White Paper: Exactly How Electromagnetic Should Be Part Of A Design Flow

By Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

Modern RF/microwave design flows make extensive use of electromagnetic (EM) analysis in many ways, and its co-existence and concurrency with circuit design and analysis can not be underestimated. Prior to the circuit design and especially in larger designs, EM tools are used to create "library" parts such as inductors, transitions, and antennas. During both early and later stages of design, designers will switch from circuit-based models to EM analysis of critical interconnects to better understand couplings and achieve greater accuracy. EM analysis is used again before the design goes to manufacturing, so that the metal in the design can be analyzed one more time to verify circuit performance alongside design rule check (DRC), layout versus schematic (LVS), and even design for manufacturability.