Federal Communication Commission (FCC)

Electronics & Wireless Products

KYAW SOE HEINNovember, 2015

WelcomeHi.. Everyone.I am Kyaw Soe Hein. I will study on FCC regulation for electronics, RF (Wireless) products. The regulation and procedure is complex and amount of information is greatly abundant. Thus, I will pick up only those which is useful to me or relevant.

I believe I could cover the important portion for Electronics & Wireless products regulation in general overview manner. I will be deeply delighted if someone could have knowledge from this presentation.

Email(Personal): hotep.soe@gmail.comOutlook(Work): SoeHein.Kyaw@ul.comWebsite: http://ksoehein.weebly.comAll information are collected from respective government websites, however, do refer to the updated websites. Sources are from FCC regulation websites and my personal work pieces in RF testing.

Let’s Start with something light..

FCC regulates the communication spectrum in United States, T mobile asked for more reserved spectrum.

AT&T pushed FCC not to allow municipal broadband networks to offer internet service.This could deprive Private ISP of a “level playing field” and discourage private sector investment.

Code of Federal Regulation (CFR)

We keep seeing CFR Title 47 in electronics & Wireless products testing reports and regulation.

So, really, what is CFR Title 47 ?? CFR stands for Code of Federal Regulation of United States.

There are total of 50 Titles in Federal Regulation.CFR Title 47 concerns with Telecommunication.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse

CFR Title 47- Telecommunication• There are 4 Chapters in Title 47. Chapter I concerns with FCC,

so we will only study more for that. Chapters of 47 CFR- Telecommunication

Chapter I- Federal Communication Commission

Chapter II- Office of Science & Technology Policy and National Security Council

Chapter III- National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Department of Commerce

Chapter IV- National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Department of Commerce, And National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Department of Transportation

Chapter I- Federal Communication Commission

47 Chapter I – Federal Communication CommissionSubchapter A – General (Parts 0 to 19)

Subchapter B – Common Carrier Services (Parts 20 to 69)

Subchapter C – Broadcast Radio Services (Parts 70 to 79)

Subchapter D- Safety and Special Radio Services (Parts 80 to 101)

Under chapter 1, there are 4 subchapters of A to D, with parts 0 to 101. These parts will describes respective aspects of regulation.

47 Chapter I – Subchapter AMy area of interest in these 4 subchapters is Subchapter “A”. Subchapter A – General (Parts 0 to 19)

Commonly referenced parts • Part 15 -- concerning unlicensed broadcasts and spurious emissions• Part 18 -- concerning industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio

bands• Part 68 -- concerning direct connection of all terminal equipment to the 

public switched telephone network• Part 90 -- concerning licensed wireless communications for businesses

and non-federal governments• Part 97 -- concerning amateur radio

Among them, Part 15 and Part 18 directly related to me and I believe most of the electronics

manufacturers as well.

CFR Title 47 – Ch. I-A, Part 15 47 CFR Part 15 - RADIO FREQUENCY DEVICES

Part 15 – RF Devices Subpart A General

Subpart B Unintentional Radiators

Subpart C Intentional Radiators

Subpart D Unlicensed Personal Communications Service Devices

Subpart E Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure Devices

Subpart F Ultra-wide Band Operation

Subpart G Access Broadband Over Power line (Access BPL)

Subpart H Television Band Devices

CFR Title 47 – Ch. I-A, Part 1847 CFR Part 18 – Industrial, Scientific And Medical Equipment

Part 18 – ISM EquipmentSubpart A

General Information

Subpart B

Application & Authorization

Subpart C

Technical Standards

The industrial, scientific, and medical radio band (ISM band) refers to a group of radio bands or parts of the radio spectrum that are internationally reserved for the use of radio frequency (RF) energy intended for scientific, medical and industrial requirements rather than for communications.

Part 15-A: General

This part sets out the regulations under which an intentional, unintentional, or incidental radiator may be operated without an individual license. It also contains the technical specifications, administrative requirements and other conditions relating to the marketing of part 15 devices.

