The Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory, accredited by the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) in Kaunas, will be equipped with a semi-anechoic chamber (SAC) and a control room. A nearly €1.8 million agreement has been signed with the company “Satela”, which represents ETS-Lindgren, a world-class manufacturer of wireless chambers.
“This year, the European Commission designated our laboratory as the first and only test facility in the whole of the European Union with the competence and the right to carry out market surveillance tests in the radio equipment sector for all EU Member States,” said Jūratė Šovienė, Chair of the CRA Council.
According to her, this recognition of the competence of the laboratory and its employees encourages even more investment in improving the laboratory. Once installed, the new chamber has the potential to become one of the most advanced chambers among EU regulators.
The rapid development of technology, particularly in the field of radio communications, has been accompanied by improvements in the conformity assessment of equipment, which is carried out through high-precision testing for electromagnetic compatibility and the efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum. This requires constant updating of both software, hardware and meters. The European Commission will also contribute financially to the development of the CRA laboratory’s technical base.
The only one in the Baltic States
The new SAC chamber will be used to test all types of electrical and electronic apparatus, including those of large size and weight, for a wide range of radiated electromagnetic emissions and immunity to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields.
“The CRA semi-anechoic chamber will be the first and only large test chamber in the Baltic States, with a measurement distance of 10 m, testing in the 9 kHz to 40 GHz frequency range. We also expect that the electromagnetic performance of this chamber will be at the state-of-the-art level and that its electromagnetic performance and shielding effectiveness will not be inferior to, or even superior to, the semi-anechoic chambers of the major EU regulatory authorities. If certain electromagnetic compatibility tests are needed, this chamber can be easily transformed into a fully anechoic chamber – FAR”, says A. Giedraitis.
The CRA’s accredited laboratory is continuously expanding the scope and accuracy of its tests, and the new chamber will be able to meet the market surveillance needs of regulators in all 27 EU Member States, in the context of joint campaigns between EU countries, or for investigations at the request of law enforcement authorities in the segment of radio communication equipment.
In 2024, the 12th EU-wide market surveillance campaign is scheduled to take place, in which radio-controlled toys taken from all over the EU will be tested in a laboratory accredited by the CRA. The toys were chosen because a large proportion of them on the market do not meet standards.
“And from 2025 onwards, we plan to carry out specific absorption rate (SAR) measurements. These measurements were mentioned a month ago in the context of the safety of “iPhone 12” and other phones. It is the measurement of specific absorption rate that is applied to electrical and electronic devices emitting electromagnetic fields that are close to the human body, or that are held in the hand and worn close to the body,” says A. Giedraitis, who stresses that this research is even more important in the future, for example, with the advent of 5G and the development of 6G, and the introduction of WiFi 6E, and in the future of WiFi 7, it should be taken into account that the new technologies will use radiofrequencies of ever higher frequencies.
In the event of SAR testing and non-compliance with the permissible SAR limits, such electrical and electronic apparatus and radios that may pose a health risk will be withdrawn from the market in order to effectively ensure the protection of the health and safety of humans and domestic animals.
Updated on 2024-03-15