scope:

This recommended practice provides guidance on how to verify electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) test performance using statistical process control (SPC) and specialized setups. EMC test laboratories that need to comply with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 should find this information especially relevant as they develop the required procedure(s) for monitoring the validity of results. By employing SPC, a laboratory may monitor the validity of tests by recording data in such a way that trends are detectible, and an assessment of test system stability can be made. Laboratory quality checks that use SPC are a powerful tool to provide confidence to both the laboratory and its customer that test results will be correct.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide a recommended practice for implementing SPC for EMC laboratories. The standard will review the relevant SPC calculations, discuss how to set control limits for analyzing data, present recommendations for setting up SPC in a laboratory environment, and propose examples of SPC setups for the following test methods:

- Radiated emissions

- Conducted RF emissions

- Conducted transient emissions

- Radiated immunity

- Bulk current injection

- Magnetic immunity

- Conducted transient immunity

- Electrostatic discharge

The intent of this standard is to present a recommended practice for SPC that is broad enough to apply across multiple industries. Consequently, the information contained in this document will introduce the fundamental SPC setup elements for each test method. Laboratories can then apply this information to their specific application(s).