The electromagnetic (EM)-design software Axiem is meant to deliver EM analysis as a true upfront design technology, where it benefits designers most by helping to diagnose issues early in the design process. The software was developed specifically for three-dimensional 3D planar applications such as RF printed-circuit boards and modules, low-temperature co-fired ceramic, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and RFIC designs. The open-boundary, non-gridded, MoM (method-of-moments) solver supports true thick metal in layered dielectric media. It creates 3D meshes of extruded planar geometries, correctly accounting for all x-, y-, and z-directed currents on all surfaces. Furthermore, it leverages the most recent advancements in EM-solver and -meshing algorithms, as well as in computer architecture, to deliver unprecedented speed and accuracy. The software's solver algorithm scales on the order of N log(N) as opposed to N3, found in most existing MoM products. It enables the user to accurately and robustly simulate to DC, which is essential for obtaining the right bias conditions and setting the DC operating points for active structures. The software also features auto-calibrated internal ports, which maintain their own current-return path with relatively low error. These ports eliminate the usual tricks associated with other EM products - which require manual de-embedding or an explicit path to a sidewall - and are the ideal excitation for complex structures such as PCBs with many surface-mount pads. The tool operates as a stand-alone EM solver but integrates into the overall AWR design flow. Used in conjunction with AWR's ACE technology, which provides automatic-interconnect model extraction, the same EM structures can be modified and designed in seconds accordingly with ACE and then more accurately modeled or analysed within the mainstream design flow via the Axiem tool.
