CAREER: A Mixed Mesh and Hybrid Integral Equation Approach for Electromagnetic Simulation of Microwave Circuit

随着毫米波/微波电路集成度的提高，电路元器件之间的电磁相互作用成为影响信号完整性和系统电磁兼容性的重要因素。对于准确有效地预测和分析相互作用，并最终提供优化设计和原型以满足性能和EMC要求的数值方法的需求日益增长。本项目提出了一种混合网格、混合积分方程法，用于准确、高效地模拟微波电路。这种新模型的一个独特之处是使用了三角形-四面体混合网格(或四边形-六面体网格)来离散几何。这允许对复杂结构中的金属表面和介电区域进行保形和准确的建模。建立了混合表面积分方程组和体积积分方程组，并用矩量法进行求解。为了保证解的稳定性和误差易处理，系统条件简化和收敛加速的研究将是所提出的研究的重要部分。为了提高计算效率，将采用多层快速多极子方法。它的成功实施将把全波微波电路仿真带到电路板级，并最终达到系统级。此外，由于许多物体本质上是由导体和电介质组成的，因此本研究开发的混合网格和混合积分方程法也将适用于其他广泛的应用，如EMC/EMI仿真、材料涂层目标的雷达散射计算、预测射频设备与人体的电磁相互作用。该研究将与PI的学术教学活动相结合，建立一个虚拟实验实验室，供学生进行各种电磁散射和辐射问题的交互模拟。教学活动旨在鼓励本科生参与工程设计和模拟，并将作为演示，吸引年轻人(他们是未来的潜在工程师)的兴趣。该项目的成功将为未来高速和微波印刷电路的CAD设计和原型制作带来一种新的独特工具。这也将为大学生探索和了解微波印刷结构的特点提供一个新的机会和独特的工具。

0093692LuWith the increase of the integration density of millimeter-wave/microwave circuits, electromagnetic interactions among circuit components and devices become important factors that affect the signal integrity and system electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). There are growing demands for numerical methods that will accurately and effectively predict and analyze the interactions, and eventually provide means for optimum design and prototyping to meet both performance and EMC requirements. This project proposes a mixed mesh, hybrid integral equation approach for the accurate and efficient simulation of microwave circuits. A unique feature of this new model is to use mixed triangle-tetrahedron mesh (or quadrangle-hexahedron mesh) to discretize the geometry. This allows the conformal and accurate modeling of both the metallic surface and the dielectric regions in a complex structure. The hybrid surface and volume integral equations are formulated and solved using the method of moments. The investigation of system condition reduction and convergence sped-up will be an important part of the proposed research in order to ensure stable and error tractable solution. The multilevel fast multipole method will be implemented to achieve computational efficiency. The successful implementation of it will bring the full-wave microwave circuit simulation to circuit board-level and eventually to system-level. Moreover, as many objects are essentially made up of conductors and dielectrics, the mixed mesh and hybrid integral equation approach developed from this research will also be suitable for a wide range of other applications such as EMC/EMI simulation, radar scattering calculation for material coated targets, and predicting the electromagnetic interaction of radio frequency devices and human bodies.The research will be integrated with the PI's academic teaching activities through the establishment of a virtual experiment lab for students to perform interactive simulation of various electromagnetic scattering and radiation problems. The teaching activities are designed to encourage the participation of undergraduate students in engineering design and simulation, and will be used as demos to attract the interest of young people (who are tomorrow's potential engineers). The success of this project will lead to a new and unique tool for future CAD design and prototyping of high-speed and microwave printed circuits. It will also provide a new opportunity and a unique tool for university students to explore and understand the characteristics of microwave printed structures.