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MEI fax COST Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of a European Concerted Research Action designated as COST Action Title “Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) in Diffused Communication Systems” The Signatories of this Memorandum of Understanding, declaring their common intention to participate in the Concerted Action referred to above and described in the Technical Annex to the Memorandum, have reached the following understanding: 1. The Action will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the document COST/400/94 "Rules and Procedures for Implementing COST Actions", the contents of which the Signatories are fully aware of. 2. The main objectives of the action are to co-ordinate and advance European research into this complex aspect of EMC with a view to facilitating solutions to the electromagnetic interference problems posed by the proliferation of electronic communications, and information processing systems. 3. To this end, a co-operative effort involving universities as well as telecommunication R&D establishments and industries is required. 4. The overall cost of the activities carried out under the Action has been estimated, based on information available during the planning of the Action, at 48M? at 2001 prices. 5. The Memorandum of Understanding will take effect on being signed by at least five Signatories. 6. The Memorandum of Understanding will remain in force for a period of four years, unless the duration of the Action is modified according to the provisions of Chapter 6 of the document referred to in Point 1 above. TECHNICAL ANNEX COST Action “EMC in Diffused Communications Systems” A. B ACKGROUND The European Union EMC Directive on EMC (89/336/EEC Council Directive „On approximation of laws of Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility? OJ No 139 25 May „89, pp 19-26) has focused considerable attention on achieving EMC in electronic products. The Directive came into force in January 1996 after a four-year delay caused mainly by the lack of suitable measurement standards being in place. Without these standards the essential requirements of the Directive could not be guaranteed. During this period, a substantial body of work has been accomplished and standards and design techniques to achieve EMC have reached a level of maturity. New work continues in all areas of EMC due to the ongoing development of new electronic systems and performance enhancements to existing systems. The major elements resulting in new EMC problems are twofold. The first is related to developments in the technologies used, in particular the increase in on-chip clock speeds and the commensurate increase in data bus speed. It is also generating interference at higher and higher frequencies. This is allied with decreases in the supply voltages in logic devices. The technology is operating at lower power levels and is thus more susceptible to external interference. The second is related to the developments in information systems resulting in the use of digital transmission standards for much of our communications. In analogue communications systems the presence of interference is usually apparent. A digital communications system will suffer from interference but will have error detection and correction software that will cope with modest levels of disruption. Significant interference events result in temporary stoppages in service or reduction in data rates. It is not apparent that the cause is interference. Communications systems are becoming ever more complex. Three trends can be identified. The first is that information is handled digitally and that there is a synthesis of coding and modulation techniques resulting in enhancements to data transmission rates within limited bandwidths. This is true for both line as well as radio systems where high data rate transmission over the telephone system (ADSL, VDSL etc.) is straining the capabilities of the line systems to transmit the data and to cope with EMC problems. The second is that there is a move to radio based systems not only for broadcast, trunk and wide-area networks (cellular systems) but also for local area networks (micro-cellular systems) and for desktop or personal networks (pico-cellular systems). Frequencies in use for digital data transmission by radio range from 174MHz for digital audio broadcast (DAB) in the UK and some other countries through microwave systems such as the Bluetooth short range data transmission system at 2.4GHz on to millimetre wave systems used for 'last mile' networks in urban areas. Radio based systems are also proposed for use in large machinery to avoid complex wiring looms. The interference environment in this application is also complex and severe. The third trend is the use of the low voltage distribution network for data transmission, the so-called “Power Line Communication (PLC)” system. The main EMC problems connected to this new technique are the level of conducted disturbance in the network at the ports of the equipment and the level of disturbances radiated by the installations. The radiated disturbances can have an effect on various existing radio services as the same frequency band is used by this technique. Both measurement methods and measurement results pertaining to the power network are needed. For the moment, these problems are in discussion in different standardisation bodies like CENELEC, ETSI and CISPR, but lack of measurements of various parameters and of models to perform simulations is evident. In 2001, The