IEEE N42.59-2024

This standard applies to security screening systems that utilize millimeter wave (MMW) radiation to actively inspect persons who are not inside vehicles, containers, or enclosures. The standard is applicable to systems used to detect concealed objects carried on the body of the individual being screened at a security checkpoint. This standard addresses monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic MMW systems. Walk-though systems can be tested using the standard. This document focuses on the imagery that is presented to an Automated Threat Recognition (ATR) algorithm, not the imagery presented to a human screener. This standard applies to systems that are primarily imaging but that also may have complementary functionality such as materials discrimination. This standard does not address how to test these complementary functions. The standard describes the tools, objectively-analyzed test methods, and image quality metrics for characterizing the imaging performance of the system but not for its operational performance. For the purposes of this standard, the test objects herein are appropriately applied to characterize systems that use radiation from 3 GHz to 150 GHz (100 mm to 2 mm wavelength). The standard is limited to tests related to image quality or functional factors that affect image quality. It does not, for example, include tests or requirements for electrical safety, or electromagnetic interference or immunity. This standard does not specify minimum or baseline performance requirements (pass-fail thresholds).

The primary purpose of this standard is to describe the tools and methods to measure the technical imaging performance of a particular millimeter wave screening system through its life cycle. These tools and methods were developed by subject matter experts to address aspects of image quality thought to be relevant to threat detection. In general, this standard is not intended as a methodology for comparing different types of systems against one another nor should technical performance be conflated with threat detection, although the two are related. One may also compare a particular system that has been certified for detection to systems produced subsequently that are functionally equivalent, e.g., the same vendor, model, and configuration of hardware, firmware, and software; or one may wish to determine that technical performance of a particular system has not changed with respect to changes in hardware, firmware, or software. Other use cases include guidance to vendors for gauging improvements during system development and the registration of technical performance at the time of certification by a regulatory body to ensure this performance is maintained through factory-acceptance testing, site-acceptance testing, fault testing, or operational-readiness testing.The image quality provided to the operator is not necessarily the same as that used by the automated analysis. For example, the data may be altered, for the purpose of reducing the resources required for rendering the image on the screen, before being presented to the operator. The data used in the automated analysis may also be altered in various ways that are appropriate for a given threat-recognition algorithm. The user of this standard may wish to separately assess the quality of the images presented to the system’s operator.

New IEEE Standard - Active. Established in this standard are test methods and test objects for measuring the imaging performance of active millimeter wave (MMW) radio frequency systems for security screening of humans. This standard applies to security screening systems that inspect people who are not inside vehicles, containers, or enclosures. Specifically, this standard applies to systems used to detect objects carried on the body of the individual being screened. The purpose of this standard is to provide standard test objects and methods of evaluating and reporting imaging quality characteristics. The quality of the data that is used for automated threat recognition is the primary concern.