EN 300 328 v1.8.1

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Félix_T
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From the ACS website

"I’ve heard that WI-FI can’t meet the requirements of V1.8.1. Is it true, and what is it about WI-FI that causes this?

If you’ve read through the IEEE 802.11 standard, you will see that it includes mechanisms for medium access control or spectrum sharing. Chip manufacturers haven’t implemented that function in the firmware. In order to meet the conformance requirements of V1.8.1, non-adaptive equipment with RF power output of 10mW e.i.r.p. or greater must conform to the medium utilization requirements. But based on the high duty cycle of 802.11, the medium utilization requirement can’t be met. So without adaptivity, 802.11 devices must limit power to less than 10mW e.i.r.p, and for most manufacturers, that’s unacceptable."


Can anyone from Broadcom comment on whether or not BCM43362 (wiced 2.4) and BCM43341 (wiced 3.1.2) will pass the new EN 300 328 standard?  We are currently in testing and are having problems figuring out if we can even pass the test or if it's futile.

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Félix_T
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Bump.  We need input from Broadcom about BCM43362 and BCM43341 meeting the EN 300 328 standard.

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MichaelF_56
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On the Wi-Fi side, Broadcom makes chips and Eval Boards that leverage those chips.

Our partners provide the certification and regulatory within the modules they sell into production designs.

You would need to first select a partner module, then contact them regarding specific regulatory requirements.

A list of module partners is located here: Modules and Development

Your local Distributors can help you with the selection process.

david_armour

dickb als@inventeksys.com ndutton jasonrc

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We will ask our supplier for more information, but the problem is that WICED (firmware image on the WIFI chip) dictates some of the PHY behavior (i.e. support for 40MHz wide channels and so on).

So we don't know if WICED changes things like CCA evaluation time, or if the BCM chips only do CCA for bluetooth and 802.11 or if they do CCA for any interference in the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

It's nice to say that we should talk to the "partner" for information, but he behavior of the chip is defined by the WICED firmware image.

I'm sure the BCM 43362 and BCM43341 can both pass the new EN 300 328 standards (otherwise broadcom as a company could no longer sell any devices in Europe), but we want to know if we can expect to pass those standards while using those chips with WICED, since right now we are having a really hard time. (thing like CCA evaluation period is not quite meeting the 20us period)

Maybe you can recommend a test house  where you know that these things pass?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Broadcom undertook a substantial test effort during 2014 to ensure that all current wlan chipsets, including BCM43362, were fully compliant with the EN300328 v1.8.1 regulations that came into force at the start of this year.

Please contact your prefered module partner here for further details of the compliance certificates for the specific module you plan to use.

Regards

Dave

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Apparently we are not allowed to use the certification of the module partner as certification for our device.

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Anonymous
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thats not true. can i suggest you call in to our office and maybe i can help you here?

408 402 8160 x101

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Were going to contact our supplier to get their certification and maybe that will allow us to not have to redo all of the FCC/EN testing.

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Anonymous
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All please note - ACKme modules have exceeded the v1.8.1 spec. ACKme modules meet the 1.9.1 spec.

https://ack.me

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello,

We are currently in testing for EN 300 328, and we have a problem in the adaptivity test. Our tests are conducted in an external test house. They say that

"This test was negative. The device is too insensitive and doesn´t fulfill the limit.

We have a second chance. A device may also be non-adaptive, it has then to fulfill the limits for duty cycle and medium utilization.

We have also the possibility according to the standard, that the supplier may declare the duty cycle.

We need the duty cycle for modulation b,g,and n." .

So, I need to declare the duty cycle for modulation b,g,and n for BCM43362. In the datasheet, I could not find such an information.


If you could provide this information, I would be very grateful.

With best regards,

Mert.

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Anonymous
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Hello Mert,

We undertook a very extensive program of testing and firmware updates across the entire Broadcom wlan product offering last year to ensure that all parts were compliant with the updated EN300328 v1.8.1 that was effective on 1st January 2015.   SDK3.1.0 contains all the updates for compliance with the Regulatory requirements.

