Radio Equipment Directive Host Integration Testing Procedures and Technical File Assembly
CE module approvals do not cover host integration; host manufacturers must execute physical delta testing and compile a full RED Technical File.
SAR Evaluation EN 50566
Meaning
An international technical conformity standard specifies assessment methods for determining human electromagnetic energy absorption from wireless communication devices operated in close proximity to the body. Harmonized compliance with sar evaluation en 50566 requires measuring specific absorption rate values for handheld, body-worn and desktop transceivers operating in frequency bands between thirty megahertz and six gigahertz. Testing protocols simulate thermal energy absorption within human tissue using an anatomically contoured phantom shell filled with tissue-simulating dielectric liquid.
The standard applies to smartphones, wireless tablets, modular body trackers and handheld enterprise terminals, stopping where fixed wireless infrastructure located far from users falls under external field strength regulations.
Separation Distance
Compliance guidelines define explicit physical test separation distances between transmitting devices and the phantom boundary. Handheld devices intended for limb proximity undergo contact testing directly against flat phantom surfaces, whereas trunk-worn equipment is evaluated at specified manufacturer distances, typically zero to fifteen millimeters. In sar evaluation en 50566, technicians manipulate support jigs to position device housings against the liquid container, ensuring internal antennas assume worst-case exposure geometry.
Reducing separation distance dramatically escalates measured local absorption, demanding strict consistency during physical jig alignment.
Exposure Evaluation
Automated miniature electric field probes measure spatial energy distribution inside the tissue-mimicking fluid. Robotic arms position isotropic probes across a designated three-dimensional grid above the internal antenna, recording local electric field gradients. Baseband software integrates probe measurements over a defined mass of ten grams of contiguous tissue, calculating peak spatial-average absorption rates expressed in watts per kilogram.
Transmitters are forced into maximum continuous output power modes via cellular base station emulators to assess worst-case thermal energy absorption profiles.
Laboratory Verification
Compliance dossiers submitted to certification bodies mandate complete laboratory test reports issued by accredited testing agencies. Test documentation records fluid dielectric permittivity, electrical conductivity and ambient laboratory temperature during the scanning sequence. Drift measurements capture battery voltage droop across lengthy robotic scans to ensure RF power output remains stable from the first grid point to the last.
The resulting SAR evaluation values must remain below regulatory thresholds, including the European two watts per kilogram limit for head and torso exposure, before consumer distribution authorizations can be issued.