FCC- regulatory overview

Federal Communication
Commission (FCC)
Electronics & Wireless Products
KYAW SOE HEIN
November, 2015

Welcome
Hi.. Everyone.
I am Kyaw Soe Hein. I will study on FCC regulation for electronics, RF
(Wireless) products. The regulation and procedure is complex and amount of
information is greatly abundant.
Thus, I will pick up only those which is useful to me or relevant.
I believe I could cover the important portion for Electronics & Wireless
products regulation in general overview manner. I will be deeply delighted if
someone could have knowledge from this presentation.
Email(Personal): hotep.soe@gmail.com
Outlook(Work): SoeHein.Kyaw@ul.com
Website: http://ksoehein.weebly.com
All information are collected from respective government websites, however,
do refer to the updated websites. Sources are from FCC regulation websites
and my personal work pieces in RF testing.

Let’s Start with something light..
FCC regulates the communication spectrum in United States, T mobile asked
for more reserved spectrum.

AT&T pushed FCC not to allow municipal broadband networks to offer
internet service.
This could deprive Private ISP of a “level playing field” and discourage
private sector investment.

Code of Federal Regulation (CFR)
We keep seeing CFR Title 47 in electronics & Wireless
products testing reports and regulation.
So, really, what is CFR Title 47 ??
 CFR stands for Code of Federal Regulation of United States.
There are total of 50 Titles in Federal Regulation.
CFR Title 47 concerns with Telecommunication.
http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse

CFR Title 47- Telecommunication
• There are 4 Chapters in Title 47. Chapter I concerns with FCC,
so we will only study more for that.
Chapters of 47 CFR- Telecommunication
Chapter I- Federal Communication Commission
Chapter II- Office of Science & Technology Policy and National
Security Council
Chapter III- National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, Department of Commerce
Chapter IV- National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, Department of Commerce, And National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Department of Transportation

Chapter I- Federal Communication Commission
47 Chapter I – Federal Communication Commission
Subchapter A – General (Parts 0 to 19)
Subchapter B – Common Carrier Services (Parts 20 to 69)
Subchapter C – Broadcast Radio Services (Parts 70 to 79)
Subchapter D- Safety and Special Radio Services (Parts 80 to 101)
Under chapter 1, there are 4 subchapters of A to D, with parts 0 to 101. These parts will
describes respective aspects of regulation.

47 Chapter I – Subchapter A
My area of interest in these 4 subchapters is Subchapter “A”.
Subchapter A – General (Parts 0 to 19)
Commonly referenced parts
• Part 15 -- concerning unlicensed broadcasts and spurious emissions
• Part 18 -- concerning industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio
bands
• Part 68 -- concerning direct connection of all terminal equipment to
the public switched telephone network
• Part 90 -- concerning licensed wireless communications for
businesses and non-federal governments
• Part 97 -- concerning amateur radio
Among them, Part 15 and Part
18 directly related to me and I
believe most of the electronics
manufacturers as well.

CFR Title 47 – Ch. I-A, Part 15
47 CFR Part 15 - RADIO FREQUENCY DEVICES
Part 15 – RF Devices
Subpart A General
Subpart B Unintentional Radiators
Subpart C Intentional Radiators
Subpart D Unlicensed Personal Communications Service
Devices
Subpart E Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure
Devices
Subpart F Ultra-wide Band Operation
Subpart G Access Broadband Over Power line (Access BPL)
Subpart H Television Band Devices

CFR Title 47 – Ch. I-A, Part 18
47 CFR Part 18 – Industrial, Scientific And Medical Equipment
Part 18 – ISM Equipment
Subpart A General Information
Subpart B Application & Authorization
Subpart C Technical Standards
The industrial, scientific, and medical radio band (ISM band) refers to a
group of radio bands or parts of the radio spectrum that are internationally
reserved for the use of radio frequency (RF) energy intended for scientific,
medical and industrial requirements rather than for communications.

