Initiated by ART-Fi in 2013, this standard is strongly supported from the very beginning by the industry because it answers important needs. Indeed, it was initiated based on the observation that IEC 62209-1 standard & 62209-2 standard SAR measurement systems are very slow, complex to use, expensive, not enough accurate and technology limited.

The latter is generating a lot of complexity in the daily life of end-users of such SAR measurement systems and is also generating a lot for work for laboratories and regulators to try to define methods that work around the limitations, such as test reduction procedures. It is important to notice that measurement systems complying with IEC 62209-1 & 62209-2 are slow and time-consuming. They have generated over the last 20 years a lot of complexity and shown limitations when measurement are performed at close proximity to the human Body. Recently in order to reduce the error of SAR measurement for DUT positioned at 5mm or at a lower distance, the IEC 62209-2 has been amended (see the IEC 62209-2:2010/ AMD1:2019), the procedure proposed in this amendment consist of reducing the step size during the zoom scan procedure, as a consequence the measurement duration is at least doubled, such as the test reduction procedures², hence putting emphasis on the importance of using new measurement methodologies to fully simplify the global certification process. Indeed, thanks to IEC 62209-3 standard there is no need any more to compromise the number of test configurations or to develop a formal worst case scenario identification procedure. Thus, all measurement configurations and positions can be performed tested in order to make sure the maximum SAR value is found, while saving more than 90% of time during the DUT certification process.

Based on the evolution of the wireless industry the quantity of tests to cover RF exposure aspects is exploding. To face this situation in an efficient manner, only fundamentally new technologies for experimental assessment of SAR are needed to fulfill the goal of achieving more accuracy with more speed, all by enabling future proof for new radio signals, new technologies and new transmission modes of wireless devices. This explains why IEC 62209-3 standard has included noticeably RF Vector Measurement Based Probe Array System to address all these challenges at the same time.

After several years of development, the IEC 62209-3 standard process poll for publication has been positively completed in 2019 and has been strongly supported by the national committees. This process has led to the publication of the IEC 62209-3 standard as an international one on September 24^th 2019, hence enabling the normative usage of latest RF Vector Measurement Based Probe Array test methodology for SAR compliance certification purposes. The New IEC 62209-3:2019 standard is available on the IEC webstore here.

Right after the publication of this international standard, Notified Bodies (NB) have started reviewing all technical evidences provided by ART-Fi and proving the full compliance of ART-MAN system with the requirement of the IEC 62209-3:2019. One of the first Notified Body accepting test reports for DUT compliance on ART-MAN system is PHOENIX TESTLAB, and their announcement is available here.

The European standard is available here.

In the US, the FCC recently announced during the last TCB workshop of November 2019, that they continued the review and the assessment of the validation requirements in the aim of authorizing the use of Vector Measurement Based Probe Array System for SAR compliance testing. FCC plans to continue the development of relevant KDBs to this end, and to achieve their publications in the coming months. The FCC presentation can be consulted from the TCB Council platform here.