The equipment authorization and verification procedures are detailed in subpart J of part 2 of this chapter.

We will look at important

information from subpart A

Part 15-A: General

Some Important DefinitionsClass A: A digital device that is marketed for use in a commercial, industrial or business environment, exclusive of a device which is marketed for use by the general public or is intended to be used in the home.

Class B: A digital device that is marketed for use in a residential environment notwithstanding use in commercial, business and industrial environments. Examples of such devices include, but are not limited to, personal computers, calculators, and similar electronic devices that are marketed for use by the general public.

Peripheral device: An input/output unit of a system that feeds data into and/or receives data from the central processing unit of a digital device. Examples of peripheral devices include terminals, printers, external floppy disk drives and other data storage devices, video monitors, keyboards, interface boards, external memory expansion cards, and other input/output devices that may or may not contain digital circuitry. 

Part 15-A: General§15.5   General conditions of operation.a) Do not use any given frequency without prior registration or certification of equipment.b) Operation of equipment shall not cause harmful interference (Emission Pass) and withstand the interference caused by Authorized Radio station or ISM equipment (Immunity Pass). c)If Commission issue stop notification, do not use it.d) Intentional radiators that produce Class B emissions (damped wave) are prohibited.

Wasteful to radio

spectrum

Part 15-A: General• §15.15 General Technical Requirement

Good Engineering Design & Manufacturing Design

Suppressed Emission

In no case, not above

limits

User control Adjustments

Must control users; will not cause

violation of regulation

User control settings need to present for application of certification

Part 15-A: General• §15.17 Susceptibility to interferenceConsider the effect of Interference from various sources

Choosing operating frequencies during the design of their equipment so as to reduce the susceptibility

Part 15-A: General

§15.19 Labelling Requirement

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.Products subject to D.O.C (Declaration Of Conformity)• Shall contain unique identification If product is authorized under testing of product or system,

If PC is authorized based on assembly using separately authorized components , and the result product is not separately tested.

Part 15-A: General

§15.33 Frequency Range of Radiated Measurementsa)Intentional RadiatorThe spectrum investigated from the lowest RF signal generated in the device, without going below 9kHz.

Highest  Freq. Generated or used in the device

Upper Freq. of Measurement

Below 10GHz Up to 10th Harmonic of Highest fundamental freq. or to 40GHz, whichever is lower.

Above 10 GHz and Below 30GHz Up to 5th Harmonic of Highest fundamental freq. or to 100GHz, whichever is lower.

Above 30GHz Up to 5th Harmonic of Highest fundamental freq. or to 200GHz, whichever is lower.

Part 15-A: General

§15.33 Frequency Range of Radiated Measurementsb)Unintentional RadiatorThe spectrum investigated from the lowest RF signal generated in the device, without going below the lowest freq. for which a radiated emission is specified. Highest frequency generated or

used in the device or on which the device operates or tunes (MHz)

Upper frequency of measurement range (MHz)

Below 1.705 30.

1.705-108 1000.

108-500 2000.

500-1000 5000.

Above 1000 5th harmonic of the highest frequency or 40 GHz, whichever is lower.

Part 15-B:Unintentional Radiators• §15.101 Equipment authorization of unintentional radiators

Type of device Equipment authorization requiredTV broadcast receiver Verification.FM broadcast receiver Verification.CB receiver Declaration of Conformity or Certification.Superregenerative receiver Declaration of Conformity or Certification.Scanning receiver Certification.Radar detector Certification.All other receivers subject to part 15 Declaration of Conformity or Certification.TV interface device Declaration of Conformity or Certification.Cable system terminal device Declaration of Conformity.Stand-alone cable input selector switch Verification.Class B personal computers and peripherals Declaration of Conformity or Certification.1

CPU boards and internal power supplies used with Class B personal computers

Declaration of Conformity or Certification.1

Class B personal computers assembled using authorized CPU boards or power supplies

Declaration of Conformity.

Class B external switching power supplies Verification.Other Class B digital devices & peripherals Verification.Class A digital devices, peripherals & external switching power supplies

Verification.

