White Paper: Understanding Grounding Concepts in EM Simulators

Misunderstanding how ground is implemented in circuit simulation is one of the most common misuses of electromagnetic (EM) simulators and their results. This white paper discusses the definition of ground in EM simulators and how to correctly choose among various grounding options, a topic of special importance to designers using the results in a circuit simulator. Many modern simulators now support the notion of local grounding, where different ports can use different ground definitions. New features in AWR's AXIEM™ 2009 3D planar EM simulator offer extensive sources/ports and de-embedding options, including internal edge, finite difference/gap and extraction ports, and per-port, coupled line and mutual group de-embedding.