As engineers work toward 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), designers of RF and microwave devices can use multiphysics modeling and simulation of antennas and circuits, not limited to RF and microwaves but extending to the range of millimeter waves and Terahertz. The latest release of the RF Module in COMSOL Multiphysics comes with several application examples that allow COMSOL software users to run, inspect, and use the apps – allowing them to see how straightforward it is to turn their model into a custom application.
The Slot-Coupled Microstrip Patch Antenna Array Synthesizer demo app simulates an FEM model of a device fabricated on a multilayered low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrate, and extends the results to the user-specified array configuration.
The results include S-parameter, electric field distribution on each layer, far-field radiation pattern of the antenna array, and its directivity. The far-field radiation pattern is calculated by multiplying the array factor and the single antenna radiation pattern to perform an efficient far-field analysis without simulating a complicated full array model, allowing the app user to independently obtain their simulation results in seconds.
Microwave and RF designers can couple electromagnetic simulations with heat transfer, structural mechanics, fluid flow, and other physical phenomena, allowing them to represent coupled physics effects as they would occur in the real world. Thus, users can accurately investigate designs.
The upcoming version of the RF Module strengthens its design and test feasibility with tutorial models such as a log-periodic antenna for EMI/EMC Testing, and a signal integrity (SI) and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) analysis of adjacent microstrip lines. The Application Libraries include detailed model examples guiding users to perform fast prototyping with high accuracy through reduced-order model simulation techniques based on asymptotic waveform evaluation (AWE) and frequency-domain modal methods.
COMSOL
www.comsol.com
Filed Under: Software • 3D CAD, MOTION CONTROL