Part 15-A: General
This part sets out the regulations under which an intentional,
unintentional, or incidental radiator may be operated without an
individual license. It also contains the technical specifications,
administrative requirements and other conditions relating to the
marketing of part 15 devices.
The equipment authorization and verification procedures are
detailed in subpart J of part 2 of this chapter.
We will look at
important
information from
subpart A

Part 15-A: General
Some Important Definitions
Class A: A digital device that is marketed for use in a commercial, industrial
or business environment, exclusive of a device which is marketed for use by
the general public or is intended to be used in the home.
Class B: A digital device that is marketed for use in a residential environment
notwithstanding use in commercial, business and industrial environments.
Examples of such devices include, but are not limited to, personal computers,
calculators, and similar electronic devices that are marketed for use by the
general public.
Peripheral device: An input/output unit of a system that feeds data into and/or
receives data from the central processing unit of a digital device. Examples of
peripheral devices include terminals, printers, external floppy disk drives and
other data storage devices, video monitors, keyboards, interface boards,
external memory expansion cards, and other input/output devices that may or
may not contain digital circuitry.

Part 15-A: General
§15.5 General conditions of operation.
a) Do not use any given frequency without prior registration or
certification of equipment.
b) Operation of equipment shall not cause harmful interference
(Emission Pass) and withstand the interference caused by
Authorized Radio station or ISM equipment (Immunity Pass).
c)If Commission issue stop notification, do not use it.
d) Intentional radiators that produce Class B emissions (damped
wave) are prohibited.
Wasteful to
radio
spectrum

Part 15-A: General
• §15.15 General Technical Requirement
Good Engineering Design
& Manufacturing Design
Suppressed
Emission
In no case,
not above
limits
User control Adjustments
Must control
users; will
not cause
violation of
regulation
User control
settings need
to present for
application of
certification

Part 15-A: General
• §15.17 Susceptibility to interference
Consider the effect of Interference from various sources
Choosing operating frequencies during the design of their equipment
so as to reduce the susceptibility

Part 15-A: General
§15.19 Labelling Requirement
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2)
this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause
undesired operation.
Products subject to D.O.C (Declaration Of Conformity)
• Shall contain unique identification
If product is authorized under testing of product or system,
If PC is authorized based on assembly using separately authorized components , and
the result product is not separately tested.

Part 15-A: General
§15.33 Frequency Range of Radiated Measurements
a)Intentional Radiator
The spectrum investigated from the lowest RF signal generated in
the device, without going below 9kHz.
Highest Freq. Generated or used
in the device
Upper Freq. of Measurement
Below 10GHz Up to 10th Harmonic of Highest
fundamental freq. or to 40GHz,
whichever is lower.
Above 10 GHz and Below 30GHz Up to 5th Harmonic of Highest
whichever is lower.
Above 30GHz Up to 5th Harmonic of Highest
whichever is lower.

Part 15-A: General
§15.33 Frequency Range of Radiated Measurements
b)Unintentional Radiator
The spectrum investigated from the lowest RF signal generated in the device,
without going below the lowest freq. for which a radiated emission is
specified.
Highest frequency generated or
used in the device or on which the
device operates or tunes (MHz)
Upper frequency of
measurement range (MHz)
Below 1.705 30.
1.705-108 1000.
108-500 2000.
500-1000 5000.
Above 1000 5th harmonic of the highest
frequency or 40 GHz, whichever
is lower.

Part 15-B:Unintentional Radiators
• §15.101 Equipment authorization of unintentional radiators
Type of device Equipment authorization required
TV broadcast receiver Verification.
FM broadcast receiver Verification.
CB receiver Declaration of Conformity or Certification.
Superregenerative receiver Declaration of Conformity or Certification.
Scanning receiver Certification.
Radar detector Certification.
All other receivers subject to part 15 Declaration of Conformity or Certification.
TV interface device Declaration of Conformity or Certification.
Cable system terminal device Declaration of Conformity.
Stand-alone cable input selector switch Verification.
Class B personal computers and peripherals Declaration of Conformity or Certification.
1
CPU boards and internal power supplies used with Class B
personal computers
Declaration of Conformity or Certification.
1
Class B personal computers assembled using authorized CPU
boards or power supplies
Declaration of Conformity.
Class B external switching power supplies Verification.
Other Class B digital devices & peripherals Verification.
Class A digital devices, peripherals & external switching power
supplies
Verification.
Access Broadband over Power Line (Access BPL) Certification.
All other devices Verification.

