2.5D vs 3D full wave EM simulator
I read somewhere that ADS momentum is 2.5D EM simulator whereas CST, HFSS are 3D EM simulator.
What does mean by 2.5D here? How come an object has 2.5D? Does it mean miniaturized objects with very little thickness?
Momentum of ADS is a spectrum domain moment method.
This uses green function with horizontal homogeneous and vertical inhomogeneous.
So it is called as 2.5D EM solver.
Then it formulates integral equation to be solved.
When we use green function of full inhomogeneous, it is called as 3D even for moment method.
However we can't get green function of full inhomogeneous as closed form or by simple calculation.
HFSS is not moment method.
HFSS is a FEM(Finite Element Method).
It is based on variational method in some closed region.
Hi thanks for explanation.
Moment method, FEM are taught in which course? computational EM? Can you suggest an intermediate level text book that provides basic theory of those methods you mentioned and which is easy to follow for newbie
Method-of-moment, FEM, FDTD and other EM computation technique are part of 'Electromagnetic Numerical Technique' course. You can google, there are lot of books on these numerical technique.
Hfss includes both a 3D and a layout driven interface. In the layout , you can solve with either 2.5DMom of FEM. You can compare for the same design. 2.5D can be a bit faster if you neglect thickness but the Fem solution is faster when you consider 3D ( metal thickness or via radius). Also Fem has a better adaptative refinement which give you good confidence in the result. Because the full Fem solution with adaptative is provided in a few minutes on common design without any approximation, this should be preferred in most situation.