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[[Image:Splash-fdtd.jpg|right|720px]]<strong><font color="#961717" size="4">Fast Multicore & GPU-Accelerated FDTD Solvers for Simulating the Most Complex Electromagnetic Modeling Problems</font></strong><table><tr><td>[[image:Cube-icon.png | link=Getting_Started_with_EM.Cube]] [[image:cad-ico.png | link=Building_Geometrical_Constructions_in_CubeCAD]] [[image:prop-ico.png | link=An EM.Terrano]] [[image:static-ico.png | link=EM.Ferma]] [[image:planar-ico.png | link=EM.Picasso]] [[image:metal-ico.png | link=EM.Libera]] [[image:po-ico.png | link=EM.Illumina]]</td><tr></table>[[Image:Tutorial_icon.png|30px]] '''[[EM.Cube#EM.Tempo_Documentation | EM.Tempo Primer Tutorial Gateway]]''' [[Image:Back_icon.png|30px]] '''[[EM.Cube | Back to EM.Cube Main Page]]'''==Product Overview==

EM.Tempo is a powerful time-domain electromagnetic simulator for full-wave modeling of 3D radiation, scattering and propagation problems. It features a highly efficient Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation engine that has been optimized for speed and memory usage. EM.Tempo brings to your desktop the ultimate in computational power. Its FDTD solver has been parallelized to take full advantage of multi-core processor architectures. With a large variety of geometrical, material and excitation features including open-boundary and periodic structures, you can use EM.Tempo as a general purpose 3D field simulator for most of your electromagnetic modeling needs. EM.Tempo's new advanced simulation capabilities are your the key to a thorough understanding of wave the interaction in of electromagnetic waves with complex media such as anisotropic composites, metamaterials or biological environmentsor with passive and active devices and nonlinear circuits.

=== Pros and Cons EM.Tempo has undergone several evolutionary development cycles since its inception in 2004. The original simulation engine utilized an FDTD formulation based on the uniaxial perfectly matched layer (UPML) boundary termination. Subsequently, a more advanced boundary termination based on the convolutional perfectly matched layer (CPML) was implemented with a far superior performance for all oblique wave incidences in different types of media. EM.Tempo now has the ability to model laterally infinite layered structures using CPML walls that touch material media. A novel formulation of periodic boundary conditions was implemented based on the constant transverse wavenumber method (or direct spectral FDTD Simulation ===). In 2013 we introduced an Open-MP optimized multi-core version of the FDTD engine as well as a hardware-accelerated solver that runs on CUDA-enabled graphical processing unit (GPU) platforms. Both of these fast solvers are now a standard part of the EM.Tempo Pro package.

A time domain simulation like FDTD offers several advantages over a frequency domain simulation[[Image:Info_icon. In certain applications, the time domain signature or behavior png|30px]] Click here for an overview of a system, e.g. the transient response '''[[Basic Principles of a circuit or an antenna, is sought. In other applications, you may need to determine the wideband frequency response of a system. In such cases, using a frequency domain technique, you have to run the simulation engine many times to adequately sample the specified frequency range. In contrast, using the FDTD method requires a single-run simulation. The temporal field data are transformed into the Fourier domain to obtain the wideband frequency response of the simulated system. Among other advantages of the Finite Difference Time Domain Method | Basic FDTD method are its versatility in handling complex material compositions as well as its superb numerical stability. It is worth noting that unlike frequency domain methods like the finite element method (FEM) or method of moments (MoM), the FDTD technique does not involve numerical solution of large ill-conditioned matrix equations that are often very sensitive to the mesh qualityTheory]]'''.

Like every numerical technique, the FDTD method has disadvantages, too<table><tr><td>[[Image:ART GOLF Fig title. Adding the fourth dimension, time, to the computations increases the size of the numerical problem significantly. Unfortunately, this translates to both larger memory usage and longer computation times. Note that the png|thumb|left|400px| The 3D far-field data are generated in both the 3D space and time. EM.Tempo uses a staircase "Yee" mesh to discretize the physical structure. This works perfectly fine for rectangular objects that are oriented along the three principal axes. In the case radiation pattern of highly curved structures or slanted surfaces and lines, however, this may compromise the geometrical fidelity of your structure. EM.Tempo provides a default adaptive FDTD mesher that can capture the fine details of geometric contours, slanted thin layers, surfaces, etc. to arbitrary precision. However, with smaller mesh cells, the stability criterion leads to smaller time steps; hence, longer computation times. Another disadvantage of the FDTD technique compared to naturally openvehicle-boundary methods like MoM is its finite-extent computational domain. This means that to model open boundary problems like radiation or scattering, absorbing boundary conditions are needed to dissipate the incident waves at the walls of the computational domain and prevent them from reflecting back into the domain. The accuracy of the FDTD simulation results depends on the quality of these absorbers and their distance from the actual physical mounted antenna structure. simulated by EM.Tempo provides high quality perfectly match layer (PML) terminations at the boundaries which can be placed fairly close your physical structure.]]</td></tr></table>

=== An Overview of EM.Tempo as the FDTD Modeling Module of EM.Cube ===

EM.Tempo is a general-purpose EM simulator than can solve most types of electromagnetic modeling problems involving arbitrary geometries and complex material variations in both time and frequency domains. It has also been integrated within the [[Image:FDTD93.png|thumb|300px|A metal ellipsoid object..EM.Cube]][[Image:FDTD94simulation environment as its full-wave "FDTD Module".png|thumb|300px|EM...and its Yee mesh.]]In Tempo shares the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) methodvisual interface, a discretized form of Maxwell’s equations is solved numerically and simultaneously in both the 3D space and time. During this processparametric CAD modeler, data visualization tools, the electric and magnetic fields are computed everywhere in the computational domain many more utilities and features collectively known as a function [[Building Geometrical Constructions in CubeCAD | CubeCAD]] with all of time starting at t = 0. From knowledge of the primary fields in space and time, one can compute other secondary quantities including frequency domain characteristics like scattering [[parametersEM.Cube]], input impedance, far field radiation patterns, radar cross section, etc's other computational modules.

[[Image:Info_icon.png|30px]] Click here to learn more about the '''[[Differential Form of Maxwell's EquationsGetting_Started_with_EM.Cube | EM.Cube Modeling Environment]]'''.

Since FDTD is a finite domain numerical technique, the computational domain === The Advantages & Limitations of the problem must be truncatedEM. At the boundaries of the computational domain, proper boundary conditions must be enforced. In a shielded structure, all objects are enclosed within a perfect electric (or magnetic) conductor box. In an open boundary problem like an antenna, some kind of absorbing boundary conditions such as a perfectly matched layer (PML) must be used to emulate the free space. The absorbing boundaries should act such that the field propagates through them without any back reflection. The Tempo's FDTD simulation time depends directly on the size of the computational domain and on how close you can place the PML walls to the enclosed objects. Simulator ===

Click here A time domain simulation like FDTD offers several advantages over frequency domain simulations. In certain applications, the time domain signature or behavior of a system, e.g. the transient response of a circuit or an antenna, is sought. In other applications, you may need to learn more about EMdetermine the wideband frequency response of a system.Tempo's [[Perfectly Matched Layer Termination]]In such cases, using a frequency domain technique, you have to run the simulation engine many times to adequately sample the specified frequency range. In contrast, using the FDTD method requires a single-run simulation. The temporal field data are transformed into the Fourier domain to obtain the wideband frequency response of the simulated system. Among other advantages of the FDTD method are its versatility in handling complex material compositions as well as its superb numerical stability. It is worth noting that unlike most frequency domain methods, the FDTD technique does not involve numerical solution of large ill-conditioned matrix equations that are often very sensitive to the mesh quality.

The Like every numerical technique, the FDTD computational domain must be discretized using an appropriate meshing schememethod has disadvantages, too. Adding the fourth dimension, time, to the computations increases the size of the numerical problem significantly. Unfortunately, this translates to both larger memory usage and longer computation times. Note that the field data are generated in both the 3D space and time. EM.Tempo uses a non-uniform, variable, staircase (pixelated) "Yee " mesh with a mesh density that you can customizeto discretize the physical structure. A fixed-cell mesh generator is also available, where you can set constant cell dimensions This works perfectly fine for rectangular objects that are oriented along the three principal axes for the entire computational domain. The variable mesh density is specified in terms In the case of the effective wavelength inside material media. As a resulthighly curved structures or slanted surfaces and lines, however, this may compromise the mesh resolution and average mesh cell size differ in regions that are filled with different types geometrical fidelity of materialyour structure. [[EM.Cube]]'s non-uniform Tempo provides a default adaptive FDTD mesher generates more cells in the areas that are occupied by dielectric materialscan capture the fine details of geometric contours, fewer slanted thin layers, surfaces, etc. to arbitrary precision. However, with smaller mesh cells in , the free space regions and no cells inside (impenetrable) PEC regionsstability criterion leads to smaller time steps; hence, longer computation times. [[Another disadvantage of the FDTD Module]]'s default "adaptive" mesh generator also refines technique compared to naturally open-boundary methods like the mesh around curved segments method of lines, surface moments (MoM) is its finite-extent computational domain. This means that to model open boundary problems like radiation or solids scattering, absorbing boundary conditions are needed to produce a far more accurate representation dissipate the incident waves at the walls of your geometrythe computational domain and prevent them from reflecting back into the domain. The example accuracy of the FDTD simulation results depends on the right illustrates a metal ellipsoid quality of these absorbers and a 3D view their distance from the actual physical structure. EM.Tempo provides high quality perfectly matched layer (PML) terminations at the boundaries, which can be placed fairly close to your physical structure to reduce the total size of its Yee meshthe computational domain.

The FDTD method provides a wideband simulation of your physical structure. In order to produce sufficient spectral information, an appropriate wideband temporal waveform is needed to excite the physical structure. The choice of the waveform, its bandwidth and time delay all affect the convergence behavior of the FDTD time marching loop. By default, EM.Tempo uses a modulated Gaussian waveform with optimal <table><tr><td>[[parameters]]Image:Airplane Mesh. Another issue of concern is the numerical stability of the time marching scheme. You might expect to get better and more accurate results if you keep increasing the FDTD png|thumb|left|480px|The Yee mesh resolution. However, in order to satisfy the Courant-Friedrichs-Levy (CFL) stability condition, the time step must be inversely proportional to the maximum grid cell size . A high resolution mesh requires a smaller time step. To let the fields in the computational domain fully evolve over time, a smaller time step will require a larger number of time steps to convergean imported aircraft CAD model. [[EM.Cube]] automatically chooses a time step that satisfies the CFL condition.</td></tr></table>

For more detailed information, see [[Waveform, Bandwidth, Stability]]== EM.Tempo Features at a Glance ==

==Building the = Physical StructureDefinition ===

[[Image:FDTD1.png|thumb|200px|[[FDTD Module]]'s Navigation Tree.]]<ul>In [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] <li> PEC, a physical structure consists PMC and dielectric materials and thin wires</li> <li> Uniaxial and fully anisotropic materials with four complete constitutive tensors</li> <li> Dispersive materials of sets of objects that are grouped together Debye, Drude and identified by their material Lorentz types. All the objects belonging to the same material group share the same color with arbitrary number of poles</li> <li> Generalized uniaxial and same material properties. Materials are divided into seven categories that are listed under the '''Physical Structure''' node at the top doubly negative refractive index metamaterials with arbitrary numbers of the navigation treeboth electric and magnetic poles</li> <li> Two types of gyrotropic materials:ferrites and magnetoplasmas</li> <li> PEC, PMC and convolutional perfectly match layer (CPML) boundary conditions</li> <li> Doubly periodic structures</li></ul>

