Factors determining test speed of automated EMI measurements

This paper describes the impact of different categories of factors on the overall test time of radiated EMI measurements. Throughput and efficiency, along with measurement accuracy and repeatability, are major concerns of EMI test facility operators today. Therefore various test methods, particularly in radiated EMI compliance measurements, are in use to reduce the test time. The difficulty of optimizing test throughput by minimizing time however lies in the variety of factors impacting the test time. Some of them are related to the equipment under test (EUT) itself, others related to the measurement system used and test procedure applied. For these reasons no one single approach of achieving utmost efficiency under all circumstances is available. Understanding the impact and the nature of time contributing factors allows an easier streamlining of each individual measurement, especially in case a dedicated application software is used