Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Vector Fields | Subject: Concerto
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 07 December 2006
Tool handles escalating radio design
complexity
Vector Fields launches a major evolution of its high-frequency electromagnetic package, Concerto.
Vector Fields launches a major evolution of its high-frequency electromagnetic package, Concerto Many additions to the electronic design automation (EDA) software including new and enhanced solvers, sophisticated model parameterisation and an enhanced scripting capability, provide the means to rapidly create and optimise the most complex radio and microwave designs
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 30 Jul 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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"The burgeoning high frequency market has led to escalating design complexity coupled with a severe shortage of skilled designers," says Vector Fields' Kevin Ward.
"Concerto's integrated design-simulate-optimise tool allows organisations to reduce costly design iteration cycles, and achieve the optimal solution much faster".
"It can cut months from the most challenging of projects, from the design of complex microstrip and waveguide devices, to developing portable communications products with multiband operation or antenna diversity, to understanding signal propagation".
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The use of simulation software is today an essential part of the design cycle, not only optimising functional design and cutting material costs but increasing company profits.
RF simulation software provides all the tools
Concerto, the high frequency simulation software for component design from Vector Fields, has been upgraded to include many features from the user-group wish list.
Concerto series 6 offers a comprehensive suite of electromagnetic design capabilities, using powerful geometric modelling to provide 2D and 3D simulation and design optimisation.
Component or system models can be imported from CAD programs, or created using a powerful, built-in, 3D geometric modeller.
To speed the design process, a major enhancement is the inclusion of a 'parameterised history stream', allowing complete models to be easily modified and replayed.
This makes it easy to save portions of code, as script-like short cuts for designers who regularly create variations of similar products, such as antennas.
When a design model is ready, users now have a choice of three simulation methods to characterise performance.
As standard, Concerto offers a 3D Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulator, which has very broad ranging applicability.
A 2D FDTD simulator for axisymmetric geometry is available with this release, allowing rotationally symmetric structures such as some horn antennas or coaxial components to be simulated extremely rapidly.
A further time-saving feature comes in the form of adaptive meshing, which allows users to use the most efficient mesh resolution for the accuracy of solution required.
Depending on the application, users have two further simulation options.
A Method of Moments (MoM) tool provides a very good platform for simulating large environment problems such as installed antenna performance.
A comprehensive suite of interactive post processing tools targeted at antenna design has been added in series 6.
These include a tool for investigating coupling/immunity between multiple antennas - developed following many user requests and solving a rapidly growing design need.
To this capability, series 6 adds a new Finite Element Method (FEM) tool which provides an elegant means of performing eigenvalue analysis for problems such as characterising microwave resonator and cavity designs.
Together, this selection gives designers the means to choose the best and fastest approach for solving an extremely diverse range of applications.
Design optimisation is made even faster by several enhancements.
Models can be parameterised using variables, making it simple to perform 'what if' investigations.
A new version of the package's optimiser tool allows users to set design goals for several parameters simultaneously, and the software will automatically find the best solution to fine-tune performance, cost, real estate or other user-defined characteristics.
An attractive feature of Concerto's simulation and optimisation flexibility is the ability to suspend and resume processing at will, and to optimise the computational process.
Unique features built into Concerto's core FDTD solver already make it much faster than many other time domain algorithms.
Suspend and resume commands allow users to free up their computers during simulation if they need it for other tasks - including an entirely different Concerto design - or 'freeze' a run at any stage and transfer it to another computer.
The software additionally allows users to multithread execution to allow multiple processors to be applied to speed answers.
Multiphysics modelling is becoming increasingly important in designs.
Concerto optionally includes coupled thermal FDTD, allowing designers to determine how electromagnetic performance will vary as temperature rises.
Series 6 enhances the integration of these disciplines to improve ease of use.
The latest software release also operates with system-level EDA.
Users of Applied Wave Research's popular Microwave Office (MWO) software for wireless telecom circuit design can seamlessly call Concerto simulation to characterise critical components in the system model, all from a single user interface.
"We believe this major upgrade of our high frequency EDA software, Concerto, positions us at the leading edge of RF and microwave design", adds Ward.
"It provides a platform to slash the time, cost and real estate of high frequency product and system designs".
"In most cases, the value it generates on the first project will more than recoup the investment".
Concerto series 6 is available immediately for use on Windows platforms.
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