European Commission has given a mandate (Mandate 313 from August 7, 2001) to CENELEC and ETSI to develop standards in this field. Input to these bodies is today badly needed. The proposed COST Action identifies the concept of a diffused communications system encompassing all the elements mentioned above. The diffused communications system is all pervasive in our lives and the majority of citizens would not readily recognise its existence. The quality of the service it will be able to eventually provide for all will, in part, be determined by the inevitable EMC problems that will need to be addressed. Further afield, new a EMC framework for Australia has been developed and the Japanese and United States administrations are moving in parallel directions to that of the European Union for EMC legislation. There is clearly a need to encourage research and its co-ordination in this area. This COST action would facilitate this. The electromagnetic spectrum which intended signals and unintended interference occupies is a natural resource of finite size. It is an unusual resource in as much as it can be fully utilised but is not consumed. When the utilisation ceases it is still there undiminished in quantity or quality. In many urban societies the utilisation is approaching saturation and any excess electromagnetic interference is a form of pollution which can have an immediate effect on our day to day lives. Although the pollution disappears when the interfering device is turned off, it is still significant when present, and in certain circumstances may be life threatening. Interference with safety equipment or emergency communications are examples of this situation. Thus, the Action will have a significant environmental impact and promises, in its own way, to enhance our quality of life. B. O BJECTIVES AND BENEFITS Electronic systems falling into the category of „diffused communications systems? are manufactured by many companies within the European Union. The principal objectives of this action are to encourage and co-ordinate research into the means by which the EMC performance of such systems can be ensured at the design stage and assessed during the prototype and manufacturing phases of the systems lifetime. The research will include both practical hardware aspects and numerical modelling. These principal objectives will be achieved as follows and the success of the Action will be judged on the outcomes of the activities listed below. The Action will undertake a census of current activities in this area and will aim to facilitate both further research as required and collaboration in research. A report of the census will be published at the end of the first year. An update on the census and the resulting collaborations will be reported annually to the TCT. The final census data will be included in the final report. Research is required into the EMC aspects of these emerging communications technologies. Enhanced design, operation and assessment guidelines will be the research outcomes. The results of this work will be published as workshop proceedings and a précis will be part of the final report. The benefits of the Action will be as follows; Collaboration between research teams will benefit all concerned. As the research is concerned with many aspects of electronic engineering collaboration between research institutes is advantageous. New research collaborations are to be encouraged within the Action. The research will facilitate enhanced competitiveness of European manufacturers and operators of communications systems. If the Action is successful, further benefits will accrue to individual industrial concerns and consumers. The former will be able to install diffused communications systems with greater confidence. The latter will be able to operate such systems with fewer restrictions and disruptions. C. T ECHNICAL PROGRAMME C.1 Research and Development Activities The research and development activities of the Action will be concentrated into three areas as described below. Each will eventually be the focus of a working group. Working Group 1; The electromagnetic environment of the diffused communications system. The electromagnetic environment in which the diffused communications system operates is complex and dynamic. The EMC performance of the system is determined by the environment which requires characterisation from this viewpoint. On the other side, the communication networks can radiate fields in the environment. These fields must be known in order to estimate the possible disturbance level on other services and to check if they respect the limits adopted for health effects. Working Group 2; Coupling of sources to victims informing system integration. The coupling of the interference source/victim ensemble will be evaluated by numerical methods and measurements. The following aspects are of immediate interest. i) The susceptibility profiles of different modulation and coding schemes. ii) The susceptibility of digital systems to non-conventional radio threats such as ultra-wideband radio. iii) The description of emission and susceptibility aspects with reference to high density system integration and compatibility. Working Group 3; Derivation of suitable measurement and design techniques. Once the characteristics of the problem are known from the above, suitable measurement techniques can be evolved. The system design aspects will follow. There is also a specific need for near-field measurement techniques suited for PLC. It is envisaged that participants in the Action will have research activity in at least