A bulk current injection probe (BCI probe) is a vital piece of equipment in cable bundle conducted immunity testing. The bulk current injection test, or BCI test, is a key aspect of EMC testing.
In this test, the BCI probe injects a transient signal or radio frequency (RF) current into cables connected to the equipment under test (EUT). With these electrical phenomena, engineers can assess whether the equipment is immune (also called susceptible) to conducted electromagnetic energy. Standards involving the BCI test are
MIL-STD-461G,
RTCA/DO-160 Section 22, and
IEC 61000-4-6. More are included in the table below.
The primary purpose of using a BCI probe is for testing cable bundles and the equipment interconnected for electromagnetic compatibility. This device has a clamp-on feature, providing ease of use for certain applications that require this equipment. The probe not only offers easy access for EMC testing but offers a wide range of sizes to fit a variety of circuits and cables.
There are many different tools when performing conducted susceptibility testing, including a
coupling-decoupling network (CDN). However, a CDN is primarily used for commercial and automotive testing, while bulk current injection tests are for radio frequency. The BCI probe performs RF sweep testing to meet commercial standards like
IEC 61000-4-6, and it also tests for many of these military and aeronautics standards: