Component/Module Level Automotive Emission Test Simulation: CISPR 25 Using Altair Feko
Altair EmployeeToday’s automotive vehicles are technologically more equipped and offer a lot more features than what they used to do in the past. However, all these new features that provide safety and comfort come with a cost; vehicles became a very complex collection of large variety of electronic systems. The complexity of these systems along with very short design cycles result in the concern of Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). It is very much desirable to predict any EMC issues in the early stages of development. In many cases, it is not possible to rely on the measurements to resolve complex EMC issues. Simulation is one of the most attractive and only solution to this dilemma, both in the aspects of cost and time effectiveness. A typical automobile can have as much as 30 antennas mounted both inside and outside of the vehicle, which are intended to serve different purposes. But electromagnetic emissions from different automotive systems can create Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), which will eventually cause an interruption in operation of on-board receivers. Many standards are developed for maintaining the quality of services of on-board receivers from EMI caused by on-board electronic/electrical systems. CISPR 25 standard was developed and established by EMC regulatory committee named CISPR (International Special Committee on Radio Interference) which is a part of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This is a general engineering standard practice for maintaining the quality of services of on-board receivers from conducted and radiated emissions in both component and vehicular level.
In this paper, a methodology of component/module level testing in a simulation environment is demonstrated through examples using 3D Computational Electromagnetic (CEM) tool, Altair Feko [3]. Using various features of Feko, a study has been conducted to explore the effect of different cable types used in a harness for both conducted and radiated emissions.