Sensitivity Analysis and Adapted Optimization Strategies for CST MICROWAVE STUDIO Transient Solver

Computer Simulation Technology (CST) announces the implementation of an efficient sensitivity analysis for the transient solver of CST MICROWAVE STUDIO 2011. The sensitivities can be used in the transient as well as the frequency domain solver for yield analysis and fast optimization.

Design engineers choose the CST MICROWAVE STUDIO (CST MWS) transient solver for a large variety of microwave & RF applications because of its performance and accuracy. The latest addition to this solver will help them to speed up parameter studies and optimization of RF-components significantly.

One of the key advantages of the CST MWS transient solver is the efficient computation of broadband s-parameters and field results in one single simulation run. The newly implemented sensitivity analysis will be capable of evaluating the s-parameter dependencies on various model parameters on the basis of one simulation. This means that all further evaluations for different model parameter sets can be derived without restarting the full-wave simulation, thus offering users a considerable speed-up. Yield analysis for complex three dimensional models is becoming available at virtually no additional computational cost.

The benefit of the sensitivity analysis will be further increased by the implementation of special optimization techniques. Minimax and Trust Region mechanisms work on parameter models created by the sensitivity analysis to find optimal solutions for the given goals, without rerunning the simulation. The proposed optimum can be verified by a 3D simulation, thus reducing the number of costly full simulations drastically. These optimization strategies will also be available for the CST MWS frequency domain solver, for which sensitivity analysis was released in version 2010.

“Optimization, sensitivity and yield analysis are common tasks, which can be extremely time consuming when performed with a full 3D EM simulator,” commented Peter Thoma, Managing Director, R&D, CST. “We are very proud to present this exciting new technology for the most widely used solver of CST MWS, the transient solver, which will simplify the work of many design engineers.”

Availability
CST MICROWAVE STUDIO version 2011 is scheduled for release in January 2011.