Automotive

Analysis of radiation hazards from vehicle mounted communication antennas

Electromagnetic simulation in the automotive industry is very important, as communication demands in the industry become more varied and complex. Keyless entry systems, engine ignition systems, Bluetooth integration of mobile phones with vehicle audio systems, GPS receiving antennas, proximity radars, AM-FM and TV antennas integrated into windscreens and complex cable paths with minimum interference are just some of the requirements that leading vehicle designers have to satisfy. A wide frequency spectrum is involved.

Typical applications of FEKO in the automotive industry include:

• Antenna placement analysis and optimisation for GPS receivers, GSM transceivers and collision avoidance radars.
• Rigorous analysis of integrated, multilayer glass windscreen antennas.
  
• EMC analysis for arbitrary cable bundles and cable paths in a vehicle, minimising crosstalk or communication interference between different cables.
• Radiation hazard analysis to ensure occupant safety with regards to harmful radiation.

Near-field and radiation pattern analysis of integrated windscreen antenna

Key FEKO features to address these problems include:

• The Multilevel Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) which enables simulation of electrically large structures
• Hybridisation of the Method of Moments (MoM) with the Finite Element Method (FEM) for radiation safety analysis or the analysis of the effect that vehicle occupants have on RF signals
• Windscreen antenna modelling method which requires that only the antenna elements are meshed, while accurately modelling all layers of glass, as well as the curvature and finite size of the windscreen
  
• Cable coupling analysis for several predefined cable geometries along arbitrary cable paths
• An interface to dedicated cable modelling software (either CableMod or CRIPTE) allows for the analysis of complex cable bundles along arbitrary cable paths

Integration of CB radio into truck side mirrors