Challenges in Large-scale Electromagnetic Compatabilitty Analysis

pdf slides (13 pages, 400K)

Abstract

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Analysis via computer simulation is becoming increasingly important as electronic devices of greater complexity and higher operating frequencies are being designed. Most analysis techniques used today are based on the Method of Moments, which is used to calculate the electromagnetic field in the frequency domain. The computationally dominant part of the analysis involves the solution of a complex N by N dense and indefinite linear system.

ACCUFIELD (www.accufield.com), which has been developed by Fujitsu Ltd, is such an EMC application. For systems moderate scale, i.e. N <= 20000, distributed memory parallel computing permits feasible solution using both direct and iterative methods. The latter is based on frequency interpolation techniques. Preconditioning using a direct solution on a nearby frequency seems to be required for an acceptable convergence rate; this however exacerbates memory requirements.

This seminar will give an overview to EMC issues and of the solution methods currently developed for ACCUFIELD. Then the challenges for solving larger-scale systems will be outlined. A solution would seem to require devising iterative methods that do not need any direct solution to be made. This may in turn allow techniques of reduced computational and storage requirements such as the Fast Multipole Method to be employed.

Suggestions from the audience on how these challenges might be tackled will be eagerly sought, with the possibility thereby of renewing a very successful collaboration between ANU and Fujitsu in EMC.