As evolution took its course, the next issue honed the magazine's focus, and CE presented itself as the handbook for engineers concerned with U.S. and foreign emissions, telecommunications, electrostatic discharge, and line transient standards. By 1987, CE proudly touted itself as a design handbook for electronics covering the world of regulations for electromagnetic interference, product safety, telecommunications, and electrostatic discharge. These four key compliance areas are as crucial in this 50th issue in 2001 as they were in years past. By 1988, CE had become the comprehensive reference guide to international regulatory compliance.

"These days, getting a product to market is not just a matter of design and production. There are governmental regulations and product standards that have to be met," said an introductory article in the 1987 annual issue (later known as the Annual Reference Guide). "Mastering these rules and regulations, both in terms of their legality and technology, is a formidable task when considering the U.S. market alone. Adding worldwide standards makes for a very complex field." These have become watchwords for CE. Compliance Engineering's mandate was "to be an aid to those engineers who have to deal with compliance with these specifications worldwide." As part of our ongoing editorial mission, this mandate is the key to CE's success now.

In this current issue, for example, we address newly released product safety standards, global certification for Bluetooth requirements, and the coexistence of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies in the same bandwidth. Compliance engineers have the challenging task of keeping up with new regulations to ensure that their products comply as new technologies enter the market. However, a look back into CE's 1989 archives reveals that a different kind of telecom issue was on the minds of compliance engineers. "Designing a device for direct connection of a computer to the telephone system should, by all accounts, be a simple and straightforward task. Although the size of the telephone network is enormous, its function is simple: to provide every cu stomer with two wires that connect one telephone or other 'terminal device' to virtually any other." With the growth of data communication, FCC saw a need for regulations to allow direct interconnection to the telephone network. Preventing hazardous leakage current and voltage from the network was the order of the day. Technologies may change, but basic interference concerns remain, and CE maintains its commitment to addressing these concerns.

Up-to-date coverage is crucial because compliance engineers worldwide rely on CE to provide access to regulatory updates and design guidance. CE continues to provide the critical information readers need to develop compliant electronics. Turning back the pages of CE, we read, "It is primarily radiated emissions which are difficult to contain. The basic cause of all these phenomena are current transients, caused by high-frequency (greater than 500 MHz) periodic click signals, which, due to inductive ground return paths, build up RF potentials." Reducing unwanted emissions is a compliance engineer's primary focus. With this in mind, several articles in the 2001 Annual Reference Guide address decreasing these emissions at the printed circuit board level. Ishfaqur Raza writes, "Products will have upgrades in which the cpu frequency could increase significantly, among other factors. It is not feasible to redesign the EMI solution, which would likely require modification on the motherboard."

Throughout the 1990s, the heart of CE continued to focus on topics such as site attenuation, understanding bandwidth, and immunity to ESD. For example, an author in the 1993 Annual Reference Guide wrote, "The decision to incorporate circuit-level modifications is largely a cost issue. In general, manufacturers should consider the effect of ESD on their products in order to minimize redesign and repackaging." And, in the most recent issue, CE presented a new testing technique for reducing the design cycle time for on-chip ESD protection circuits.

By the time Canon Communications llc purchased the magazine in 1999, its frequency had grown from four times a year plus its annual reference guide to six times a year plus the annual guide. With stepped-up participation in the industry worldwide, we increased our international coverage to reflect the international nature of EMC, ESD, telecom, and electronic product safety issues. CE places particular emphasis on advances in the European Union, which leads the world in standards development. This 50th-issue milestone presents an opportunity for us to continue to be your guide through the increasingly complex world of compliance engineering.

As we work toward producing the next 50 issues, we need your input. To comment on coverage or to submit articles, contact Sherrie Steward, editor, at 310/445-4280 or e-mail sherrie.steward@cancom.com.

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