one of the above areas. The Action will facilitate interchange of information, ideas and researchers such that the research effort in each of the three areas identified above will be strengthened. The areas are listed in order of development flow from initial problem to its solution. The Action will also facilitate information flow along this path through the collaboration within the Action. C.2 Mode of Operation C.2.1 Workshops One of the tasks of the Management Committee following the initial establishment of the Action will be to organise a series of workshops initially on the themes of the three Working Groups in the order listed above. Eventually cross-group workshops will be organised to aid the information flow. At the planning stage it is not possible to identify the number timing or subject area(s) of the latter workshops as these will depend on yet to be established research synergies - one of the objectives of the Action. The Workshops will be timed to coincide with Management Committee meetings and may be associated with EMC Conferences in Europe. The workshops will be followed by published proceedings. The workshops will also act as a forum at which further collaboration and liaison technical visits will be arranged. C.2.2 Technical Visits Technical visits to facilities of interest to the Workshop attendees and Management Committee delegates will be arranged around the workshops where appropriate. C.2.3 Joint Technical Actions To enhance and enrich our existing research programmes contributing to the Action, the MC will encourage the development of "Joint Technical Actions" along the model used by COST261 EMC in Complex and Distributed Systems. The exact nature of the actions will be determined by the MC. They will be designed to maximise the participation by contributors to the COST Action and to encourage communication and contact beyond that arising from information exchange. (Such joint technical actions are minimal cost activities performed by contributors at their own expense which serve to focus our attention on activities and problems of common interest. The results are reported at sessions during the normal COST Workshops an at International Conferences. See Collaborative Experiments. An example joint technical action suited for the proposed COST Action is a "round robin" computational experiment simulating the interaction with a wired network of multiple mobile radio sources utilising spread spectrum modulation techniques) C.3 Final Report A final report will be issued at the end of the Action detailing the activities completed. The report will contain sections as follows; Introduction. Initial Activity Census Précis Working Group Reports Workshop Reports Activity Reports by Signatory Country. Financial Summary Conclusions and Achievements. The report will be issued in the participating countries. D. O RGANISATION AND TIMETABLE D.1 Organisation, Management and Responsibilities The Management Committee will be responsible for co-ordinating all the activity within the Action and will take advice from the Technical Committee Telecommunications (TCT) to achieve liaison between this and other COST projects. The Management Committee will meet every half year. The management Committee will comprise delegates from the signatory countries. The Management Committee will appoint Working Group Co-ordinators responsible for the activities of each group. The Co-ordinators will initiate information collection by firstly, with the help of the national delegates, holding a census of appropriate existing EMC research projects relevant to the Action. The Co-ordinators will then be responsible for the overall activity of each working group assisted at a national level by management committee delegates. The main means of research co-ordination and co-operation will be through workshops initiated by the Working Groups. From these, individual technical exchanges will be arranged. While the Management Committee will be kept informed about such exchanges as a means of monitoring the success of the Action, the Management Committee will not be primarily responsible for organisation of such exchanges. The Management Committee will encourage participation in European Union funded research themes through its liaison activities and through encouraging the establishment of Thematic Networks. Nationally funded research projects will also be encouraged by opening avenues for advice and information transfer. D.2 Timetable A timetable for the action is given in Appendix 1. The Management Committee meetings are shown every six months as are the initial Workshops associated with each Working Group. Further Workshops will be organised as the Action develops. The arrows indicate information flow, the three Working Groups being numbered in chronological order of their main activities. It is however envisaged that each working group will have some activity from the outset of its formation. E. ECONOMIC DIMENSION Estimated number of signatories: 10 Cost per signatory per year: 5 person/year: Engineer, Researcher 500,000 7 person/year: Technician 420,000 5 person/year: PhD, Student, Secretary 150,000 Equipment and material costs 50,000 Travel 10,000 1.1M? Total per signatory per year Economic dimension: Total over 4 years for all signatories 44M? + 10% overhead for running/operational costs 4M? Total cost to national funds 48M? EU overhead (over 4 years) 300K? 48M? Economic Dimension: The cost of individual participating states is based on Western European rates. It should be recognised that Eastern European rates are somewhat lower.