ACEC in the Land of “Slings”

The IEC Advisory Committee on EMC (ACEC) met in June in the land of the famous drink called the “Singapore Sling.” The two day June meeting was held in Singapore at the IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre as hosted by its officer in charge - Dennis Chew.
     Due to surgery, ACEC chairman Diethard Moehr was unable to attend. The committee wished him a sound recovery. The secretary, Remy Baillif, then proposed the immediate past chairman, Dr. Bill Radasky, assume being the acting chairman for the meeting. Remy also introduced the new secretary from the Central Office - Pierre Sebellin - as Remy has been promoted and is now in charge of all the technical officers.

ACEC members focus on getting their presentation ready for the ACEC meeting, including (from left) Mr. A. Garg, Mr. M. Patra, Dr. B. Jaekel, Mr. M. Stecher, and Dr. B. Sisolefsky.	ACEC members are shown reviewing contributions from their respective areas of interest, including (from left) the new chairman of IEC TC77 (EMC), Prof. H. Ohsaki, Mr. H. Rochereau, Prof. L. Nuño, and Prof. N. Shibuya.	The former ACEC secretary (IEC Central Office assigned Technical Officer), Remy Baillif (right) next to his successor, Pierre Sebellin, the new ACEC secretary.

     Besides the usual actions on approving minutes, reviewing action items from the last meeting and membership terms of office, the agenda was replete with many interesting topics which are identified here:

Bill Radasky searches for a restaurant at Singapore’s Fullerton Center.	Don Heirman visited the Raffles Hotel Long Bar while in Singapore.
New Singapore landmarks: The Welcome hand on the left and the Sky Park on top of the Casino building on the right.	Don and Bill have lunch at the world famous Raffles Hotel.

1. The IEC Standardization Management Board (SMB) has requested the ACEC to closely monitor the development of Electric Vehicle EMC requirements. An ad hoc group is to be established with members from CISPR (International Special Committee on Radio Interference) and technical committee 77 (EMC).
   
2. Several status reports were presented:
      a) Don Heirman, Vice President for Standards of the EMC-S, showed the status of several IEEE EMC Society standards with special emphasis on the following:
          • IEEE Std. 139: In-situ emission measurements from covering industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) equipment
          • IEEE Std 299: Shielding effectiveness measurements
          • IEEE Std 473: EM site surveys
          • IEEE Std 475: Field disturbance sensor measurements
          • IEEE Std 1128: RF absorber evaluation
          • IEEE Std 1140: Emissions from video display units
          • IEEE Std 1302: RF gasket characterization
          • IEEE Std 1309: Probe calibration
          • IEEE Std 1560: RF filter performance
          • IEEE Std 1597: Computational electromagnetics
          • IEEE Std P1642: Intentional EMI to computers
          • IEEE Std P1836/1837: Measurement of power line harmonics and others.
          Note that the current status of these standards was discussed at the EMC-S Standards Development Committee meeting that was held at the Long Beach EMC Symposium this past August.
      b) Martial Patra, chairman of subcommittee 22 G (TC22 deals with Power Electronic Systems) reported that TC22 is coordinating with CISPR Subcommittee B (ISM) for emission limits for equipment operating at power levels greater than 75 kVA, measurement at 5 meter separation between the device and the receiving antenna, and limits for DC power input ports of power inverters between 150 kHz and 30 MHz. His report also included the status of work in each of the TC22 subcommittees.
      c) Bernd Gehrke reviewed the TC61 (safety of household electronics) immunity requirements for circuits containing programmable components with software for safety purposes.

   The Singapore Bay famous water fountain in the Fullerton Center.

   
      d) Bernd Jaekel indicated that TC65 (industrial process measurement control and automation) and its subcommittee 65A is considering the topic of electromagnetic fields and RF safety using their instrumentation.
      e) Don Heirman was identified as the formal liaison representative to ACEC from TC106 (fields associated with human exposure). There is a commonality in that the measurement of electric fields is part of EMC and also is used as a basis for determining human exposure via using the fields in measuring specific absorption rate of these fields into human tissues.
   
