FCC Regulations: procedural updates for electronic and radio equipment

The Code of Federal Regulations - il US Federal Regulations Code which contains, among other aspects, regulations for electronic and telecommunication equipment - has recently undergone important updates. These make it useful, if not necessary, get an overview of some application details of the standards themselves. Clearly the Federal Code is very complex, consequently the following is a general analysis valid for most of the equipment, however each case needs to be assessed individually.

The title 47 del Code of Federal Regulations

Taking a step back, As is well known,, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines standards for different types of electronic equipment, including radio frequency devices, telecommunications terminal equipment and industrial equipment, scientific and medical. The regulations are contained in the sections of the Title 47 del suddetto Code of Federal Regulations.

Specific parts of this section of the Code are examined, which define an important distinction between the types of products. It refers to unintentional radiators and intentional radiators, placing in the first category all those products that do not intentionally emit radio frequencies - such as electronic and computer devices without radio transmitters – and leaving in the second category those that intentionally emit radio frequencies, such as radio transmitting equipment.

Nella Parte 15 of the Title referred to, the limit quantity of electromagnetic interference emitted by intentional emitters is regulated, radios that broadcast without the need to license, and unintentional emitters, electrical appliances that contain within them a digital circuit and which functions at a higher frequency in 9kHz. In particular, the part 15 B defines the standards for unintended radiators and the part 15 C for intentional radiators.

Certification and Declaration of Conformity

In relation to the type of product and equipment for which approval is required, the compliance with FCC requirements it is demonstrated following two different procedures.

La Suppliers’ Declaration of Conformity (Sdoc) which can be done by the manufacturer with the help of a equipped laboratory to perform the necessary tests. The SDoC is applicable for a series of products such as electronic and computer products without radio transmitters and products that integrate one or more radio modules already FCC certified and which do not require the execution of SAR tests, which is deepened in the next paragraph.

The Certification provides for the execution of tests at a FCC accredited laboratory and the involvement of a Telecommunications Certification Body. The TCB it also takes care of uploading the documentation to the FCC website (inclusi i test report).

This procedure requires that the company responsible for the product obtain from the FCC a identifier called Grantee Code. This identifier is requested only once and will be the first characters of all FCC ID numbers that will be assigned to the different products of that company.

In addition, the appointment of an FCC US Agent, responsible for representing the manufacturer or importer in all interactions with the FCC regarding the certification and authorization of their equipment. The staff member must have U.S. based and be authorized to receive legal notices and other official documents on behalf of the manufacturer or importer.

The need for SAR tests

The prove di SAR they are required and necessary in the case of products that foresee their use with the radiant part (antenna) a meno di 20 cm from the body. Products that meet one of the following characteristics are an exception:

transmitted radio power, time-averaged, overall of all transmitters less than 1 mW (also valid for implanted devices);
power of each transmitter, time-averaged, minore di 1 mW and distance between the relative radiating parts greater than 2 Cm;
for multiple transmitters that do not operate simultaneously and that individually comply with one of the rules above;

Exist, Furthermore, other exclusion conditions depending on the power and frequency of the transmitters that require detailed calculation, very specific to be explored here.

In all other cases, except for those just listed, you follow the Certification procedure with, as described, the involvement of an FCC accredited laboratory and a TCB certifying body.

To launch your products on the US market safely and quickly, companies are required to certify that the products to be placed on the market comply with the technical requirements established by the regulations.

Sicom Testing offers its customers a Full service of FCC marking for all the above cases, Included registration of the company with the FCC (Grantee Tails) it is to Function of responsible representative agent. Similar services are also offered for Canada in accordance with specific regulations.