HFSS

HFSS is the industry-standard simulation tool for 3-D full-wave electromagnetic field simulation and is essential for the design of highfrequency and high-speed component design. HFSS offers multiple stateof the-art solver technologies each based on the proven finite element method. Users select the appropriate solver for the type of simulation they are performing. Frequency Domain Transient Integral Equation Hybrid Finite Element Integral Equation HFSS Solver on-Demand

Industry Solutions

Each HFSS solver is based on a powerful, automated solution process where users are only required to specify geometry, material properties and the desired output. From here HFSS will automatically generate an appropriate, efficient and accurate mesh for solving the problem using the proven finite element method. With HFSS the physics defines the mesh; the mesh does not define the physics.

Antenna placement study on aircraft showing surface currents on air frame and surrounding conformal FE-BI boundary conditions

HFSS
HFSS utilizes a 3-D full-wave frequency domain electromagnetic field solver based on the finite element Method (FEM) to compute the electrical behavior of components. With HFSS, engineers can extract parasitic parameters (S, Y, Z), visualize 3-D electromagnetic fields (near- and far-field), and generate Full-Wave SPICE models to effectively evaluate signal quality, including transmission path losses, reflection loss due to impedance mismatches, parasitic coupling and radiation.

HFSS Transient
HFSS Transient is a 3-D full-wave transient electromagnetic field solver based on the discontinuous Galerkin method (DGTD). This tetrahedral finite element technique exploits the same automatic adapted-foraccuracy meshing technology that made HFSS the gold standard for accuracy in electromagnetics. Engineers will be able to investigate applications with short-duration pulsed excitations such as groundpenetrating radar, electro-static discharge, electro-magnetic interference and lightning. Other applications include time domain reflectometry (TDR) as well as field visualization from any general time-based input pulse. This technology complements the frequency domain solution technology in HFSS as a tool for allowing engineers to understand the electromagnetic characteristics of their design in detail.
Differential signal propagating in time through a flexed cable, solved with HFSS Transient using conformal finite elements

Product Features
Pushbutton Solution Data: - S-parameters (single-ended, differential, de-embedded, renormalized) - Y and Z matrices Port mode and impedance calculation by 2-D-eigenmode solver fields - E and H fields, current densities, material losses, Q factors, radiation losses - Radiated-field calculations (directivity, gain, beam width, side-lobe levels, axial ratio, etc.) - SAR calculation Accurate broadband frequency sweeps with rigorous treatment of dispersive ports, materials and skin effect Direct and iterative matrix solvers (32 and 64-bit) Floquet ports for antenna arrays, frequency-selective surfaces (FSS) and other periodic structures Eigenmode matrix solver (32 and 64-bit) including periodic boundary conditions for traveling-wave and electromagnetic band-gap structures Strong CAD integration capabilities, model healing, automatic feature recognition with mesh resolution control Full-Wave SPICE Model extraction option for integration with Nexxim, HSPICE, Spectre RF and MATLAB Multi-processing for mesh and postprocessing operations Broadband device characterization - Broadband interpolating sweep algorithm - Multipole Debye frequency dependent model for causal material generation - Multi-processing of port field recovery

HFSS-IE
HFSS-IE (Integral Equation) is a new optional solver that uses the method of moments (MoM) technique to solve for the currents on the surfaces of conducting and dielectric objects in open regions. HFSS-IE is effective for radiation and scattering studies of large, mostly conducting structures. It uses the industry standard HFSS interface; sharing geometry, material and certain critical solver technology. As with HFSS, adaptive refinement is used to generate the optimum mesh giving the user added confidence in the results. The solver uses the adaptive cross approximation (ACA) method in conjunction with an iterative matrix solver to reduce the memory and complexity requirements, allowing for this tool to be applied to very large problems.

Hybrid Finite Element Boundary Integral Method

Built upon HFSS domain decomposition and 3-D integral equation technology, this technique provides an ideal open truncation for the HFSS finite element solution through a direct integral equation based calculation of an open boundary condition. FE-BI combines the best of both methods: the Finite-Elements Methods ability to handle complex geometries and the Method of Moments direct calculation of the freespace Greens function for accurate radiating and scattering solutions. With this new technology antenna designers can realize increased, essentially ideal, accuracy for radiated far-field solutions providing more confidence in their electromagnetic solutions. Simulations involving antenna platform integration can be significantly reduced in size by allowing a conformal radiation boundary, including concave geometries, reducing the overall volume of the finite element domain.

