SEMCAD X Matterhorn Release V20.0

SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 offers powerful new features and important enhancements to further strengthen our customers’ in silico tool set for research, device design and optimization, and compliance evaluation.

The highlights of SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 in a nutshell:

• SEMCAD X and DASY8/6: direct import of models created by DASY8/6 Module mmWave V3-0+ for further in silico evaluations – removes the cumbersome validation of numerical models
• Accurate simulations of body-mounted 5G NR FR2 devices; our new solver-enhanced phantoms enable computation of over-the-air performance and absorbed power densities without limitations
• Reduced storage: results from full-wave simulations can now be automatically compressed, resulting in massive file size savings (up to 20x)
• Performance: our EM-FDTD solvers now support the latest Ampere GPU architecture and provide optimized speed performance on multi-GPU machines

Finally, the new release also comes with additional productivity features and general improvements as well as bug fixes, making your simulations once again more effective.

Feedback, as always, is greatly welcome – we listen!

5G Toolkit Simulation Enhancements

NEW mmWAVE MATERIAL MODEL

In V20.0, our 5G Toolkit is further extended with a novel solver-enhanced phantom model technique, making SEMCAD X Matterhorn the only electromagnetic (EM) software platform that can perform realistic and accurate simulations with phantoms at mmWave frequencies in a reasonable time.

• The realistic and accurate simulations of handheld or body-mounted devices operating in the mmWave range require modeling of very thin structures to simulate the matching of the skin. This is solved by SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 by introducing solver-enhanced phantoms that eliminate any limits in simulating mmWave devices.
• In V20.0, the simulation setup for mmWave devices with SPEAG’s mmWave hand phantoms is automated and starts with a simple drag and drop of the computer aided design (CAD) file of the phantom. The phantom is automatically assigned to a new solver-enhanced material model with parameters obtained from the integrated SPEAG database.
• The new technique has been successfully verified and the verification report is available upon request.
• The feature is currently available for all SPEAG hand phantoms developed for mmWave applications. Other phantoms (e.g., POPEYE, Head Phantoms) and Virtual Population (ViP) models will be supported in future releases.

New solver-enhanced body models in SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 for Accurate Simulations of 5G NR FR2 Devices: Watch the movie here.

5G SIMULATION AND mmWAVE COMPLIANCE ASSESSMENT

Simulations and measurements are brought even closer together: SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 and DASY module mmWave 3.0 combine the best of both worlds. Data acquired in the physical world by DASY8/6 Module mmWave V3-0+ can now take an active role in the digital world too!

• The auxiliar sources reconstructed by DASY8/6 Module mmWave V3-0+ based on measurements constitute a complete in silico model of a physical device. This model can be imported into SEMCAD X for detailed simulations.
• The workflow can be used, for example, to evaluate incident power density (PD) on the surface of a human model when exposed to a 5G mobile phone. It is particularly useful when one is not able to simulate the phone itself or to perform comparisons between numerical or experimental results.
• Similarly, CAD models in V20.0 can now be exported in a format that can be used by DASY users to perform measurements. This process makes use of a new SEMCAD X tool that extracts the outer surface of a CAD model in the form of a simplified triangulated mesh of the outer hull that is easily shared.
• A new file format is introduced to allow seamless data exchange between SEMCAD X and DASY8/6. Information pertaining to a given device is stored in a single file that can be enriched in SEMCAD X or DASY8/6 with data from the digital or physical world, respectively.

Simplified PD evaluations at 6–10 GHz using the enhanced 5G Simulation Toolbox in SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0: Watch the movie here.

Equivalent Source Reconstruction algorithm used on reference patch antenna operating at 5.77 GHz measured on two planes at 2 mm and 14.5 mm. The resulting digital device under test model, fully portable between DASY8/6 and SEMCAD X, is used to propagate mmWave fields on the skin of a human model (Duke) to compute incident PD distribution.

Productivity AND Performance Tools

NEW POWERFUL MODELING ENHANCEMENTS

• A new tool for reconstruction of exterior surfaces of complex model assemblies may be useful for computing the outer shapes of ViP models as well as of mobile phones and other complex devices
• SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 includes a Key-Frame tool to record camera and model visualizations settings enabling the use of screen capture software for replay and record, making trivial the creation of animations to present your models
• SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 includes many modeling-related bug fixes as well as extended and improved Python API for scripting and automating modeling workflows

Straightforward extraction of the outer surface from complex CAD models in an example 5G mobile phone, useful when measurement probes need to know accurately where the surface of a device is located, but do not reach inside the device itself.

ANALYSIS RESULTS OF FIELD COMPRESSION

• SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 now offers new functionality to compress 3D field data in finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations for output files that consume far less disk space and are even easier to manage, with no loss of data accuracy
• Both lossless and lossy compression options, with compression ratios of 50% down to 12.5%, are available; lossy compression schemes make use of a fixed rate of bits per scalar value
• Extensive validation of the available compression schemes demonstrates that, even with the highest compression, only negligible deviations of typically less than 0.1% are observed in electric/magnetic field values

Field compression in SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0: Two representative examples showing how the output file size can change drastically depending on the level of compression.

ANALYSIS IMPROVEMENT FOR LF-SIMULATIONS [CURRENT NORMALIZER]

• In SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0, low-frequency simulations driven by a potential difference can now be scaled according to the total current flux at postprocessing, including, for example, electro-quasistatic simulations where two electrodes at different potentials induce an electric current through a human body
• Normalization options available at postprocessing time allow fields to be scaled such that the current flux between two electrodes attains a prescribed value

OS EXTENSIONS – UBUNTU

• SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 numerical solver can now be used on Linux machines running the operating system Ubuntu: please consult our user manual for further details, including installation, usage, and list of supported GPU cards
• Although CentOS Linux 8 has reached end-of-life, temporary support by SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 for CentOS Linux 8 will be extended to guarantee a smooth transition to Ubuntu
• Please note that, with the next major release in Q3 2022, CentOS Linux 8 will no longer be supported and will be fully replaced by Ubuntu support

NVIDIA AMPERE AND MULTI-GPU SUPPORT FOR CUDA SOLVER

• SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 now supports the latest and most advanced GPU architectures on the market to solve EM simulations at never-before-seen speeds
• Both the CUDA and the AxWare libraries can now compute on NVIDIA cards with Ampere architecture and are optimized for multi-GPU parallelization to achieve the highest possible throughput

A more comprehensive list of improvements, fixes, and new features is included in the Release Notes.

To experience the power and elegance of SEMCAD X Matterhorn V20.0 or for further information, please email us at semx-sales@speag.swiss or call us at +41 44 245 9700.

The relevant SEMCAD X Matterhorn installers for Win8.1/Win10/Win11 64-bit platforms can be downloaded here. Existing customers with an up-to-date annual maintenance and support plan will receive individually all pertinent information regarding the software installer download and updated licenses.

SPEAG is committed to empowering our customers to reach new heights of productivity and scientific achievement by providing outstanding innovative software solutions, testing equipment, and service.

We strongly recommend that users upgrade SEMCAD X to the full Version of Sim4Life. If interested, please request a special upgrade price.

The SEMCAD X Matterhorn and Sim4Life Teams