Questions and doubts regard RF system design approch
I've just read in a paper that it is possible to import in AWR Microwave Office the S-parameter of a component and perform system level simulation, including also geometry effects. I am talking about a RF transmission system.
More precisly, the paper reports this:
"We have used two different 3D EM field solvers to
simulate the RF signal chain: AWR Microwave Office
and Mentor Graphics (MG) Hyperlinx 3D EM. We
have learned to import S-parameter models into AWR
and perform system level simulations with the tool,
including geometry effects. In MG?s tools we have only
been able to model ideal passive components and
geometry effects, so it has not yet been as useful."
This is for me a big question, that I have not been able to solve so far. Is it really possible to perform electromagnetic simulations of RF component in the way described by paper? For all components, active and passive?
I have no enough experience on RF design, so I need your help to understand.
You can read all paper at this link, if you want: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150000169
Many thanks for help.
Bye
Antonio
EM simulators can only simulate the passive 2D or 3D structures.But you can also add active and passive component in a circuit simulator.Then you can simulate whole system with all possible configuration and necessary components.MG Hyperlinx is not a real 3D EM simulator.It's just a PCB oriented transmission estimation,simulation and ideal case modeling software.
What does it mean? There is no circuit model of RF components. I have tried to ask them. Manufactures can give you only S-parameters of the active components, which can be useful for system level simulation. This kind of simulation is different from EM simulation
If you have access to a full loaded AWR EM software (including Axiem) you don't need MG Hyperlinx.
Make your own S-parameters using the EM simulator and place them in the system simulator together with other S-parameters (active or passive components) provided by various manufacturers.
None of the EM simulators available today can simulate active devices ,all of them just add the active device s-param after simulating the entire Passive structure(pcb pattern and other passive components).
This kind of approach is good enough for most applications.