Smith W.R.
National Semiconductor Corporation, US
Keywords: boundary element method, CAD, circuit simulation, device, LTCC, RF/wireless communication
Rapidly increasing functionality and performance of RF/wireless communication products, along with mandated decreases in size, weight, and cost, have created a critical need to replace discrete, surface-mounted passive circuit components with embedded passives in substrate technologies such as Low-Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC). The design process for embedded passives requires rapid electromagnetic simulation with full mutual coupling among all embedded structures, to allow each design-refining iteration to be carried out in a few minutes. Full-wave “2.5-D planar” solvers perform the right type of simulation, but typically require run times of hours to days and sometimes cannot accommodate the required circuit/layout complexity. In order to achieve results of comparable accuracy in the RF/wireless frequency range, with simulation times of a few minutes, we have used the well-known Partial-Element Equivalent-Circuit (PEEC) modeling technique to develop a simulator that is used in the same way as existing multi-layer planar solvers.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: Technical Proceedings of the 1999 International Conference on Modeling and Simulation of Microsystems
Published: April 19, 1999
Pages: 222 - 227
Industry sector: Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Modeling & Simulation of Microsystems
ISBN: 0-9666135-4-6