Multi-layer Finite Difference Method Research Articles

Steady-state electro-thermal analysis and optimization of multilayer boards and substrate-integrated waveguide filters

An efficient method is proposed to perform the steady-state thermal analysis of multilayer boards by using the multilayer finite-difference method to obtain and solve the thermal conductance network. The electro-thermal analysis of substrate-integrated waveguide SIW filter is further carried out, with its distributed heat source, that is, electromagnetic losses. Then, our method is applied to optimize the electro-thermal performance of a composite configuration, including a SIW filter with a selfheating chip attached on it. A location with the minimum hotspot temperature is found. Good agreement is achieved between the results simulated with our method and the commercial finite element method FEM simulators. When the worst-case error is set to 5.3%, the run time of our method is significantly reduced by 95% in comparison with the FEM simulators. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:594-604, 2014.

Electromagnetic Band Gap Synthesis Using Genetic Algorithms for Mixed Signal Applications

A novel electromagnetic band gap (EBG) synthesis method for mixed signal applications is presented. In this method, a genetic algorithm (GA) is utilized as a solution-searching technique. One of the main advantages of the proposed method is an automated design procedure for EBG structures that meet given design specifications. For this purpose, the GA method is combined with multilayer finite-difference method (M-FDM) and dispersion diagram (DD) method. The M-FDM is a circuit-based simulator for computing the Z-parameters of planar structures, while the DD method is a plot of the propagation constant versus frequency. The EBG synthesis method introduced in this paper consists of three main parts namely: 1) GA, which generates populations of EBG structures and evaluates fitness functions using band gap response results from DD; 2) M-FDM, which analyzes the EBG structures generated by the GA and links the analysis results to DD; 3) DD, which calculates band gap frequencies using the EBG structure analysis results from the M-FDM and links the calculated stop band frequencies to the GA for fitness checks. For the verification of the suggested method, EBG structures having various specifications have been designed using the EBG synthesizer tool described in this paper. The designed EBG structures have been modeled and simulated using M-FDM. The EBG structures have also been fabricated and measured in the frequency-domain. The corresponding frequency-domain simulations and measurements have exhibited band gaps as per the design specifications used to synthesize the EBG structures.