Microwave & RF Components

Passive microwave & RF component design is a major application of CST STUDIO SUITE!
and s"pporting it is one of CST#s core competencies$ Design engineers "se t%e e&ceptional
performance of CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO +CST '(S, for developing a wide variet- of
applications! s"c% as antennas! filters and co"plers$ CST STUDIO SUITE is c%aracteri.ed /- its
eas-0to0"se interface! diverse import filters! versatile parameteri.ation capa/ilities and a"tomatic
optimi.ation tools! and incl"des t%e powerf"l post0processing options t%at get -o"r development
process "p to speed$
CST '(S offers a /road range of solver tec%nologies! operating in /ot% t%e time and fre1"enc-
domain and capa/le "sing s"rface mes%es as well as Cartesian and tetra%edral vol"me mes%es$
To complement t%e general0p"rpose solvers! CST '(S also incl"des an integral e1"ation
solver! an as-mptotic solver! an eigenmode solver and a T2' solver! eac% well0s"ited to
different sit"ations$ (it% CST#s 3Complete Tec%nolog-4 approac% to sim"lation! t%e /est 5D
E' solver for an- given pro/lem is j"st a mo"se clic6 awa-$
E'7circ"it co0sim"lation is also s"pported in CST STUDIO SUITE t%ro"g% CST DESI89
STUDIO:! as well as t%ro"g% lin6s to t%ird0part- software s"c% as )(R and )gilent#s
sim"lation tools$ T%ermal and mec%anical anal-sis of electromagnetic losses is also possi/le!
t%an6s to t%e seamless integration of CST 'P;<SICS STUDIO wit%in t%e CST STUDIO
SUITE design environment$
A. Antenna Design and Simulation
)ntennas are essential w%erever wireless comm"nication re1"ired$ T%e- are t%e indispensa/le
lin6 /etween t%e contained signal and t%e 3et%er4$ CST provides a variet- of tools for eac% stage
of t%e antenna design flow to st"d- and improve -o"r design$
)ntenna 'ag"s is a software tool w%ic% allows t%e engineer to ma6e an informed c%oice of an
appropriate antenna element to s"it t%eir re1"irements! and prod"ces validated designs w%ic% can
/e anal-sed f"rt%er in CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO +CST '(S,$ )ntennas are "sed in a vast
variet- of applications! and t%"s ta6e come in a vast variet- of form factors and radiation
mec%anisms$ T%e range of sim"lation met%ods in CST '(S allows t%e engineer to c%oose t%e
/est tec%ni1"e for eac% application$ T%e transient solver co"ld /e /est for wide/and or planar
antennas! t%e fre1"enc- domain solver ma- /e more s"ita/le for electricall- small antennas!
w%ile t%e integral e1"ation solver can efficientl- sim"late electricall- large or wire antennas$
)ntennas never operate in isolation! /"t are attac%ed to a feed networ6$ CST DESI89
STUDIO: +CST DS, allows t%e %-/rid co0sim"lation of t%e effect of an attac%ed circ"it on t%e
antenna performance$ Installation of an antenna in a device or on a platform ma6es its anal-sis
even more comple&$ T%e S-stem )ssem/l- and 'odelling framewor6 in CST DS allows t%e
"ser to set "p co"pled sim"lations w%ic% can com/ine different solvers a"tomaticall- /- ma6ing
"se of field so"rces$
Finall-! powerf"l a"tomated post0processing allows -o" to e&tract ever- magnit"de of interest
for an antenna designer = nearfield plots! S)R! p%ase center! directivit- or farfield gain for single
antennas or arra-s 0 and to process t%ose data f"rt%er for "se in parameter sweeps or
optimi.ations in order to improve t%e performance of -o"r design$
B. Circuits and Components
T%e range of components "sed in E' s-stems is incredi/l- /road$ Depending on t%e application!
a s-stem can incl"de dividers! co"plers! filters and antennas for receiving! processing and
o"tp"tting signals$ T%e- can also incl"de l"mped circ"it elements s"c% diodes! ind"ctors!
