HIGH POWER ELECTROMAGNETICS:

ENVIRONMENTS, INTERACTION,
EFFECTS, AND HARDENING
---
The Fast Laplace Transform
Dr. F. M. Tesche
HPE 201-2011
September 18 - 24, 2011
Schloss Noer Germany
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 2 / 25
Overview
Fourier and Laplace transform theory form the basis of
system analysis:
It permits us to understand system behavior in both the time
and frequency domains
It is widely taught in engineering and science curricula.
In the past, most of the results from transform theory have
relied on analytical transformations from time to frequency
or back.
The recent development of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
and fast computers have made the numerical
implementations of transform theory possible.
The FFT has problems with certain waveforms, however.
A solution to these difficulties lies in the Fast Laplace
Transform (FLT)

In this presentation we discuss the
theory and applications of the FLT
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 3 / 25
The Fourier transform
For a transient waveform f(t) that is zero for t < 0, its
Fourier spectrum F(e) is given as


And the inverse transform gives f(t) in terms of F(e) as

Examples:
( )
0
( ) ( ) ( )
j t
F f t e dt f t
e
e

=
}
F
( )
1
1
( ) ( ) ( )
2
j t
f t F e d F
e
e e e
t

=
}
F
0 200 400 600 800 1 10
3

1
0.6
0.2
0.2
0.6
1
Transient waveform
Time (ns)
f
(
t
)
1 10
5
1 10
4
1 10
3
0.01 0.1
1 10
10

1 10
9

1 10
8

1 10
7

1 10
6

1 10
5

1 10
4

Spectral Magnitude
Frequency (GHz)
|
F
(
f
)
|




(
1
/
(
H
z
)
)
1000 Cycle Sine Wave
0 200 400 600 800 1 10
3

0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Transient waveform
Time (ns)
f
(
t
)
1 10
5
1 10
4
1 10
3
0.01 0.1
1 10
9

1 10
8

1 10
7

1 10
6

Spectral Magnitude
Frequency (GHz)
|
F
(
f
)
|




(
1
/
(
H
z
)
)
Double Exponential Waveform
0 200 400 600 800 1 10
3

1
0.6
0.2
0.2
0.6
1
Transient waveform
Time (ns)
f
(
t
)
1 10
5
1 10
4
1 10
3
0.01 0.1
1 10
10

1 10
9

1 10
8

1 10
7

1 10
6

Spectral Magnitude
Frequency (GHz)
|
F
(
f
)
|




(
1
/
(
H
z
)
)
4 Cycle Sine Wave
0 200 400 600 800 1 10
3

1
0.6
0.2
0.2
0.6
1
Transient waveform
Time (ns)
f
(
t
)
1 10
5
1 10
4
1 10
3
0.01 0.1
1 10
11

1 10
10

1 10
9

1 10
8

1 10
7

Spectral Magnitude
Frequency (GHz)
|
F
(
f
)
|




(
1
/
(
H
z
)
)
1 Cycle Sine Wave
0 200 400 600 800 1 10
3

1
0.6
0.2
0.2
0.6
1
Transient waveform
Time (ns)
f
(
t
)
1 10
5
1 10
4
1 10
3
0.01 0.1
1 10
9

1 10
8

1 10
7

Spectral Magnitude
Frequency (GHz)
|
F
(
f
)
|




(
1
/
(
H
z
)
)
Damped Sine Wave
0 200 400 600 800 1 10
3

0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Transient waveform
Time (ns)
f
(
t
)
1 10
5
1 10
4
1 10
3
0.01 0.1
1 10
30

1 10
27

1 10
24

1 10
21

1 10
18

1 10
15

1 10
12

1 10
9

Spectral Magnitude
Frequency (GHz)
|
F
(
f
)
|




(
1
/
(
H
z
)
)
Gaussian Signal
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 4 / 25
The discrete Fourier transform (DFT)
Frequently, the Fourier integral and the waveform
reconstruction integral must be performed numerically
using a finite limit of integration, and discretely sampled
data points.
This leads to the discrete Fourier transform (DFT):





The fast Fourier transform (FFT) [1] is a rapid way of
evaluating the above sums, and requires that N = 2
m
.
0
( ) ( )
j t
F f t e dt
e
e

=
}
1
0
( ) ( ) ( 0 1)
N
jk n t
n
F k t f n t e for k N
e
e

A A
=
A = A A =

1
0
( ) ( ) ( 0 1)
N
jk n t
k
f n t f F k e for n N
e
e

A A
=
A = A A =

1
( ) ( )
2
j t
f t F e d
e
e e
t

=
}
1.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 5 / 25
Properties of the DFT
The DFT is important, since most practical computer
representations of data involve sampled data.
If the time domain function f(t) is sampled discretely,
the DFT spectrum is periodic.