Access Broadband over Power Line (Access BPL) Certification.

All other devices Verification.

Part 15-B:Unintentional Radiators

§15.103 Exempted devicesa) Digital device exclusively for vehicle including motor vehicles & aircraft b) Electronic control/ power system utilized by public utility or in an industrial plant.c) Digital device exclusively for as industrial, commercial, or medical test equipmentd) Digital device exclusively in an appliance (microwave oven, dishwasher, air con)e) Specialized medical digital devices (used by licensed health practitioner) (No exemption for devices market through retails channel for use by general public) (No exemption for Digital devices used for record keeping or any purpose not directly connected with medical treatment)f) Digital devices that have power consumption not exceeding 6 nW.g) Joystick controllers or similar devices (used with digital devices but which contain only non-digital circuitry or simple circuit to convert the signal to the format required) such as Analog to digital converter are viewed as passive add-on devices.h) Digital devices in which both the highest frequency generated and the highest frequency used are less than 1.705 MHz and which do not operate from the AC power lines. (No exemption for battery eliminator (AC-DC), AC adaptors, battery chargers)i) If the equipment contain multiple parts, some of which fall under exemption; but those parts do not fall under exemption must be verified. Do not assume, some parts exempted do not mean the equipment is exempted.

Part 15-B:Unintentional Radiators

§15.107 Conducted LimitsClass B Equipment

Class A Equipment

Freq. of Emission (MHz) Conducted Limit (dBμV)

Quasi-peak Average0.15-0.5 66 to 56* 56 to 46*

0.5-5 56 465-30 60 50

Freq. of Emission (MHz) Conducted Limit (dBμV)

Quasi-peak Average0.15-0.5 79 66

0.5-30 73 60

Measured using a 50 μH/50 ohms LISN

Part 15-B:Unintentional Radiators§15.109 Radiated Emission LimitsClass B Equipment (3 m distance)

Class A Equipment (10 m distance)

Freq. of Emission (MHz) Radiated Limit (dBμV/m)

30-88 40.0

88-216 43.5

216-960 46.0

Above 960 54.0

Freq. of Emission (MHz) Radiated Limit (dBμV/m)

30-88 39.0

88-216 43.5

216-960 46.4

Above 960 49.5

Inter-Break Steering into the Future with More Wi-Fi by Sharing the Upper 5 GHz Band (link: https://www.fcc.gov/blog/steering-future-more-wi-fi-sharing-upper-5-ghz-band)by: Michael O'Rielly, FCC Commissioner and Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC CommissionerSeptember 16, 2015 - 04:42 PM

- Members of Congress called on the Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce and FCC to explore opening up the 5.9GHz band for unlicensed use of Wi-Fi Sharing.

- Historically, 5.9GHz band was set aside by FCC for automotive industry, to develop technology that can reduce car crashes & improve road safety. This system is known as Dedicated Short Range Communication Service (DSRC) to have car “talks” in real time to one another, street lights, bicycles and even pedestrians.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators§15.201 Equipment Authorization RequirementCarrier Current Systems and Devices operating below

490kHz shall be verified.For devices such as perimeter protection system

required to measured at three installation sites and found to be compliance.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators

§15.203 Antenna RequirementAn intentional radiator shall be designed to ensure that no antenna other than that furnished by the responsible party shall be used with the device.This requirement does not apply to carrier current devices.

§15.204 External radio frequency power amplifiers & antenna modificationsIf transmission system is authorized as a system, it must always market as a complete system.

