Simulators for large and complex microwave systems

With the ever-expanding capabilities of electromagnetic simulators, the goal of simulating large microwave systems has been reached today. A wide variety of different numerical schemes is available for the various types of components and applications. Moreover, network models of components may be automatically generated for further use in system simulation. Various techniques exist to accelerate simulations. In order to extend the simulation to entire systems, a problem is often divided into a number of smaller subsystems or components. This technique is called Domain-Decomposition and is used to exploit large computing clusters. Besides new solver technologies for very large systems, increased accuracy with simultaneous decrease in computation effort always remains a key issue. A completely new regime of usage for EM simulators is opened by introducing a new technology for one-step sensitivity analysis. The sensitivity of the functionality may be analyzed vs. mechanical tolerances or material property changes in a single computation. With all these new developments, the final goal of using simulators as synthesis tools is in much closer reach.