Component-Level Characterization for Vehicle-Level Electromagnetic Simulations

With the proliferation of high-speed electronics and wireless devices in today's automobiles, full-vehicle electromagnetic simulations are becoming an important part of the automotive design process. Full-vehicle simulations require complete and accurate models for the various electronic components found in the vehicle. Although automotive electronic components are currently subjected to a variety of electromagnetic measurements designed to ensure electromagnetic compatibility, existing measurement procedures do not yield sufficient information about the electromagnetic behavior of components to be useful in full-vehicle simulations. This paper outlines a set of tests designed to characterize automotive components as electromagnetic sources. Source models derived from these tests can be used in vehicle-level electromagnetic simulations. These simulations can then be used to help determine the best design and placement of wireless devices and other electronic components in the vehicle. They can also be used to identify potential electromagnetic compatibility problems and/or predict the outcome of full-vehicle electromagnetic compatibility tests. The proposed tests characterize components as four source types: conducted sources, electric-field sources, magnetic-field sources, and radiated field sources. High-, mid- and low-impedance load tests are proposed to derive Thevenin equivalent conducted sources. Hybrid TEM cell measurements are proposed to derive electric- and magnetic-field source models. Floor-mounted semi-anechoic chamber measurements are proposed to derive radiated field source models.