Gauss 2D (Electromagnetic Field Solver)
Avishtech’s Gauss electromagnetic solver is a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art 2D electromagnetic field solver that allows a user to simulate impedance, loss, RLGC properties, effective dielectric properties, and electric potentials and fields from a transmission line geometry. Gauss 2D features an extensive set of geometries and special cases to allow a user to model virtually any transmission line and obtain the most accurate and detailed data related to the electromagnetic behavior. With industry-leading granularity, control, and accuracy, all at an unparalleled value, Gauss 2D is the logical choice for your modeling and simulation needs.
Gauss 2D is a high order Finite Difference and high order integration based electromagnetic field solver. It is the industry leading 2D field solver for transmission lines. By using advanced numerical methods to accelerate the approach, as well as implementing high order differentiation and integration schemes, we have developed a fast and extremely accurate 2D field solver for transmission lines. We calculate effective Dk/DFs, provide impedance values, RLGC, surface and contour plots of potentials and e-fields, all in a simple, very easy-to-use multithreaded, no-bloat desktop application interface. There is virtually no learning curve. Just download, install, and get started. We make it very easy to produce reports, plots for presentations, and perform all necessary data analysis. Easy enough for a student new to the field, and sophisticated enough for the industry expert, developing the highest end designs.
Gauss 2D is unique in that it offers:
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A Finite Difference method based approach, resulting in industry leading accuracy. Boundary Element Methods (BEM) may be suitable for open problems, and FEM and lower order FD methods tend to be harder to use and accuracy is a function of user expertise. Gauss surpasses these methods, as it uses higher order differentiation and integration techniques.
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Ease of Use. Where FEM-based methods require expertise and sizeable investments in time and effort to set up even a basic problem, and BEM has limitations with visualization and modeling of finite-thickness geometries, Gauss allows a user to set up a problem in seconds and the software takes care of all of the complexity.
With Gauss 2D, you get access to powerful Signal Integrity functionality not available elsewhere!
Ground Plane Losses (Proximity Effect)
Gauss 2D and Gauss Stack are the only tools in the market that account for ground plane losses, which become significant in the GHz regime, and can be 35%+ of the loss in high frequency applications (e.g. 28 GHz for 112 Gbps/channel or 77-81 GHz for automotive radar). Gauss 2D shows excellent insertion loss correlation with measurement!
Broadband Extraction
Gauss 2D, using a machine learning enhanced physics based algorithm, can take an input set of single ended S-Parameters as a Touchstone® file along with the line length (to normalize to dB/in) and decouple (without line-widths, dielectric thicknesses or any other information) over the frequency range of measurement, Dielectric Loss, Zero-Roughness Conductor Loss, and Roughness Loss, which are further processed to extract Roughness Parameters, and Effective Dk and DF, an industry-first!
Uncertainty Analysis
Gauss 2D also allows you to assess the combined impact of manufacturing tolerances and variations for Dielectric Height, Trace Width, Trace Thickness, Gap Between Traces, Effective Dk and DF, and Roughness parameters on Impedance and Loss through Multivariate Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis to build distributions and confidence intervals.
Key Features of Gauss 2D (Electromagnetic Field Solver)
With Avishtech’s Gauss 2D, you not only get an extremely accurate and easy-to-use electromagnetic field solver, but also simulation software that is rich and feature-packed. Some key features are:
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S-Parameters Generation: Single Ended and Differential S-Parameters can be generated and plotted (mixed-mode and 4 port options for differential). These S-Parameters can also be exported to Touchstone® file format.
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Dielectric Anistropy: our 2D field solver allows you to input dielectric properties in both parallel and perpendicular directions, and, additionally, calculates effective dielectric properties based on these values and the transmission line geometry
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Copper Roughness: Gauss 2D provides higher accuracy to your outputs by accounting for the copper thickness and roughness profile in your choice of Huray, Causal-Huray and Hammerstad models.
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Solder Mask: while many 2D field solvers are unable to account for the effects of solder mask, Gauss 2D provides a highly accurate calculation that takes solder mask thickness and dielectric properties into account by treating a conformal layer on top of the trace.
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Wide Array of Geometries:Â in FEM based field solvers, you have to build the geometry and discretize it yourself, which is a time-consuming challenge. In our FD-based field solver, through our easy-to-use interface, you can select your geometry through a series of radio button options. Gauss 2D allows you to solve for Microstrip, Stripline, and Coplanar waveguide geometries, and select between single ended vs differential (edge-coupled), rectangular vs trapezoidal traces, isotropic vs anisotopric dielectric properties, solder mask vs embedded vs no dielectric above trace (for Microstrip and CPW), open vs shielded, and symmetric vs asymmetric (for Stripline) configurations.
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Multiconductor:Â in addition to the above mentioned geometric configurations, in our 2D field solver, you can simulate multiconductor transmission lines for both microstrip and stripline geometries, with all of the same configuration options, in addition to the selection of number of conductors.
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All Relevant Output Behavior and Properties:Â in addition to the effective dielectric properties (as mentioned above), Gauss 2D provides all relevant insights into the electromagnetic behavior that you would hope to see from a 2D field solver of the simulated transmission line, including full RLGC (not just impedance), propagation delay, and dielectric, conductor, and insertion loss.
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Visualization of Electric Potential and Fields: Gauss 2D also outputs contour plots of the electric potential and electric fields in both the x and y directions. This visualization allows the user an instantaneous sanity check into the convergence of the solution and that the conducted simulation was of the intended geometric configuration. Beyond this, these plots allow the user to obtain several key insights into the behavior of the fields. BEM-based field solvers do not output this information, due to the nature of their approximations not allowing spatial granularity, and FEM-based field solvers, even if they provide this, generally rely on the user to construct these from raw data.
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Impedance Target Synthesis:Â a particularly unique feature among 2D electromagnetic field solvers, Gauss 2D allows you to invert the problem: rather than provide all of the geometric configuration inputs and solving for impedance, you can use “Synthesis” mode to calculate the trace width that would correspond to a target impedance.
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Easy Export of Data: Should you wish to store the data elsewhere or play around with it using an analysis tool, Gauss 2D allows for easy export to Excel or .csv formats, which can then be imported to your favorite plotting or analysis software environment. S-Parameters can also be exported to Touchstone® format.
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Frequency Dependent Properties:Â Gauss 2D allows for extrapolation of key output properties across a broadband frequency range, inside our frequency extrapolation environment. These data can provide deeper insights into how your transmission line would behave across the frequency spectrum and can also be exported to Excel or .csv format for further analysis elsewhere.
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Multiple Dielectrics: Gauss 2D allows you to introduce two dissimilar dielectrics both above and below the trace (in addition to a solder mask or embedded configuration for microstrip or coplanar waveguide). This allows higher flexibility in building a transmission line that accurately models your actual designs.
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With all these features and more, all packed into the industry’s leading 2D electromagnetic field solver, Gauss 2D is the clear choice for your PCB design and simulation needs.