Under each material node<ul> <li> Lumped voltage sources with internal resistance placed on a PEC line or thin wire object with an arbitrary orientation</li> <li> Distributed sources with uniform, you can create new material groups of sinusoidal and edge-singular profiles</li> <li> Microstrip, coplanar Waveguide (CPW) and coaxial ports</li> <li> Waveguide sources with the same typedominant TE<sub>10</category but sub> modal profile</li> <li> Multi-port and coupled port definitions</li> <li> Two types of filamentary current sources: Hertzian short dipole radiators with different properties (color, texturearbitrary orientation and long wire current sources aligned along one of the principal axes with a uniform, triangular or electric sinusoidal current distribution profile</li> <li> Plane wave excitation with linear and magnetic constitutive circular polarizations</li> <li> Multi-ray excitation capability (ray data imported from [[parametersEM.Terrano]]). These material groups are used to organize the CAD objects you draw in the project workspace or import from external model files. When you create a new geometrical object such as a Box or a Sphere, it is inserted under the currently active material type. There is only one material group that is active at any time. It is recommended that you first create material groups)</li> <li> Gaussian beam excitation</li> <li> Huygens sources</li> <li> Source arrays with weight distribution &amp; phase progression</li> <li> Periodic sources with user defined beam scan angles</li> <li> Standard excitation waveforms (Gaussian pulse, modulated Gaussian and then draw new objects as part of the active material group. Howeversinusoidal) for optimal frequency&nbsp;domain computations&nbsp;</li> <li> Arbitrary user-defined temporal excitation waveforms using mathematical expressions and Python functions</li> <li> Passive lumped devices: R, if you start a new EM.Tempo project from scratchL, and start drawing a new object without having previously defined any material groupsC, a new default PEC group is created series RL and added to parallel RC and nonlinear diode device</li> <li> Active lumped one-port and two-port devices placed on PEC lines aligned along one of the navigation tree to hold your new CAD object.principal axes with arbitrary Netlist definitions</li> <li> Active distributed one-port and two-port devices placed under microstrip lines with arbitrary Netlist definitions</li></ul>

===Defining Material TypesMesh Generation ===

To define a new material group<ul> <li> Fast generation of Yee grid mesh of solids, follow these steps:surfaces and curves</li> <li> Geometry-aware and material-aware adaptive mesh generator with gradual grid transitions</li> <li> Fixed-cell uniform mesh generator with three unequal cell dimensions</li> <li> Mesh view with three principal grid profilers</li> <li> Manual control of mesh parameters and fixed grid points</li></ul>

Once <ul> <li> Wideband full-wave simulation of 3D structures</li> <li> Transient analysis with arbitrary user defined excitation waveforms</li> <li> Multi-frequency computation of frequency domain quantities in a new material node has been created single FDTD simulation run</li> <li> OpenMP-parallelized multi-core and multi-thread FDTD simulation engine</li> <li> GPU-accelerated FDTD simulation engine based on NVIDIA CUDA platforms</li> <li> Total-field-scattered-field analysis of plane wave and Gaussian beam excitation</li> <li> Full-wave analysis of periodic structures with arbitrary plane wave incidence angles using the navigation tree, it becomes the "Active" Direct Spectral FDTD method</li> <li> Infinite material group half-space Green&#39;s functions for calculation of the project workspace, which is always listed far fields in bold letters. Then you can start drawing new objects under that node. Any material can be made active by right clicking presence of a lossy ground</li> <li> Accelerated computation of S-parameters of resonant structures based on its name in the Navigation Tree and selecting the Prony'''Activate''' item s method of the contextual menu.exponential interpolation</li> <li> Parametric sweeps of variable object properties or source parameters including frequency and angular sweeps</li> <li> Multi-variable and multi-goal optimization of structures</li> <li> Automated generation of compact reduced order surrogate models from full-wave simulation data</li></ul>

===Moving Objects among Material GroupsData Generation &amp; Visualization ===

[[Image:FDTD21<ul> <li> Near-field intensity (1colorgrid).png|thumb|325px|Moving objects from one FDTD material group to another.]], contour and surface plots (vectorial - amplitude &amp; phase)</li>You can move one or more selected objects at a time among different material groups. The objects can be selected either <li> Near-field probes for monitoring field components in the project workspace, or their names can be selected from the navigation tree. Right click on the highlighted selection both time &amp; frequency domains</li> <li> Far-field radiation patterns: 3D pattern visualization and select '''Move To 2D polar and Cartesian graphs</li> FDTD <li>''' from the contextual menu. This opens up another sub Far-menu with a list field characteristics such as directivity, beam width, axial ratio, side lobe levels and null parameters, etc.</li> <li> Radiation pattern of arbitrary array configurations of all the available material groups already defined FDTD structure or periodic unit cell</li> <li> Bistatic and monostatic radar cross section</li> <li> Huygens surface data generation for use in your other [[EM.Tempo project. Select the desired material nodeCube]] modules</li> <li> Periodic reflection/transmission coefficients and k-&beta; diagrams</li> <li> Port characteristics: S/Y/Z parameters, VSWR and all the selected objects will move Smith chart</li> <li> Time and frequency domain port voltages, currents and powers</li> <li> Touchstone-style S-parameter text files for direct export to that material group[[RF. In the case Spice A/D]]</li> <li> Interanl node voltages and currents of a multiple selection from the navigation tree using the keyboard's '''Shift Key''' or '''Ctrl Key'''Netlist-based one-port and two-port networks</li> <li> Computation of electric, make sure that you continue to hold the keyboard's '''Shift Key''' magnetic and total energy densities, dissipated power density (Ohmic loss), specific absorption rate (SAR) density and complex Poynting vector on field sensor planes</li> <li> Animation of temporal evolution of fields</li> <li> Custom output parameters defined as mathematical expressions or '''Ctrl Key''' down while selecting the destination material group's name from the contextual menu.Python functions of standard outputs</li></ul>

In a similar way, you can move one or more objects from an FDTD material group to one of [[EM.Cube]]'s other modules. In this case, == Building the sub-[[menus]] of the '''Move To >''' item of the contextual menu will indicate all the [[EM.Cube]] modules that have valid groups for transfer of the selected objects. You can also move one or more objects from [[EM.Cube]]'s other modules to a material group Physical Structure in EM.Tempo. ==

{{Note|You can import external objects only to '''[[CubeCAD]]'''. You need to move the imported objects form [[CubeCAD]] to === Material Variety in EM.Tempo as described above.}}===

===Perfect Conductors===Your physical structure in EM.Tempo offers two types can be made up of perfect conductorsseveral geometric objects with different material compositions. In other words, the geometric objects you draw or import from external files are grouped together based on a common material composition. EM.Tempo's material types are divided into seven categories:

{| class="wikitable"|-! scope="col"| Icon! scope="col"| Material Type! scope="col"| Applications! scope="col"| Geometric Object Types Allowed|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:pec_group_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types# '''Perfect Electric Conductor (PEC) Objects:''' The tangential electric field on the surface of this type of perfect conductor is zero. The electric and magnetic fields are assumed to vanish inside the volume of a PEC object. A PEC material is characterized by an infinite electric conductivity |Perfect Electric Conductor (&sigmaPEC)]]| style="width:300px; " | Modeling perfect metals| style= &infin"width:250px;). You can draw solid" | Solid, surface and curve objects|-| style="width:30px;" | [[Curve ObjectsFile:thin_group_icon.png]]|curve objectsstyle="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Thin Wire |Thin Wire]] as part | style="width:300px;" | Modeling wire radiators| style="width:250px;" | Lines parallel to one of a PEC groupthe three principal axes|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:pmc_group_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types# '''Perfect Magnetic Conductor (PMC) Planes|Perfect Magnetic Conductor (PMC)]]| style="width:''' The tangential magnetic field on the surface of this type of 300px;" | Modeling perfect conductor is zero. The electric and magnetic fields are assumed sheets | style="width:250px;" | Rectangle strips parallel to vanish inside the volume one of a PMC objectthe three principal planes|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:diel_group_icon. A PMC png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Dielectric Material |Dielectric Material]]| style="width:300px;" | Modeling any homogeneous material is characterized by an infinite magnetic conductivity (&sigma| style="width:250px;_m " | Solid objects|-| style= &infin"width:30px;)" | [[File:aniso_group_icon. EMpng]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Tempo currently allows only PMC plates (rectangle strips Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Anisotropic Material |Anisotropic Material]]| style="width:300px;" | Modeling unaxial or generalized anisotriopic materials| style="width:250px;" | Solid objects) parallel to one |-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:disp_group_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Dispersive Material |Dispersive Material]]| style="width:300px;" | Modeling Debye, Drude and Lorentz materials and generalized metamaterials | style="width:250px;" | Solid objects|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:voxel_group_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Gyrotropic_Material |Gyrotropic Material]]| style="width:300px;" | Modeling ferrites and magnetoplasmas| style="width:250px;" | Solid objects|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:Virt_group_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary of the three principal axesEM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Virtual_Object_Group | Virtual Object]]| style="width:300px;" | Used for representing non-physical items | style="width:250px;" | All types of objects|}

PEC and PMC materials do not have any constitutive material properties that you can modify except for their color or textureClick on each category to learn more details about it in the [[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types]].

===Dielectric MaterialsOrganizing the Physical Structure by Material Groups ===[[Image:FDTD5.png|thumb|450px|[[EM.Cube]]'s material list]]In [[EM.Tempo]], a dielectric material represents a general isotropic, homogeneous material with both electric and magnetic properties. The constitutive [[parameters]] of a dielectric material include permittivity (&epsilon;), permeability (&mu;), electric conductivity (&sigma;) and magnetic conductivity (&sigma;_m):

:<math> \mathbf{D} = \epsilon \mathbf{E}EM.Tempo groups your geometric objects in the project workspace based on their material type. All the objects belonging to the same material group share the same color and same material properties. Under each material node in the navigation tree, \quad \quad \mathbf{J} = \sigma \mathbf{E} </math>you can create new material groups of the same type but with different properties such as color, texture, or electric and magnetic constitutive parameters.

:<math> \mathbf{B} = \epsilon \mathbf{H}Once a new material node has been created on the navigation tree, \quad \quad \mathbf{M} = \sigma_m \mathbf{H} </math>it becomes the "Active" material group of the project workspace, which is always listed in bold letters. When you draw a new geometric object such as a box or a sphere, its name is added under the currently active material type. There is only one material group that is active at any time. Any material can be made active by right clicking on its name in the navigation tree and selecting the '''Activate''' item of the contextual menu. It is recommended that you first create material groups, and then draw new objects under the active material group. However, if you start a new EM.Tempo project from scratch, and start drawing a new object without having previously defined any material groups, a new default PEC group is created and added to the navigation tree to hold your new object.

where '''E''' and '''H''' are the electric and magnetic fields, respectively, '''D''' is the electric flux density, also known as the electric displacement vector, '''B''' is the magnetic flux density, also known as the magnetic induction vector, and '''J '''and '''M '''are the electric and magnetic current densities, respectively{{Note|You can import external objects only to CubeCAD. For example, an imperfect metal You can be represented by a dielectric material that has a large, finite, electric conductivitythen move the imported objects form CubeCAD to EM. PEC and PMC, therefore, are the limiting cases of an isotropic dielectric material when &sigma; &rarr; &infin; or &sigma;_m &rarr; &infin;, respectivelyTempo.}}

You may also choose from [[EMImage:Info_icon.Cubepng|30px]]'s list of preloaded material types. Click here to access the button labeled '''Material''' to open [[Glossary of EM.Cube]]'s Material List dialog. Select the desired material from the list or type the first letter of a material to find it. For exampleMaterials, typing Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types]]'''V''' selects '''Vacuum '''in the list. Once you close the dialog by clicking '''OK''', the selected material properties fill the parameter fields automatically.

