Blog
For IT Equipment in Canada, ICES-003 Issue 5 Required by August 2013
For manufacturers of IT Equipment (ITE) selling in Canada, ICES-003 Issue 5 Information Technology Equipment (ITE) – Limits and Methods of Measurement was published last month by Industry Canada. Until August 31, 2013, both Issue 4 and Issue 5 will be accepted. After that date, only Issue 5 will be accepted. Existing models in compliance... Read More
ENERGY STAR Certification to Combine CFLs and LEDs into Lamp Specification
As mentioned previously, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is combining the scope of the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and Integral LED Lamps specifications into one technology-neutral Lamps specification. EPA held a webinar on August 8, 2012 to describe some of the requirements of this Lamps Draft 2 specification. Following is a summary of some of the... Read More
ETSI EN 300 132-2 Telecom DC Power Port Testing to Change in September
On September 30, 2012, the previous version of ETSI EN 300 132-2 will be withdrawn, and ETSI EN 300 132-2 v2.4.6 (2011-12) will take effect. ETSI 300 132-2 covers the testing requirements for the DC power ports of telecommunications equipment. It is not a harmonized standard, but it is often required by EU carriers like... Read More
CTIA Proposes Battery Life Testing for Certification Program
Last month, MET Labs attended a CTIA Battery Certification Program meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The agenda included a review and update of the certification program documents (CRD, PMD, CRSL). There was also a discussion to expand the program to include battery life testing. In attendance were all the system vendors, CTIA-Approved Test Labs (CATLs)... Read More
FCC Reviewing SAR Rules for Cell Phone Radiation Exposure
In June, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it would review its rules on radiation exposure from cell phones. The FCC’s current Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) limits were set fifteen years ago, in 1996. Any day now, the FCC is expected to publish a Notice of Inquiry, which will be open to public comment for... Read More
Hardware Returns to Silicon Valley
In recent years, software has been king in Silicon Valley. Now the pendulum is swinging back, and hardware is taking center stage again, says Bloomberg Businessweek. The strongest evidence is the tablet war, which has been dominated by Apple’s iPad. Now, however, all the big players are piling in. Within two weeks of each other,... Read More
China CCC Product Safety Compliance for A/V & IT Equipment is Changing
Audio/video equipment and information technology equipment intended for sale in China must meet new China Compulsory Certification (CCC) product safety requirements starting in November and December, respectively. In February, the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) Technical Committee for High Tech Industry finalized the certificate update instructions for both GB8898 (Audio, Video and Similar... Read More
Verizon NEBS ITL Lab Meeting Features Personnel & Requirements Changes
Verizon’s annual NEBS meeting in Baltimore, Maryland with ITL Labs was last week, and MET Labs’ NEBS guru Troy Franklin was there. Following are highlights from his notes. NEBS Personnel Changes Verizon NEBS Program Head Howard Davis has exited the NEBS group, assuming leadership of Verizon’s Optical Systems Testing team in Baltimore. Andy Marquis, from... Read More
Military EMC Testing Standard MIL-STD-461G is Coming
A draft of Revision G of MIL-STD-461 has not been released yet, but MET Labs has obtained information about proposed changes to the Military EMC test. As covered in this previous post, one of the primary changes is the incorporation of indirect lightning testing heavily leveraged off of Section 22 of RTCA/DO-160G. There is no... Read More
CTIA Meeting Addresses Updates to Battery Certification Program
In March, MET Labs attended a CTIA Battery Certification Program meeting at Verizon Wireless in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The meeting was attended by carriers (AT&T and Verizon), CTIA-Approved Test Labs (CATLs) and a few vendors. The focus of the meeting was to address pending issues and update the battery certification program requirements and management documents.... Read More