What is the EN 300 328 Testing Standard?

The EN 300 328 standard targets equipment operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band that utilizes wideband digital transmission techniques, including common products such as 2.4G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee. Because there is a massive number of radio devices operating in this frequency band, the EN 300 328 standard provides specifications for such products to ensure that radio devices do not cause interference to each other or pose risks to human health. Furthermore, it establishes clearer requirements for the minimum performance of the radio receiving section in order to improve the utilization of the radio spectrum.

Main Test Items

1. RF Output Power:

Tests whether the transmission power of the device under different operating modes complies with the limits specified in the standard, ensuring that the device will not cause interference to surrounding wireless devices and the electromagnetic environment.

2. Power Spectral Density:

Reflects the power strength of the signal at different frequencies, which is especially suitable for the analysis of non-periodic or random signals.

3. Spurious Emission:

Tests the emissions on one or more frequencies outside the necessary bandwidth, the emission level of which can be reduced without affecting the transmission of the corresponding information. Spurious emissions include harmonic emissions, parasitic emissions, intermodulation products, and frequency conversion products, but exclude out-of-band emissions.

4. Occupied Bandwidth:

As a core parameter measuring the utilization efficiency of signal spectrum resources and the potential strength of spectrum interference, this refers to the frequency interval where the signal energy is concentrically distributed.

5. Receiver Sensitivity:

Tests whether the receiver sensitivity of the device meets the standard requirements, ensuring the device is capable of receiving signals from other surrounding devices.

6. Receiver Spurious Emissions:

Refers to the extra frequency components contained in the signal received by the receiver in a wireless communication system that do not belong to the target signal. These spurious signals may interfere with the normal operation of the receiver and affect signal demodulation and processing, thereby degrading system performance and reliability.

7. Adaptivity:

This test aims to determine the operational performance of the Equipment Under Test (EUT) when wireless inter-channel interference exists in the environment. During the test, the EUT needs to be subjected to the influence of different artificially introduced test signals based on varying operating states: 1. Interference signals; 2. Receiver blocking signals. While the EUT is subjected to these two types of signals, a spectrum analyzer must be used to monitor whether its performance within the operating frequency range remains normal, thereby determining whether the EUT complies with the operational requirements specified by the standard.

8. Receiver Blocking:

Receiver blocking is a measure of the capability of the equipment to receive a wanted signal on its operating channel without exceeding a given degradation due to the presence of an unwanted signal (blocking signal) at frequencies other than those of the operating band (as listed in standard tables).

Standard Application Basis

• ETSI EN 300 328: Applies to frequency-hopping or spread-spectrum products such as FHSS and DSSS.

• ETSI EN 300 440-2: Applies to Short Range Device (SRD) equipment operating within the 1 GHz to 40 GHz frequency range.

From a scope perspective, the products covered by EN 300 440-2 actually encompass those covered by EN 300 328. Therefore, when selecting the applicable standard for a 2.4 GHz product, you must primarily look at whether its modulation method is a frequency-hopping or spread-spectrum technique to determine which standard should ultimately be used.