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Resources

We've curated a collection of valuable links to assist you on your journey. Whether you're seeking information, guidance, or inspiration, we hope you find these resources helpful. Feel free to get in touch if we can be of further assistance.

Glossary

Term
Definition
ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
AFA
Adaptive Frequency Agility
AM
Amplitude Modulation
AMR
Automatic Meter Reading
ARCEP
French Telecommunications Regulator
ASIC
Application specific Integrated Circuit
ASK
Amplitude Shift Keying
Bluetooth
An industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs) which provides a way to exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. Bluetooth specifications are developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. See also: Telemetry
Bnetz
Bundesnetzagentur. German Telecommunications Regulator
Bps
Bits per second
CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access
CEPT
European Conference of Postal & Telecommunications Administrations
CSMA
Collision Sensing Multiple Access
dB
Decibel (logarithmic ratio between two distinct values)
DSI
Detailed Spectrum Investigation
DSP
Digital Signal Processing
DSSS
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
EAN
European Article Numbering Association
EAS
Electronic Article Surveillance
ECC
Electronic Communications Committee. See also CEPT
ECO
European Communications Office. See also: CEPT
EIRP
Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power
EMC
Electro-magnetic Compatibility
EMF
Electro-Magnetic Field
ENS
Danish Energy Agency (responsible for Radio Equipment & Devices)
EPIRB
Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon
ERP
Effective Radiated Power
ETSI
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FCC
Federal Communications Commission (USA)
FDMA
Frequency Division Multiple Access
FHSS
Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
FM
Frequency Modulation
GPR
Ground Probing Radar
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service
GPS
Global Positioning System
GSM
Global System Mobile See also: Telemetry
HF
High Frequency (3-30 MHz)
HIPERLAN
High Performance Radio Local Area Network
IC
Integrated Circuit
ICNIRP
International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection
IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (USA based)
IET
Institution of Engineering & Technology (UK based)
ISM
Industrial, Scientific & Medical (licence-exempt frequency bands)
ITU
International Telecommunications Union
LBT
Listen Before Talk
LPD
Low Power Device tends to be used interchangeably with "SRD". See also: SRD
MEAC
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (Netherlands)
MoU
Memorandum of Understanding
NB
Notified Body
NSI
National Security Inspectorate (UK)
OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
OFCOM
Office for Communication is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.
OFDM
Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
OJEU
Official Journal of the European Union
OOK
On/Off Keying
PAN
Personal Area Network
PLC
Power Line Communication
PLL
Phase Locked Loop
PTS
Swedish Post & Telecom Authority
RED
Radio Equipment Directive
RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves. See also: Telemetry
RLAN
Radio Local Area Network. See also: Telemetry
RSC
Radio Spectrum Committee (EC Policy implementation group)
RSPG
Radio Spectrum Policy Group (EC Policy making group)
RTTT
Road Transport & Traffic Telematics
SAR
Specific Absorption Rate /
SAW
Surface Acoustic Wave
SCADA
Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition
SEAMCAT®
Spectrum Engineering Advanced Monte Carlo Analysis Tool (software implementation of a Monte Carlo simulation method for statistical modelling of radio interference developed by CEPT)
SOHO
Small Office/Home Office (marketing segment)
SRD
Short Range Device.
TAPS
TETRA Advanced Packet Service See also: TETRA
TC
Technical Committee
TCAM
Telecommunication Conformity Assessment & Market Surveillance Committee (EU)
TDMA
Time Division Multiple Access
TETRA
Trans-European Trunked Radio. See also: TAPS
TRAFICOM
Transport and Communications Agency (Finland)
Telemetry
Radio Command and Control includes long and short range telemetry and tele-command systems used extensively by the power and water utilities. Familiar applications include remote monitoring and control of electricity sub-stations, water pumping stations etc. See also: Bluetooth, GSM, RFID, RLAN
UCC
Uniform Code Council
UHF
Ultra High Frequency (300 MHz- 3GHz)
ULP
Ultra Low Power
UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
UWB
Ultra Wide Band
VHF
Very High Frequency (30-300MHz)
VLF
Very Low Frequency (0-185 kHz)
WGFM
Working Group Frequency Management (committee of CEPT)
WGRR
Working Group Radio Regulatory (committee of CEPT)
WGSE
Working Group Spectrum Engineering (committee of CEPT)
WLAN
Wireless Local Area Network

Useful Links

ARCEP

https://www.arcep.fr L'Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électronique et des Postes: The French Telecommunications and Posts Regulator.

 

BIPT

https://www.bipt.be/ Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications.

 

BLUETOOTH

https://www.bluetooth.com Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth specifications are developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

 

BMWI

https://www.bmwi.de Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Technologie: German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

 

CEN

https://www.cen.eu Comité Européen de Normalisation: European Committee for Standardization brings together the National Standardization Bodies of 34 European countries.

