction.
The risk posed by the threat is usually statistical in nature, so much of the work in threat
characterisation and standards setting is based on reducing the probability of disruptive EMI to an
acceptable level, rather than its assured elimination.

Laws and regulators[edit]

Regulatory and standards bodies[edit]
Several organizations, both national and international, work to promote international co-operation on
standardization (harmonization), including publishing various EMC standards. Where possible, a
standard developed by one organization may be adopted with little or no change by others. This
helps for example to harmonize national standards across Europe.
International standards organizations include:

 International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which has several committees working full-time
on EMC issues. These are:
 Technical Committee 77 (TC77), working on electromagnetic compatibility between
equipment including networks.
 Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques (CISPR), or International
Special Committee on Radio Interference.
 The Advisory Committee on Electromagnetic Compatibility (ACEC) co-ordinates the IEC's
work on EMC between these committees.
 International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which publishes standards for the
automotive industry.
Among the main national organizations are:

 Europe:
  Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) or European Committee for Standardization).
 Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechniques (CENELEC) or European Committee
for Electrotechnical Standardisation.
 European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
 United States:
 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
 The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
 The Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA); see DO-160
 Britain: The British Standards Institution (BSI).
 Germany: The Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik (VDE) or
Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies.
Laws