An evaluation of transmission performance for wireless harness systems using propagation models in an automobile engine compartment

In this paper, transmission performance for wireless harness systems is evaluated using propagation models which include pathloss and power delay profile in an automobile engine compartment. In the wireless harness system in vehicles, it is assumed that an electronic control unit has a wireless access point (AP) and each sensor has a wireless station terminal (ST). First, pathloss and power delay profile models are analyzed using measured propagation data of the scattering parameter in the Toyota Prius´s engine room which size is 0.9 × 1.2 × 0.6 m on condition that the vehicle´s engine is turned off. Second, performance results of channel capacity and throughput, where on-off keying based signals are transmitted between the AP and each ST, are evaluated using analyzed propagation models. Simulation results confirm that high channel capacity and throughput performance are satisfied when transmit power is less than 0 dBm in 2–3 GHz on condition that positions of AP´s antennas are fixed, positions of STs are uniformly set in the engine space, and wireless channels are quasi-static.