Radiated emissions are among the most common causes of certification failure for RF and high-speed digital devices, particularly when harmonics or structural resonances go unaddressed. MiCOM Labs performs ISO 17025-accredited testing using automated systems aligned with global regulatory protocols to deliver fast, repeatable measurements trusted by certification bodies worldwide.
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MiCOM Labs delivers accredited radiated emissions testing aligned with major international regulatory frameworks, including CE, UKCA, FCC, ISED, and MIC. Our ISO 17025-accredited facilities meet the precise site validation and calibration standards required for emissions compliance testing under CISPR 32, EN 55032, and FCC Part 15. Manufacturers rely on our expertise to meet emissions limits confidently and avoid costly certification delays.
MiTest® automates complex radiated emissions measurement sequences, ensuring precise control of frequency sweeps and antenna height scans to capture worst-case emissions profiles. Automated report generation delivers fast access to compliance data, reducing administrative overhead and accelerating product approvals.
MiPassport® provides a secure platform for managing critical certification records and regulatory submission documentation, simplifying renewals and streamlining multi-region compliance efforts.
Radiated emissions control is critical for high-speed digital devices and wireless communication systems, where clock harmonics and RF transmitter leakage dominate compliance risks. MiCOM Labs specializes in emissions testing for medical equipment subject to stringent regulatory limits and industrial control systems operating in electrically noisy environments.
With headquarters in California and offices in China and India, MiCOM Labs supports manufacturers seeking multi-region emissions compliance through a combination of global reach and localized regulatory insight. Our teams understand the detailed variations in emissions requirements across markets, helping manufacturers avoid unnecessary retesting and achieve faster certification approvals.
Radiated emissions limits and measurement methodologies evolve to address new technologies and increasingly crowded RF environments. MiCOM Labs keeps clients informed of relevant regulatory updates through MiComms™, providing early insight into changes that affect emissions compliance requirements and product design considerations for upcoming certification cycles.
| Address PCB Harmonic Emissions at the Source, Not Through Post-Design Shielding | |
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| Issue | Solution |
| Excessive radiated emissions often originate from harmonic content generated by high-speed digital clocks and switching power supplies. These emissions couple directly onto PCB traces and cables, turning them into efficient radiators. | Reducing harmonic energy at the source is more effective than retrofitting shielding solutions. Careful clock routing, use of spread-spectrum clocking, controlled edge rates, and optimized power distribution networks minimize harmonic generation before it becomes a radiated emissions problem. |
| Verify Enclosure Resonances That Amplify Emissions at Critical Frequencies | |
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| Issue | Solution |
| Product enclosures frequently form unintended resonant cavities that amplify emissions near harmonic frequencies, particularly around vent openings, seams, and poorly bonded panels. These structural resonances often align with regulatory test frequencies and create emissions peaks that exceed limits despite low internal noise sources. | Characterizing enclosure resonance behavior early in the design process and introducing measures such as conductive gasketing, optimized seam placement, and absorptive materials can suppress cavity resonances. Verification through near-field scanning and modeling helps identify and correct these emission amplification paths before formal testing. |
| Evaluate Cable Coupling Paths Under Representative Layout and Load Conditions | |
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| Issue | Solution |
| Radiated emissions failures often emerge from attached cables acting as unintentional antennas, particularly when test configurations don’t accurately reflect real-world cable layouts and connected equipment. | Conduct emissions testing with representative cable lengths, routing geometries, and realistic peripheral loads. Including worst-case cable configurations during pre-compliance evaluations ensures that coupling mechanisms are fully understood and mitigated before final compliance testing. |
| Use Near-Field Scanning to Isolate Dominant Emission Sources Before Formal Testing | |
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| Issue | Solution |
| Waiting for chamber-level radiated emissions testing to identify emissions hotspots increases the cost and complexity of mitigation. At that stage, fixes typically involve costly shielding additions or design changes under schedule pressure. | Applying near-field scanning techniques during early prototype stages allows for precise identification of dominant emission sources at the board and subsystem level. Targeted mitigation—such as localized filtering, optimized grounding, or trace re-routing—can be implemented before chamber testing, reducing test failures and redesign cycles. |
| Control Power Distribution Network (PDN) Impedance to Prevent Broadband Emissions | |
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| Issue | Solution |
| Poorly designed PDNs exhibit high impedance at critical frequencies, contributing to broadband noise generation that couples onto radiating structures. These emissions are particularly difficult to suppress through external means and often appear as elevated noise floors during emissions testing. | Implementing low-impedance PDN design practices like proper decoupling capacitor placement, power plane segmentation, and minimizing inductive paths, reduces high-frequency noise generation at the source. Simulating PDN impedance profiles across relevant frequency ranges helps ensure emissions control is integrated into the design, not treated as an afterthought. |
Above 1 GHz, emissions are more strongly influenced by physical layout factors: short PCB traces and enclosure features behave as radiators at these wavelengths, even if they appear electrically insignificant at lower frequencies. Additionally, common digital interfaces and clock sources operate at frequencies that produce strong harmonic content in this band. MiCOM Labs ensures that emissions testing above 1 GHz follows correct site validation procedures and measurement uncertainty controls, as required for compliance at these higher frequencies.
Small layout changes like connector reorientation, trace length differences, or even modified enclosure venting can create different radiating structures or affect coupling paths. Even changes in the connector stack-up or panel grounding scheme can shift emissions by several dB at specific frequencies. Testing representative worst-case configurations is critical when certifying product families.
Emissions can vary significantly depending on processor load, peripheral activity, and power state. Testing a device under nominal or idle conditions may fail to expose worst-case emissions profiles. MiCOM Labs works with clients to ensure devices operate in representative or worst-case functional modes during testing, aligning with regulatory expectations and avoiding certification delays caused by incomplete emissions characterization.
Pre-test configuration documentation should include intended cable lengths and layouts, required peripheral equipment, and operating states that reflect typical emission levels. Products tested in low-power or idle states often pass emissions testing without validating real-world operation. MiCOM provides a detailed pre-testing questionnaire that covers these and other topics.
Both phases use calibrated chambers, traceable equipment, and consistent site configurations. Pre-compliance tests are executed using the same measurement equipment and chamber environments as full compliance evaluations, allowing engineering teams to act confidently on early emissions data without facing unknowns during final certification.
Uncontrolled emissions delay approvals and complicate multi-market launches. Schedule a complimentary consultation with MiCOM Labs to ensure your designs meet global limits the first time through.
