TÜV Product Service Wireless Newsletter: January 2009
Welcome to our first TÜV Product Service Wireless newsletter, which is designed to keep you informed about changes within the industry and about new services from TÜV Product Service and BABT. We hope that you find it useful!
REGULATORY UPDATES
Download the latest R&TTE Directive Harmonised Standards
The EU’s Official Journal has now been updated to reflect the latest (November 2008) list of R&TTE Directive Harmonised Standards. The list can be downloaded from our website here
Marine radios
The FCC has amended its rules (CFR47 Part 80.225) so that as of March 25th 2009, the Commission will not accept applications for certification of non-portable Class “D” DSC equipments, if they do not meet the requirements of IEC 62238, First edition. Industry Canada has a similar requirement and compliance with either IEC 62238 or the Harmonized European standard EN 301 025 is required before certification can be granted by Industry Canada.
TÜV Product Service can provide accredited testing to both of the above standards in full and provides manufacturers with a full test and certification service for USA, Canada and the EU, including a test service for AIS Class B devices against IEC62287-1 Clauses 10 and 11 (RF conformance).
New EU legislation on Accreditation and Market Surveillance
New legislation has now been published regarding Accreditation and Market surveillance. It will come into force on 1st January 2010 (EC Regulation No. 765/2008). The main points are that accreditation can only be provided by the National Accreditation Body of the country where the accreditation is required (on a non-competitive basis), and Market Surveillance will be standardised within the EU. There will be a heavy emphasis on the safety of products entering the EU. We will keep you updated on this legislation as its application and implementation become clearer.
NEWS FROM TÜV PRODUCT SERVICE
Femtocells
A Femtocell is a small cellular base station for use in residential or small business environments, which provides the service provider with the opportunity to extend coverage where wireless communication would be limited or unavailable.
We have been very busy in the regulatory testing of Femtocells for several leading manufacturers and members of the “Femto Forum”, and can provide accredited regulatory testing of Femtocells either at our comprehensive laboratory in Fareham, Hampshire, or at the manufacturer’s premises. This type of offsite testing allows for fast engineering support in the event of difficulties experienced during test. Our service includes testing and certification for the EU, USA and Canada (including testing to 3GPP standards TS25.141 and TS25.113). Certification is provided by BABT, our world leading certification body for telecommunications products.
New HSUPA module added to scope
HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) has been added to our existing 3G test capability, allowing us to test the latest 3G equipment for both HSUPA and HSDPA. This also complements our ability to test the many other digital modulation technologies such as GSM, GPRS and EDGE and can be used for the SAR testing of devices which support HSUPA.
Purchase of new body phantom enables testing to latest SAR standards
We have recently acquired a new “body phantom” to enable us to test to the very latest SAR standards. We can already test Head SAR to IEC62209-1, but the new body phantom will be required by the EN/IEC62209-2 standard, which is to be published in 2009.
New RTCM PLB standard added to TÜV test capability
The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) has introduced a new test standard for Personal Locator Beacons (RTCM 11010.2 (2008-07)). This new standard has been added to our test scope enabling us to test Personal Locator Beacons to the latest requirements for the USA.
WiMAX testing
Over the last 12 months, we have been providing a test service for WiMAX devices for both European and North American regulatory requirements. This includes testing of 2.5GHz devices to the draft standard EN 302 544, which of course means that a Notified Body must be involved. Please contact us for further details.
Test report issue times
We recognise that the prompt issue of test reports is one of the most important priorities for manufacturers wishing to place their product on the market in the fastest time possible. The average issue time for our final test report is currently 8 working days, but, in many cases, we can issue test reports within 2 working days, and are continually striving to improve on these times.
CE Marking and the R&TTE Directive
Radio products fall within the scope of the R&TTE Directive which is a “CE” marking Directive. This Directive has been in force for 9 years, yet it still raises questions from many companies about how and when its requirements should be applied. For example, many military types of radio equipment now require “CE” marking. If you are interested in attending a CE or R&TTE training course run by TÜV Product Service and BABT, please get in touch, so that we can schedule courses in 2009. Contact info@tuvps.co.uk