Furthermore, if the DFT spectrum is also discretely
sampled, f(t) is also periodic.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 6 / 25
Difficulties with the DFT
"Fold-thru" errors in the transient response,
Aliasing errors in the frequency response, and
Insufficient resolution (At) for fast pulses
Improper Nyquist sampling.
There is also a difficulty if there is an accuracy
requirement for both early time and late time responses.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 7 / 25
Problem waveforms for the DFT
The following waveforms all provide difficulties for the
DFT, or equivalently, for the FFT.








The problems all occur because the waveform has not
decayed to zero by the end of the data record (at t =
T
max
)
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 8 / 25
Problem waveforms for the DFT (cont.)
A simple illustration of one problem in using the DFT is
provided by a simple time-shift operator of the Fourier
spectrum:

which shifts the reconstructed time waveform by t
s
=
20s.





Note the early-time fold-through of the late-time
waveform
( )
s
j t
H e
e
e

=
Responses are
computed using the
FFT of the time-
shifted spectra.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 9 / 25
Development of the Fast Laplace Transform
(FLT)
Several years ago, P. F. Bertholet in Switzerland faced
similar problems in processing EM responses.
He had heard of anecdotal stories of analysts tricking
the DFT or FFT routines into working by causing the
problematic waveform f(t) to artificially die out:


A corresponding modified Fourier spectrum can be
calculated:

( ; ) ( )
o
t
m o
f t f t e
o
o

=
Exponential
damping factor
Modified
waveform
( )
0
0
( ; ) ( )
( ; )
o
t j t
m o
j t
m o
F f t e e dt
f t e dt
o e
e
e o
o

=
=
}
}
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 10 / 25
Development of the FLT (cont.)
Once the modified spectrum was processed (by
filtering, time-shifting, etc., such that F
m
(e;o
o
)
F
m1
(e;o
o
) ), the modified transient response f
m1
(t;o
o
)
was then computed using the inverse Fourier
relationship:


This modified response waveform was post-processed
to amplify the late-time response, back to (hopefully)
what it should have been before the artificial
attenuation:

1 1
1
( ) ( ; )
2
o
t j t
m o
f t e F e d
o e
e o e
t

=
}
1 1
1
( ; ) ( ; )
2
j t
m o m o
f t F e d
e
o e o e
t

=
}
Exponential
Growth
Correction
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 11 / 25
Development of the FLT (cont.)
In thinking about this seemingly ad-hock method, Bertholet
realized that this nothing more than a numerical implementation of
the Laplace transform:


with its inverse,




where s = o + je is the complex frequency in the Laplace transform
domain.
( )
0
0
( ) ( )
( )
o
t j t
st
F s f t e e dt
f t e dt
o e

=
=
}
}
1
( ) ( ; )
2
1
( )
2
o
o
o
t j t
m o
j
st
j
f t F e e d
F s e ds
j
o e
o
o
e o e
t
t

+

=
=
}
}
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 12 / 25
Development of the FLT (cont.)
The inverse Laplace is essentially an integration along a
contour s = o
o
+ je with e varying from .

je
o
je
m
= 2tjf
m
-je
m
= -2tjf
m
0 o
o
Laplace
Transform
Fourier
Transform
Complex frequency plane
s = o + je
To use the FLT, an appropriate for
the damping parameter o
o
must be
chosen.
More will be said about this later.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 13 / 25
Summary of the FLT
Using the operator notation for the Fourier transform pair
defined earlier,

the Laplace transform pair can be expressed in terms of the
Fourier operators as:


If the required integrations for the Fourier operators F and
F
-1
are evaluated numerically using the FFT, the
calculation is very rapid,
and we refer to this method as the Fast Laplace Transform.
( ) ( )
1
( ) ( ) and ( ) ( )
Fourier Fourier
F f t f t F e e

= = F F
( )
( )
0
( ; ) ( ) ( )
t
Laplace o
F e f t f t
o
o e

= F L
( ) ( )
0
1 1
( ) ( ; ) ( )
t
Laplace o Laplace
f t e F F s
o
o e

= F L
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 14 / 25
Past work on the FLT
This development was done by Bertholet about 6 years ago and
documented internally in French at the HPE Laboratory.
An early paper in 1968 [2] has described the principle of this method
and called it the modified Fourier transform (MFT).
More recently, two papers in the power community [3, 4] have
described this computational procedure.
And this method is described in a recent text book [5]