§15.103 Exempted devices
a) Digital device exclusively for vehicle including motor vehicles & aircraft
b) Electronic control/ power system utilized by public utility or in an industrial plant.
c) Digital device exclusively for as industrial, commercial, or medical test equipment
d) Digital device exclusively in an appliance (microwave oven, dishwasher, air con)
e) Specialized medical digital devices (used by licensed health practitioner)
(No exemption for devices market through retails channel for use by general public)
(No exemption for Digital devices used for record keeping or any purpose not directly
connected with medical treatment)
f) Digital devices that have power consumption not exceeding 6 nW.
g) Joystick controllers or similar devices (used with digital devices but which contain only non-
digital circuitry or simple circuit to convert the signal to the format required) such as Analog to
digital converter are viewed as passive add-on devices.
h) Digital devices in which both the highest frequency generated and the highest frequency used
are less than 1.705 MHz and which do not operate from the AC power lines.
(No exemption for battery eliminator (AC-DC), AC adaptors, battery chargers)
i) If the equipment contain multiple parts, some of which fall under exemption; but those parts do
not fall under exemption must be verified. Do not assume, some parts exempted do not mean the
equipment is exempted.

§15.107 Conducted Limits
Class B Equipment
Class A Equipment
Freq. of Emission (MHz) Conducted Limit (dBμV)
Quasi-peak Average
0.15-0.5 66 to 56* 56 to 46*
0.5-5 56 46
5-30 60 50
Freq. of Emission (MHz) Conducted Limit (dBμV)
Quasi-peak Average
0.15-0.5 79 66
0.5-30 73 60
Measured using a 50
μH/50 ohms LISN

§15.109 Radiated Emission Limits
Class B Equipment (3 m distance)
Class A Equipment (10 m distance)
Freq. of Emission (MHz) Radiated Limit (dBμV/m)
30-88 40.0
88-216 43.5
216-960 46.0
Above 960 54.0
Freq. of Emission (MHz) Radiated Limit (dBμV/m)
30-88 39.0
88-216 43.5
216-960 46.4
Above 960 49.5

Inter-Break
Steering into the Future with More Wi-Fi by Sharing the Upper 5 GHz
Band (link: https://www.fcc.gov/blog/steering-future-more-wi-fi-sharing-
upper-5-ghz-band)
by: Michael O'Rielly, FCC Commissioner and Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC Commissioner
September 16, 2015 - 04:42 PM
- Members of Congress called on the Department of Transportation,
Department of Commerce and FCC to explore opening up the 5.9GHz band
for unlicensed use of Wi-Fi Sharing.
- Historically, 5.9GHz band was set aside by FCC for automotive industry, to
develop technology that can reduce car crashes & improve road safety. This
system is known as Dedicated Short Range Communication Service (DSRC)
to have car “talks” in real time to one another, street lights, bicycles and
even pedestrians.

Part 15-C:Intentional Radiators
§15.201 Equipment Authorization Requirement
Carrier Current Systems and Devices operating below
490kHz shall be verified.
For devices such as perimeter protection system
required to measured at three installation sites and
found to be compliance.

§15.203 Antenna Requirement
An intentional radiator shall be designed to ensure that no
antenna other than that furnished by the responsible party shall be
used with the device.
This requirement does not apply to carrier current devices.
§15.204 External radio frequency power amplifiers & antenna
modifications
If transmission system is authorized as a system, it must always
market as a complete system.
Compliance Testing
Highest Gain antenna for
each type of antenna to be
certified with intentional
radiator.