capacitors! and mi&ers to connect ot%er components toget%er$
T%ese components can all /e modeled in CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO! to e&amine in detail
%ow t%e- /e%ave wit% different inp"t signals and different e&citations$ CST STUDIO SUITE
also offers circ"it sim"lation tools! availa/le in CST DESI89 STUDIO:! t%at also simplif- t%e
process of connecting 5D components "p! allowing t%e previo"sl- calc"lated res"lts from 5D
sim"lations to /e "sed along wit% t%e l"mped elements$
C. Filters
Filters are %ig%l- resonant str"ct"res t%at can /e fo"nd in an- comm"nication c%annel$ T%e
fre1"enc- domain solvers wit%in CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO are ideal for t%eir design and
anal-sis$ T%e eigenmode solver provides a speciali.ed sol"tion for cavit- design$ >ot% solvers
s"pport c"rved tetra%edral elements! w%ic% means t%at c"rved str"ct"res can /e anal-.ed more
acc"ratel- and efficientl-$
) 6e- design step is t%e t"ning of a filter! w%ic% mig%t /e a c%allenge /eca"se of t%e %ig%
sensitivit- of t%e t"ning parts$ CST provides several "ni1"e feat"res to ma6e t%e design process
as simple as possi/le$ )n estimation of t%e sensitivit- of t%e filter response to small geometric or
material propert- variation can /e o/tained from a single sim"lation$ In addition E'7circ"it co0
sim"lation allows for a ver- efficient man"al t"ning process$
D. Simulation of Electrically arge Structures
In man- application areas t%ere is a need to "nderstand t%e performance of a device in t%e
conte&t of a larger s-stem! and t%is %as made t%e anal-sis of electricall- large str"ct"res an
increasingl- important need$ CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO offers ver- efficient solving and
assem/l- modeling strategies to tac6le electromagneticall- large comp"tational pro/lems$
T%e integral e1"ation solver and as-mptotic solvers can /e t%e onl- wa- to sim"late large
pro/lems wit% t%e availa/le %ardware reso"rces$ >ot% solvers can ma6e "se of acceleration
tec%ni1"es li6e m"lti0core7CPU comp"ting or distri/"ted comp"ting$ In addition! t%e separation
of comple& pro/lems into m"ltiple parts! wit% t%e lin6 /etween t%em /eing defined /- e1"ivalent
near0 or far0field so"rces! can dramaticall- speed "p reflector antenna or installed antenna
performance anal-sis$
E. !ptical Devices
(it% t%e relentless marc% of miniat"ri.ation and t%e emergence of nanotec%nolog-! applications
now often need fre1"encies /e-ond RF and microwave! in t%e s"/0millimeter and optical
sections of t%e spectr"m$ T%e fields of p%otonics and plasmonics in partic"lar %ave led to a need
to control E' fields at an e&tremel- small scale to prod"ce t%e t-pes of waves necessar- for t%e
application$
T%ese articles detail t%e "se of CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO to model t%e properties of
materials and str"ct"res operating in t%e tera%ert. and visi/le lig%t /ands! and e&plain o"tline t%e
iss"es t%at need to /e considered w%en sim"lating t%ese str"ct"res$
F. Biomedical Devices and EM Field E"posure
T%e interaction of %ig%0power E' fields! widel- "sed in comm"nications and in magnetic
resonance imaging +'RI, s-stems! wit% t%e /od- can pose serio"s ris6s to /ot% t%e patient and
t%e operator$ (aves can penetrate t%e /od- and deposit significant amo"nts of energ- in t%e
tiss"es! and t%e res"lting %eating can ca"se serio"s damage to cells$
CST 'ICRO()*E STUDIO incl"des a range of post0processing met%ods for estimating t%e
specific a/sorption rate +S)R,! a standard meas"rement of energ- deposition in t%e /od-! and
wit% t%e integrated design environment offered /- CST STUDIO SUITE t%ese field
distri/"tions can t%en /e imported into a t%ermal calc"lation! w%ic% can ta6e into acco"nt %eat
loss from t%e /od- and t%e /io0%eat effects ca"sed /- cell meta/olism and /lood flow$
Of co"rse! a sim"lation is onl- as good as t%e model it#s "sing! and so to %elp ma6e /iomedical
sim"lations more acc"rate! CST STUDIO SUITE s"pports vo&el models! incl"ding t%e *isi/le
;"man model ;U8O and t%e CST *o&el Famil-$ T%ese models acc"ratel- represent t%e
electromagnetic c%aracteristics of /od- tiss"es and can even incl"de /io0%eat information$
https://www.cst.com/