RF Coupling Simulation Model Development for Optimal Placement of Antennas Supporting Wireless Communications Systems Available to Purchase

The locomotive cab’s limited rooftop area requires that the transmitting and receiving antennas for communications be placed in close proximity to one another. Currently, no means exist to aid the railroad radio frequency (RF) engineer in placing these antennas so that mutual communications interference is minimized. The goal of this paper is to describe a method that can be used to determine optimal antenna placement in a time- and cost-effective manner. The method described below utilizes various forms of the Friis transmission equation in Monte Carlo simulations.