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 Congress Reviews EMI Threat of PED Use on Aircraft
Operating under a charter issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), RTCA Inc. (Washington, DC) has investigated the issue on three separate occasions, with reports issued in 1963, 1988, and 1996 (RTCA DO-119, RTCA DO-199, and RTCA DO-233, respectively). "It is important to note that reported interference from PEDs could not be repeated under controlled conditions, either in the air or on the ground," said David S. Watrous, president of RTCA, in a statement before the subcommittee. "However, the possibility of PED-related interference to aircraft navigation and information systems was verified by sample testing," he said. Watrous explained that the potential of PED-related interference should be viewed as potentially hazardous and the source of an unacceptable risk to aircraft involved in passenger-carrying operations. "It is also important to note," he said, "that the probability of interference to installed aircraft systems by single or multiple PEDs is considered to be small."
In its 1996 report (RTCA DO-233, Portable Electronic Devices Carried on Board Aircraft, prepared by SC-177) RTCA recommended to FAA that FAR 91.21, Portable Electronic Devices, be modified to prohibit the use of PEDs in aircraft during any critical phase of flight and to prohibit the use of PEDs capable of intentionally transmitting electromagnetic energy in aircraft at all times unless testing has verified the device's safe use. In addition, RTCA advocated government and industry research into the design and feasibility of devices that would detect EMI-producing emissions from PEDs within aircraft cabins. Not all PEDs, whether unintentional or intentional radiators, are capable of causing interference to aircraft systems. "Some electronic devices radiate signals that can hardly be detected while others can be detected at hundreds of miles," said Helfrick in a statement before the subcommittee. "An electronic wristwatch radiates a signal so weak that even the most sensitive detectors can barely detect the radiation even at short distances. This would be expected of the watch, because its total energy consumption must be low in order to get a year or two of operation from its battery." According to Helfrick, certain PEDs, specifically those devices designed to operate for long periods on a small battery (watches, small calculators, pacemakers, and other implanted medical devices), can therefore be considered to have no potential for interference. Devices that also pose no threat to aircraft systems are intentional radiators regulated by FCC. According to Helfrick, one important characteristic of an FCC license for an intentional radiator is that its use is specified in the license. "If a construction company used handheld radios around a construction site, it would not be legal to take those aboard the company's corporate jet so that the company CEO could call back to the home office while on a trip," said Helfrick. "The handheld radio was not licensed for aeronautical radio. The reason for this is that once a radio licensed for ground-based use only is taken to a high altitude, the range of the unit increases dramatically and causes interference to other users." Under CFR-47, the use of portable two-way radios, trunked radios, fire and police radios, and cellular phones is legal while on the ground, but the use of these same devices while airborne is illegal. Units permanently installed on an aircraft are, however, an exception. "These devices are not considered PEDs, provided that they are installed and tested by an FAA-approved repair station or an air carrier's approved maintenance organization and are licensed by the FCC as air-ground units," said Thomas E. McSweeny, associate administrator for regulation and certification for FAA, in his statement before the subcommittee. According to Helfrick, any device permanently installed in an aircraft "is certified to operate with the aircraft, so in other words, the frequencies are such that they don't interfere." Of course, not all intentional radiators are certified, including damaged PEDs, modified PEDs, and PEDs originating in countries without certification requirements, meaning the potential EMI from these devices is unknown. Another major concern is that not all passengers realize that their PEDs radiate. "The emerging personal communications systems (PCS) business is producing a growing population of portable transmitting devices," said Helfrick. "Items such as two-way pagers, computers with wireless modems, and devices not yet defined are expected in a few years. Many of these devices will transmit without the owner being aware of it. A passenger will believe he or she is complying with the order to [turn] off all PEDs while their PCS terminal is actually transmitting acknowledgements to incoming pages." Lack of information remains a primary problem surrounding PED interference. "The PED environment is not known," said Helfrick. "We do not know how many passengers carry what types of PEDs aboard aircraft." RTCA DO-233 addresses this issue by recommending research into the design and feasibility of devices for PED-emission detection. Although not specifically described in the document, FAA put out a small business innovative research (SBIR) grant that described a system that would locate radiating PEDs to within a few seats in an aircraft. The Megawave Co. (Boylston, MA) received the grant and completed the first phase of the SBIR, but FAA did not proceed with the project, citing financial constraints. Helfrick, in his testimony to the committee, recommended that FAA continue the project, but with an emphasis on recording EMI rather than detecting it, in order to make the PED environment known. "Rather than detecting the location of a radiating PED, the system can record the electromagnetic environment of the aircraft cabin," said Helfrick. "Megawave has spent considerable effort in defining this system, and if this SBIR were reactivated, [the industry] could take advantage of that effort."
NIST Awards $500,000 to ANSI
Funds for the grant were made available with the support of the House Committee on Science; Congress specified that the grant be used solely for international standards activities. Among the United States' top 10 trading partners, levels of government support for national standards organizations in 1995 ranged from nearly 4% for the United Kingdom to 100% for Japan, Mexico, China, and South Korea. The $500,000 grant from NIST is equivalent to almost 3% of ANSI's annual budget. "This grant is a significant step forward in promoting and maintaining U.S. and ANSI participation in international standards work. It provides partial government support for our important international efforts without introducing government control," says ANSI's president and CEO Mark W. Hurwitz. For more information on ANSI and NIST, visit http://web.ansi.org and http://www.ta.nist.gov, respectively.