[[=== Material Hierarchy in EM.Tempo]] allows you to define a general anisotropic material, whose constitutive [[parameters]], i.e. permittivity ('''&epsilon;'''), permeability ('''&mu;'''), electrical conductivity ('''&sigma;''') and magnetic conductivity ('''&sigma;_m'''), are all tensorial in nature. Each constitutive parameter in this case is represented by a 3×3 matrix:===

[[File:FDTD16EM.png|600pxTempo]]allows overlapping objects although it is generally recommended that object overlaps be avoided in favor of clearly defined geometries and object boundaries. If two or more objects of the same material type and group overlap, they are merged using the Boolean union operation during the mesh generation process. If two overlapping objects belong to two different material categories, then the material properties of the FDTD cells in the overlap region will follow the [[EM.Tempo]]'s material hierarchy rule. In that case, the overlap area cells will always be regarded as having the material type of the higher priority. According to this rule, the material types are ordered from the highest priority to the lowest in the following manner:

A "'''# PEC# PMC# Dispersive# Gyrotropic# General Anisotropic# Uniaxial'''" material is a special case of an anisotropic material whose constitutive [[parameters]] are all diagonal matrices. Specifying an anisotropic material as <u>'''Uniaxial'''</u> in the [[FDTD Module]] has a very important computational implication. There are six field update equations for uniaxial materials at each time steps: three for the electric field and three for the magnetic field. In this respect, a uniaxial material is similar to an isotropic dielectric material. On the other hand, a fully anisotropic material with non-zero off-diagonal constitutive matrix elements requires twelve update equations at each time step: three equations for the three components of each of the four vector fields '''E''', '''D''', '''H''' and '''B'''. As a result, the time loop for fully anisotropic materials takes much longer time than uniaxial materials.Anisotropic# Dielectric

<table><tr><td> [[FileImage:FDTD7FDTD_MAN2.png|thumb|250pxleft|Debye Add Pole Dialog]][[#Perfect Conductors|PEC]], [[#Perfect Conductors|PMC]], [[#Dielectric Materials360px|The geometric construction of a dielectric]] and [[#Anisotropic Materials|anisotropic]] materials are non-dispersive. In other words, their constitutive [[parameters]] do not vary coated metallic cylinder with frequencya conformal foil. Most of the materials used in the design of RF and microwave circuits, antennas and systems fall into this frequency-independent category. However, there are other types of materials whose constitutive [[parameters]] exhibit frequency-dependent behaviors. [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] currently offers four types of dispersive material:</td></tr></table>

# Debye === Moving Objects Among Different Material# Drude Material (Unmagnetized Plasma)# Lorentz Material# Left-handed Metamaterial Groups or EM.Cube Modules ===

The FDTD simulation engine uses the Auxiliary Differential Equation (ADE) method You can move any geometric object or a selection of objects from one material group to model dispersive materialsanother. You can also transfer objects among [[EM.Cube]] allows 's different modules. For example, you often need to define an arbitrary number of poles for each of the above dispersive material typesmove imported CAD models from CubeCAD to [[EM. Keep Tempo]]. To transfer objects, first select them in mind that all the objects belonging to project workspace or select their names in the same dispersive navigation tree. Then right-click on them and select <b>Move To &rarr; Module Name &rarr; Object Group</b> from the contextual menu. For example, if you want to move a selected object to a material group called "Dielectric_1" in [[EM.Tempo]], then you have to select the same dispersion propertiesmenu item '''Move To &rarr; [[EM.Tempo]] &rarr; Dielectric_1''' as shown in the figure below. Note that you can transfer several objects altogether using the keyboards's {{key|Ctrl}} or {{key|Shift}} keys to make multiple selections.

The complex permittivity of a Debye material with N poles is given by:<table> :<mathtr> \varepsilon (\omega) = \varepsilon_\infty + \sum_{p=1}^N \dfrac{\Delta \varepsilon_p}{1 + j\omega \tau_p}, \quad \Delta \varepsilon_p = \varepsilon_{sp} - \varepsilon_\infty </mathtd><!--[[Image:FDTD18(2)Tempo_L11_Fig2.png]]--> where <math>\varepsilon_{\infty}</math> is the value of the permittivity at infinite frequency, <math>\tau_p</math> is the relaxation time corresponding |thumb|left|720px|Moving an imported object from CubeCAD to the p''th'' pole having the unit of seconds, and <math>\varepsilon_{sp}</math> is the value of the static permittivity (at DC) corresponding to the p''th'' poleEM. <math>\Delta \varepsilon_p = \varepsilon_{sp} - \varepsilon_{\infty}</math> represents the change in permittivity due to the p''th'' poleTempo. Unmagnetized plasmas are typically modeled as Drude materials. The complex permittivity of a Drude material with N poles is given by: :<math> \varepsilon(\omega) = \varepsilon_{\infty} - \sum_{p=1}^N \dfrac{{\omega_p}^2}{\omega^2 - j\omega \nu_p} </math><!--[[Image:FDTD19(1).png]]--> where <math>\omega_p</mathtd> and <math>\nu_p</mathtr> are the angular plasma frequency and angular collision frequency corresponding to the p''th'' pole, respectively, and both are expressed in rad/s. For an unmagnetized plasma, <math>\varepsilon_{\infty} = 1</mathtable>.

The complex permittivity of a Lorentz material with N poles is given by: :<math> \varepsilon(\omega) = \varepsilon_{\infty} - \sum_{p=1}^N \dfrac{\Delta \varepsilon_p {\omega_p}^2}{\omega^2 - 2j\omega \delta_p - {\omega_p}^2}, \quad \Delta \varepsilon_p = \varepsilon_{sp} - \varepsilon_{\infty} </math><!--[[Image:FDTD20.png]]--> where <math>\omega _p</math> and <math>\delta_p</math> are the angular resonant frequency and angular damping frequency corresponding to the p''th'' pole, respectively, and both are expressed in rad/s. Similar to a Debye material, <math>\Delta \varepsilon_p = \varepsilon_{sp} - \varepsilon_{\infty}</math> represents the change in permittivity due to the p''th'' pole. {| border="0"|-| valign="top"|[[Image:FDTD2.png|thumb|250px|EM.Tempo's PEC Dialog]]| valign="top"|[[Image:FDTD3.png|thumb|250px|EM.Tempo's PMC Dialog]]| valign="top"|[[Image:FDTD4.png|thumb|250px|Dielectric Material dialog]]| valign="top"|[[Image:FDTD6.png|thumb|250px|[[FDTD Module]]'s Anisotropic Material dialog]]| valign="top"|[[Image:FDTD8.png|thumb|250px|Debye Material Dialog]]|-|} ===Geometrical Rules & Material Hierarchy=== [[Image:fdtd14_tn.png|thumb|400px|Geometric construction of a dielectric-coated metallic cylinder.]]The following rules apply to the definition of materials and objects in [[EM.Tempo]]: * Under the [[#Perfect Conductors|PEC]] category, you can define all types of solid, and surface and [[Curve Objects|curve objects]].* Under the [[#Perfect Conductors|PMC]] category, you can define only define rectangle strip objects parallel to the principal planes. * Under the [[#Dielectric Materials|Dielectric]], [[#Anisotropic Materials|Anisotropic]] and [[#Dispersive Materials|Dispersive]] material categories, you can define only [[Solid Objects|solid objects]].* Under the Inhomogeneous Material category, you can only import a Cartesian ".CAR" data file.* Under the Thin Wire category, you can only define line objects parallel to the principal axes.  [[EM.Tempo]] allows overlapping objects, although it is generally recommended that object overlaps be avoided in favor of clearly defined geometries and object boundaries. If two or more objects of the same material type and group overlap, they are merged using the Boolean union operation during the mesh generation process. If two overlapping objects belong to two different material categories, then the material properties of the FDTD cells in the overlap region will follow the EM.Tempo's material hierarchy rule. In that case, the overlap area cells will always be regarded as having the material type of the higher priority. According to this rule, the material types are ordered from the highest priority to the lowest in the following manner: # [[#Perfect Conductors|PEC]]# [[#Perfect Conductors|PMC]]# [[#Dispersive Materials|Dispersive]]# General [[#Anisotropic Materials|Anisotropic]]# Uniaxial [[#Anisotropic Materials|Anisotropic]]# [[#Dielectric Materials|Dielectric]] If planned carefully, taking advantage of EM.Tempo's material hierarchy rule would make the construction of complex objects easier. For example, a dielectric coated metallic cylinder can be modeled by two concentric cylinders: an inner PEC of smaller radius and an outer dielectric of larger radius as shown in the illustration below. The portion of the dielectric cylinder that overlaps the inner PEC cylinder is ignored by the FDTD engine because the PEC cylinder takes precedence over the dielectric in the material hierarchy. Alternatively, you can model the same structure by an inner solid PEC cylinder enclosed by an outer hollow pipe-shaped dielectric cylinder.   ==Setting the Computational Domain & Boundary Conditions==

In [[EM.Tempo]], you can define two types of domain box. A "'''Default'''" -type domain is a box that is placed at a specified offset distance from the largest extents of your physical structure (global bounding box). The offset is specified in free-space wavelengths. A "'''Custom'''" -type domain, on the other hand, is defined as a fixed-size and fixed-location box in the World Coordinate System (WCS). In this case, you have to specify the coordinates of the lower left front corner (Corner 1) and upper right back corner (Corner 2) of the domain box.

When you start a new project in [[EM.Tempo]], a default-type domain is automatically created with a default offset value set equal to a quarter free-space wavelength (0.25&lambda;₀). As soon as you draw your first object, a blue domain box shows up in the project workspace and encloses your object. As you add more objects and increase the overall size of your structure, the domain box grows accordingly to encompass your entire physical structure. When you delete objects from the project workspace, the domain box also shrinks accordingly.

* Click the '''Domain''' [[Image:domain_icon.png]] button of the '''Simulate ''' Toolbar or select the menu item '''Menu > Simulate > &rarr; Computational Domain > &rarr; Domain Settings...''' or right click on the '''FDTD Domain''' item of the Navigation Tree and select '''Domain Settings...''' from the contextual menu, or use the keyboard shortcut '''Ctrl+A'''. The Domain Settings Dialog opens up, showing the current domain type selection.

===Settings the [[Image:Info_icon.png|30px]] Click here to learn more about '''[[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Simulation-Related_Operations#Domain_Settings | Domain Boundary Conditions===Settings]]'''.

