It’s About Time

The great variety of devices in need of electromagnetic simulation has led, over the years, to the development of an almost as great variety of solutions. For each device, there is probably one method that provides the quickest, most accurate results. The goal of this paper is to discuss applications for which time domain simulations are not only well suited, but perhaps even the only successfully applicable approach.

This article is copyright of IEEE and is available here:
doi: 10.1109/MMM.2010.935775

Design Software Tool with Complete Technology

Some years ago CST introduced a frequency domain solver into CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® (CST MWS) in addition to its time domain solver. The company recognized that an ever increasing array of microwave/RF and high speed data applications required alternate solver technology in order to optimize speed and memory usage. While such technology was available from various vendors, CST’s approach placed the solvers within the same user friendly front-end that many engineers were already familiar with.

The company has continually expanded the range of technology available and increased the vast number of RF, microwave and high speed applications that can be solved quickly and accurately...

Reprinted with permission of MICROWAVE JOURNAL® from the November 2009
©2009 Horizon House Publications, Inc.

Read the Microwave Journal article here (1.9 MiB).

Visit the Microwave Journal website here.

Antenna design considerations

With the advent of prolific wireless communications applications, system designers are in a position to consider the placement and performace of an antenna system. The first step in establishing antenna requirements is to determine the desired communication range and terminal characteristics of the radio system (i.e., transmit power, minimum receiver senitivity level). Given those parameters, one can ascertain the amount gain or loss required to maintain the communication range by using the Friis Transmission formula.

EDA Tech Forum Journal website

High speed hard disk suspension: electric design and model validation

In a hard disk drive for magnetic data storage, successful design of the front-end R/W channel is vital for achieving high density storage. Such a design involves both high track densities with resultant smaller signals and higher linear densities with signals occupying wider frequency bands. Current technical literature offers few works describing the design process, and there is no consensus as to choosing either time-domain characterization or the frequency-domain (S-parameters) modeling approach.

Read the ITEM interference technology article here (683 KiB).

You can read the full article on the ITEM interference technology website here.

A Practical Guide to 3-D Simulation

This article is intended to give design engineers an overview over some properties of numerical methods used in today’s most relevant commercial electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools. It cannot and does not want to be a rigorous analysis of the methods themselves nor a concise description of their history. For an extensive overview, we would recommend textbooks such as [1] and [2]. The authors have experience in not only the research and development (R&D) of numerical methods but also in the support of users in their daily work with commercial simulation software.

This article is copyright of IEEE and is available here:
doi: 10.1109/MMM.2008.929772

Ensuring Antennas Perform Correctly in Their Environment

Electromagnetic field simulators are routinely used to design antenna structures and achieve the desired performance,including radiation pattern directivity and gain, polarization, standing wave ratio (SWR), and other pertinent parameters. However, there are many cases where the antenna is strongly affected by its surrounding environment and failure to take this into consideration can lead to poor installed performance. Nulls can be introduced in the radiation pattern leading to drops in communication range in certain directions. Reflections from nearby objects may couple back into the antenna increasing the SWR to intolerable levels. The antenna may also receive strong signals from neighboring transmitters causing interference and reducing operability. In severe cases, it may be necessary to silence one radio system to enable another to function correctly. This is clearly an undesirable predicament to be in.

This article is copyright of IEEE and is available here:
doi: 10.1109/MMM.2008.929773

Modeling Conductor Surface Roughness

Stripline models can be used to determine the impact of copper surface roughness on transmission properties.

In high speed digital interconnects, signal attenuation is a result of both dielectric losses and conductor losses. Many articles have shown in detail the characterization and modelling efforts related to the impact of dielectric loss in PCBs and the differences between various dielectric materials1. Nevertheless, high-speed characterization modeling efforts do not often take into account the variations in conductor losses due to copper foil roughness or treatments made to the copper foil to promote adhesion.

You can read the full article on the Printed Circuit Design & Fab website here (p.32-33).

True Transient 3D EM/Circuit Co-Simulation Using CST STUDIO SUITE

Today’s engineers are increasingly confronted with simulation tasks that involve the simulation of two types of problems: 3D electromagnetic structures and electronic circuits. The combination of these problems is commonly referred to as EM / circuit co-simulation. Not only can a distinction be made between the methods used to perform a co-simulation, but also in the type of co-simulations available. The need for co-simulation can be seen in many application areas such as antenna design, filter tuning, UWB applications, PCB and signal integrity analysis, RFIDs etc.