3. Other topics discussed included:
      a) ACEC is responsible for IEC Guide 107 (Guide to drafting of EMC publications). The full abstract is contained on this URL: https://webstore.iec.ch/webstore/webstore.nsf/artnum/042602!opendocument. The action was to indicate which part of this document had normative requirements and which are simply informative. This is important in that it indicates what shall be used in developing EMC-related publications to ensure consistency in discussing EMC requirements as well as offer suggested approaches.
      b) EMC information on the IEC website is always discussed. If you look at this URL: https://www.iec.ch/emc/ the reader will find a wealth of information on EMC in the IEC. One feature of this zone is upcoming events where if you click on that button you will find, for example, our IEEE Long Beach EMC symposium hyperlink. Also seen are many other major EMC symposia around the world.
      c) ACEC has been engaged in EMC workshops for many years. The schedule for the next workshop to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina was discussed to be held on 12 December 2011 just before the two day ACEC meeting on the 13th and 14th. Past presentations by ACEC members at EMC workshops are on the EMC Zone page. See https://www.iec.ch/emc/emc_news/presentations.htm
   
4. Review of activity in CISPR and TC77:
   Each of these two predominant EMC committees which have four members each on ACEC gave updates of their respective work.
      a) CISPR: Don Heirman, chairman of CISPR, presented what was discussed at the last CISPR plenary in Seattle at the IEC General Meeting. Highlights included:
          • Support of Smart Grid
          • Radiated emissions below 30 MHz
          • Identifying mains interference issues
          • Do double insulated devices (tools for example) require a change in test setups
          • Uniform application of measurement instrumentation uncertainty
          • Activity of the chairman’s advisory group and steering committee
   CISPR Subcommittee chairs present gave a review of their work. In particular, Manfred Stecher, chairman of CISPR Subcommittee A presented his committee’s work on basic measurement and instrumentation standards. He also described the joint work between CISPR and TC77 on such subjects as measurement uncertainty, reverberation chamber testing, and the use of TEM waveguides to measure emission and immunity of products.
      b) TC77: Professor Ohsaki, newly named chairman of TC77, described recent publications of his committee. Of particular interest was the publication of IEC61000-2-5 (description and classification of EM environments) which is being used already in committee activity in recommending the requirements for proper operation of the Smart Grid.
   Herve Rochereau presented the issue controlling the immunity of products connected to AC mains. In particular, there have been reports of insufficient test methods and limits below 9 kHz, extending into the area CISPR is responsible above 9 kHz and up to 150 kHz which is the frequency range being investigated. Professor Nuno reported on activity to maintain the many standards they maintain, especially those in the IEC 61000-4-X series. This includes the joint task force with CISPR activity on the use of TEM waveguides.
          Dr. Bill Radasky reported on the many applications of high energy effect standards in TC77 Subcommittee 77C. He also indicated that there is now a new work proposal for standardizing intentional EMI test methods for equipment and systems. This follows the IEEE EMC-S standards work on P1642 which is scheduled to be published yet this year.
   
5. ACEC also assigned its members to review other TC standards that cover EMC aspects. At this meeting, 12 working documents from five technical committees were assigned to reviewers. The purpose is to ensure that EMC statements and requirements are consistent with Guide 107 requirements. The TCs are very supportive of this “second pair of eyes.”
   
6. The remainder of the meeting included discussions on the ACEC membership and to support any extensions of terms of office as any extensions must be approved by the IEC Standardization Management Board. There was also a discussion on the proposed CISPR Standardization Policy which is meant to augment the information contained in Guide 107 and how it can reference the work of TC77.
   
7. The next meeting of the ACEC is in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 12–14 December 2011. The May 2012 meeting is scheduled to be 21–23 May 2012. The venue is to be determined.                                   EMC