scope:

General

The present document is intended to cover the provisions of the R&TTE Directive [1] regarding article 3.2, which states that "..... radio equipment shall be so constructed that it effectively uses the spectrum allocated to terrestrial/space radio communications and orbital resources so as to avoid harmful interference".

The present document is applicable to the essential requirements of antennas (including equipment with integral antennas) used in fixed multipoint radio systems intended for use in the frequency bands identified in EN 302 326-1 [5].

The present document together with EN 302 326-2 [6], is intended to replace and supersede, after a suitable transition period, the harmonized EN 301 753 (see bibliography). for all multipoint equipment and antennas under its scope.

The present document and EN 302 326-2 [6] introduce rationalization among systems conforming to previous EN 301 753 (see bibliography) referencing a number of ENs which, being developed at different times, may have specified slightly different antenna parameters. Nevertheless, care has been taken so that such variations will not affect any frequency planning assumption for already deployed networks. Therefore, unless specifically mentioned, these new requirements, whenever different from those single ENs, are considered completely "equivalent". Therefore mixed use of antennas conforming to the present document and to those previous ones will not change, in practice, any frequency planning rule in any network.

Therefore, from a strictly technical point of view, in most cases it is expected that equipment already conforming to the previous versions of Harmonized EN 301 753 (see bibliography), would not need re-assessment of essential requirements according to the present document. The legal implications of the declaration of conformity and equipment labelling are, however, outside the scope of this whole multi-part deliverable. Cases, where additional conformance assessment is required, will be specifically mentioned in EN 302 326-2 [6] and in the present document.

A formal change in the requirements, introduced by the present document, is that the antenna manufacturer shall declare the nominal gain and tolerance of the antenna against which the conformity assessment is done.

In addition to the present document, other ENs specify technical requirements in respect of essential requirements under other parts of article 3 of the R&TTE Directive [1] and which will apply to antennas within the scope of the present document.

NOTE: A list of such ENs is included on the web site: http://www.newapproach.org .

In order to (technically) cover different market and network requirements, with an appropriate balance of performance to cost and effective and appropriate use of the radio spectrum, the present document, together with EN 302 326-2 [6], offers a number of system types and antennas alternatives, for selection by administrations, operators and manufacturers dependent on the desired use of the radio spectrum and network/market requirements;

• those options include: channel separation alternatives (as provided by the relevant CEPT Recommendation);

• spectral efficiency class alternatives (different modulation formats provided in radio equipment standards);

• antenna sectorization alternatives and directivity classes for CS;

• antenna directivity class alternatives for TS and/or RS;

• antenna basic polarization (linear or circular).

For Digital Fixed Radio Systems (DFRS), antennas are considered "relevant components" of "radio equipment" according the definition in article 2(c) of the R&TTE Directive [1].

More information and background on the R&TTE Directive [1] possible applicability and requirements for stand alone DFRS antennas is found in EG 201 399 (see bibliography) and in TR 101 506 (see bibliography).

Technical specifications relevant to the R&TTE Directive [1] are summarized in annex A. For Fixed Systems, antennas are considered "relevant components" of "radio equipment" according the definition in article 2(c) of the R&TTE Directive [1].