3GPP Scope to Include GSM StandardizationThe organizational partners of the global Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and standards development bodies from China, Japan, Korea, and the United States, have agreed to extend the project's scope to include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standardization. In a move supported by ETSI, 3GPP will continue the ongoing GSM standardization work that had previously been the responsibility of the ETSI Special Mobile Group (SMG). A new 3GPP technical specification group (TSG), the fifth such group in the project, has been created to accommodate the additional work. The principal responsibilities of the new GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network will be maintenance and development of GSM technical specifications and technical reports, including GSM evolved radio access technologies such as the general packet radio service and enhanced data rates for GSM evolution. Other specification tasks being transferred from SMG to the new TSG include radio-specific operational and maintenance requirements and mobile station testing. "The new arrangements concentrate all GSM and 3GPP specification work into one body, which is open on equal terms to interested companies worldwide," says Friedhelm Hillebrand, chairman of the ETSI SMG. "It will ensure the integrity of the GSM/3GPP platform, eliminating the risk of incompatibility and inefficiency that might have arisen, had the work remained distributed among independently acting groups." Not all of SMG's work will be transferred to 3GPP, and ETSI has established two new groups, the Technical Committee Mobile Standards Group (MSG) and the ETSI Project for Smart Cards, to handle those activities, including European standardization of second- and third-generation mobile systems and the standardization of a generic integrated circuit (IC) card platform. For more information on ETSI and 3GPP, visit http://www.etsi.org and http://www.3gpp.org, respectively.
FCC Clarifies Antenna Connector RequirementsIn FCC Public Notice DA 00-1087, the FCC reclassified several antenna connectors previously permitted under Part 15. Section 15.203 prohibits the use of a standard antenna connector with a transmitter unless the antenna requires professional installation, is permanently attached, or is attached with a unique coupling. Previously, several nonstandard connectors had been considered acceptable because, though not unique, they were not readily available. These connectors, including MMCX, MCX, and reverse polarity SMA, BNC, and TNC types, have since become easily available and, therefore, are no longer permitted under the requirements of Section 15.203 for all Part 15 transmitters. For further information, contact Joe Dichoso at the FCC Laboratory by phone at 301/362-3024 or e-mail at jdichoso@fcc.gov.
Clarion Receives ISO/TS 16949 CertificationAutomotive supplier Clarion Technologies Inc. has received certification for compliance with ISO/TS 16949, a quality standard that addresses the requirements of the automotive industries in the United States and Europe. Developed by the International Automotive Task Force, the standard is based on ISO 9001:1994, AVSQ (Italy), EAQF (France), QS-9000 (United States), and VDA 6.1 (Germany). The new standard does not replace previous standards, but acts as an international equivalent to country-specific standards, allowing suppliers to avoid multiple registrations. The new standard also contains provisions for reassignment of supplier resources to quality improvement, including the introduction of the term product realization to address the process of designing, planning, and delivering products that meet customer requirements. Certification of Clarion's plant in Greenville, MI, was awarded by Entela Inc., QSRD, the first of an anticipated 31 firms to be approved as ISO/TS 16949 registrars. The Greenville plant is one of six manufacturing facilities operated by Clarion Technologies in Ohio, Michigan, and South Carolina. The company intends to pursue ISO/TS 16949 certification at each of these locations, in addition to its technical design center in Jenison, MI.
ETSI and ITU Strengthen Cooperation on Standards DevelopmentThe European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) signed a memorandum of understanding to further their cooperation in the development of telecommunications standards. Designed to ensure that standards are responsive to market needs at both the global and regional levels, the memorandum allows each organization to use the documents of the other in order to advance its own work. Each organization will also accept standards texts originating from the other body. In addition, experts in the telecommunications sector of the ITU will be allowed to participate in relevant ETSI technical meetings. ETSI will continue its participation in the work of the tele- communications and radio sectors of ITU (ITU-T and ITU-R). For more information, visit the ETSI Web site at http://www.etsi.org or the ITU-T Web site at http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/index.html.
RangeStar Wireless and Cetecom Form Strategic RelationshipRangeStar Wireless (Aptos, CA), a developer and integrator of embedded antennas for wireless markets, and Cetecom Inc. (Milpitas, CA), an organization in the field of information and communication technologies, announced recently that they will partner to accelerate the deployment of products using Bluetooth wireless technology. Cetecom will provide RangeStar customers with a Bluetooth qualification body, a Bluetooth qualification test facility, and EMC and safety services. Cetecom will also provide preset cost and scheduling. "Agreements with market leaders such as RangeStar will facilitate the access of our testing and engineering services to the marketplace more efficiently, making the qualification, regulatory, and interoperability testing of Bluetooth applications easier for the industry," says Fernando E. Hardasmal, CEO of Cetecom Inc. In addition to Bluetooth conformance and interoperability testing, Cetecom will test Bluetooth products for regulatory type approval and will help customers obtain required government approvals. The company's qualification body will assist in determining what tests are required, in preparing the necessary documentation, and in completing all requirements for a listing on the Bluetooth qualified products list. Additional information on the companies may be obtained on-line at http://www.cetecom.com and http://www.rangestar.com.
CorrectionsThe following items previously published in the 2000 Annual Reference Guide contained some errors. The corrected versions are shown here.
Arcotronics
RFI Corp.
*For a list of U.S. distributors,
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