Simulation for Antenna Design and Placement in Vehicles

Abstract

A typical high-end car today has AM, FM, DAB and GSM satellite radio, tire-pressure monitoring (TPM), passive entry passive start (PEPS), in-vehicle TV, GPS navigation, Bluetooth, electronic toll collection, and multiple radar systems (e.g. collision avoidance, parking assistance, adaptive cruise control). Next generation vehicles will add LTE, Wi-Fi and additional systems for automated driver assistance. Specialized vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) adhoc communication networks are currently some of the most popular fields of research for efficient car information systems. The implication is that engineers have to place an ever-increasing number of wireless systems, each one with its own dedicated antenna(s), in relatively close proximity on the same vehicle. Simulation is an important tool for the design of the antennas, but also for making decisions about how to integrate a large range of antennas in and on the vehicle while ensuring that they function correctly and coexist in a compliant way. This talk will discuss the state of the art in how simulation is being used by engineers to make these challenging tasks easier.