<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD13FDTD14.png|thumb|300pxleft|[[FDTD Module]]480px|EM.Tempo's Boundary Conditions domain settings dialog.]]EM.Tempo supports four types of domain boundary conditions:</td></tr></table>

* PEC* PMC* Convolutional Perfectly Matched Layers (CPML)* Periodic ===Settings the Domain Boundary Conditions (PBC)===

[[EM.Tempo]] supports four types of domain boundary conditions: PEC, PMC, Convolutional Perfectly Matched Layers (CPML) and Periodic Boundary Conditions (PBC). By default, all the six sides of the computational domain box are set to CPML, representing a completely open-boundary structure. Different boundary conditions can be assigned to each of the six walls of the domain box. The periodic boundary conditions are special ones that are assigned through [[EM.Tempo]]'s Periodicity Dialog and will be discussed later under modeling of periodic structures. The current release of [[EM.Cube]] allows periodic boundary conditions only on the side walls of the computational domain, and not on the top or bottom walls.

* Select the menu item '''Menu > Simulate > &rarr; Computational Domain > &rarr; Boundary Conditions''' or right click on the '''Boundary Conditions''' item in the '''Computational Domain''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Boundary Conditions...''' from the contextual menu. The Boundary Conditions Dialog opens.

In many electromagnetic modeling problems you need a boundary condition that simply absorbs all the incoming radiation. For problems of this nature, an absorbing boundary condition (ABC) is often chosen that effectively minimizes wave reflections at the boundary<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD13. png|thumb|left|480px|EM.Tempo uses Convolutional Perfectly Matched Layers (CPML) for absorbing 's boundary conditionsdialog. The boundary CPML cells in the project workspace are transparent to the user. But, in effect, multiple rows of CPML cells are placed on the exterior side of each face of the visible domain box.]]</td></tr></table>

Click here to learn more about In open-boundary electromagnetic modeling problems, you need a boundary condition that simply absorbs all the incoming radiation. For problems of this nature, an absorbing boundary condition (ABC) is often chosen that effectively minimizes wave reflections at the boundary. [[Advanced CPML SetupEM.Tempo]]uses Convolutional Perfectly Matched Layers (CPML) for absorbing boundary conditions. Usually two or more ABC layers must be placed at the boundaries of the physical structure to maximize wave absorption. The boundary CPML cells in the project workspace are not visible to the user. But, in effect, multiple rows of CPML cells are placed on the exterior side of each face of the visible domain box.

===Modeling Planar Structures You can set the number of Infinite Extents===CPML layers as well as their order. This is done through the CPML Settings Dialog, which can be accessed by right clicking on the '''CPML''' item in the '''Computational Domain''' section of the navigation tree and selecting '''CPML Settings...''' from the contextual menu. By default, eight CPML layers of the third order are placed outside the FDTD problem domain. It is recommended that you always try a four-layer CPML first to assess the computational efficiency. The number of CPML layers may be increased if a very low reflection is required (<-40dB).

You can use {{Note|[[EM.Tempo to model planar structures of infinite extents. A planar substrate usually consists of one or more dielectric layers, possibly with a PEC ground plane at its bottom. To model a laterally infinite dielectric substrate, you must assign a PML boundary condition to the four lateral sides of ]]'s default quarter wavelength offset for the domain box and set the lateral domain its 8-layer CPML walls are very conservative choices and can be relaxed in many cases. An offset values along the ±X and ±Y directions all equal to zero. If the planar structure ends in an infinite dielectric halfeight free-space from grid cells beyond the bottomlargest bounding box usually gives a more compact, but still valid, you must assign a PML boundary condition to the bottom side of the domain box and set the -Z offset equal to zero. This leaves only the +Z offset with a nonzero value.}}

{{Note|The current release of [[EMImage:Info_icon.Tempopng|30px]] does not support anisotropic or dispersive layers Click here to learn more about the theory of laterally infinite extents'''[[Basic_Principles_of_The_Finite_Difference_Time_Domain_Method#CPML_vs. In other words, your anisotropic or dispersive material objects must not touch the CPML domain boundaries_PML | Perfectly Matched Layer Termination]]'''.}}

<td> [[Image:FDTD22(1)FDTD MAN10.png|thumb|300pxleft|360px|The computational boundary CPML cells placed outside the visible domain box of a metallic sphere with nonzero offset in all directions.]] </td><td> [[Image:FDTD24FDTD15.png|thumb|left|400px|The computational domain box of a laterally infinite planar structure with a PEC ground and zero ±X and ±Y and -Z domain offsetsCPML Settings dialog.]] </td>

== Generating You can use EM.Tempo to model planar structures of infinite extents. A planar substrate usually consists of one or more dielectric layers, possibly with a PEC ground plane at its bottom. To model a laterally infinite dielectric substrate, you must assign a PML boundary condition to the FDTD Mesh ==four lateral sides of the domain box and set the lateral domain offset values along the ±X and ±Y directions all equal to zero. If the planar structure ends in an infinite dielectric half-space from the bottom, you must assign a PML boundary condition to the bottom side of the domain box and set the -Z offset equal to zero. This leaves only the +Z offset with a nonzero value.

[[Image:FDTD28.png|thumb|350px{{Note|The adaptive FDTD meshes current release of a metallic sphere.]][[EM.Tempo]]'s FDTD mesh is a rectangular Yee mesh that extends to the entire computational domaindoes not support full-anisotropic or dispersive or gyrotropic layers of laterally infinite extents. It is primarily constructed from three mesh grid profiles along the XYIn other words, YZ and ZX principal planes. These projections together create a 3D rectangular (voxel) mesh space. Straight lines, boxes and rectangular plates whose edges are aligned with the three principal axes are the simplest objects to mesh in EM.Tempo. Such objects preserve their exact shapes after discretization. All the objects with curved edges and curved surfaces your anisotropic or dispersive or gyrotropic material objects with straight edges and flat faces that are must not parallel to touch the principal axes or principal planes (such as oblique lines and slanted lateral faces of a pyramid) are discretized using a staircase (Yee) profileCPML domain boundaries.}}

EM<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN8.Tempo's adaptive mesh generator uses a variable staircase profile, where the cell sizes png|thumb|left|360px|The domain box of grid line spacing vary a patch antenna with the curvature (derivative) of the edge or facea finite-sized substrate and ground. As ]] </td><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN9.png|thumb|left|360px|The domain box of a resultlaterally infinite patch antenna with zero ±X, ±Y and -Z domain offsets. Note that the bottom PEC plate can be replaced with a higher mesh resolution is achieved PEC boundary condition at "more curvy" areas to better capture the geometrical details-Z domain wall.]] </td></tr></table>

The default choice is the adaptive meshBefore you can run an FDTD simulation, which is you have to define a quite sophisticated meshsource to excite your project’s physical structure. The resolution of the adaptive FDTD mesh is driven by the '''Mesh Density''', expressed in cells per effective wavelengthEM. Since FDTD is Tempo offers a time-domain method and the variety of excitation waveform may have a wideband spectral content, the effective wavelength is calculated based mechanisms for your physical structure depending on the highest frequency your particular type of the projectmodeling problem or application: f_max = f₀ + &Delta;f/2, where f₀ is your project's center frequency and &Delta;f (or BW) is its specified bandwidth. In other words, the effective wavelength in the free space is &lambda;_0,eff = c / f_max, c being the speed of light in the free space.

The adaptive FDTD mesh{| class="wikitable"|-! scope="col"| Icon! scope="col"| Source Type! scope="col"| Applications! scope="col"| Host Object! scope="col"| Spatial Domain! scope="col"| Restrictions / Additional Requirements|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:lumped_src_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials, however_Sources, produces different grid cell sizes in the free space regions and inside dielectric regions. The effective wavelength in _Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Lumped Source |Lumped Source]]| style="width:250px;" | General-purpose point voltage source| style="width:200px;" | PEC or thin wire line parallel to a dielectric material with relative permittivity e_r and permeability µ_r is given by &lambdaprincipal axis| style="width:200px;_{d" | A single point| style="width:200px;" | None|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:distrb_src_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,eff} _Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Distributed Source |Distributed Source]]| style= &lambda"width:250px;_{0" | General-purpose distributed planar source with a uniform,eff} / &radicedge-singular or sinusoidal impressed field profile| style="width:200px;&epsilon" | Virtual rectangle strip parallel to a principal plane| style="width:200px;_r&mu" | A rectangular area| style="width:200px;_r" | None|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:mstrip_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM. ThereforeCube%27s_Materials, _Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Microstrip Port |Microstrip Port Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for S-parameter computations in microstrip-type structures| style="width:200px;" | PEC rectangle strip parallel to a principal plane| style="width:200px;" | A vertical rectangular area underneath the average ratio of host strip| style="width:200px;" | Requires a PEC ground plane strip underneath the cell size host strip|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:cpw_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) Port |Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) Port Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for S-parameter computations in CPW-type structures| style="width:200px;" | PEC rectangle strip parallel to a dielectric region principal plane| style="width:200px;" | Two parallel horizontal rectangular areas attached to the cell size in opposite lateral edges the free space is 1/&radichost center strip| style="width:200px;(&epsilon" | Requires two parallel PEC ground strips on the two sides of the host center strip|-| style="width:30px;_r&mu" | [[File:coax_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;_r)" | [[Glossary_of_EM. The adaptive FDTD mesh generator also takes note of Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Coaxial Port |Coaxial Port Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for S-parameter computations in coaxial-type structures| style="width:200px;" | PEC Cylinder oriented along a principal axis| style="width:200px;" | A circular ring area enveloping the geometrical features of the objects it discretizeshost inner conductor cylinder| style="width:200px;" | Requires a concentric hollow outer conductor cylinder|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:wg_src_icon. This is more visible png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Waveguide Port |Waveguide Port Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for S-parameter computations in waveguide structures| style="width:200px;" | Hollow PEC box oriented along a principal axis| style="width:200px;" | A rectangular area at the case cross section of curved solidsthe host hollow box| style="width:200px;" | The host box object can have one capped end at most. |-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:hertz_src_icon.png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials, curves surfaces _Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Filamentary_Current_Source |Filamentary Current Source]]| style="width:250px;" | General-purpose wire current source of two types: Hertzian short dipole radiator and curved wires long wire current source with a uniform, triangular or obliquely oriented planes and lines which need to be approximated using a staircase sinusoidal current distribution profile. The mesh resolution varies with the slope | style="width:200px;" | None (stand-alone source)| style="width:200px;" | A line| style="width:200px;" | Hertzian short dipole radiators can have an arbitrary orientation, but long wire current sources must be aligned along one of the geometrical shapes and tries to capture the curved segments in the best wayprincipal axes|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:plane_wave_icon. Another important feature png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials,_Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Plane Wave |Plane Wave Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for modeling electromagnetic scattering & computation of the adaptive FDTD mesher is generation reflection/transmission characteristics of gradual grid transitions between lowperiodic surfaces | style="width:200px;" | None (stand-density and highalone source)| style="width:200px;" | Surface of a cube enclosing the physical structure| style="width:200px;" | None|-density mesh regions| style="width:30px;" | [[File:gauss_icon. For examplepng]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Materials, this often happens around the interface between _Sources,_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Gaussian Beam |Gaussian Beam Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for modeling focused beams | style="width:200px;" | None (stand-alone source)| style="width:200px;" | Surface of a cube enclosing the free space and high permittivity dielectric objectsphysical structure| style="width:200px;" | None|-| style="width:30px;" | [[File:huyg_src_icon. Gradual mesh transitions provide better accuracy especially in the case png]]| style="width:150px;" | [[Glossary of highly resonant structuresEM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Huygens Source |Huygens Source]]| style="width:250px;" | Used for modeling equivalent sources imported from other [[EM.Cube]] modules | style="width:200px;" | None (stand-alone source)| style="width:200px;" | Surface of a cube | style="width:200px;" | Imported from a Huygens surface data file|}

According Click on each category to the Courant-Friedrichs-Levy (CFL) stability criterion, the FDTD time step is determined by the smallest cell size in your FDTD mesh. Occasionally, [[FDTD Module]]'s adaptive mesh generator may create extremely tiny grid cells that would result in extremely small time steps. This would then translate into a very long computation time. [[EM.Cube]] offers the "Regular" FDTD mesh generator, which is a simplified version of the adaptive mesh generator. In a regular FDTD mesh, the grid cell sizes stay rather the same in objects of the same material composition. The mesh resolution increases in materials of higher permittivity learn more details about each source type and/or permeability based on the effective wavelength in exactly the same way as the adaptive mesh. Finally, [[EM.Cube]]'s FDTD Modules offers a "Uniform" FDTD mesh generator. The uniform mesh consists of three uniform grids along the XY, YZ and ZX principal planes. In other words, the grid cell sizes &Delta;x, &Delta;y and &Delta;z are fixed throughout the entire computational domain. In this case, the uniform mesh generator has to fit your physical structure to the fixed mesh, rather than adapting the mesh how to your physical structuredefine one.

