On the validity and statistical significance of HEMP test standards

Critical electronic devices, i.e. units whose operation is essential, must be able to work even when exposed to extreme electromagnetic signals, such as High Altitude Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulses (HEMP). As a consequence, field tests with HEMP simulators are mandatory. In this paper, several statistical approaches to assess the quality of HEMP field tests are presented and compared to the test protocol specified by a German standard [1]. The proposed schemes are based on acceptance sampling and confidence intervals and improve the significance of the derived conclusions. In addition, more advanced techniques are discussed.