Radio Equipment Directive Updates

Overview

On April 16, 2014, the European Union (EU) adopted a new set of rules for placing radio equipment on the European market, and putting them into service.

EU Member States have to adapt their National laws to this new Radio Equipment Directive (RED) (2014/53/EU, published on May 22, 2014), and apply its provisions from June 13, 2016. Manufacturers who were compliant with the existing legislation (R&TTE or LVD/EMC‐D) will have until June 13, 2017 to comply with the new requirements. However, the RED stipulates a transition period of one year from the date of adoption, which gives the following dates for when manufactures should use either directive in their Declaration of Conformity:

1. Products placed on the market before June 13, 2016; Use R&TTE
2. Products placed on the market between June 13, 2016 and June 12, 2017; Use R&TTE or RED
3. Products place on the market after June 12, 2017: Use RED

Scope or RED

The scope or the Directive applies to all radio equipment being placed on the market in the EU with the exception of:

• Radio equipment used exclusively for activities concerning public security, defense, state security, or economic well0being of the state.
• Amateur radio kits
• Marine equipment
• Airborne products, parts and appliance (as regulated under Article 3 of regulation EC 216/2009)
• Custom built kits use solely for research and development activities.

R&TTE to RED Key Changes

A Summary of the key changes is listed below:

• The RED applies to equipment that is placed on the market (this contrasts with the R&TTED, which also applied to “relevant components” of radio equipment).
• The RED applies to equipment which intentionally transmits or receives radio waves for communications or radio determination, regardless of its primary function. For example, a “connected” device that uses an embedded radio module for communications or to determine its position has to meet the same radio requirements as a purpose‐built radio equipment.
• Wired telecommunications terminal equipment that does not function using radio is not covered by the RED.
• Radio equipment covered by the RED is not subject to the Low‐Voltage Directive (LVD) or the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMCD): the essential requirements of those Directives are covered by the essential requirements of the RED, with certain modifications.
• The RED places additional emphasis on efficient and effective use of the spectrum. In particular radio equipment needs to demonstrate the performance of its receiver part, as well as its transmitter, as both are considered to affect the efficient and effective use of the spectrum.
• The RED applies to radio equipment operating at frequencies below 3 000 GHz, including radio equipment operating below 9 kHz that is not covered by the R&TTED or by National frequency regulations.
• The RED also applies to radio determination equipment: equipment that uses the propagation qualities of radio waves to determine its position.
• The R&TTED specifically excluded Broadcast TV & radio receivers from its scope. These are now specifically included in the scope of the RED.

What does this mean for TI modules

All products must be compliant to the latest requirements of the RED by Jun 13th, 2017. Products not tested to a harmonized standard published in the RED’s Official Journal (OJ) require review and type examination by a Notified Body. Note that all TI Modules for the RED will undergo a type examination by a Notified Body regardless if the harmonized standard is published in the OJ.

EN300328 v2.1.1

ETSI EN300328 v2.1.1 was recently published in the RED’s OJ. This is the main emissions standard for all 2.4 GHz modules using wide‐band modulation including Wi‐Fi and Bluetooth/Bluetooth Low Energy radios. As a result, this is now a harmonized standard and testing can be performed to these requirements without a Notified Body, allowing for quicker approvals. Once each product is successfully tested, the DoC (Declaration of Conformity) that verifies the harmonized standards to which it complies can be created.

The specific changes in the EN 300 328 standards which impact testing include the following:

• A change in limits for Adaptivity and TX/RX Spurious emissions
• The addition of RX sensitivity/blocking measurements – Not previously required for many products

EN301893 v2.1.1

On June 9, 2017, EN301893 v2.1.1 was release in the OJEU and thus became harmonized, which has major importance for the market. We note that causes of En301893 v1.8.1 related to the transmitter are still in line with Article 3(2) of the RED.

As a big part of industry will not be ready to comply with the new standard and therefore will not be able to benefit from the presumption of conformity of this standard, the Commission will put into place a transitional solution, based on the joint publication on the OJEU of both EN310893 v1.8.1 and EN310893 v2.1.1. This solution will allow the partial application of the previous version, notably as concerns the requirements related to Adaptivity.

As of June 9, 2017 there are 3 options in the OJEU for RED compliance:

1. Go with the v2.1.1 requirements directly:
   • Receiver blocking requirements from EN301893 v2.1.1
   • Adaptivity requirements from EN301893 v2.1.1
   • DoC will state compliance to EN301893 v2.1.1
2. Go with Adaptivity requirements from v1.8.1 and receiver blocking from v2.1.1:
   • Receiver blocking requirements from EN301893 v2.1.1
   • Adaptivity requirements from EN301893 v1.8.1
   • DoC will state compliance to EN301893 v1.8.1 and you must update to v2.1.1 before June 12, 2018, at which time you need to issue an updated DoC against EN301893 v2.1.1.
3. Go with Adaptivity requirements from v1.8.1 and receiver blocking from v2.1.1:
   • Receiver blocking requirements from EN301893 v2.1.1
   • Adaptivity requirements from EN301893 v1.8.1
   • DoC will state compliance to EN301893 v1.8.1 and you must update to v2.1.1 before June 12, 2018. No new DoC needs to be issued, only test reports must be updated to show requirements to EN301893 v2.1.1

Both options 2 and 3 have the same effect: The implementation of Adaptivity as in v2.1.1 is delayed for one year. At present TI is working to meet the new Channel Access Mechanism test requirements , thus TI will pursue option 3. This means that at present no FW or .INI changes are needed to meet the new receiver blocking requirements.

References

1. http://incompliancemag.com/article/the‐eus‐new‐radio‐equipment‐directive‐red‐201453eu/
2. http://www.redca.eu/
3. http://www.etsi.org