IEC 61260-1:2014 specifies performance requirements for analogue, sampled-data, and digital implementations of band-pass filters. The extent of the pass-band region of a filter's relative attenuation characteristic is a constant percentage of the exact mid-band frequency for all filters of a given bandwidth. An instrument conforming to the requirements of this standard may contain any number of contiguous band-pass filters covering any desired frequency range. Performance requirements are provided for two filter classes: class 1 and class 2. In general, specifications for class 1 and class 2 filters have the same design goals and differ mainly in the acceptance limits and the range of operational temperature. Acceptance limits for class 2 are greater than, or equal to, those for class 1. Maximum-permitted expanded uncertainties of measurement are also specified. Band-pass filters conforming to the performance requirements of this standard may be part of various measurement systems or may be an integral component of a specific instrument such as a spectrum analyser. This standard specifies the ranges of environmental conditions for operation of the filters. The required range depends on whether the instrument containing the filters is designed to be operated in a controlled environment or more generally in the field. Band-pass filters conforming to the requirements of this standard are capable of providing frequency-band-filtered spectral information for a wide variety of signals, for example, time-varying, intermittent or steady; broadband or discrete frequency; and long or short durations. This first edition of IEC 61260-1, future IEC 61260-2 and future IEC 61260-3, cancel and replace the first edition of IEC 61260 (1995) and its amendment 1 (2001). This edition constitutes a technical revision which includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the IEC 61260 (1995) and its amendment 1 (2001):
- the single document in the first edition of IEC 61260 (1995) and its amendment 1 (2001) is in IEC 61260 series separated into the three parts covering: specifications, pattern evaluation tests and periodic tests;
- the performance category class 0 is removed;
- the design goals for the specification can be based only base-10;
- the reference environmental conditions have been changed from 20 °C / 65 % RH to 23 °C / 50 % RH; and
- IEC 61260 (1995) specified tolerance limits without considering the uncertainty of measurement for verification of the specifications. IEC 61260 series specifies acceptance limits for the observed values and maximum-permitted uncertainty of measurements for laboratories testing conformance to specifications in the standard.