On the Meaning of Enclosure Shielding Effectiveness

This paper presents some thoughts on the meaning of shielding effectiveness (SE) for a real enclosure. It is demonstrated that the conventional measurement of SE is a value specific to the particular measurement and is not necessarily representative of the enclosure in any practical situation, including a different measurement. The SE of an enclosure depends both on the enclosure contents, including the measurement antenna and the effective transmission cross-section of the energy coupling mechanisms such as apertures, penetrations, seams and diffusion through walls.