You mention both 43362 and 43341 in the earlier question.  Can you please clarify which Broadcom WLAN chipset and SDK version you are currently using where the failure is reported.

Regards

Dave

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Anonymous
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Hello David,


Tests are being conducted on the SDK 2.4.1 and the 43362. Our module is USI09.


Normally, we have recently moved our application to the SDK 3.1.0 with the same nvram_file of the SDK 2.4.1. Therefore, if we pass the test with the SDK 2.4.1, we also expect that the SDK 3.1.0 is OK for EN 300328 because we use the same nvram_file with the SDK 2.4.1. It is a valid expectation, isn't it?


Thanks. 

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Anonymous
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Hi Mert,

If you are using SDK2.4.1 then it is not possible to pass the adaptive tests as part of EN300328 v1.8.1.

As part of passing the new requirements (v1.8.1) It was necessary for us to update both the nvram file and the wlan firmware and these updated files are available in SDK 3.1.0. Please ensure you are using the correct versions as provided in the SDK3.1.0 package otherwise the tests will continue to fail.

Regards
Dave

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi,

Thanks for this crucial information.

We use BCM9WCDUSI09. Normally, there aren't platform files for USI-09 module in the default SDK 3.1.0 package. As the platform files of USI-09 module, we used the platform files here: BCM9WCDUSI09 Platform Files for SDK-3.x .

In this case, we encountered a serious problem explained in this discussion: Re: SDK 2.4.1 and SDK 3.1.2 scan result is different . Because of this problem, we observed a critical performance degradation in scanning networks and connecting to networks. To handle the problem, we directly copied from "wifi_nvram_image.h"  of the SDK 2.4.1 to the SDK 3.1.0.

When we use the SDK 3.1.0 with the "wifi_nvram_image.h" of the SDK 2.4.1, can we pass the adaptivity tests as part of EN300328 v1.8.1? If we can't pass with this configuration and we must also update "wifi_nvram_image.h", how can we solve the performance degradation problem in scanning networks in the case of the new "wifi_nvram_image.h"?


Best regards,

Anonymous
Not applicable


Hi Mert,

I have read the thread  refered to and it seems we could not replicate the issue with the scanning that you reported. 

For the adaptivity tests, the only change to the nvram file that was needed was the addition of the two parameters-

          "edonthd=-70"                                                        "\x00"

         "edoffthd=-76"                                                      "\x00"

Unfortunately, we no longer include platform files for the USI09 module sinceSDK 3.0.1 so you will need to import  import these parameters into a working platform file for your project.    However, you will need the update wlan firmware as this includes changes to address the adaptivity updates, hence the advise to use 3.1.0 or later.

Regards

Dave

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi Dave,

I got the point. We will continue with the SDK 3.1.0 and I add the two paramters to the nvram file for the adaptivity requirement.

I have just one final question about the regulation. According to EN300328 v1.8.1, the equipment may be adaptive or non-adaptive (the supplier shall declare whether the equipment is adaptive equipment or non-adaptive equipment). As I understood, if we could continue with the SDK 2.4.1 and we declared that our equipment is non-adaptive, we needed to declare the duty cycles and medium utilization values for modulation b,g,and n. What are these values?  


Thank you very much for your helps.

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Anonymous
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Hi Mert,

You are indeed correct, EN300328 does allow products to be classed as adaptive or non-adaptive and the test procedure is applied differently for these two groups.

802.11 WLAN devices are adaptive, load based radios as per the en300328 v1.1.1 definitions ie they must sense when the channel is unoccupied before transmitting.

Classifying your product as non-adaptive would require the use of a very small duty cycle for transmission opportunities and would not be capable of supporting the 802.11 protocol.

The WICED solutions have all passed these regulations and are shipping in a large number of different products.  Please follow the recommendations and we will continue to help you through the regulatory process.

Regards

Dave

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DiBa_1995216
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Inventek modules based on the BCM43362 are already certified to EN300 328 v1.8.1.

ISM43362-M3G-L44-E and -U for external antenna.

Modules based on the BCM43341 are being certified now for completion in August.

ISM43340-M4G-L44-C or -U and ISM43341-M4G-L44-C or -U

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