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

With 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.