Compliance Testing Highest Gain antenna for each type of antenna to be certified with intentional

radiator.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators

• §15.205 Restricted bands of operationMHz MHz MHz GHz

0.090-0.110 16.42-16.423 399.9-410 4.5-5.1510.495-0.505 16.69475-16.69525 608-614 5.35-5.46

2.1735-2.1905 16.80425-16.80475 960-1240 7.25-7.754.125-4.128 25.5-25.67 1300-1427 8.025-8.5

4.17725-4.17775 37.5-38.25 1435-1626.5 9.0-9.24.20725-4.20775 73-74.6 1645.5-1646.5 9.3-9.5

6.215-6.218 74.8-75.2 1660-1710 10.6-12.76.26775-6.26825 108-121.94 1718.8-1722.2 13.25-13.46.31175-6.31225 123-138 2200-2300 14.47-14.5

8.291-8.294 149.9-150.05 2310-2390 15.35-16.28.362-8.366 156.52475-156.52525 2483.5-2500 17.7-21.4

8.37625-8.38675 156.7-156.9 2690-2900 22.01-23.128.41425-8.41475 162.0125-167.17 3260-3267 23.6-24.0

12.29-12.293 167.72-173.2 3332-3339 31.2-31.812.51975-12.52025 240-285 3345.8-3358 36.43-36.512.57675-12.57725 322-335.4 3600-4400 (2)

13.36-13.41

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators• §15.205 Restricted bands of operation (continued)The following devices are exempt from the requirements of this section:1) Swept freq. field disturbance sensors (1.705 & 37MHz)2) Transmitters, detecting buried electronic markets (101.4kHz)3) Cable locating equipment 4) Biomedical telemetry devices5) And others not mentioned in this slide.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators

Frequency Range(MHz)

Limit Values (dBµV)

Quasi-peak (Q-P) Average (AV)

0.15 - 0.5 66 – 56 * 56 – 46 *0.5 - 5.0 56 46

5.0 - 30.0 60 50* Decreasing linearly with the logarithm of the frequency

§15.207 Conducted Limits

Measurements to demonstrate compliance with the conducted limits are not required for devices which only employ battery power for operation and which do not operate from the AC power lines or contain provisions for operation while connected to the AC power lines.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators§15.209 Radiated Limits

For intentional radiators which operate under the provisions of other sections within this part and which are required to reduce their unwanted emissions to the limits specified in this table, the limits in this table are based on the frequency of the unwanted emission and not the fundamental frequency. However, the level of any unwanted emissions shall not exceed the level of the fundamental frequency.

Frequency Range (MHz) Quasi-Peak Limit Values (dBµV/m) @ 3m

30 - 88 40.088 - 216 43.5216 - 960 46.0

Above 960 54.0** Above 1GHz, average detector was used. A peak limit of 20dB above the average limit does apply.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators

Some Important Radiated Scopes§15.225 Operation within the band 13.110-14.010 MHz47 CFR FCC Parts 15.109(a), 15.209 and 15.225(d) Radiated Emission Limits

§15.231(b) Periodic Operation in the band 40.66-40.70 MHz and above 70MHz47 CFR FCC Part 15.231(b) Radiated Emission Limits

Frequency Range (MHz) Quasi-Peak Limit Values (dBµV/m) 0.009 - 0.490 20 log [2400 / F (kHz)] @ 300m0.490 - 1.705 20 log [24000 / F (kHz)] @ 30m1.705 - 30.0 30 @ 30m

30 - 88 40.0 @ 3m88 - 216 43.5 @ 3m

216 - 960 46.0 @ 3mAbove 960 54.0* @ 3m

* Above 1GHz, average detector was used. A peak limit of 20dB above the average limit does apply.

Fundamental Frequency (MHz) Field Strength of FundamentalLimit Values @ 3m

(dBµV/m) *

Field Strength of HarmonicsLimit Values @ 3m

(dBµV/m) *40.66 - 40.70 67.0 47.0

70 - 130 62.0 42.0130 - 174 62.0 to 71.5 ** 42.0 to 51.5 **174 - 260 71.5 51.5260 - 470 71.5 to 82.0 ** 51.5 to 62.0 **

Above 470 82.0 62.0Average detector employed. A peak limit of 20dB above the average limit does apply.Liner interpolations (in V/m).

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators§15.231(c) Periodic Operation in the band 40.66-40.70 MHz and above 70MHzThe bandwidth of the emission shall be no wider than 0.25% of the center frequency for devices operating above 70 MHz and below 900 MHz. For devices operating above 900 MHz, the emission shall be no wider than 0.5% of the center frequency. Bandwidth is determined at the points 20 dB down from the modulated carrier.

