RF EDA supplier Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR) has unveiled an electromagnetic (EM) design software called AXIEM. It is a design tool that for the first time delivers EM analysis as an upfront design technology, the manufacturer claimed, thus, helping to diagnose issues early and shorten the design process. The AXIEM software was developed for three-dimensional (3D) planar applications such as RF printed circuit boards (PCBs) and modules, low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC), monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), and RFIC designs.

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“Every modern electronic product, wired and wireless, requires some level of EM analysis,” said Joe Pekarek, AWR's chief technology officer and visionary of the new product. “Yet, current EM solutions have failed to provide for the demands of product designers who require EM analysis as an efficient and accurate design diagnostic utility and not just a pure back-end verification tool.”

The AXIEM technology is an open boundary, non-gridded, method-of-moments (MoM) solver that supports thick metal in layered dielectric media. Furthermore, AXIEM leverages advancements in EM solver and meshing algorithms, as well as computer architecture, to deliver speed and accuracy of results that becomes more pronounced as the design complexity grows and the number of unknowns increase.

The solver algorithm within the AXIEM technology was pioneered to overcome limitations of existing 3-D planar formulations that rely on the Sommerfeld (or similar) integral for delivering speed of simulation yet at the cost of accuracy and dynamic range. Also, the AXIEM solver algorithm scales on the order of N log(N) as opposed to N3. In addition, the product's solver technology enables the user to accurately and robustly simulate to dc, which is essential for obtaining the right bias conditions and setting the dc operating points for active structures. Furthermore, it includes auto-calibrated internal ports, which maintain their own current return path with relatively low error. It features an advanced hybrid meshing technology that automatically fractures structures with triangular and rectangular elements and is optimized to maximize accuracy with minimal unknowns.

The AXIEM technology's meshing algorithm additionally supports “thick metal,” in that it creates 3-D meshes of extruded planar geometries, accounting for all x, y and z directed currents on all surfaces. This unique thick metal capability is a prerequisite for successful design of 90 nm and 65 nm RF CMOS problems, where line thickness is often in parity (1:1 ratio) with line widths. Similarly, thick metal support is further required to correctly characterize silicon spiral inductors as well as large designs like complete gallium arsenide (GaAs) MMICs.

This new EM software is in beta test with select customers and is scheduled for commercial release in the first quarter of 2008.

For more information, visit www.appwave.com