Exposure of humans and animals to electromagnetic fields has long been a health and safety concern, especially with the ubiquity of wireless devices in our daily use. As such, regulatory authorities have since instituted basic restrictions and transmitter power limits to help ensure that products placed on the market are safe. As computational-based methods are continuing to mature, regulatory authorities are more often incorporating simulation into their compliance evaluation standards.
The Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED) released Issue 6 of Radio Standards Specification 102 (RSS-102), Radio Frequency (RF) Exposure Compliance of Radiocommunication apparatus (All Frequency Bands) on December 15, 2023. RSS-102 sets out the requirements and measurement techniques for evaluating RF exposure compliance of radiocommunication apparatus designed to be used within the vicinity of the human body. This latest issue of RSS-102 replaces Issue 5 released back in March 2015.
One of the main changes in Issue 6 is the revision of the architecture of the document and addition of simulation procedures to accompany measurement procedures for all RF exposure assessments including the following:
RSS-102.NS.SIM, Simulation procedure for assessing Nerve Stimulation (NS) compliance in accordance with RSS-102
RSS-102.SAR.SIM, Simulation procedure for assessing Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) compliance in accordance with RSS-102
RSS-102.APD.SIM, Simulation Procedure for Assessing Absorbed Power Density (APD) compliance in accordance with RSS-102 (currently in development)
RSS-102.IPD.SIM, Simulation Procedure for assessing Incident Power Density (IPD) compliance in accordance with RSS-102
Nerve Stimulation
Devices that operate within the 3 kHz to 10 MHz frequency range are under the scope of the assessment against the Nerve Stimulation (NS) requirements. The latest standard offers a measurement-based assessment method and an optional computational based assessment method for compliance to basic restrictions and reference levels. The simulation-based assessment method is especially essential when there are practical limitations with the equipment under evaluation, test equipment, or tissue-equivalent phantom hindering a measurement based assessment.
For NS, a basis restriction is preferred particularly when the exposure region is within the reactive near-field region of the transmitting antenna(s), which is often the case below 10 MHz.
All computational-based NS evaluations shall be completed in accordance with RSS-102.NS.SIM, Simulation Procedure for Assessing Nerve Stimulation (NS) Compliance in Accordance with RSS-102.
Specific Absorption Rate
Portable devices (classified as devices operating within 20cm of the body) containing a radiating element operating between 100 kHz and 6 GHz are under the scope of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) evaluations. Issue 6 of RSS-102 allows for compliance assessment to be done either by measurement or simulation.
All computational-based SAR evaluations shall be completed in accordance with RSS-102.SAR.SIM, Simulation procedure for assessing Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) compliance in accordance with RSS-102
Absorbed Power Density
RSS-102 includes requirements for devices that have a radiating element operating above 6GHz to undergo a power density evaluation. A localized absorbed power density requirement also exists for devices operating in the 6 GHz to 7.125 GHz range. The simulation methods for absorbed power density are currently in development and will be released as RSS-102.APD.SIM, Simulation Procedure for Assessing Absorbed Power Density (APD) compliance in accordance with RSS-102.
Incident Power Density
The latest issue of RSS 102 includes a simulation method for showing compliance to the localized Incident Power Density (IPD) requirements of the standard. All computational based localized IPD evaluations shall be completed in accordance with RSS-102.IPD.SIM, Simulation procedure for assessing incident power density (IPD) compliance in accordance with RSS-102.
ISED authorizes US labs to conduct assessments to RSS-102 under a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) through NIST. While we are not currently an accredited facility, the Lagwaves team includes technical experts that are able to guide you through the process and perform preliminary assessments. Please see our RF Exposure and SAR services page for more on this. In addition, Lagwaves is currently pursuing accreditation to conduct the following assessments under Issue 6:
RSS-102 Computational (SAR) – NEW
RSS-102 Computational (NS) – NEW
RSS-102 Computational (RF Exp.) – NEW – not available yet
RSS-102 Computational (LPD) – NEW
Feel free to reach out to us for more information or to learn more about the new computational-based ISED Canada RF exposure evaluations. We would love to become your trusted partners in showing compliance to RSS-102 using simulation-based assessment methods, so do stay in touch.
Email: info@lagwaves.com
Contact: www.lagwaves.com/contact
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