Computer-aided high-frequency modeling and design

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The competitiveness of the high-frequency electronics industry including RF/microwave and wireless sectors can significantly contribute to our economy. For instance, Canada's wireless industry generated $8.2 billion in revenues in 2003, and today more than 25,000 Canadians work for the industry. Research in computer aided design (CAD) arena leads to key vehicles for design and optimization of high-frequency circuits, which find applications in communications, consumer electronics and satellite links. What makes CAD of these circuits challenging? Electronic circuits operating at Gigahertz frequencies emulate full-wave electromagnetic or EM behaviours. High-frequency effects, e.g. EM coupling, if not considered during the CAD phase, could lead to prolonged design-revision and time-to-market cycles thereby causing substantial economic fallouts. The proposed research is geared towards enhancing traditional CAD tools and their low-frequency oriented model libraries. Teaching artificial neural networks (ANN) to learn the EM behaviours, followed by elegant integration of EM-ANN models into the CAD-tool libraries will remain an active thread. Specifically, this proposal focuses on development of cost-effective high-frequency modeling tools using adaptive sampling, exploration of rapid interconnect optimization tools, formulation of flexible CAD models representing EM coupling between on-wafer passives, and investigation of CAD tools for design of filters used in satellites. The most direct outcome will be invention of novel computer aided modeling, design and optimization tools for circuit designers and CAD-tool users in industry. This work has a potential to increase design efficiency, shorten design cycles and time-to-market, enhance product quality, and decrease consumer costs. Personnel trained by this research will constitute highly skilled workforce for our industry. These factors could lead to maintaining the competitiveness of the Canadian high-frequency electronics industry in the global market.