§15.231(d) Periodic Operation in the band 40.66-40.70 MHz and above 70MHz For devices operating within the frequency band 40.66-40.70 MHz, the bandwidth of the emission shall be confined within the band edges and the frequency tolerance of the carrier shall be ±0.01%. This frequency tolerance shall be maintained for a temperature variation of −20 degrees to + 50 degrees C at normal supply voltage, and for a variation in the primary supply voltage from 85% to 115% of the rated supply voltage at a temperature of 20 degrees C.

20db Bandwidth test

Band Edge compliance test

Freq. Stability Vs Temperature Test

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

Probably Most important

clause for RF products (Wi-Fi-Bluetooth) !

FHSS(Freq. Hopping Spread System)

Digitally Modulated System

DSSS(Direct Sequence Spread System)

The information in this clause is important And there’s much to describe.

Allow me to take you to subsequent slides for details.

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

Freq. Hopping System

For FHSS (902-928MHz)

Carrier Freq. separated by min. of 25kHz or 20dB

BW of hopping channel

Output Power no greater than

125mW.

If 20dB BW of hopping channel <

250kHz

If 20dB BW of hopping channel >

250kHz

At least 50 hopping freq. and average time occupancy not greater than 0.4

second for a 20 s period

At least 25 hopping freq. and average time occupancy not greater than 0.4

second for a 10 s period

Maximum 20dB BW of

hopping channel is 500kHz.

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

For FHSS (5725-5850MHz)

For FHSS (2400-2483.5MHz)

At least 75 hopping freq. and average time occupancy not greater than 0.4

second for a 30 s period

Maximum 20dB BW of

hopping channel is 1

MHz

At least 15 hopping freq. and average time occupancy not greater than 0.4 second for a (0.4 x No. of hopping

channels) s period

Maximum 20dB BW of hopping

channel is 25kHz or 2/3 of BW,

whichever greater

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

• (a) - (2) Systems using digital modulation techniques may operate in the 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz bands. The minimum 6 dB bandwidth shall be at least 500 kHz.

6dB BW Measurement

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

• (b) (3) For systems using digital modulation in the 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz bands: 1 Watt.

• (d) In any 100 kHz bandwidth outside the frequency band, the EUT must show the compliance to the requirement where the RF power produced by EUT shall be at least 20dB below that in the 100kHz bandwidth within the band that contains the highest level of desired power.

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

• Continued from (d)- EUT have to comply at the edge too !

Band Edge Compliance

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz

• (e) For digitally modulated systems, the power spectral density conducted from the intentional radiator to the antenna shall not be greater than 8 dBm in any 3 kHz band during any time interval of continuous transmission.

Channel Channel Frequency (GHz)

Peak Power Spectral Density (mW)

Limit (mW)

Modulation @ Data Rate

1 (lower ch) 2.4120.0556 6.3 DBPSK @ 1Mbps

0.2425 6.3 DQPSK @ 2Mbps

0.2075 6.3 CCK @ 11Mbps

6 (mid ch) 2.4370.0453 6.3 DBPSK @ 1Mbps

0.1936 6.3 DQPSK @ 2Mbps

0.1793 6.3 CCK @ 11Mbps

11 (upper ch) 2.4620.0393 6.3 DBPSK @ 1Mbps

0.2023 6.3 DQPSK @ 2Mbps

0.1457 6.3 CCK @ 11Mbps

8 dBm = 6.3mW

Too depressed, regulation context is boring !!But, don’t risk it- Follow FCC

CFR- Title 47 – Part 15 B & CThis comes to the end of the overview of Part 15 B & C of FCC Regulation.As the length of presentation is going to exceed the overview purpose, I shall not proceed with further details. Let’s tune for Part 18 and Registration Process.I do believe you gain some exposures to FCC regulation for Radio Frequency devices. I will be so delighted if you could gain knowledge from these slides. Thank you so much !!

Warm Regards,Kyaw Soe Heinwww.ksoehein.weebly.comhotep.soe@gmail.com