Johnson Controls Inc. recently improved the range of a version of its BlueConnect hands-free system by simulating the antenna with Flomerics’ 3D electromagnetic simulation software. Based on the simulation results, JCI engineers modified the initial design.
“We estimate that simulation saved us about two to three months of development time compared to the time that would have been required to build and test physical prototypes,” said Scott Mee, EMC Engineering Manager for Johnson Controls.
BlueConnect by Johnson Controls is the leading Bluetooth hands-free system and is available as a factory installed standard or optional feature in many vehicles. BlueConnect uses a planar inverted-F antenna which is fixed on a printed circuit board (PCB) and has rectangular shaped radiation and grounding elements. JCI engineers recently designed custom versions of BlueConnect to be installed by a major automobile manufacturer. The traditional approach to designing the antenna would have used a trial-and-error process consisting of building a series of prototypes and testing their performance while iterating to an optimized design.
“With proper correlation between simulation and physical test results, computer simulation can evaluate new design concepts in much less time and can provide very detailed diagnostic information that can be used to improve the performance,” Mee said. Johnson Controls uses Flomerics’ FLO/EMC 3D electromagnetic simulation software, which shares the same technology engine as Flomerics’ MicroStripes software. MicroStripes and FLO/EMC provide an advanced analysis environment for simulating electromagnetic interactions in and around electronic equipment for the purpose of generating quick solutions to tough design problems.
The initial results from Flomerics’ FLO/EMC 3D electromagnetic simulation software showed that the initial inverted-F antenna performance was influenced by several design parameters including area fills, vias and the antenna structure itself. After simulating about a dozen design options, JCI engineers found one that matched the performance expectations of the increased range.
Mee and the design team adjusted the dimensions of the antenna as well as many of the connections to vias and area fills until the phase of the voltage and current were both centered on the Bluetooth frequency band. Then he ran a cylinder scan to evaluate the radiation pattern and range of the updated design. These results showed improvements in both gain and directivity. When the simulation results indicated that he and the team had achieved an optimized design, they order the second prototype.
As Mee had anticipated, the physical testing results of the antenna performance metrics was closely correlated to the simulation results. “This Bluetooth antenna example is typical of the time savings that we achieve on a periodic basis by simulating designs prior to building prototypes,” Mee said. “Using traditional methods we would have probably built and tested between 6 and 10 prototypes, which may have taken four months to complete. Instead we quickly identified the area fills, vias, and antenna structures that could have been optimized in the design through the use of the 3D electromagnetic engineering solution. Instead of four months, the project was completed with the final design updated in less than two months.”
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This year’s edition of the International Mobile Gaming Awards is preparing for the festivities of granting the winning title to the most creative game concept that will subscribe.
This is one of the most important competitions in the domain and has also considerable importance in the evolution of the winner’s career. The prize is also worthy of mention, as a total of USD 40,000 will be granted in five categories.
Contestants can win the following titles:
o Excellence in Connectivity (multi platform, social networking)
o Excellence in 3D
o Excellence in Game Play
o Best licensed IP-based game
o Best Casual Game (Typically developed in Flash or Java).
Winners of this competition get a real good start in their mobile game developing career. They receive a lot of attention from the press, players and, most important, from companies that now take their ideas more seriously. This means more potential projects for development and a great deal of more self confidence.
Maarten Noyons, founder and Managing Director commented that every year brings pleasant surprises for the jury. For them, it looks like the registered applications develop at the same time with technology.
He said that “In 2006 many exciting new connected games and multiplatform games entered the competition, we saw games that were using all the features of mobile phones including microphone, camera, motion sensors and connectivity. We reviewed location based games and 3D games with stunning high quality graphics, and simple, addictive 2D games developed with Flash. This year we are expecting to see innovations and improvements in all these areas”.
Entries are accepted on a tight time limit, before 6PM on 24 September 2007. Some of the concepts will be selected and announced by the end of October. From that point on, they will have until the 28th of January 2008 to develop their ides into a demo version. The final winners will be announced on the 13th of February 2008, in a ceremony at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.
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Fishlabs 3D has signed an exclusive deal with Player X for distributing the Fishlabs 3D mobile games across Europe, Asia and North America.
Blades & Magic, Deep and three to be announced titles will all fall under the agreement between both parties. Five other games from the back catalogue will be distributed on a non-exclusive basis after they where previously published by companies like I-Play.
“Since more operators now outsource their mobile game needs, it’s vital for any content provider to find a distribution partner with as many direct channels as possible. Player X was our first choice to partner with because of their impressive list of global distribution channels and its highly professional in-house team,â€? said Michael Schade, CEO & Co-Founder of Fishlabs.”
“We deliberately work with only a small number of content providers so we can ensure the best possible service for their quality products. Fishlabs’ 3D games are some of the best out there and we’re looking forward to taking these titles to gamers all around the planet,� said Tony Pearce, Player X CEO.
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German-based 3D mobile game developer Fishlabs signed a distribution deal with mobile media firm Player X. The company will exclusively distribute Fishlabs’ games in Europe, Asia and South America. Fishlabs also recently signed a similar deal with Sony Ericsson. Player X’s claims it reaches 100 mobile operators and 2.5 billion people–if that’s true, Fishlabs will be swimming in quite a large sea of potential revenue indeed.
“Since more operators now outsource their mobile game needs, it’s vital for any content provider to find a distribution partner with as many direct channels as possible,” said Fishlabs CEO Michael Schade. “Player X was our first choice to partner with because of their impressive list of global distribution channels and its highly professional in-house team.
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3D Electromagnetic Simulation Helps Improve Range of Automotive Bluetooth Antenna
