Certification is the process of testing radio hardware to demonstrate that it meets the stated regulations in the country that it will operate in.
A certification is needed generally when electronic hardware will be sold in a country, the certification requirements of that country must be met.
If you require changes in your certificated hardware that will affects your RF performance, then you need to re-certificate the device.
Most common regions and certification's institutes are (it applies for 2.4GHz & SubGHz):
FCC for USA
IC for Canada
ETSI (CE) for Europe
ARIB for Japan
Other countries generally follow FCC or ETSI standars.
The institute in charge of certifications depends on the region. It's the same institute to certificate your device in 2.4GHz or SubGHz in a certain region, the only difference are the articles of each institute to operate in the different frequencies.
For operating in the 2.4GHZ band (worldwide):
- In the U.S, CFR 47 FCC Part 15 203, 15.209 and 15.247
- In Canada, IC RSS-210 which closely follows FCC Part 15
- In EU, ETSI EN 300, 301
- In Japan, ARIB STD-T66
For SubGHz depends on the frequency you want to operate in.
Taking Japan as an example: In Japan you can operate in the 920MHz band or in the 400MHz band for SubGHz. For both frequencies, ARIB is the institute in charge of the certifications but to operate in the 400MHz band the article that you will need is the ARIB STD-T67, and to operate in the 920MHz you will need to certificate your hardware with ARIB STD-T108 article.
Freescale's MRB-KW019032 is certificated to operate in the following SubGHz ISM bands:
The firmware used to certificate our KW products is the Radio Utility or the Connectivity Test, it allows the user in changing some RF parameters needed to pass the certification process.
If you are thinking in certificate a product, contact an expert! There are Telecommunication Certification Body (TCB) companies which can give you guidance in the processes you need to follow to achieve a certification.
To know more about FCC certification requirements and processes, refer to the reference manual “Freescale IEEE 802.15.4 / ZigBee Node RF Evaluation and Test Guidelines” in the Freescale's website.
Best regards,
Burgos.
This document was generated from the following discussion: Certifications
