Consultancy...

Consultancy : EMC Engineering

Give MIRA responsibility for your EMC engineering then you can concentrate on your product's features and functions.

With over 50 EMC engineers and technicians (between them they have more than 500 years of EMC testing and engineering) we are able to offer an unparalleled EMC design and problem resolution service. Combining this knowledge with Europe's largest suite of independent EMC test facilities are aim is to ensure product compliance, reliability and quality.

MIRA offers a full EMC engineering service:

	EMC design	We employ EMC best practice and electro-magnetic simulation to reduce risk. Other services include EMC audits with suggestions for improvements and potential cost reductions.
	Onsite support	For short or long term projects we can provide resident engineers at your premises to manage all of your EMC design and development requirements.
	PCB design for EMC	From design assistance to a complete PCB layout service.
	PCB prototyping	Full prototyping service including component population and functional/EMC performance assessments.
	OEM test plan generation	MIRA has experience of working to all major vehicle manufacturer specifications. (e.g. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, GM, etc)
	Enclosure design	With such a broad range of expertise to call on MIRA can design enclosures that not only meet your product's EMC needs but if necessary are robust in harsh environments, particularly in the military sector.
	System integration for EMC	Vehicle wiring harness layout and component placement for optimum EMC performance.
	Computational electromagnetic modeling	EM modeling can help identify risks, rank packaging options and assess the impact of occupants and optional vehicle features (e.g. sunroof) on the fields within and around the vehicle.
	Data analysis and validation
	Site surveys
	EMC testing	EMC emissions and immunity testing for all types of vehicle, electrical equipment and machines.
	EMC certification	As a competent body for EMC MIRA is ideally placed to save you time and money through the whole type approval process.
	Training courses	EMC training courses for vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers and aftermarket equipment suppliers and installers. Courses cover an introduction to EMC, process, certification, design and testing.

Full Service Supplier - Onsite Engineers

MIRA has placed fully-trained EMC engineers in the engineering centres of major OEMs since 1994. They enable us to provide a full service supply for EMC engineering ‘sign-off’, and more recently a software validation service. Our engineers have a wealth of experience gained from working with many different types of organisations. A co-located engineer will provide you with expert knowledge and excellent programme management skills. An engineer supplied by MIRA has ready access to the total engineering resource of MIRA EMC. This service is ideally suited to long-term vehicle programs or where continuity of engineering resource is essential. It allows you to take full advantage of the processes and procedures MIRA has developed for ensuring cost-effective ‘nil-risk’ EMC engineering programme ‘sign-off’ to corporate and legal requirements.

OEM Test Plan Generation

With MIRA’s thorough knowledge of EMC and its close ties with many vehicle manufacturers, we are able to offer a component EMC test plan generation service that can efficiently deliver an approved component test plan. We also have considerable experience of full vehicle level test plan generation for vehicle approvals.

Although there is increased demand for the functions and features provided by the electronic systems detailed above, there is also considerable pressure to reduce the weight and cost of the vehicle. Reducing the number of cables and the power demands of electrical systems can contribute to these goals significantly.

Secure and Confidential Service

Our vehicle RF semi-anechoic chamber is capable of performing all mandatory vehicle level EMC tests, so vehicle movements on the MIRA site can be kept to a minimum. Vehicles can be off-loaded straight into the test chamber thereby maintaining our strict regime of security and confidentiality.

Electromagnetic modeling

Electromagnetic modeling (computational electromagnetics) can be used in support of automotive EMC and antenna engineering activities. The prediction of functional EMC performance is not practicable at present as much of the information that is required to do this is not currently available. However, geometrical models of vehicles are now routinely available, allowing whole vehicle electromagnetic models to be used for applications including:

Ranking harness placement options
Assessing installed performance for antennas
Defining best practice grounding schemes for emissions and immunity
Analysis of audio interference issues
Design of decoupling schemes, taking installation into account
Signal integrity studies
Development of harness routing guidelines.

Recent projects include assessment of optimal electronic module location and harness routing for a vehicle manufacturer.

Field exposure analysis

Current and future guidelines and legislation require assessment of human exposure to electromagnetic fields. MIRA is able to calculate predicted fields in an empty vehicle and assess against international guidelines. If the fields are outside the international guidelines then models of occupants are introduced and the SAR (specific absorption rate) levels are determined.

Simulations of derived quantities such as SAR (specific absorption rate) require the basic vehicle model to be augmented with models of the human occupants. The human models in such simulations are essentially lossy dielectric bodies with electrical properties that are representative of human tissues.

Recent projects include analysis of field exposure for aftermarket communications applications.

Harness simulation

To investigate electromagnetic issues at the whole vehicle level it is necessary to consider both the EMC characteristics of a component and the electromagnetic environment in which the component is intended. A poorly installed component or harness can easily become a source of radiated emissions at vehicle level, in a similar way components with poor installation or components connected via poorly routed harnesses can also suffer from immunity problems when subjected to radiated RF fields.

Possible investigations include: harness placement at vehicle level, best practice grounding schemes for emissions and immunity, audio interference predictions, and studies into the integrity of vital data signals required by key components. Harness simulation methods are also used to assess potential audio interference issues due to broadband or narrowband emissions sources. Harness routing and grounding modifications can be validated to ensure optimum audio performance.