Patent Document ID: 7788077
Application ID: 11775543
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for determining the amount of unobstructed sky view of an antenna in an automotive vehicle comprising the steps of a) creating a computer simulation of objects of at least a portion of the automotive vehicle which are non-transmissive to electromagnetic radiation, b) positioning a simulated antenna in said computer simulation, c) setting a radius to an initial radius, d) simulating at least a portion of a test sphere at said radius from said antenna, e) detecting all objects, if any, within an outer periphery of said simulated portion of said test sphere, f) determining the area of each detected object, g) saving the area of each detected object only if the determined area for each object is greater than a previously determined area for each object, h) changing the radius by a predetermined amount, i) reiterating steps d)-h) until said radius reaches a preset length, j) thereafter projecting the area of each object onto at least a portion of a projection sphere at a predetermined radius from the simulated antenna, k) summing the projected area on said projection sphere for each object, k) calculating the amount of the summed area relative to the area of said portion of said sphere, and l) displaying the amount.