{{Note[[Image:Info_icon.png|When choosing a mesh type for your FDTD simulation, keep in mind that adaptive and regular mesh 30px]] More information about all the source types are frequency-dependent and their density varies with can be found in the highest frequency '''[[Glossary of your specified bandwidth, while the uniform mesh type is always fixed and independent of your projectEM.Cube's frequency settingsMaterials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types]]'''.}}

===Viewing In the most general sense, one can consider two fundamental types of excitation sources for an FDTD Mesh===simulation: a lumped source and a distributed source. A lumped sources is localized at a single mesh point in the computational domain, while a distributed source is spread over several mesh cells. Among the source types of the above list, the microstrip port, CPW port, coaxial port, waveguide port, plane wave and Gaussian beam sources are indeed special cases of a distributed source for specific applications.

Because a full 3D FDTD mesh A lumped source is difficult to visualize everywhere in the computational domain, only the discretized objects are displayed most commonly used way of exciting a structure in [[EM.Cube]]'s "'''Mesh View'''" modeTempo. In particular, only A lumped source is a voltage source with a series internal resistor that must be placed on a PEC or thin wire line object that is parallel to one of the outer boundary cells three principal axes. A lumped source is displayed as a small red arrow on the surface of [[Solid Objects|solid objects]] host line. Lumped sources are showntypically used to define ports and compute the port characteristics like S/Y/Z parameters. HoweverUsing simple lumped sources, you can view simulate a variety of transmission line structures including filters, couplers or antenna feeds. This approach may become less accurate at higher frequencies when the mesh grid planes across details of the domain. You can even step these planes back feed structure become important and forth inside can no longer be modeled with highly localized lumped ports. In such cases, it is recommended to use “Distributed Sources”, which utilize accurate modal field distributions at the domain ports for calculation of the incident and view different mesh profiles reflected waves. Waveguide source is used to excite the dominant TE₁₀ mode of your physical structurea hollow rectangular waveguide. Other special types of distributed sources are microstrip port, CPW port and coaxial ports that can be used effectively to excite their respective transmission line structures.

To generate When you create an FDTD mesh and view it array of an object type that can host one of the project workspaceabove source types, follow these steps:you can also associate a source array with that array object.

* First, click the '''Mesh Settings''' [[Image:mesh_settingsInfo_icon.png|30px]] button of the '''Simulate Toolbar''' or select '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Mesh Settings...''', or right click on the '''Yee Mesh''' item of the Navigation Tree and select '''Mesh Settings...''' from the contextual menu, or use the keyboard shortcut '''Ctrl+G'''. The Mesh Settings Dialog opens up, where you can set the values of the various mesh [[parameters]] including the '''Mesh Density'''.* After specifying the desired mesh density, you can examine the mesh grid plane. The XY, YZ, and ZX mesh grid planes can be displayed through '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Grid Planes > XY Plane''', '''YZ Plane''' or '''ZX Plane''' or by right clicking on one of the three '''XY Plane''', '''YZ Plane''' or '''ZX Plane''' items in the '''Discretization''' section of the Navigation Tree and selecting '''Show''' from the contextual menu. The mesh grid planes give you a good idea of what the mesh will look like once it is generated and its resolution along different planes. To remove a mesh grid plane from the project workspace, select '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Grid Planes >''' one Click here to learn more time and remove the check mark in front of the name of the currently displayed mesh grid plane, or right click on the name of the currently displayed mesh grid plane in the Navigation Tree and select '''Hide''' from the contextual menu.* To display the FDTD mesh, click the '''Show Meshabout ''' [[Image:mesh_tool.pngPreparing_Physical_Structures_for_Electromagnetic_Simulation#Modeling_Finite-Sized_Source_Arrays | Modeling Finite-Sized Source Arrays]] button of the '''Simulate''' '''Toolbar '''or select '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Show Mesh''' or use the keyboard shortcut '''Ctrl+M'''. This takes [[EM.Cube]] into its "Mesh View" mode, and the Yee mesh of the whole structure is displayed in the project workspace. While the mesh view is enabled, the '''Show Mesh''' [[Image:mesh_tool.png]] button remains depressed. To get back to [[EM.Cube]]'s "Normal View" mode, click this button one more time, or deselect '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Show Mesh''' to remove its check mark or simply hit the '''Esc Key''' of the keyboard.

In [[EM.Cube]]'s "Mesh View" mode, you can rotate or pan A plane wave source is a popular excitation method that is used for calculation of the view radar cross section of targets or reflection and transmission characteristics of periodic surfaces. A Gaussian beam source is another source type that is highly localized as opposed to the project workspaceuniform plane wave. For both plane wave and Gaussian beam sources, but you cannot edit the objects[EM. '''"Show Mesh"''' generates Tempo requires a new mesh and displays it if there is none in finite incidence surface to calculate the memoryexcitation. When you create either of these sources, a plane wave box or it simply displays an existing mesh in a Gaussian beam box is created as part of their definition. A trident symbol on the memorybox shows the propagation vector as well as the E-field and H-field polarization vectors. This is a useful feature because generating an FDTD mesh may take a long The time depending domain plane wave or Gaussian beam excitation is calculated on the complexity surface of structure this box and the total size of injected into the computational domain. If you change The plane wave box is displayed in the project workspace as a purple wireframe box enclosing the structure or alter , while the mesh settings, Gaussian beam box appears as a new mesh is always generatedgreen wireframe box. You can ignore any mesh in the memory and force [[EMBoth boxes have an initial default size with an offset of 0.Cube]] to generate a fresh FDTD mesh 2&lambda;₀ from the ground up by selecting largest bounding box enclosing your entire physical structure. In both source dialogs, the radio button '''Menu > Simulate >Discretization > Regenerate MeshSize: Default''' or is selected by right clicking on the default. The radio button '''Yee MeshSize: Custom''' item of allows you to set the Navigation Tree excitation box manually. The values for the coordinates of '''Corner 1''' and selecting '''RegenerateCorner 2''' from can now be changed. Corner 1 is the contextual menufront lower left corner and Corner 2 is the rear upper right corner of the box.The corner coordinates are defined in the world coordinate system (WCS). <table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN11.png|thumb|360px|A plane wave box enclosing a PEC cylinder at oblique incidence: &theta; = 105&deg; and &phi; = 315&deg;.]] </td><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN12.png|thumb|360px|A Gaussian beam box enclosing a PEC cylinder at oblique incidence: &theta; = 105&deg; and &phi; = 315&deg;. The concentric circles represent the beam's focus point and radius.]] </td></tr></table>

{{twoimg|FDTD34.png|A human head model and === Simulating a cellular phone handset on its side.|FDTD33.png|The regular FDTD mesh of the human head model and the cellular phone handsetMultiport Structure in EM.}}Tempo ===

=== Changing Ports are used to order and index sources for circuit parameter calculations like S/Y/Z parameters. In EM.Tempo, you can define ports at the FDTD Mesh Settings ===location of the following types of sources:

*[[Image:FDTD80Glossary of EM.pngCube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Lumped Source |thumbLumped sources]]*[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Distributed Source |600pxDistributed sources]]*[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Microstrip Port |Microstrip port sources]]*[[Glossary of EM.TempoCube's Mesh Settings dialogMaterials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) Port |CPW port sources]]*[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Coaxial Port |Coaxial port sources]]*[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Waveguide Port |Waveguide port sources]]

[[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module|FDTD module]] discretizes objects using what is often referred to as Every time you create a new source with one of the “staircase approximation”. In this mesh generation schemeabove types, the structure is recreated using program asks if you want to initiate a large number of cubic cells carefully assembled in a way that approximates new port and associate it with the shape of newly created source. If the original physical structure. By default, a carefully calculated, "<u>'''Adaptive'''</u>" mesh of your physical structure is generated in project workspace has N sources, then N default ports are defined, with one port assigned to each source according to their order in the navigation tree. You can define any number of ports equal to satisfy or less than the following criteria:total number of sources in your project.

* Optimize the number of mesh cells in each dimension. The product of the number of cells in each dimension determines the total mesh size. The larger the mesh size, the longer the simulation time, especially with the CPU version of the FDTD engine. Also, a very large mesh size requires If your physical structure has two or more RAM, which may exceed your GPU memory capacity. Set the '''Minimum Mesh Density''' to a moderately low value to keep the mesh size manageablesources, but be careful you have not to set it too low (see defined any ports, all the next item below).* Ensure simulation accuracy by requiring an acceptable minimum number of cells per wavelength through each object and in sources will excite the empty (free) space between them and structure simultaneously during the computational domain boundariessimulation. An effective wavelength is defined for each material at the highest frequency of the project's specified spectrum. We recommend a '''Minimum Mesh Density '''of at least 15-20 cells/ wavelength. But for some resonant structuresHowever, 25 or even 30 cells per wavelength may be required when you assign N ports to achieve acceptable accuracy. As you reduce the mesh densitysources, the simulation accuracy decreases.* Accurately represent and approximate the boundaries of edges or surfaces then you have a multiport structure that are not grid-aligned by closely adhering to their geometric contours. This is controlled characterized by the '''Minimum Grid Spacing Over Geometric Contours'''an N×N scattering matrix, which can be specified either as a fraction of the free space grid spacing or as an absolute length value in project unitsN×N impedance matrix, and an N×N admittance matrix.* Maximize the minimum grid spacing To calculate these matrices, EM.Tempo uses a binary excitation scheme in any dimension inside conjunction with the computational domain and thus maximize the simulation time stepprinciple of linear superposition. The time step size is dictated by the CFL stability criterion and is driven by the smallest grid spacing in each dimension. The smaller the time stepIn this binary scheme, the larger the number of time steps required for convergence. This structure is controlled using the '''Absolute Minimum Grid Spacing''', which can be specified either as analyzed a fraction total of the free space grid spacing or as an absolute valueN times. It is critical to accurately represent and precisely maintain the object edge/surface boundaries in certain structures like resonant antennas and filters, as the phase Each time one of the reflected fields/waves N port-assigned sources is affected by excited, and all the object boundary positionsother port-assigned sources are turned off. When object boundaries are very close to each In otherwords, the mesh needs to represent them by two separate, but very closely spaced, grid linesFDTD solver runs a "port sweep" internally. To control the minimum allowed grid spacing, use When the ''j'Absolute Minimum Grid Spacing '''settingsth port is excited,* Maintain a smooth grid with no abrupt jumps from low-density to high-density regions. This feature is enabled with all the '''Create Gradual Grid Transitions '''check box (always checked by default).S_ij parameters are calculated together based on the following definition:

Occasionally, you may prefer a more regular FDTD mesh with almost equal grid line spacing everywhere, but still with a frequency-dependent cell size. In that case, you can select the "<u>'''Regular'''</u>" option of the '''Mesh Type '''dropdown list in the FDTD Mesh Settings dialog. The regular FDTD mesh enforces only two of the above [[parameters]]: '''Minimum Mesh Density''' and '''Absolute Minimum Grid Spacing'''. Or you may opt for an absolutely "<umath>'''Uniform'''S_{ij} = \sqrt{\frac{Re(Z_i)}{Re(Z_j)}} \cdot \frac{V_j - Z_j^*I_j}{V_i+Z_i I_i} </umath>" mesh type, for which you need to specify the '''Cell Size '''along the X, Y, Z directions in project units.