• §15.205 Restricted bands of operation
MHz MHz MHz GHz
0.090-0.110 16.42-16.423 399.9-410 4.5-5.15
1
0.495-0.505 16.69475-16.69525 608-614 5.35-5.46
2.1735-2.1905 16.80425-16.80475 960-1240 7.25-7.75
4.125-4.128 25.5-25.67 1300-1427 8.025-8.5
4.17725-4.17775 37.5-38.25 1435-1626.5 9.0-9.2
4.20725-4.20775 73-74.6 1645.5-1646.5 9.3-9.5
6.215-6.218 74.8-75.2 1660-1710 10.6-12.7
6.26775-6.26825 108-121.94 1718.8-1722.2 13.25-13.4
6.31175-6.31225 123-138 2200-2300 14.47-14.5
8.291-8.294 149.9-150.05 2310-2390 15.35-16.2
8.362-8.366 156.52475-156.52525 2483.5-2500 17.7-21.4
8.37625-8.38675 156.7-156.9 2690-2900 22.01-23.12
8.41425-8.41475 162.0125-167.17 3260-3267 23.6-24.0
12.29-12.293 167.72-173.2 3332-3339 31.2-31.8
12.51975-12.52025 240-285 3345.8-3358 36.43-36.5
12.57675-12.57725 322-335.4 3600-4400 (
2
)
13.36-13.41

• §15.205 Restricted bands of operation (continued)
The following devices are exempt from the requirements of this section:
1) Swept freq. field disturbance sensors (1.705 & 37MHz)
2) Transmitters, detecting buried electronic markets (101.4kHz)
3) Cable locating equipment
4) Biomedical telemetry devices
5) And others not mentioned in this slide.

Frequency Range
(MHz)
Limit Values (dBµV)
Quasi-peak (Q-P) Average (AV)
0.15 - 0.5 66 – 56 * 56 – 46 *
0.5 - 5.0 56 46
5.0 - 30.0 60 50
* Decreasing linearly with the logarithm of the frequency
§15.207 Conducted Limits
Measurements to demonstrate compliance with the conducted limits are not
required for devices which only employ battery power for operation and
which do not operate from the AC power lines or contain provisions for
operation while connected to the AC power lines.

§15.209 Radiated Limits
For intentional radiators which operate under the provisions of other sections
within this part and which are required to reduce their unwanted emissions to
the limits specified in this table, the limits in this table are based on the
frequency of the unwanted emission and not the fundamental frequency.
However, the level of any unwanted emissions shall not exceed the level of the
fundamental frequency.
Frequency Range (MHz) Quasi-Peak Limit Values
(dBµV/m) @ 3m
30 - 88 40.0
88 - 216 43.5
216 - 960 46.0
Above 960 54.0*
* Above 1GHz, average detector was used. A peak limit of 20dB
above the average limit does apply.

Some Important Radiated Scopes
§15.225 Operation within the band 13.110-14.010 MHz
47 CFR FCC Parts 15.109(a), 15.209 and 15.225(d) Radiated Emission Limits
§15.231(b) Periodic Operation in the band 40.66-40.70 MHz and above 70MHz
47 CFR FCC Part 15.231(b) Radiated Emission Limits
Frequency Range (MHz) Quasi-Peak Limit Values (dBµV/m)
0.009 - 0.490 20 log [2400 / F (kHz)] @ 300m
0.490 - 1.705 20 log [24000 / F (kHz)] @ 30m
1.705 - 30.0 30 @ 30m
30 - 88 40.0 @ 3m
88 - 216 43.5 @ 3m
216 - 960 46.0 @ 3m
Above 960 54.0* @ 3m
* Above 1GHz, average detector was used. A peak limit of 20dB above the average limit does apply.
Fundamental Frequency (MHz) Field Strength of Fundamental
Limit Values @ 3m
(dBµV/m) *
Field Strength of Harmonics
Limit Values @ 3m
(dBµV/m) *
40.66 - 40.70 67.0 47.0
70 - 130 62.0 42.0
130 - 174 62.0 to 71.5 ** 42.0 to 51.5 **
174 - 260 71.5 51.5
260 - 470 71.5 to 82.0 ** 51.5 to 62.0 **
Above 470 82.0 62.0
Average detector employed. A peak limit of 20dB above the average limit does apply.
Liner interpolations (in V/m).