FE-BI Boundary

TEM horn antenna illuminating metallic plate. Note the separate air volumes couple through FE-BI boundary conditions

HFSS Solver on Demand

HFSS Solver on Demand technology enables users to drive HFSS directly from the intuitive, stack-up based layout interface of Ansoft Designer. It is an ideal design flow for electrical CAD (ECAD) import, drawing, and parameterization of electromagnetic designs. This interface is for those engineers who want the 3-D rigor, accuracy and reliability of HFSS from a familiar 2-D layout based design. The Ansoft Designer interface supports traditional ECAD primitives such as padstacks, traces, wirebonds, and solderballs and propels a new state-of-the-art solution for digital and RF engineers.

HFSS for Microwave and RF Applications

HFSS automation for accuracy, capacity and performance allows engineers to design high-frequency components found in communication systems, radar systems, satellites and cellular telephones reliably through simulation. With the new High-Performance Computing (HPC) option in HFSS, engineers can leverage the full power of enterprise compute clusters to solve large scale electromagnetic field simulations with rigor and accuracy.

Product Features
Element technologies - Curvilinear elements - Provide precise representation of fields on true or curved surfaces - Mixed element orders - Automated element order based on geometry and electromagnetic requirements Adjoint derivatives - Direct calculation of the derivatives of S-parameter with respect to variations in geometry, materials and boundary conditions Integration with ANSYS DesignXplorer

7X7 WR90 waveguide array, scanning with regard to -45 to +45 degree theta

Applications
Microwave & RF
Passive components (couplers, multiplexers, filters, ferrite circulators) Antennas (horn-, slot-, patch-, Vivaldi-, reflector) Multi-band antennas Phased-array antennas Antenna feed networks Frequency-selective surfaces (FSS) Electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures RF coils Shielding Reduced Cross Section (RCS)

HFSS for Signal Integrity Applications

With HFSS automation for accuracy, capacity and performance, engineers can easily design and evaluate signal integrity and electromagnetic interference in connectors, transmission lines and vias on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and high-speed components used in computer servers and storage devices, multimedia PCs, entertainment systems and telecom systems.

Signal Integrity
On-chip passive components such as spiral inductors and critical interconnects Advanced IC packages including BGA, MCM, LTCC, and SiP Critical parts of PCBs e.g. vias, lands, transmission lines, gridded power and ground planes Connectors Back planes

DesignerSI can drive electromagnetic field solvers, HFSS and PlanarEM, as well as circuit simulation software, Nexxim and HSPICE from a single interface

RELEASE 13.0

Industry Solutions

High-Performance Computing Options

The HFSS High-Performance Computing (HPC) options enable intra- and inter-machine parallel solving and processing by:

Distributed Solve Option (DSO)

The DSO option allows users to distribute parametric sweeps to explore variations in geometry, materials, boundaries and excitations. Additionally, users can distribute frequency sweeps to generate responses over a broad frequency band of interest. This timesaving capability splits multiple predefined parametric design variations and/or frequency points, solves each simulation instance on a separate machine and then reassembles the data. This dramatically accelerates parametric studies and design optimization.
Antenna on an aircraft simulated using the domain decomposition method. Using 16 cores, the speed-up in solution time was greater than 17x, with overall memory reduction of 30%

Domain Decomposition Method (DDM)

DDM enables the simulation of very large models by accessing the memory of a network of machines. DDM splits the finite-element mesh automatically into a number of smaller mesh domains. HFSS determines the optimum number of domains, depending on the mesh size and the number of computers and processors available. The domains are analyzed separately on a single machine or on a network of machines, after which an iterative procedure on the domain interfaces reconstructs the full solution. This network memory access allows the simulation of very large models for which one machine might not have enough memory. It also reduces simulation time and overall memory load, offering in some cases better than linear speed-up with each additional processor.

Multiprocessing (MP)
Multi-processing allows multiple cores on a single, shared memory machine to be applied to the solution of an HFSS FEM or Integral Equation solution. Through utilization of multiple cores various aspects of the solution process such as matrix factorization, meshing and field recovery can be accelerated for overall faster solution times.

The ANSYS Advantage

With the unequalled depth and unparalleled breadth of ANSYS engineering simulation solutions, companies are transforming their leading edge design concepts into innovative products and processes that work. Today, almost all of the top 100 industrial companies on the FORTUNE Global 500 invest in engineering simulation as a key strategy to win in a globally competitive environment. They choose ANSYS as their simulation partner, deploying the worlds most comprehensive multiphysics solutions to solve their complex engineering challenges. The engineered scalability of solutions from ANSYS delivers the flexibility customers need, within an architecture that is adaptable to the processes and design systems of their choice. No wonder the worlds most successful companies turn to ANSYS with a track record of 40 years as the industry leader for the best in engineering simulation.

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