TABLE OF CONTENTS As the use of electronic equipment grew and the need to allocate and protect the electromagnetic spectrum for communications became more important, there arose the requirement to develop EMC regulations to ensure that an uncontrolled situation did not develop. Governments sought legislation through appropriate administrative departments, giving force to sets of standards which ensured that electromagnetic compatibility was managed properly in the design and use of certain categories of electronic equipment.
The style and content of standards were usually characteristic of the nation which introduced them, although in many cases they were based on the, work of international bodies such as CISPR (International Special Committee on Radio Interference). This loosely co-ordinated national approach led to problems in the commercial trade of electronic equipment across national boundaries both within Europe and with the USA.
The task of developing standards for the control of EMC can be said to have begun in 1934 with the formation of CISPR [1]. The name CISPR is derived directly from the French, Comite International Special des Perturbations Radioelectriques, and was formed by several international organisations coming together to institute a joint committee to specify measurement methods and limits of radio frequency interference. Since 1950 CISPR has been a special committee under the sponsorship of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee) whose role is to issue international standards.
CISPR has made considerable progress in developing methods of measurement and limits to deal with interference to communications equipment. More recently,...