§15.231(c) Periodic Operation in the band 40.66-40.70 MHz and above
70MHz
The bandwidth of the emission shall be no wider than 0.25% of the center
frequency for devices operating above 70 MHz and below 900 MHz. For
devices operating above 900 MHz, the emission shall be no wider than 0.5%
of the center frequency. Bandwidth is determined at the points 20 dB down
from the modulated carrier.
§15.231(d) Periodic Operation in the band 40.66-40.70 MHz and above
70MHz
For devices operating within the frequency band 40.66-40.70 MHz, the
bandwidth of the emission shall be confined within the band edges and the
frequency tolerance of the carrier shall be ±0.01%. This frequency tolerance
shall be maintained for a temperature variation of −20 degrees to + 50 degrees
C at normal supply voltage, and for a variation in the primary supply voltage
from 85% to 115% of the rated supply voltage at a temperature of 20 degrees
C.
20db Bandwidth test
Band Edge compliance test
Freq. Stability Vs
Temperature Test

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and
5725-5850MHz
Probably Most
important
clause for RF
products (Wi-
Fi-Bluetooth) !
FHSS
(Freq. Hopping
Spread System)
Digitally Modulated
System
DSSS
(Direct Sequence
Spread System)
The information in this clause is important
And there’s much to describe.
Allow me to take you to subsequent slides for details.

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-
2483.5MHz, and 5725-5850MHz
Freq. Hopping System
For FHSS (902-928MHz)
Carrier Freq.
separated by min.
of 25kHz or 20dB
BW of hopping
channel
Output Power no
greater than
125mW.
If 20dB BW of
hopping channel <
250kHz
If 20dB BW of
hopping channel >
250kHz
At least 50 hopping freq. and average
time occupancy not greater than 0.4
second for a 20 s period
Maximum
20dB BW of
hopping
channel is
500kHz.

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and
5725-5850MHz
For FHSS (5725-5850MHz)
For FHSS (2400-2483.5MHz)
Maximum
20dB BW of
hopping
channel is 1
MHz
second for a (0.4 x No. of hopping
channels) s period
Maximum 20dB
BW of hopping
channel is 25kHz
or 2/3 of BW,
whichever greater

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz, and 5725-
5850MHz
• (a) - (2) Systems using digital modulation techniques may operate in the
902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz bands. The
minimum 6 dB bandwidth shall be at least 500 kHz.
6dB BW
Measurement

§15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928MHz, 2400-2483.5MHz,
and 5725-5850MHz
• (b) (3) For systems using digital modulation in the 902-928
MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz bands: 1 Watt.
• (d) In any 100 kHz bandwidth outside the frequency band, the
EUT must show the compliance to the requirement where the
RF power produced by EUT shall be at least 20dB below that
in the 100kHz bandwidth within the band that contains the
highest level of desired power.

and 5725-5850MHz
• Continued from (d)- EUT have to comply at the edge too !
Band Edge
Compliance

and 5725-5850MHz
• (e) For digitally modulated systems, the power spectral density
conducted from the intentional radiator to the antenna shall not
be greater than 8 dBm in any 3 kHz band during any time
interval of continuous transmission.
Channel Channel Frequency
(GHz)
Peak Power Spectral
Density (mW)
Limit
(mW)
Modulation @ Data
Rate
1 (lower ch) 2.412
0.0556 6.3 DBPSK @ 1Mbps
0.2425 6.3 DQPSK @ 2Mbps
0.2075 6.3 CCK @ 11Mbps
6 (mid ch) 2.437
0.0453 6.3 DBPSK @ 1Mbps
0.1936 6.3 DQPSK @ 2Mbps
0.1793 6.3 CCK @ 11Mbps
11 (upper ch) 2.462
0.0393 6.3 DBPSK @ 1Mbps
0.2023 6.3 DQPSK @ 2Mbps
0.1457 6.3 CCK @ 11Mbps
8 dBm =
6.3mW

Too depressed, regulation context is boring !!
But, don’t risk it- Follow FCC

CFR- Title 47 – Part 15 B & C
This comes to the end of the overview of Part 15 B & C of FCC
Regulation.
As the length of presentation is going to exceed the overview
purpose, I shall not proceed with further details. Let’s tune for
Part 18 and Registration Process.
I do believe you gain some exposures to FCC regulation for
Radio Frequency devices. I will be so delighted if you could gain
knowledge from these slides. Thank you so much !!
Warm Regards,
Kyaw Soe Hein
www.ksoehein.weebly.com
hotep.soe@gmail.com

FCC- regulatory overview

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