Introduction of a near field component level test and application to an automotive communication system

Future vehicles intend to drive autonomously, supposed to be shared between passengers and connected to other vehicles, as well as to the environment of the car. These technical challenges require a wide band communication, which leads to the necessity of the development of new in-car- communication-systems (e.g. Automotive Ethernet: 100BASE-T1, 1000BASE-T1, etc.). In order to add new functions to the car there is an increasing number of new communication systems, which need to be packed more densely inside the vehicle. Nevertheless, the short distance in addition with higher data rates lead to a more likely electromagnetic coupling between the electrical devices and systems. In order to safeguard such new technologies in terms of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), the car manufacturers usually perform component level tests before testing the integrated system in the real vehicle. New component level test setups need to be specified, which represent the coupling mechanism in the car by means of the component level test. This publication introduces a near field antenna (NFA) emission test, which is characterized via a vector network analyzer (VNA) and applied to a real communication system (Automotive Ethernet 100BASE-T1).