Read the Microwave Product Digest article here (2.2 MiB).

You can read the full article on the Microwave Product Digest website here (p.7)..

EFFICIENT, ACCURATE, RELIABLE EM SIMULATION TOOL

In the ongoing race for reduced design costs and faster time to market, simulation efficiency remains the most important factor in electromagnetic field analysis. Simulation efficiency can be determined by the time taken to reach the final design, which is strongly influenced by the level of workflow integration, the versatility in manipulating the model, the choice of solver type, the method’s accuracy, the implementation’s efficiency and, of course, the hardware speed. The new CST STUDIO SUITE™ 2009, incorporating the CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® (CST MWS) 3D electromagnetic field simulator for microwaves and RF, has been specifically designed to meet these requirements.

Read the Microwave Journal article here (287 KiB).

Visit the Microwave Journal website here.

New Wall Modeling Method Substantially Reduces Time Required for Electromagnetic Simulation of Semi-Anechoic Chamber

Modeling of the absorber on the walls provides a major obstacle in performing electromagnetic simulation of semi-anechoic chambers due to the very high permittivities and permeabilities. Simulation is critical in designing these chambers because nearfield effects in the 30 to 200 MHz range cannot be determined by theoretical methods. The simulation model typically requires a very fine mesh in the area of the wall in order to accurately simulate the performance of an Open Area Test Site (OATS). The fineness of the mesh drives up simulation times, typically to the range of several months, delaying the design process.

Read the IEEE EMC Society Newsletter article here.

Choosing Software for EMC Simulation

Designing electronic products to meet EMC requirements is becoming more and more challenging. Faster clock speeds and lower operating voltages are leading to enhanced emissions via apertures and seams, from heat sinks as well as an increase in the susceptibility of products. In addition, the trend towards integrating multiple wireless capabilities into products makes it necessary to also deal with the electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects of intentional radiators.

Read the emc journal article here (283 KiB).

Visit the emc journal website here.

Automotive Industries spoke to Bernhard Wagner, managing director of CST by Lenny Case

In 2007, the German software firm Computer Simulation Technology (CST) started the development of two new products for CST STUDIO SUITE™ after it bought a stake in SimLab Software GmbH. The German SimLab develops and markets software products and services in the field of electromagnetic compatibility or EMC. "We have noticed a strong increase in demand for simulation tools from the EMC market. As a result of our collaboration with Simlab, we are able to streamline our customers' workflow, offering a combination of leading edge PCB and cable analyses with highly accurate full 3D EM simulation," said Martin Timm, Marketing Director, CST....."

Read Automotive Industries article here.

50 GHz End Launch Connector Test Boards

For many years Southwest Microwave has manufactured field replaceable connectors and launch accessories where connector performance was easily verified by measuring two connectors back-to-back as a two-port device. With the introduction and success of Southwest Microwave end launch connectors, the packaging responsibility has fallen to Southwest Microwave. To assure maximum performance of the Southwest Microwave end launch connectors, equally high performance test boards were needed to accurately measure the connectors.

Read Microwave Jornal Supplement: Cable and Connectors article here.

SPICE Modeling from an EM Simulation Environment

The operating frequency of high-speed copper backplane serial links is expected to reach 10 Gbps in the next few years. At a 10 Gbps data rate, the clock frequency is 5 GHz, equating to a period of 200 ps, which results in a signal rise time in the range of 30 to 50 ps. This rise time will influence the analog bandwidth and the highest significant frequency component both for the measurement bandwidth and the bandwidth of the channel model. To effectively design a serial link (channel) to operate effectively at this bandwidth, accurate signal integrity modeling is required.

Read Printed Circuit Design & Fab's article here.

Simulating the ESD Measurement for High Value Feedback

Simulating EMC performance using 3D EMmodelling software in the time domain has advantages over frequency domain modelling because a wide frequency band is simulated in one run. However some phenomena like ESD, lightning strikes, EMP or other transient phenomena can only be simulated in the time domain. The TLM-TD method can be used to simulate a model of an ESD gun for analysing induced currents on wires and visualising the discharge current path on electronic equipment. The main benefit of performing an ESD simulation is that it gives results which could otherwise be difficult or even impossible to measure. It is also a very quick simulation to perform. In this paper examples of using the ESD gun simulator to mimic measurement setups and address real design problems at an early stage are presented.