3. Ramirez, A., et. al, Frequency Domain Analysis of Electromagnetic Transients through the Numerical
Laplace Transform, Proc. 2004 IEEE PES Meeting, 10 June 2004, pp 1136 39.
4. Gmez Zamorano, P. and F. A. Uribe Campos, On the Application of the Numerical Laplace Transform
for Accurate Electromagnetic Transient Analysis, Revista Mexicana de Fsica, 52(3), Junio 2007.
2. Day, S. J., et. Al., Developments in Obtaining Transient Response using Fourier Transforms, Part III:
Global Response, Int. J. Elect. Engng. Educ., Vol. 6, pp 259-265, 1968.
5. Cohen, A. M., Numerical Methods for Laplace Transform Inversion, Springer Science + Business
Media, New York, 2007.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 15 / 25
Past work on the FLT (cont.)
Notwithstanding this previous work, this FLT concept is
not widely appreciated or used in the EM community.
A survey of workers in the IEEE EMC and Antennas and
Propagation areas showed that virtually nobody had heard
of this technique.
Thus, we have written a monograph on this method and
showing the details of how is can be used in
processing measured HPEM spectral data.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 16 / 25
Examples of the use of the FLT
A previous slide has shown the difficulty with the FFT calculations
for time-shifting the rogue waveforms.
Here we illustrate the use of the FLT for such a time shift
operation.
Note that in the Laplace domain, the time shift operator changes
from
( ) to ( )
s s
j t st
H e H s e
e
e

= =
FLT Response FFT Response
Note that now there is no fold-
thru of the late time waveform
into the early time using the FLT.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 17 / 25
Examples of the use of the FLT (cont.)
The choice of the damping constant o
o
is crucial for the
functioning of the FLT.
This parameter must be determined by the analyst by
examining the results.
If o
o
is too large, late-time noise occurs in the inverse
transform:
Example of o
o
being
too large
A rule of thumb for
this parameter is o
o

~ 4t/T
max
.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 18 / 25
FLT Example for a resonant line
Another example of the FLT is provided by a highly
resonant transmission line [6] illuminated by an incident
EM field at angle = 45






We wish to compute V
2
and I
1

For the highly resonant line with Z
L1
= 0 and Z
L2
=



6. Tesche, F. M., et. al, EMC Analysis Methods and Computational Models, John Wiley and Sons, New
York, 1997.
Line geometry Incident E-field waveform
I
1
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 19 / 25
A resonant transmission line (cont.)
The BLT equation [6] for the line in question provides
the following Fourier domain transfer functions for the
voltage V
2
/E
inc
and the current I
1
/E
inc
:
These peaks are
actually infinite.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 20 / 25
A resonant transmission line (cont.)
Multiplying the voltage transfer function by the
excitation spectrum and taking the inverse FFT provides
the following transient response for the voltage V
2
(t):
This response is
incorrect.
The response is
non-causal.
The amplitude is
unrealistic.
The waveform is
not what one
would expect from
physical
considerations.
What is the correct
solution ?
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 21 / 25
One possible solution
One solution used in the past with the FFT is to
add a small amount of loss to the short circuit or to the line wires,
Extend the FFT time window so the waveform damps out, and
Increase the number of sampling points so that a good early-time
response results.
This response is computed
for Z
L1
= 1 O, time window
T
max
= 6 s and 32,768
sample points.
Note the very slight decay of
the response due to the
additional (unrealistic) loss
added to this model.
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 22 / 25
A more efficient solution is to use the FLT
In this method, the excitation function spectrum and the
computed transmission line transfer function must be
computed in the Laplace (s) domain, not in the Fourier (je)
domain.
The excitation spectrum can be calculated numerically from the
excitation waveform, using the FLT.
The transfer function can be computed by modifying the BLT
equation for complex frequencies, or by numerically continuing the
Fourier transfer function on the je axis into the s-plane
This numerical continuation of the Fourier spectrum can be
accomplished by the following sequence of the FFT and
FLT transforms:
( ) ( )
1
( )
Laplace Fourier
H s H e

(
=

L F
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 23 / 25
Illustration of the FLT and FFT transfer
functions
Analytically continued FLT transfer function Fourier transfer function
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 24 / 25
FLT-computed voltage response
The FLT provides an easy solution for the voltage
response using o
o
= 3.612 x 10
6

Early time Late time
This response is computed
for Z
L1
= 0 O, time window
T
max
= 2 s and only 4096
sample points.
Causality is
observed
Correct
waveform and
amplitude.
No damping as required
for the lossless model
No late time
noise. (o
o
is OK).
The Fast Laplace Transform Slide 25 / 25
Summary
This presentation has described and illustrated a fast
numerical implementation of the Laplace transform.
Its use is as easy as the FFT to use, but it circumvents
several problems inherent in the FFT especially the
requirement that the waveform vanish at the end of the
data record.
The FLT method can also be applied to problems
involving measured transfer functions and initial
conditions.
Details and examples of these problems are provided in the
book.