With continuing concern into the potential health effects of mobile wireless devices, not only to the head but other vital organs, the need for in-body measurements has increased.

The IXS-040 has been developed to make automatic SAR scans inside a MCL. liquid-filled head and torso phantom, in order to confirm SAR values modelled by computational methods.
The system can automatically position a calibrated isotropic SAR probe (3 or 5mm, depending on frequency) to specified x,y,z positions, the probe can then be moved to measure the volume average (either 1 or 10g) to give SAR values in W/kg.

Using modified software from the successful SARA2 Standards compliant SAR test system, test data can be processed into a report format in ‘Word’

The energy absorbed from a handset by the hand an important issue as it can distort the radiation pattern and cause considerable degradation of phone performance.

The IXB-060 hands have been modeled using mesh/polygon, spline NURBS surfaces, left and right hands are taken from the same model and are identical.

The IXB-060 L/R use a non aqueous formulation based on silicone rubber and carbon.

For the consistent testing of wireless devices in the presence of a simulated human head, the shape can have a large effect on the repeatability of results; this is why the SAM (Specific Anthropomorphic Mannequin) was developed. To enable equipment under test to be reproducibly positioned, the area around the ear has been marked with reference lines.

The new IXB-040 meets the exact extended dimensions of the CTIA Standard. A 20mm moulded ‘return’ allows a secure fixing of the base plate to allow for the additional stresses when in horizontal orientation. The phantom is supplied with a unique expansion plug and air bubble removal kit.

Indexsar's new IXP-030 immersible SAR probe reduces uncertainties in SAR testing at high frequencies.

It is fully isotropic with three E-field sensors interleaved in a triangular fashion. It has excellent sensitivity and a measurement volume of only 2% of a 1g averaging volume (an 8mm probe occupies as much as 40% of a 1g averaging volume).

Its small size gives it much better isotropy in the high field gradients that arise in testing WLAN products at frequencies of 2GHz and above.

A new matched-waveguide technique for validating SAR test systems for testing in the 5-6GHz band is now available from Indexsar. By using a matched waveguide instead of a dipole as a test source, measurements can be compared to computed reference values with less uncertainty than with other procedures.

Systems using Indexsar 5mm or 3mm probes can be validated to better than 15% using a waveguide source available from Indexsar.

Indexsar's new IXA-020 E-field probe amplifier takes measurements from 3- channel E-field probes (SAR probes and air probes) at up to 500 reading sets per second. All 3 channels are measured simultaneously. Bursts of readings can be triggered o demand and each separate reading is linearised prior to averaging. This ensures that true rms is evaluated and avoids the need for the modulation corrections needed with other measurement instrumentation. The amplifiers can be used with SAR probes from other vendors and are supported in all Indexsar systems.

With this option, other-vendors' E-field probes can be interfaced to Indexsar probe amplifiers using open-communication protocols. This allows for independent waveguide calibrations and for use in users' own SAR measurement apparatus.

This portable survey meter employs takes E-field measurements inside shaped mass of absorbing phantom material.

The instrument is calibrated to give an estimate of SAR when placed in contact with the radome of,say, a wall-mounted antenna to determine if the installation meets 'touch-safe' criteria. The meter has application for other tasks, where it is useful to gave measurement related to SAR.

Full SAR evaluations involving both 2D and 3D scans can be made in around 10 minutes using minimum scan parameters recommended in the standards if the new fast SAR probe amplifier is used. In addition, SARA3 software will implement one or more schemes for 'reconstructing' the 3D values needed without doing a full scan. Use of a reconstruction method (e.g. depth reconstruction) reduces SAR assessment times to around 2 minutes.

TNO Electronic Products & Services B.V., the Netherlands leading Approvals Test House and Notified Body, has recently set up a Wireless LAN Competence Centre. For their SAR capability they chose the Indexsar SARA2 SAR testing system with it’s new upgrade to 6GHz. Although SAR Standards are still in development for high frequency testing, products are on the market that require testing for SAR as part of their approval process. IndexSAR is involved in contributing to the relevant standard bodies and a number of innovations have been put forward and are being considered.

The SARA2 upgrade extends its measuring range to 6GHz using methods and techniques based on the existing standards which currently cover up to 3GHz. The upgrade has required a number of new developments to the existing compliant test system.
The upright geometry concept in SARA2 is retained and manageable volumes of phantom liquids are employed. Good EUT accessibility and manipulation has been kept. Even though Indexsar SAR probes are smaller than most at 5mm diameter, to improve performance in the frequency band 5–6GHz, post processing of results is facilitated using a new proprietary technology called ‘Virtual Probe Miniaturisation’ (VPM) developed by IndexSAR. This overcomes the problems of probe isotropy in near-field microwave measurements in strong field gradients, which is otherwise a serious issue at these higher frequencies. The 2.5-6GHz components can be installed as part of a new SARA2 fully-compliant test system or upgraded as a retrofit at a later date.