July 2010: you are flying in an Airbus A380, the largest commercial aircraft of the time. Everything has been done to make the passengers feel as comfortable as possible: some are watching television on their seatback screens, others have plugged in a portable computer and are checking their e-mails; a number of travelers have connected their phones to the broadband network; a child in your seat row is surfing through the Eurodisney homepage while the real A380 you are sitting in will land in Paris in about ten hours! It’s years ago now, you remember, that the charming voice of the flight attendant patiently reminded everybody to turn off mobile phones, computers, video games.
For decades now, electrical and electronic devices have been a part of our everyday lives. Everyone can cite examples of the unwanted effects that often occur through their use: operating a vacuum cleaner causes “snow” on your TV, your car radio buzzes when you drive under a power line or your television picture is distorted, because a stereo loudspeaker the magnet inside is too close to the screen.
These are quite harmless consequences. But your laptop computer distorting electronic signals or the jamming of onboard communication equipment by a mobile telephone could be a serious threat to the aircraft’s flight systems. Natural phenomena such as lightning strikes and electrostatic discharges are related in their physical nature and require similar attention and research to avoid problems in aircraft systems.
Electromagnetic compatibility – EMC – in the language of the experts, is the ability of devices (or systems) to function as intended within their electromagnetic environment, without interfering with other equipment and without being susceptible to interference from others. EMC engineering is the art and science of effectively dealing with electro-magnetic interference (EMI). All sectors of the transportation industry are involved in EMC research. EADS, however, is a pioneer in this field.
Since the 1990s, much work has been done by EADS Innovation Works in Suresnes and Toulouse, where specialists have developed innovative software tools and experimental validation methods to advance the state-of-the-art in EMC engineering.
Every EMC/EMI problem involves a source, a receiver (victim) and a coupling path. Knowing that all electronic equipment has both the potential to suffer or cause interference, specialists in this scientific domain must first sort out which configurations pose a genuine risk. The complex geometries and relationships between electronic circuits, the frequency bandwidths involved, as well as the grounding and shielding of wires, to mention only the most important parameters, all play an integral part in determining a system’s overall compatibility in a given electromagnetic environment.
The researchers and software designers have innovated the digital simulation of electromagnetic interference phenomena by developing dedicated calculation methods to conduct studies in EMC. Since an aircraft and its systems are both large in scale and complex, this presents a formidable challenge. It was necessary to develop efficient techniques for numerical modeling and simulation that can handle the complexity and yet do not take days to run on the computer. On every new aircraft type, the experts’ work starts with identifying and assessing the sources of electromagnetic interference, before identifying the methods to be employed to protect against it. Finally, these specialists are involved in the certification of equipment destined for installation and use on aircraft.
Thanks to the superior performance of the software they have developed and increased computing power, it has become possible to find better systems configurations through an analysis of electromagnetic risks, facilitating equipment and system certification on aircraft. A new investigative software tool has been created in the process: the virtual electromagnetic simulator.
In order to enable the use of electronic devices on the Airbus A380, researchers at EADS Innovation Works and Airbus experts analyze all possible sources of EMI from the very outset of aircraft design. This has been undertaken but also to provide all passengers with an accustomed environment that adds to their traveling comfort. The requirements are simply stated: to take advantage of all modern means of communication and entertainment available, without needing to fear that this could adverse effects inside the aircraft.
If the A380 of 2010 fulfills that objective, it is to a large extent attributable to the (virtual) electromagnetic simulator of the EMC experts at EADS Innovation Works in Suresnes and Toulouse.
Electromagnetic compatibility – EMC – in the language of the experts, is the ability of devices (or systems) to function as intended within their electromagnetic environment, without interfering with other equipment and without being susceptible to interference from others. EMC engineering is the art and science of effectively dealing with electro-magnetic interference (EMI).
