Knowledge of the electromagnetic environment that exists at locations where electrical and
electronic equipment and systems are intended to be operated is an essential precondition in
the process of achieving electromagnetic compatibility. This knowledge can be obtained by
various approaches, including a site survey of an intended location, the technical assessment
of the equipment and system as well as the general literature.
This part of IEC 61000
– introduces the concept of disturbance degrees and defines these for each
electromagnetic phenomena,
– classifies into various location classes and describes them by means of attributes,
– provides background information on the different electromagnetic phenomena that may
exist within the environment and
– compiles tables of compatibility levels for electromagnetic phenomena that are
considered to be relevant for those location classes.
This part of IEC 61000 is intended for guidance for those who are in charge of considering
and developing immunity requirements. It also gives basic guidance for the selection of
immunity levels. The data are applicable to any item of electrical or electronic equipment,
sub-system or system that operates in one of the locations as considered in this Technical
Report.
NOTE 1 It should be noted that immunity requirements and immunity levels determined for items of equipment
which are intended to be used at a certain location class are not inevitably bound to the electromagnetic
environment present at the location, but also to requirements of the equipment itself and the application in which it
is used (e.g. when taking into account requirements regarding availability, reliability or safety). These could lead to
more stringent requirements with respect to immunity levels or with respect to applicable performance criteria.
These levels may also be established for more general purposes such as in generic and product standards, taking
into account statistical and economic aspects as well as common experience in certain application fields.
NOTE 2 Electromagnetic phenomena in general show a broad range of parameters and characteristics and hence
cannot be related one-to-one to standardized immunity tests which basically reflect the impact of electromagnetic
phenomena by a well described test set-up. Nonetheless, this report follows an approach to correlate
electromagnetic phenomena and standardized immunity tests up to a certain extent. This might allow users of this
report to partly take into account standardized immunity tests such as given for example in the IEC 61000-4 series,
when specifying immunity requirements.
The descriptions of electromagnetic environments in this report are predominantly generic
ones, taking into account the characteristics of the location classes under consideration.
Hence, it should be kept in mind that there might be locations for which a more specific
description is required in order to conclude on immunity requirements applicable for those
specific locations.
Required fields are indicated with *
