New Challenges in EMC for Microwave Absorbers

(Top News, 16 Jul 2008)

By Stephen Las Marias, Editor


In an interview with Wireless Design and Development Asia, Dr. August Timmerman, General Manager of Emerson and Cuming Microwave Products Hong Kong Ltd, discusses the latest trends in the microwave space, and how his company is addressing these challenges. Excerpts:

Please tell us briefly about your company and its business.
Emerson & Cuming Microwave Products was founded in 1948 in the United States. The company was acquired in 1976 by W.R. Grace and Co., an American chemical company. After 30 years, Grace divested the business and Emerson and Cuming Microwave Products became a Belgian private owned company.

In 2005, the company was acquired by a Belgian investment group. The original sites in Belgium and in the United States are still in operation. In 2006 a sales office was established in Hong Kong.

We are involved in microwave materials—materials which can control electromagnetic radiation in the frequency range between 30MHz and 100GHz. Our product lines are absorbers, shielding materials and low-loss dielectrics. We have two types of product in the absorber line, which are the anechoic chamber absorbers—used to line anechoic chambers; and microwave absorbers, which are used in telecom equipment, in military applications or in consumer electronics, mainly to suppress radiation or interferences between components.

We know EMI, and the harm it does in electronics systems. But what does "compatibility" means in EMC?
Electromagnetic compatibility [EMC] is the branch of electrical sciences which studies the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy with reference to the unwanted effects (electromagnetic interference) that such energy may induce. The goal of EMC is the correct operation of different equipment which use electromagnetic phenomena, and the avoidance of any interference effects with other devices.

What major developments have occurred in the microwave space that has driven the need for EMC and your products?
As a matter of fact in all new developments in the electronic industry engineers are confronted with EMC. Many of our products can help in avoiding EMC problems.

One of the most recent developments in the electronic industry, which is interesting for our products, is the development of wireless devices in cars. Especially in Europe, it is a very interesting market segment. Basically, these systems are now being developed/used by every car manufacturer. These devices help car drivers to drive safely.

Car radars, for instance, will more or less "steer" the car and provide information on the areas around the car, i.e., whether the car in front is reducing speed or not, as well as other vehicles around the car. That is a very good opportunity and since the frequencies which are involved are at the higher end of the spectrum, it's perfectly suited to the types of products that we manufacture.

Another very interesting development is in the RFID segment, wherein there is a problem with tags that are to be attached on metals. The metals interfere with the tags, rendering them to work improperly. We have products that can isolate these tags from the metals.

What do you think are the most important challenges facing the EMC industry in the next 18 months, and what strategies are being put up by Emerson & Cuming to address these challenges?
There are actually different challenges, but looking to our products there is a very interesting challenge in the anechoic chamber segment. This challenge is due to the recent revision of an international standard (CISPR 16-1-4). This standard features testing at higher frequency range (up to 18GHz), whereas originally the standards focused on measurements to be made between 30MHz and 1GHz. This means that chambers, which were conceived to work properly between 30MHz and 1GHz, will need some changes to comply with this new extension of the standard. This is also the case with new chambers. Our products already comply with the new regulation, so we have an advantage here.

That is one of the new developments in the EMC market, which is important for our company.

How important is Asia in your business plans? Please give some light on the company's business activities planned in Asia this year.
The most rapidly growing market in our business is the Asian market. There are two reasons for this:
1. A lot of U.S. and European companies, Western companies if I may say, do shift their manufacturing business into Asia—in particular: China, India and Malaysia.
2. The local OEMs in Asia are currently also developing products

So it is very important for a company such as Emerson & Cuming to be on top of these new developments in Asia. And we have the materials that could fit into the progress happening here in Asia.

We continue to work with our network of agents and distributors in all main Asian countries. We are also in the process of setting up our own office in India.

How do you see the opportunities in the India market?
One important thing in India is that the anechoic chamber market is huge because of the network roll-outs and the number of labs for testing—so it is quite a growing market right now.

Also India, with its huge population, has a very high potential. The country is developing its own OEMs, who are developing technologies that are comparable and competitive to U.S. or European technologies.

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