Read electronic environment article here (176 KiB).

Visit the Electronic Environment website here.

ELECTROMAGNETIC SIMULATION OF MOBILE PHONE ANTENNA PERFORMANCE

The telecommunications sector is making great advances aimed at delivering an even stream of high-tech devices, covering the significant consumer demands in this sector. Electromagnetic (EM) simulation is becoming an increasingly important tool in the design flow, not only at the antenna level but also at the phone and environmental levels. This article compares simulated results with measurements for several steps in the phone design chain.

Read Microwave Journal's article here (848 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

Predicting Probable Cavity Resonance with a 3D EM Tool

Cavity resonance is commonly encountered when the PCBs and RF components are placed in an enclosure. Due to the module height and the housing structure, the standing wave with characteristic such that the E and H fields are 90° out of phase with each other. The impedance will therefore fluctuate wildly across the cavity causing unknown effects on circuitry, including the introduction of instability to active devices.

Read High Frequency Electronics' article here (Page 22-28).

Visit High Frequency Electronics' webpage

A SOFTWARE SUITE TO AID WORKFLOW

All companies need to see increasing income year on year to please investors and to fund their growth. A mounting need for microwave design, combined with skilled worker shortages, make seamless growth challenging. As a result, engineers in rapidly growing companies are faced with increased workloads, more diverse work and the requirement to work with other, perhaps unfamiliar parts of the company to achieve design goals.

Read Microwave Journal's article here (643 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

AN INTEGRAL EQUATION SOLVER

Research and development engineers working in aerospace and defense continually strive to extend the boundaries of what is technically possible and this extends to the specialized field of electromagnetic simulation technology. One branch in this community deals with the optimization of radar cross sections (RCS), while another concentrates on the influence of the surroundings (an airplane body on the performance of communication or radar antennas, for example). What both of these application areas have in common is the size of the electrical problem, which can typically run to many hundreds of wavelengths, and that the relevant structures are mainly surfaces and free space.

Read Microwave Journal's article here (1460 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

Suppression of Simultaneous Switching Noise in Power and Ground Plane Pairs

Parallel plate waveguide (PPW) noise, also known as simultaneous switching noise (SSN) or ground bounce noise (GBN) is one of the major concerns for the highspeed digital computer systems with fast edge rates, high clock frequencies, and low voltage levels.

Read Conformitys' article here (896 KiB).

Micromachining Concept on GaAs and a mm-Wave Oscillator Example

Present technology demands reduced manufacturing cost, size, weight and improved performance for wireless and location services exploitation like GPS, as well as for the millimeter wave devices. This kind of demand for wider bandwidth along with state-of-the-art performance can be accomplished with the use of micromachining and MEMS technology [1]. Developing micromachined technology is also essential for the future of integrating the entire communication system on a single chip.

Read High Frequency Electronics' article here (167 KiB).

COMPUTATIONAL ELECTROMAGNETIC RISES TO THE CHALLENGE

Unlike other numerical simulation areas like stress or thermal analysis, high frequency computational electromagnetics is an evolving science. Experts still argue about the fastest and most elegant approaches to solving problems and no single method has emerged as an outright winner. To make headway, development teams have to invest time and money in pure research projects with all the associated risk and potential reward that this brings. With a trend towards larger and ever more complex designs, the potential reward for the end-user is the ability to solve previously intractable problems quickly and accurately.

Read Microwave Journal's article here (693 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

A SOFTWARE SUITE WITH TOTAL SYNERGY

Design engineers currently using CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® (CST MWS) appreciate its ease-of-use and the insight into devices which together facilitate a significant augmentation of throughput. Now though, these customers may be taken by surprise, because the box containing the eagerly awaited and much publicized new release is titled CST STUDIO SUITE™ 2006.

Read Microwave Journal's article here (772 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

A Study of Transition Effects in Supercomponents

Highly dense supercomponents are the basic building blocks of every modern radar, EW or military communication systems. The demand for lower volume, lower weight and increased function has spurred developers to integrate more open-carrier devices within the same supercomponent. The carrier-to-carrier transition has a major effect on channel-to-channel isolation and performance. This article is a study of the effects of two major carrier-to-carrier transition types: microstrip and grounded coplanar waveguide. Ground regime design rules are concluded from the results.

