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What is full-wave EM simulation?

Posted Jul 22, 2010, by Jian Zheng

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Macro electromagnetic phenomenons are governed by the Maxwell’s Equations or a set of differential equations with some boundary conditions. People solve such equations numerically. Such techniques are called EM simulations. Due to the complexity of the problems, some people try to simply the problems by introducing some approximations. One most frequently used approximuation is assuming the frequency is approaching DC. They try to solve the problem at DC and extend the results to higher frequency. Such technique can yield good results when the structure is electrically small. When the size of the structure is comparable to a wavelength, such technique will yield inaccurate results. Full-wave EM simulation does not assume frequency at DC. Instead, it solves the Maxwell’s Equations with little approximation. When properly implemented, full-wave EM simulations can be very accurate from very low frequency to very high frequency.

About Jian Zheng

Dr. Jian-X Zheng received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing China, in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1990. He founded Zeland Software, Inc., specializing in 3D full-wave EM simulation products, in 1993. Dr. Zheng has been leading development of the IE3D Full-Wave EM Design System for a broad range of high-frequency and wide-band electronic design applications. Dr. Zheng has more than 26 years of experience developing full-wave EM technologies. Visit AskJian

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3 Comments on this Post

Commented on 8:54 PM, Aug 13, 2010
By Dave Kohlmeier

Jian - great to have the opportunity to talk with an Expert. One question that always comes up in the SI world when we get above 10 Gps - what is the effect of corners or bends in a trace - either signal ended or differential. Can you comment? Show us some simulations? Any data would be greatly appreciated.

Commented on 4:43 AM, Apr 25, 2011
By jing gao

Dr-jian I have a question about IE3D-SSD software, what's the difference with the previous IE3D version 12. Could you give me some detail explanations? Thank you very much

What is full-wave EM simulation?