Modeling Platform Level Electromagnetic Compatibility Performance Based on Component Level Testing

The problem under investigation is one that has plagued electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) engineers for decades. Each component that will be integrated onto a larger platform is asked to prove its radiated emissions/radiated susceptibility performance via the MIL-STD-461 RE102 or similar test method. This test measures electric field strength in dBµV/m over a broad frequency range and compares those measurements to a limit determined by the program. These field strengths are measured at 1 m distance with the unit under test (UUT) in a single orientation. Each frequency measurement yields two data points, one with the measurement antenna in the horizontal orientation and one with it in the vertical orientation. From these two data points, program engineers are expected to make a judgement as to the suitability of the UUT to be integrated onto the larger platform. When a UUT is fully compliant to the assigned limits, this is straightforward. However when a non-compliance is observed, it falls to the program engineers to make a judgement call: is the UUT suitable for waiving the requirement and being integrated onto the platform, or should it be sent back for costly and schedule-delaying rework? To date, these judgements are usually made based on the experience of the engineers making the decisions, without recourse to rigorous analytical tools. The Phase I effort showed proof-of-concept success at taking RE102 measurement data, creating a scaled isotropic radiating element to match the data, then importing it into an enclosure to predict performance in a larger installation. Performance of the algorithm was validated against measurements taken by the university partner, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Phase II effort will expand the algorithm and validations to tackle more complex installations, as well as developing a GUI and workflow within the simulation software EMA3D to allow for a more streamlined implementation. It will expand the same concept from radiated emissions to radiated susceptibility. In addition it will look at taking a slightly different set of measurements that capture phase information, to see if that would allow for the creation of a more accurate near-field source that could be imported into different software packages.