RF Shield Boxes for Efficient Wireless Device Testing
RF Shielding is Critical for 5G, WiFi and Bluetooth Testing
Modern civilization is sizzling with radio frequency (RF) noise. The amount of communication devices is huge. In particular mobile, WiFi and Bluetooth applications for human and machine-to-machine wireless communication fills the air with RF waves. We discuss here the need for RF shielding in test and measurement labs.
There is a constant flow of new devices being designed. One line of development is for improved and expanded functionality of smart devices, and an opposite trend is the built-in radios in equipment like sensor systems and vending machines. The latter is called the Internet-of-Things (IoT).
RF Certification Testing of Wireless Devices
All of these new devices must fulfil very tough requirements from the standardization regulations, in order to operate properly without disturbing or being disturbed by all other devices in their vicinity. Examples of requirements are for unwanted radio emissions, maximum radiated power, sensitivity in reception and resilience to blocking by interfering signals. The electromagnetic interference (EMI) between devices must be controlled and kept low.
The devices need to be tested for fulfilment of the requirements both during development and for formal certification. A complication for the tests is the above-mentioned RF noisy environment. Signals from operating devices in the environment will interfere with the measurements. It is very hard today to find a place where this is not the case.
RF Shield Boxes Enable Efficient Device Testing
The solution to the test challenges is to use shielded boxes. They keep the device-under-test (DUT) encased in a shielded enclosure and protected from RF noise in the surroundings. This makes it much easier to verify the requirements of the DUT without needing to exclude the possibilities of measured signals coming from elsewhere.
Shield boxes come in different sizes and with different shielding effectiveness (SE). Depending on the needs for the tests, the proper choice of shield box can be made. For many cases, the Ranatec RI 180 series of rack mount boxes is an excellent choice. They fit into standard 19 inch racks and have heights of 2U, 4U or 6U. They have a medium SE of 60 dB, which is sufficient for most measurement situations. They are also wonderfully practical to handle with their one hand open-and-close operation and lids that stay in their opened position.
Feedthrough Filters Pass Signals Into the Shield Boxes
The shield boxes are equipped with feedthrough filters to let signals in and out of the box, while suppressing unwanted leakage. This enables control and measurements of the DUT from PC’s and instruments outside of the box. The Ranatec feedthrough filters include provision for power supply, ethernet, fibre and five types of USB. The filters are market leading in their filtering performance and are also sold separately (even to competitor shield box vendors).
Custom RF Shield Boxes for Specialized Testing
Ranatec also supplies shield boxes for specialized needs, for example the big RI 189 1.2 x 0.7 x 0.6 meter box with improved frequency coverage and shielding effectiveness and the RI 198 Forensic Box. It is even possible to get a box customized to size and other needs. Feel free to contact us and we’ll be more than happy to help you out!
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