Near-field measurements for safety related systems and jamming attack

Abstract

Nowadays new safety related systems design includes electromagnetic analysis (EMA) during their development. Each of these systems is composed by smaller apparatuses that contain electronic components able to emit electromagnetic (EM) waves. On the other hand, the usage of smaller integrated circuit increases their susceptibility to EM interference. Companies often underestimate the importance of emissions lower than standard limits. A method based on near-field (NF) to far-field (FF) transformation is introduced in order to evaluate radiated emission leakage. This study is an important novelty to analyze electromagnetic issues in the case of safety related systems. Moreover, authors present how this method is positioned to current standards. Effectively, NF-FF is proposed for site survey analysis on assembled systems where EM leakages should be mitigated to avoid EM attacks. Tools and measurements presented here can be used to sketch the virtual EM (VEM) interface of device-under-test (DUT) in terms of emissions amplitude, frequency and direction. An opponent could use this information to jam these systems utilizing an attack model based on a circular antenna presented here. The results indicate that it is feasible to use this methodology to analyze EM radiated emissions starting from NF information. Compared with current immunity test levels, the EM attack planned on VEM interface characteristics can be deemed efficiently against safety related systems.