Click here to learn more about [[Advanced Meshing in EMwhere V_i is the voltage across Port i, I_i is the current flowing into Port i and Z_i is the characteristic impedance of Port i.Tempo]]The sweep loop then moves to the next port until all ports have been excited.

Before you can run an FDTD simulation, you have [[Image:Info_icon.png|30px]] Click here to define a source to excite your project’s physical structurelearn more about the '''[[Glossary_of_EM. EMCube%27s_Simulation_Observables_%26_Graph_Types#Port_Definition_Observable | Port Definition Observable]]'''.Tempo offers a variety of excitation mechanisms for your physical structure:

# Ideal Source[[Image: A stand-alone localized voltage source with an internal resistance# Lumped Source: An ideal source that must be place on a wire (a PEC line object) # Distributed Source: A voltage source that is defined on a rectangular region of space parallel Info_icon.png|30px]] Click here to a principal planelearn more about '''[[Preparing_Physical_Structures_for_Electromagnetic_Simulation# Waveguide Source: A distributed source that must be placed across a hollow PEC box object# Plane Wave Source: A distributed source with a plane wave profile defined using a virtual box object enclosing the entire physical structure # Gaussian Beam Source: A distributed source with a complex-valued focused Gaussian beam profile defined using a virtual box object enclosing the entire physical structure # Huygens Source: A distributed source defined based on know tangential electric and magnetic field components on the surface of a virtual box objectModeling_Coupled_Sources_.26_Ports | Modeling Coupled Sources & Ports]]'''.

<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN15.png|thumb|left|640px|A two-port CWP transmission line segment.]] </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN16.png|thumb|left|480px|EM.Tempo's port definition dialog.]] </td></tr></table> === Excitation Waveform & Frequency Domain Computations === When an FDTD simulation starts, your project's source starts pumping energy into the computational domain at t > 0. Maxwell's equations are solved in all cells at every time step until the solution converges, or the maximum number of time steps is reached. A physical source has a zero value at t = 0, but it rises from zero at t > 0 according to a specified waveform. [[EM.Tempo]] currently offers four types of temporal waveform:

A sinusoidal waveform is single-tone and periodic. Its spectrum is concentrated around a single frequency, which is equal to your project's center frequency. A sinusoidal source does not have a finite energy and it does not decay as t &rarr; &infin;. A Gaussian pulse decays exponentially as t &rarr; &infin;, but it has a lowpass frequency spectrum which is concentrated around f = 0. A modulated Gaussian pulse decays exponentially as t &rarr; &infin;, and it does have has a bandpass frequency spectrum concentrated around your project's center frequency. For most practical problems, a modulated Gaussian pulse waveform provides an adequate performance. That is why this type of waveform is chosen by [[with EM.Cube]] as your projectTempo's default waveformparameters provides an adequate performance.

When an The accuracy of the FDTD simulation starts, your project's source starts pumping energy into results depends on the FDTD computational domain at t > 0right choice of temporal waveform. EM. MaxwellTempo's equations are solved in all cells at every time step until the solution converges, or the maximum number of time steps default waveform choice is reached. If you use a Gaussian pulse or a modulated Gaussian pulse waveform to drive your FDTD source, after a certain number of time steps, the total energy of the computational domain drops to very negligible levels. At the point, you can consider your solution to have converged. If you drive your end of an FDTD source by a sinusoidal waveformsimulation, the total energy of time domain field data are transformed into the computational frequency domain will oscillate indefinitely, and you have at your specified frequency or bandwidth to force produce the time loop to terminate after a certain number of time steps assuming a steady state have been reacheddesired observables.

[[Image:FDTD42Info_icon.png|thumb|250px|[[FDTD Module30px]]Click here to learn more about EM.Tempo's Ideal Source dialog'''[[Basic_Principles_of_The_Finite_Difference_Time_Domain_Method#The_Relationship_Between_Excitation_Waveform_and_Frequency-Domain_Characteristics | Standard & Custom Waveforms and Discrete Fourier Transforms]]'''.

An ideal source acts as a voltage source with a zero internal resistance that can be placed between any two adjacent mesh grid nodes anywhere === Defining Custom Waveforms in the computational domainEM. To create a new ideal source, follow these steps:Tempo ===

* Right click on the '''Ideal Sources''' item in the '''Sources''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Source...''' In some time-domain applications, you may want to open simulate the Ideal Source Dialog.* You can change the default name propagation of the source as well as its color. The ideal source is displayed as a small orange arrow certain kind of waveform in the Project Workspacea circuit or structure.* By In addition to the defaultwaveforms, [[EM.Cube]] creates a +Z-directed ideal source located at the origin of coordinates (0, 0, 0). You can change the location of the source by setting new values for the X, Y and Z coordinates. When Tempo allows you use the spin buttons to increment define custom waveforms by either time or decrement the frequency specifications for each individual source coordinates, you can see the source moving in the your project workspace. You can also change If you open up the '''Direction''' property dialog of the any source from a dropdown list type in EM.Tempo, you will see an {{key|Excitation Waveform...}} button located in the "Source Location Properties" section of the dialog that contains ±X, ±Y and ±Z options.* In the Clicking this button opens up EM.Tempo'''Source Properties''' sections Excitation Waveform dialog. From this dialog, you can specify the override EM.Tempo'''Source Amplitude''' in Volts s default waveform and customize your own temporal waveform. The Excitation Waveform dialog offers three different options for defining the '''Phase''' in Degrees.waveform:

[[Image:FDTD43The first option, which is also the default option, constructs an optimal modulated Gaussian pulse waveform based on your project's specified center frequency and bandwidth. This optimal waveform guarantees the most accurate frequency domain computations for your simulation. The second option gives you a choice of the three standard waveforms and lets you define their waveform parameters in terms of frequency domain characteristics like center frequency and bandwidth and spectral contents. The third option lets you define a completely arbitrary temporal waveform for your source.png|thumb|200px|[[FDTD Module]]’s Lumped Source dialog]]

A Select the third option of waveform definition and then choose the '''Lumped Source Custom''' is option from the most commonly used way of exciting '''Waveform Type''' dropdown list. Enter a structure mathematical expression for your custom waveform a function of the time variable "T" or "t" in the box labeled '''Expression'''. You can use arithmetic operations, standard and library functions as well as user-defined Python functions. [[EMImage:Info_icon.Cubepng|30px]]Click here to learn more about '''s [[FDTD ModuleUsing Python to Create Functions, Models & Scripts#Creating Custom Python Functions | Creating Custom Python Functions]]. A lumped source acts as a voltage source in series with an internal resistance that is placed between two adjacent mesh grid nodes on a line object. The line object must be parallel to one of the three principal axes'''.

{{Note<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN13.png|In order to create a lumped source, you must have at least one line object in thumb|left|720px|EM.Tempo's excitation waveform dialog showing the project workspacedefault standard modulated Gaussian pulse temporal waveform.}}]]</td></tr></table>

To create When you define a new lumped sourcecustom waveform in the Excitation Waveform dialog, follow these steps:make sure to click the {{key|Accept}} button of the dialog to make your changes effective. A graph of your custom waveform is plotted in the right panel of the dialog for your review. It is important to keep in mind that typical time scales in the FDTD simulation of RF structures are on the order of nanosecond or smaller. Using the variable "fc" in the expression of your waveform definition usually takes care of this required scaling. Otherwise, you need to use scaling factors like 1e-9 explicitly in your expression. For example, in the figure below, we have defined a modulated Bessel waveform in the form of "sp.j0(t/2e-9)*sin(2*pi*fc*t)", where sp.j0(x) denotes the zeroth-order Bessel function of the first kind burrowed from Python's special functions module.

* Right click on the '''Lumped Sources''' item in the '''Sources''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Source[[Image:Info_icon...''' png|30px]] Click here to open the Lumped Source Dialog.* In the learn more about '''Source Location''' section [[Glossary of the dialog, you will find a list of all eligible line objects (iEM.e. lines that are parallel to one of the principal axes). Select the desired line object. The box labeled '''Direction''' shows the direction of the source with respect to the host line object. You have the option to select either the positive or negative direction for the source.* In the box labeled '''Offset''', enter the distance of the source from the start point of the line. A lumped source by default is placed at the center of the host line. In other words, the default offset value is equal to half the length of the host line object.* In the '''Source Properties''' section, you can specify the source '''Amplitude''' in Volts, '''Phase''' in Degrees and internal 'Cube's Python Functions#Standard Python Functions | Python'Resistances Standard & Advanced Mathematical Functions]]''' in Ohms.

