EMC Question of the Week: November 23, 2020
Which of the following EMC test standards does NOT describe a procedure for measuring radiated emissions?
- ANSI C63.4
- CISPR 32
- IEC 61000-4-2
- MIL-STD-461G
Answer
The best answer is "c". IEC 61000-4-2 is a widely-cited standard for electrostatic discharge immunity testing. ANSI C63.4 is the standard for conducted and radiated emissions testing of many products marketed in the U.S., while CISPR 32 is a similar international standard that applies to "multimedia equipment." MIL-STD-461G is a military standard describing a wide range of EMC tests including radiated emissions tests.
It's worth pointing out that EMC emissions and immunity standards are generally grouped into 2 categories: radiated or conducted. Nevertheless, there are 4 EM coupling mechanisms: conducted, inductive, capacitive and radiated. It's important not to confuse the words in the name of the standard with the coupling mechanisms that determine the measurement outcome. For example, MIL-STD-461G-RE101 is titled "radiated emissions, magnetic field." Despite the title, it does not measure noise due to radiated coupling. It measures noise that is inductively coupled. Similarly, at high frequencies, the dominant coupling mechanism in many "conducted" emissions measurements is capacitive coupling.
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