Confidence Level of High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse Field Tests

Abstract

High-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) field tests are conducted in the working volume of HEMP simulators to verify the hardness or HEMP survivability of the systems under test. For HEMP field tests, enough confidence should be provided through certain specific test designs. In this paper, the confidence probability of HEMP field tests is defined through a statistical analysis. Based on this definition, the confidence level of the tests is proposed to address the problem that the probability of a failure or significant upset is unknown. The relation between the number of repeated illuminations in one test status and confidence level is provided after analysis. By balancing cost and confidence level, an appropriate number of the repeated illuminations for each test status can be obtained. The comparison with the definition in another article is also made.