Michael Dr. Mahler

Robert Bosch GmbH - Senior Expert for Corporate Technical Standardisation and Regulatory Affairs - Radio Frequency Affairs

Dr. Michael Mahler has been an active member of several ETSI groups since 2004 and has had a long standing and transformative impact on European radio standardisation through nearly 20 years of continuous leadership and technical contributions to ETSI TC ERM (EMC and Radio Spectrum Matters). He has played a central role in enabling innovative Ultra Wideband (UWB) and Short Range Device (SRD) technologies by providing the technical and regulatory foundations necessary for market access under European spectrum and equipment regulations. A key early impact of Dr. Mahler’s work was his leadership in developing the first ETSI reference documents defining technical characteristics for UWB based sensor devices operating between 2.2 and 8 GHz.

Dr. Michael Mahler has been an active member of several ETSI groups since 2004 and has held various roles during this time, including serving as a rapporteur for work items and holding official roles, e.g. as chair of ETSI TC ERM TGUWB.
Before joining ETSI, he earned his PhD on the topic of “Radar in cabin sensor applications in the automotive environment”, for example, to determine the driver status or the driver position.

His first engineering position at Robert Bosch Powertool GmbH and the development of UWB-technology-based wall scanning devices were the triggers for his work at ETSI. Regulatory uncertainty for putting into service and the lack of an ETSI standard (placing on the market) were the two reasons why Dr. Mahler assumed the rapporteur ship in 2004 for two highly innovative ETSI system reference documents. These served as a basis for technical information and for the preparation of an UWB compatibility study within CEPT/ECC with a view to the subsequent development of ETSI deliverables, i.e., harmonized European Standards (ENs). These documents describe, for the very first time, technical characteristics for SRD sensor devices utilising Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology for applications involving the analysis and classification of building materials, as well as object discrimination and characterisation, and operate in the frequency band from 2.2 GHz to 8 GHz.

In addition, Dr. Mahler drew on the scientific expertise he gained from his doctoral thesis, which focused on monitoring vital signs using in-vehicle radar applications, with the goal of enabling both respiratory and heart rate monitoring via a single UWB system operating below 10 GHz.

His early work on object detection, later material analysis and on vehicle-based applications for occupant safety or collision avoidance is well documented by numerous innovative contributions.

The previously mentioned documents are just two of the earliest examples of his valuable, innovative technical contributions. There are more than 50 subsequent harmonised European standards (ENs), Technical Reports (TRs) or Technical Specifications (TSs) for which Dr. Mahler served as rapporteur.

A more recent key topic was the development of a new concept to test receivers under the Radio Equipment Directive. This new concept on receiver interference handling is a testing concept that complements the traditional receiver parameters. To develop this new concept, he joined two ETSI-specific task forces (STF) and was involved in drafting the corresponding ETSI Technical Reports and Technical Specifications to describe it. This new receiver concept has been transferred into an ETSI EN and can now be used as a normative reference in several other ETSI harmonised standards for Short Range Device equipment across various ETSI groups.

Until now, Dr. Mahler has been actively involved in ETSI work for about 20 years, serving as a rapporteur and an active contributor. In his role as chair of the TGUWB, he leads the group with great dedication and fosters dialogue with the European Commission and the CEPT/ECC in a highly constructive and widely recognised manner.
Furthermore, he serves as chair of the ETSI working groups ERM TGSRR and as the ETSI liaison to the CEPT/ECC working group Spectrum Engineering (WGSE), where he has demonstrated his extensive experience as a technical expert for many years. He is also a strong driver of innovation, promoting and coordinating the necessary regulatory and standardisation activities at ETSI and CEPT/ECC that are essential for enabling future innovative applications.

Reference of the deliverables, Dr. Mahler’s contribution has made a direct impact on:

• ETSI TR 102 495-1 V1.1.1 (2006-01): “System Reference Document Part 1: Building material analysis and classification applications operating in the frequency band from 2,2 GHz to 8 GHz”.

• ETSI TR 102 495-2 V1.2.1 (2007-09): “System Reference Document; Part 2: Object Discrimination and Characterization (ODC) applications for power tool devices operating in the frequency band of 2,2 GHz to 8,5 GHz”.

• ETSI TS 103 361 V1.1.1 (2016-03): “Receiver technical requirements, parameters and measurement procedures to fulfil the requirements of the Directive 2014/53/EU”.

• ETSI TR 103 566 V1.1.1 (2018-10): “Evaluation status on receiver requirement on signal interferer handling”.

• ETSI TS 103 567 V1.1.1 (2019-09): “Requirements on signal interferer handling”.