 

CENELEC

https://www.cenelec.eu The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization is a non-profit technical organization composed of the National Electrotechnical Committees of 34 European countries. In addition, 13 National Committees from surrounding countries participate in CENELEC work with an Affiliate/CSB status.

 

CEPT

https://www.cept.org/cept/ Conférence Européenne des Postes et Télécommunication is the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations. It was established in 1959 by 19 countries, which expanded to 26 during its first ten years. CEPT's activities included co-operation on commercial, operational, regulatory and technical standardisation issues.

 

COMREG

https://www.comreg.ie/ Irish Commission for Communications Regulation.

 

ECC

https://www.cept.org/ecc/ The ECC (Electronic Communications Committee) considers and develops policies on electronic communications activities in the European context, taking account of European and international legislation and regulations.

 

ECO

https://www.cept.org/eco/ The European Communications Office, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the central office for the ECC (Electronic Communications Committee) and its working groups. ECO provides advice and support to CEPT to help it to develop and deliver its policies and decisions in an effective and transparent way.  They also host the EFIS database linking to European national frequency tables.

 

ETSI

https://www.etsi.org The European Telecommunications Standards Institute is an independent, non-profit, standardization organization of the telecommunications industry for Europe. ETSI are the recognized standards body dealing with telecommunications, broadcasting and other electronic communications networks and services.

 

FCC

https://www.fcc.gov/wireless-telecommunications The Federal Communications Commission is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.

 

ICNIRP

https://www.icnirp.org/ International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.

 

IEEE

https://www.ieee.org/ The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. It has the most members of any technical professional organization in the world, with more than 422,000 members in more than 160 countries.

IEEE is a leading developer of international standards that underpin many of today's telecommunications, information technology, and power-generation products and services.

 

IET

https://www.theiet.org/ The Institution of Engineering & Technology inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community to engineer a better world. As a diverse home across engineering and technology, we share knowledge that helps make better sense of the world in order to solve the challenges that matter. It’s why we are uniquely placed to champion engineering.

 

ITST

https://ens.dk/en Danish Energy Agency.  Responsible for Radio Equipment & Devices.

 

ITU

https://www.itu.int/online/mm/scripts/TIES/search International Telecommunications Union page giving contact information on regulatory authorities worldwide.

 

MEAC

https://www.minez.nl Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (The Netherlands).

 

OFCOM

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum Office of Communications, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

 

OJEU

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?ihmlang=en This page presents the online editions of the Official Journal.

 

Radio Equipment Directive

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/53/oj This link leads straight to the Radio Equipment Directive (Directive 2015/53/EU), which sets out the rules for placing Short Range Devices (SRDs) and many other communication equipment on the European market. Specifically, it points out the "essential requirements" for each type of equipment and the conditions to be fulfilled before the CE mark can be attached.

 

RAIN Alliance

https://rainrfid.org

RAIN RFID is a global alliance promoting the universal adoption of UHF RFID technology (the LPRA has a Memorandum of Understanding with RAIN).

 

RED Compliance Association

www.redca.eu Radio Equipment Directive Compliance Association (for a list of all harmonized standards relating to the Radio Equipment Directive).

 

TRAFICOM

https://www.traficom.fi/en/ Finnish Transport and Communications Agency.

 

UWB Alliance

https://uwballiance.org/ Ultra-Wideband Working Group.

European Standards, Regulations and Law

This guide provides an overview of the main activities of each body related to SRDs in Europe. It is not exhaustive but aims to shed light on the complexities and interrelations of the contributing groups.

Aspects of Standards and Regulations for SRDs in Europe:

  1. Standards: Developed by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), www.etsi.org.

  2. Regulations: Produced by CEPT (Conference of Postal and Telecommunication Administrations) through the ECC (European Communications Council), www.ero.dk.

  3. Law: Formulated by the EC (European Commission) via the RSPG (Radio Spectrum Policy Group), RSCOM (Radio Spectrum Committee), and TCAM (Test and Conformity Assessment Meeting), www.europa.eu.int.

 

Radio Equipment Directive (RED)

The Radio Equipment Directive (2014/53/EU) sets the regulatory framework for placing radio equipment on the market. It has been in effect since 13 June 2016, with a one-year transitional period from the previous R&TTE Directive (1999/5/EC) ending on 12 June 2017. As of 13 June 2017, only the RED applies.

Standards

ETSI develops relevant radio standards, which can be Harmonised (HEN – Harmonised European Norm) or specific. Typically, standards have two parts:

  • Part 1: Technical Characteristics and Test Methods

  • Part 2: Essential Requirements as per Article 3.2 of the R&TTE Directive

 

Task Groups of Interest:

  • TG11: Wideband devices

  • TG17: Wireless Microphones and Audio

  • TG28: Generic SRDs

  • TG30: Ultra Low Power Medical Devices

  • TG31A: Ultrawideband

  • TG31B: Automotive Radar

  • TG34: UHF RFID

 

ETSI work programmes start with an SRDoc (Systems Reference Document), detailing objectives, benefits, commercial impact, regulatory implications, and timelines.

