Modeling and integration of automotive radiofrequency antennas for vehicle access systems

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Radiofrequency (RF) constraints in the automotive industry are particularly stringent and require the implementation of methodologies that cover the entire project development. The main difficulty in designing and integrating RF equipments is that final requirement is described according to the whole vehicle. Nevertheless, during the development phase of a new antenna, the vehicle is often unavailable, or practically does not exist yet. Furthermore, the acceleration in the development of vehicles allows less to wait for the final implementation in order to tune the product to its environment. So it becomes mandatory to use numerical tools adapted to those needs. This paper shows how 3D simulation can be applied to predict the radiation patterns of RF receivers in their operational environment.