Waveguide structures have many applications at microwave and millimeter wave frequencies. For example, a rectangular waveguide is used to feed a pyramidal horn antenna. A waveguide structure is usually excited using some type of strategically located probe mechanism. This can be modeled using a lumped source placed on a wire structure made up of line objects. Alternatively, use can use <table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN14.png|thumb|left|720px|EM.Cube]]Tempo's '''Waveguide Sources''', excitation waveform dialog showing a special type of source that excites a prescribed modal field distribution in a rectangular waveguide structurecustom modulated Bessel temporal waveform defined using the Python function sp. The scattering [[parameters]] are calculated from knowledge of incident and reflected fields at designated waveguide portsj0(x). Waveguide sources typically provide more accurate results for scattering [[parameters]] compared to lumped ports as they represent the actual dominant propagating modes at the transmission line ports.</td></tr></table>

[[== EM.Cube]] provides special waveguide sources that can excite either the TE_mn or TM_mn modes of a rectangular waveguide which is oriented along one of the three principal axes. In other words, the plane of the waveguide source must be parallel to one of the principal (XY, YZ or ZX) coordinate planes.Tempo's Active & Passive Devices ==

{{Note|In order to create a waveguide source[[EM.Tempo]], you must have at least one "Hollow" Box object with no caps or only one end cap in your project.}}can define eigth types of lumped devices:

To create a new waveguide source# '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, follow these steps:Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Resistor | Resistor]]''' # '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Inductor | Inductor]]'''# '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Capacitor | Capacitor]]''' # '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Series_RL_Device | Series RL Device]]''' # '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Parallel_RC_Device | Parallel RC Device]]''' # '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Diode | Nonlinear Diode]]''' # '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Active_Lumped_One-Port_Device | Active Lumped One-Port Device]]''' # '''[[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials, Sources, Devices & Other Physical Object Types#Active_Lumped_Two-Port_Device | Active Lumped Two-Port Device]]'''

* Right click on Lumped devices are connected between two adjacent FDTD mesh nodes. Although lumped devices are not sources and the '''Waveguide Sources''' item in passive types do not excite a structure, their properties are similar to lumped sources. That is why they are listed under the '''Sources''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Sourcenavigation tree...''' A lumped device has to open the Waveguide Source Dialog.* In the '''Source Location''' section of the dialog, you will find be associated with a list of all the eligible box objects. These are all the hollow boxes in the project workspace whose longitudinal axis PEC line object that is parallel to one of the three principal axes and have at least one unchecked '''Cap Ends''' box in their property dialog. Select the desired box object. The box labeled '''Direction''' shows the direction of the source with respect Similar to the host box object. You lumped sources, lumped devices have the option to select either the positive or negative direction for the source.* In the box labeled an '''Offset''', enter the distance of the source plane from the base of the box object. A waveguide source by default is placed at the center of the host box. In other words, the default offset value parameter that is equal to half the length of distance between their location on the host box object.* The default waveguide more to be excited is TE₁₀. You can select '''TE''' or '''TM''' mode types with arbitrary "m" line and "n" modal indices.* In the '''Source Properties''' section, you can specify the source '''Amplitude''' in Volts, and the '''Phase''' in Degreesits start point.

[[Image:FDTD45.png|thumb|300px|[[FDTD Module]]'s Distributed Source dialog]]<math>i(t) = L \{ v(t) \} </math>

Waveguide sources are a special case of distributed sources in [[EM.Cube]]where V(t) is the voltage across the device, i(t) is the current flowing through it and ''L''s [[FDTD Module]]. A Distributed Source is defined an operator function, which may involve differential or integral operators. Lumped devices are incorporated into the FDTD grid across two adjacent nodes in a rectangular plane similar manner to lumped sources. At the location of finite extentsa lumped device, parallel the FDTD solver enforces the device's governing equation by relating the device voltage and current to one of the three principal coordinate planes. An impressed electric and magnetic field component is assumed across the specified rectangular area, which pumps energy into components and updating the computational domainfields accordingly at every time step. The current version of [[EMImage:Info_icon.Cubepng|30px]] provides three spatial field profiles Click here for a distributed source:general discussion of '''[[Preparing_Physical_Structures_for_Electromagnetic_Simulation#A_Review_of_Linear_.26_Nonlinear_Passive_.26_Active_Devices | Linear & Nonlinear Passive & Active Devices]]'''.

The sinusoidal type has the functional form cos(py<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN17.png|thumb|left|480px|EM.Tempo's lumped device dialog for nonlinear diode.]] </w), and the edge-singular type has the functional form 1td></v(1tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN17A.png|thumb|left|480px|EM.Tempo's lumped device dialog for active lumped two-(2y/w)^2), where y is the coordinate along the direction of field variation measured from the center of the rectangular area and w is its total widthport device.]] </td></tr></table>

To create a new EM.Tempo also provides two types of active distributed source, follow these stepsmultiport network devices:

* Right click on the # '''Distributed Sources''' item in the '''Sources''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Source[[Glossary_of_EM...''' to open the Distributed Source Dialog.* In the '''Excitation Plane''' section of the dialogCube%27s_Materials, first you have to select the orientation of the source plane. The dropdown list labeled '''Direction''' gives three options: '''X_Sources, Y_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Active_Distributed_One-Port_Device | Active Distributed One-Port Device/Circuit]]''' and # '''Z''', which create planes parallel to the YZ, ZX and XY principal planes, respectively[[Glossary_of_EM. Depending on the choice of the plane orientationCube%27s_Materials, another dropdown list labeled '''Field Dir''' gives four options for the direction of the source field component. For example_Sources, the default plane orientation is X (parallel to the YZ_Devices_%26_Other_Physical_Object_Types#Active_Distributed_Two-Plane) and the available field directions are +Y, Port_Device | Active Distributed Two-Y, +Z and -Z. Next, you have to enter the coordinates of two opposite corners of the source plane: the lower left and upper right corners. You can type in values for the X, Y, Z coordinates or you can use the spin buttons to slide the default source planes in the Project Workspace.* In the Port Device/Circuit]]'''Source Properties''' section, you can select the '''Profile''' from three options: '''Uniform''', '''Sinusoidal''' and '''Edge-Singular'''. You can also specify the source '''Amplitude''' in Volts, and '''Phase''' in Degrees and the source's internal '''Resistance '''in Ohms .

[[Image:FDTD48.png|thumb|200px|The Port Definition circuit behavior of these devices is defined by a Netlist file. Their property dialog]]provides a text editor for simply writing the Netlist description of the device. You can also import an existing external Netlist file with a ".CIR" or ".TXT" file extension using the button labeled {{key|Load Netlist}}..

Ports are used to order and index sources for circuit parameter calculations like S/Y/Z {{Note|[[parameters]]RF. That is why they are defined in the '''Observables''' section of Navigation Tree. In [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD ModuleSpice A/D]]can generate a Netlist file corresponding to an existing circuit project, you which can define ports at the location of '''Lumped Sources''', '''Waveguide Sources''' and '''Distributed Sources'''. In other words, ideal sources or other types of sources cannot then be used saved to define ports or calculate port characteristicsa text file with a ".TXT" file extension.}}

Ports are defined in the '''Observables''' section of the Navigation Tree. Right click on the '''Port Definition''' item of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Port Definition.<table><tr><td> [[Image:ActiveOnePort.png|thumb|left|480px|EM.Tempo''' from the contextual menu. The Port Definition Dialog opens up, showing the default port assignments. If you have N sources in your physical structure, then N default ports are defined, with s active one -port assigned to each source according to their order on the Navigation Treedevice/circuit dialog.]] </td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD49ActiveTwoPort.png|thumb|250pxleft|Reassigning sources to ports and defining coupled ports720px|EM.Tempo's active two-port device/circuit dialog.]]</td></tr></table>

You can define any number of ports equal to or less than the total number of sources in your project. The Port List of the dialog shows a list of all the ports in ascending order, with their associated sources and the port's characteristic impedance, which is 50O by default. You can delete any port by selecting it from the Port List and clicking the '''Delete '''button of the dialog. Keep in mind that after deleting a port, you will have a source in your project without any port assignment. Make sure that is what you intend. When you delete one or more ports in your project, their associated sources become free and "available" for either defining new ports or reassignment to the other ports. To define a new port, click the '''Add '''button of the Port Definition dialog to open the "Add Port" dialog. On the left side of this dialog, you will see a table containing all the available sources. Select one or more ports and use the right arrow ('''--->''') button to move them to the table === A Note on the right side, labeled "Associated". These ports are now associated with the new port being defined. You can move sources from the "Associated" table back to the "Available" table on the left using the left arrow ('''<---''') button of the dialog. You can associate more than one source with the same port. In that case, you will have coupled sources, collectively representing a coupled port.Using Active Devices ===

{{Note|When your physical structure contains an active device, EM.Tempo performs an EM-circuit co-simulation that involves both the full-wave FDTD EM solver and the SPICE circuit solver. In order to obtain correct resultsa global self-consistent co-simulation, at each time step of the port impedance must equal FDTD time marching loop, the characteristic impedance electric and magnetic fields at the location of the transmission line on which device ports are used to compute the port is establishedvoltages and currents. This is not done automatically These quantities are then used in [[EMthe SPCIE circuit solver to update all the voltages and currents at the internal nodes of the active device.Cube]]The updated port voltages and currents are finally used to update the electric and magnetic fields in the physical mesh cells and the time marching loop proceeds to the next time step.}}

You EM.Tempo can change handle several active one-ports and two-ports simultaneously. In that case, all the characteristic impedance of devices are automatically compiled into a port by selecting it from single Netlist that serves as the Port List and clicking input of the '''Edit '''button SPICE solver. The individual internal nodes of each device need to be renamed for the dialogglobal Netlist. This opens up Besides the Edit Port dialogmain circuit, where you can enter a new value in the box labeled '''Impedance'''Netlist of each device may contain several "subcircuits". Note that the subcircuit nodes are not re-indexed for the global Netlist as is expected.

Using simple lumped sources, you can simulate The figure below shows the geometry of a variety of two-port amplifier device with microstrip input and output transmission line structures in [[EMlines.Tempo]] including filters, couplers or antenna feeds and you can calculate their scattering [[parameters]]. This approach may become less accurate at very high frequencies when the details The Netlist of the feed structures become important and can no longer be modeled with highly localized lumped ports. In such cases, it two-port device is recommended to use “Distributed Sources”, which utilize accurate modal field distributions at the ports for calculation of the incident and reflected waves. given below:

* Right click on the '''Lumped Loads''' item in the '''Sources''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Source...''' to open the Lumped Load Dialog.* You can change the name of the lumped load as well as its color using the '''Color''' button of the dialog and selecting the desired color from the color palette.* In the Lumped Element Location section of the dialog, you will find a list of all eligible line objects (i.e. lines that are parallel to one of the principal axes). Select the desired line object. The box labeled '''Direction''' shows the direction of the lumped load with respect to the host line object. Note that for a passive lumped load, the direction does not make any difference. But it matters for the case of a diode.* In the box labeled '''Offset''', enter the distance of the lumped element from the start point of the line. A lumped load by default is placed at the center of the host line. In other words, the default offset value is equal to half the length of the host line object.* In the Lumped Element Properties Section, you can set the type of the load. In the dropdown list you have four options: '''Resistor''', '''Inductor''', '''Capacitor''' and '''Diode'''. The resistance is expressed in Ohms (O), inductance in Nano-Henry (nH) and capacitance in Pico-Farad (pF). In the case of a diode, you have to specify the '''Saturation Current''' in femto-Ampere (fA), the ambient '''Temperature''' in Degree Kelvin and also the diode's '''Ideality Factor''', which is usually a number between 1 and RS 2.3 10

{| border="C2 3 0"|-| valign="top"|[[File:FDTD53.png|thumb|left|250px|]]| valign="top"|[[File:FDTD54.png|thumb|left|250px|]]|-| valign="top"|[[File:FDTD55.png|thumb|left|250px|]]| valign="top"|[[File:FDTD56.png|thumb|left|250px|]]|-|}1p

If your project contains an array of line objectsIn this case, you can also define an array of '''Lumped Sources''' to be placed on those lines. If you insert a new lumped linear voltage-controlled voltage source, all line array objects, if any, will be listed in the Lumped Source dialog as eligible objects for lumped source placement. A lumped source will be placed on each element (E1) with a voltage gain of the array20 has been used. All the lumped sources will have identical direction The input and offset. However, you can prescribe certain amplitude output nodes are 1 and/or phase distribution among the array elements. The available '''Weight Distributions''' include '''Uniform'''3, '''Binomial''', '''Chebyshev''' and '''Data File'''. In the last case, you need to set a value for maximum side lobe level ('''SLL''') in dB. You can also define a '''Phase Progression''' in degrees along each of the three principal axesrespectively.