LPRA actively participates in SRD-related TGs through nominated delegates, with members entitled to access proceedings and contribute via LPRA delegations. ETSI standards are freely available through ETSI and the LPRA Secretariat.

 

Generic Standards:

  • EN 300 220: Technical characteristics and test methods for SRDs in the 25 MHz to 1000 MHz range (up to 500 mW).

  • EN 300 330-1 & 2: SRDs in the 9 kHz to 25 MHz range, covering essential requirements under Article 3.2 of the R&TTE Directive.

  • EN 300 440-1 & 2: SRDs in the 1 GHz to 40 GHz range.

  • EN 301 489: EMC standard for radio equipment; Part 3 covers SRDs, Part 9 radio microphones and wideband audio devices.

 

Specific Standards:

  • EN 300 328: Wideband data transmission in the 2.4 GHz ISM band.

  • EN 300 422: Wireless microphones in the 25 MHz to 3 GHz range.

  • EN 300 454: Wideband audio links in the 25 MHz to 3 GHz range.

  • EN 300 652: High Performance Radio Local Area Network (HIPERLAN) Type 1.

  • EN 300 674: DSRC transmission equipment in the 5.8 GHz ISM band.

  • EN 300 224: On-site paging systems.

  • EN 300 761: Automatic Vehicle Identification for railways in the 2.45 GHz range.

  • EN 301 091: Radar equipment in the 76.0 to 77.0 GHz band.

  • EN 301 357: Cordless wideband audio devices and consumer radio microphones.

  • EN 301 840: Digital radio microphones in the 1.785-1.800 GHz band.

  • EN 302 208: RFID in the 865-868 MHz band.

 

Regulations

CEPT/ECC operates through three principal working groups:

  • WGFM: Frequency Management

  • WGSE: Spectrum Engineering

  • WGRA: Regulatory Affairs

 

For industry, WGFM and its SRDMG (Short Range Devices Maintenance Group), along with WGSE and SE24 (technical compatibility for SRDs), are key. These groups address spectrum issues, regulatory changes, and new technology mandates.

LPRA has an LOU (Letter of Understanding) with the ECC, allowing it to present industry views in Working Group and Project meetings.

The ECC, via the ERO (European Radio Office), produces "CEPT/ERC Recommendation 70-03," detailing regulations and conditions for SRDs, exceptions, and the status of new or changed standards and regulations among EU Member States.

 

Law

The EC formulates laws governing radio spectrum use and SRD conditions in Europe. The RSPG and RSCOM, closed to industry attendance, involve policy makers from the EC and Member State radio administrations. The EC issues mandates to the ECC for reporting on radio usage aspects. Industry input is primarily through TCAM meetings, often represented by trade associations like LPRA.

Procedure for the acceptance and adoption of representation for and on behalf of the LPRA membership

  1. The LPRA welcomes solicitations from qualified organizations and individuals for contributions and representation on behalf of it’s industrial sectors.

  2. The LPRA welcomes requests from paid up, qualified LPRA members or their representatives to be appointed as representatives of the LPRA in areas of concern or issue resolution bodies that fall within the scope of the LPRA member interests.

  3. The LPRA, in accepting such requests as detailed in 1 and 2 above, does not accept liability for, nor will reimburse any expenses incurred in such representation except in such circumstance as Council determines that the activity is of an exceptional nature requiring such costs of participation to be met. Notwithstanding this, the LPRA shall never meet the workday compensation of representation. The LPRA will do everything possible to support the representative in locating and securing a grant or financial support, or sponsorship or fee based compensation to participate in the agreed activity.

  4. Where the LPRA becomes aware of a call for experts, which is relevant to the activities of the LPRA, the LPRA will publicise the details in the LPRA media and invite candidates to apply for the position of LPRA expert.

  5. The LPRA will normally require not less than 21 days notice from candidates seeking to represent the LPRA on a proposed activity. This is necessary in order for such applications to be given proper consideration by members of the Council. Applications made for representation on less than 21 days notice will only be considered on an exceptional basis.

  6. The candidates may be proposed by Council, or solicited by the LPRA or be  individuals seeking the nomination. In any event the duration of appointment of the Representative shall be for  a period of two years or for the duration of the specified activity if less than two years. Representatives shall conduct their activities with the understanding that the interests of LPRA members are their primary concern. Any action by a Representative that is contrary to the interests of the LPRA membership will be grounds for termination of such representation.

  7. Representatives shall work closely with their Sector Managers and provide them with an appropriate level of information on their activities. This information will be presented by Sector Managers as part of their reports at Council Meetings.

  8. The names and contact details of all approved representatives along with details of the body they act within, will be posted on a section of the LPRA web site headed Approved LPRA Representatives”.’Representatives are invited to attend the AGM of the LPRA but in any event must produce a summary of their contribution towards any approved activity during the previous 12 months in which they have acted as the LPRA representative.

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