Read Microwave Journal's cover feature (967 KiB).

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Complete 3D Electromagnetic Field Simulation.

For design engineers the utilization of high frequency 3D electromagnetic field simulation not only has the potential to save prototyping time and costs but also provides invaluable insight into whether the device is likely to be viable and if further investment is warranted.

Read Microwave Journal's CAD supplement feature (676 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

From Design to Reality with CST MWS version 5.

Development speed is a major concern in today's products' life cycle. Ranking alongside the raw costs involved with prototyping a device, time-to-market is the one key constraint imposed on design engineers. Consequently, any innovative or competitive advantage can easily be lost if advanced ideas get stuck in a long pipeline of reiterations before finally becoming a marketable product. In an increasing number of disciplines, full 3D electromagnetic field simulation is becoming the sine qua non, to advance the prototyping, virtually, to a stage where the realization does not unexpectedly deviate from expectations.

Read Microwave Journal's cover feature (718 KiB).

Visit Microwave Journal's webpage

CST DESIGN STUDIO™ Version 3 Enabling Electromagnetic and Circuit Co-Simulation
by Dr. Martin Timm, CST - Computer Simulation Technology

"From circuit board components to antennas, the demands of modern system design are such that multiple tools are required to calculate and optimize the parameters involved. No single vendor can claim to cover all the diverse modeling requirements to the same high level of accuracy or indeed to have an integrated suite of tools for every purpose."

Microwave Product Digest, October 2003

"Integration allows designers to use best-in-class software"  
Simulation tools are an indispensable part of the radio frequency (RF) and microwave systems design process. The optimization of virtual design prototypes reduces the number of "cut and try" iterations - in which real prototype devices are built and tested - thereby saving time and money.

Click here to read full article published in Wireless Europe, April 2003

CST DESIGN STUDIO™ selected as Top Product by editors of MICROWAVES & RF.
Download pdf (99 KiB)

"Wireless applications, particularly with multiple resonances, put new demands on antennas pertaining to size, gain, efficiency, bandwidth, and more. One promising approach in this regard is to use fractal geometries to find the best distribution of currents within a volume to meet a particular design goal..."

Read the full article (353 KiB)
(published in October by Applied Microwave & Wireless)

A Revolution in the Time Domain

Read about CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® Version 4 in
Microwave Journal's August cover feature (283 KiB).

"Open Architecture Solves Large 3D Puzzles.  Higher speeds and increasingly complex designs are blurring traditional boundaries between system modeling approaches.  Complex computations are often best-solved by breaking them into a series of related, smaller problems.  That is the approach used in Version 2.0 of CST DESIGN STUDIO™...

Read the full article (96 KiB)
(published in May by Microwaves & RF).

Read about designing components containing photonic bandgap structures using time domain field solvers.  This article first appeared in
Microwave Engineering Europe in March 2002 (366 KiB).

CST DESIGN STUDIO™ - A Tool for the Design of Complex Systems.
For complex systems, three dimensional electromagnetic field simulations are challenging in terms of both memory and simulation time requirements.  CST DESIGN STUDIO™ (CST DS) is a new electromagnetic simulation tool that facilitates the efficient design of complex and/or highly resonant structures.

Microwave Product Digest, October 2001 (60 KiB).

Read about CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® in the August cover feature of Microwave Journal.

Exploring a Three Dimensional Universe. (162 KiB)

Jack Brown, Microwaves & RF reports on CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® Version 3: "e;Sofware developers are sometimes accused of releasing new versions of a product with only limited improvements. But in the case of Version 3.0 of the CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® from CST of America, Inc. (Wellesley, MA), more than 480 features and improvements have been added from Version 2.0 in less than one year, making this a significant upgrade to this powerful Windows-based software suite."e;

Technical Article in Wireless Design & Development: Speeding Up 3D EM Simulation by Dr. Ulrich Becker.
CST DESIGN STUDIO™ is a new electromagnetic simulation tool for an efficient design of complex and highly resonant structures.

The Microwave Engineering Europe Benchmark 2000 has been unveiled -  a free space electromagnetic problem based on a balanced antipodal Vivaldi antenna.