Are you working on a wireless design that you’d like to bring to market? If so, be sure to anticipate regulatory constraints right from the start. Planning upfront will save you a lot of time, money, and hassle.
Electrical engineer Robert Lacoste notes:
Unless you’re working on a prototype that won’t ever leave your lab, there is a high probability that you will need to comply with some regulations. FCC and CE are the most common, but you’ll also find local regulations as well as product-class requirements for a broad range of products, from toys to safety devices to motor-based machines. (Refer to my article “CE Marking in a Nutshell,” Circuit Cellar 257, for more information.
Let’s say you design a wireless gizmo for the U.S. market and later find that your customers want to use it in Europe. This means you lose years of work, as well as profits, because you overlooked your customers’ needs and the regulations in place in different locales.
When designing a wireless gizmo that will be used outside the U.S., having adequate information from the start will help you make good decisions. An example would be selecting a worldwide-enabled band like the ubiquitous 2.4 GHz. Similarly, don’t forget that EMC/ESD regulations require that nearly all inputs and outputs should be protected against surge transients. If you forget this, your beautiful, expensive prototype may not survive its first day at the test lab.
Lacoste’s full article appeared in Circuit Cellar’s anniversary issue, CC25.
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