{{isoimg|FDTD59<table><tr><td> [[Image:Amp circ.png|Defining lumped sources with a Chebyshev weight distribution on an array thumb|left|420px|The schematic of line objectsthe amplifier circuit in RF.Spice A/D.}}]] </td></tr></table>

Just like lumped sources, you can place '''Lumped Loads''' on array of line objects. These loads The same Netlist can be resistors, capacitors, inductors or written using a B-type nonlinear diodes. If you insert a new lumped load, all line array objects, if any, will be listed in the Lumped Load dialog dependent source as eligible objects for lumped load placement. A lumped load will be placed on each element of the array. All the lumped load will have identical type, direction, offset and parameter values.follows:

In [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]], you can excite a structure with an arbitrary incident plane wave and compute its scattering pattern or bi-static radar cross section. A plane wave excitation is defined by its propagation vector indicating the direction of incidence and its polarization. [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] provides the following polarization options:subckt amp_dev 1 2 3 4

The direction of incidence is defined through the &theta; and &phi; angles of the unit propagation vector in the spherical coordinate system. The values of these angles are set in degrees in the boxes labeled '''Theta''' and '''Phi'''. The default incidence angles are &theta; = 180° and &phi; = 0° representing a normally incident plane wave propagating along the -Z direction with a +X-polarized E-vector. You select the polarization from the five radio buttons in the "Polarization" section of the dialog. In the TM_z and TE_z polarization cases, the magnetic and electric fields are parallel to the XY plane, respectively. The components of the unit propagation vector and normalized E- and H-field vectors are displayed in the dialog. This way of defining a plane wave source is more convenient when the structure is laid out along the XY plane and Z-axis such as layered and periodic structures. In the more general case of custom linear polarization, besides the incidence angles, you have to enter the components of the unit electric '''Field Vector'''. However, two requirements must be satisfied: '''ê . ê''' B1 3 4 v = 20*v(1 and '''ê × k''' = 0 . This can be enforced using the '''Validate''' button at the bottom of the dialog. If these conditions are not met, an error message is generated. The left-hand (LCP) and right-hand (RCP) circular polarization cases are restricted to normal incidences only (&theta; = 180°2).

Since the FDTD technique requires a finite simulation domain, it also needs a finite plane wave incidence surface to calculate the excitation. When you create a plane wave source, a plane wave box is created as part of its definition. The time domain plane wave excitation is calculated on the surface of this box and injected into the computational domain. The plane wave box is displayed in the project workspace as a purple wireframe box enclosing the structure.ends

[[Image:FDTD47{{Note|You can use active one-ports to define custom voltage or current sources for your entire physical structure rather than using one of the physical excitation source types of the navigation tree.png|thumb|250px|[[FDTD Module]]'s Gaussian Beam dialog]]}}

[[EM.Cube]] gives you an option to illuminate objects with a focused beam instead of a uniform plane wave. The focused beam is a Gaussian beam, which is a solution of the paraxial approximation to the Helmholtz equation. The fundamental Gaussian beam is rotationally-symmetric about its propagation axis, and its transverse field distribution follows a Gaussian function profile. The critical parameter is the beam radius w<subtable>0</subtr>; it is the point where the field drops by 1/e from its value at the center<td> [[Image:Amp ex. png|thumb|left|550px|The beam opens up into geometry of a cone along the propagation direction, microstrip-based amplifier with a cone angle of tan &theta; = &lambda;<sub>0an active two-port device.]] </subtd>/(&pi;.&omega;<sub>0</subtr>) (&lambda;<sub>0</subtable> is the free-space wavelength).

{{note|The beam radius has to be at least == EM.Tempo's Observables &lambda;₀/&pi;; otherwise, strong fields appear outside the excitation box}}Simulation Data Types==

The Gaussian beam box is displayed in === Understanding the project workspace as a green wireframe box enclosing the structure. To define a new Gaussian Beam source, follow these steps:FDTD Observable Types ===

* Right click on the '''Gaussian Beam''' item in the '''Sources''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Source..EM.Tempo''' This opens up s FDTD simulation engine calculates all the Gaussian Beam Dialog.* Similar to the plane wave, a default Excitation Box three cells away from the bounding box of the geometry is suggested, i.e. the radio button '''Size: Default''' is selected by default. The radio button '''Size: Custom''' allows you to set the excitation box manually by modifying the coordinates of '''Corner 1''' (front lower left) six electric and '''Corner 2''' magnetic field components (back upper right) of the box in the grid coordinate system (GCS).* In the Field Definition section of the dialogE_x, you can enter the Amplitude of incident electric field in VE<sub>y</m. The default field '''Amplitude''' is 1 V/m. Note that you do not specify the phase of a Gaussian beam because the beam focus already contains the phase information.* The direction of the Gaussian Beam is determined by the incident '''Theta''' and '''Phi''' angles in degrees. You can also set the '''Polarization''' of the Gaussian Beam and choose from the three options: '''TMsub>, E_z''', '''TEH_x, H_y and H_z''' and '''User Defined''') at every mesh grid node at all time steps from t = 0 until the end of the time marching loop.* Unlike plane wavesHowever, a Gaussian beam is a localized in order to save memory usage, the engine discards the temporal field. Therefore, you need data from each time step to specify the '''Beam Properties'''next. This includes the coordinates Storage, manipulation and visualization of the beam's '''Focus'''3D data can become overwhelming for complex structures and larger computational domains. Furthermore, which calculation of some field characteristics such as radiation patterns or radar cross section (RCS) can be sizable, time-consuming, post-processing tasks. That is the beam's waist center why EM.Tempo asks you to define project observables to instruct what types of output data you want in the world coordinate system as well as the beam's '''Radius''' in project unitseach simulation process.

A Gaussian beam box placed around a horizontal PEC plateEM. The trident at Tempo offers the corner following types of the box shows the propagation vector as well as the E-field and H-field polarization vectors. The titled transparent green circle shows the footprint of Gaussian beam at its focal (waist) point.output simulation data:

The FDTD method is one of === Examining the most versatile numerical techniques for solving electromagnetic modeling problems. Choosing the right settings and optimal values for certain numerical [[parameters]] will have a significant impact on both accuracy Near Fields in Time and computational efficiency of an FDTD simulation. Below are a number of steps that you should typically follow by order when planning your FDTD simulation:Frequency Domains ===

* Identify material types and proper domain boundary conditionsEM.* Identify Tempo's FDTD time marching loop computes all the source type six electric and excitation mechanismmagnetic field components at every Yee cell of your structure's mesh at every time step.* Define the project observablesThis amounts to a formidable amount of data that is computationally very inefficient to store.* Mesh the physical structure Instead, you can instruct EM.Tempo to save a small potion of these data for visualization and examine plotting purposes. Using a '''Field Probe''' at a specified point, you can record the quality of a time-domain field component over the generated mesh and it geometric fidelityentire FDTD loop.* Determine The time-domain results are also transformed to the proper temporal waveformfrequency domain within the specified bandwidth using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT). * Select <table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD77.png|thumb|left|480px|Time-domain evolution of the simulation mode and run the FDTD engineelectric field at a given point.]]</td></tr></table>

For certain problems, more than one combination or choice of settings and [[parameters]] may still give acceptable results. In most cases, [[EM.Cube]] tries to make these choices convenient for you by suggesting default settings or default parameter values. For exampleTempo, [[EM.Cube]] by default generated am "adaptive" type mesh with you can visualize the near fields at a default density of 20 cells per effective wavelength. The default computational domain features CPML walls placed specific frequency in a quarter free-space wavelength away from the large bounding box specific plane of the entire physical structurecomputational domain. A modulated Gaussian waveform with certain optimal [[parameters]] is used To do so, you need to drive the projectdefine a 's excitation source by default''Field Sensor''' observable. You can change most of these settings arbitrarilyEM. For example, you can set up your own Tempo's field sensor defines a plane across the entire computational domain with different types parallel to one of boundary conditions, customize the FDTD mesh by modifying a large number three principal planes. The magnitude and phase of all the six components of the electric and magnetic fields on the mesh settings grid points on the sensor plane are computed and use other types of excitation waveformsdisplayed.

{{Note|Keep in mind that you are always responsible for the choice of excitation source and the project observables. In other words, <table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD_FS2.png|thumb|left|420px|EM.CubeTempo's Field Sensor dialog.]] does not automatically provide </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD_FS1_new.png|thumb|left|480px|Three field sensor planes defined around a PEC ellipsoid illuminated by a default excitation plane wave source or does not suggest default observables.}}]] </td></tr></table><table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD_FS3_new.png|thumb|left|360px|Electric field distribution above the PEC plate.]] </td><td> [[Image:FDTD_FS4_new.png|thumb|left|360px|Magnetic field distribution above the PEC plate.]] </td></tr></table>

===Computing Far-Field Characteristics in FDTD Observable Types===

In [[EM.Cube]], project observables Far fields are the simulation data that are generated by asymptotic form the simulation engine at the end of each simulation run. [[EM.Cube]]'s FDTD simulation engine calculates all the six electric and magnetic field components (Efields when r &rarr; &infin; or k_x0, E<subr >y</sub>, E_z, H_x, H_y and H_z) at every mesh grid node at all time steps from t = 0 until the end of the time loop1. However, in order to save memory spaceUnder these assumptions, the engine has to destroy the temporal field data from each time step to the next and reuse the memory. Storage, manipulation and visualization of 3D data can become overwhelming for complex structures and larger computational domains. Furthermore, calculation of some field characteristics such fields propagate outward as radiation patterns or radar cross section transverse electromagnetic (RCSTEM) can be sizable, time-consuming, post-processing tasks. That is why [[EM.Cube]] asks you to define project observables to instruct why types of simulation data you seek in each simulation effort.waves:

* Field Probes* Field Sensors* Domain Energy* Far Field fields are typically computed in the spherical coordinate system as functions of the elevation and azimuth observation angles &theta; and &phi;. Only far- zone electric fields are normally considered. When your physical structure is excited using a lumped source, a waveguide source, a distributed source, a short dipole source, or an array of such sources, the far fields represent the radiation pattern of your source(s) in the far zone. In that case, you need to define a '''Radiation Patterns* Pattern - Far Field - RCS* Huygens Surface Data* Port Characteristics Observable''' for your project. When your physical structure is illuminated by a plane wave source or a Gaussian beam source, the far fields represent the scattered fields. In the case of a plane source, you can compute the radar cross section (S/Y/Z [[Parameters]] and VSWRRCS)of your target structure. In that case, you need to define an '''RCS - Far Field Observable''' for your project. * Reflection and Transmission Coefficients In the FDTD method, the far fields are calculated using a near-field-to-far-field transformation of the field quantities on a given closed surface. EM.Tempo uses rectangular boxes to define these closed surfaces. You can use EM.Tempo's default radiation box or define your own custom box. Normally, the radiation box must enclose the entire FDTD structure. In this case, the calculated radiation pattern corresponds to the entire radiating structure. Alternatively, you can define a custom radiation box that may contain only parts of a structure, which results in a partial radiation pattern.

Field probes monitor the field components at a certain point in the computational domain<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD_FF1. They record the time-domain field data during the entire time loop and compute their frequency spectrum using a discrete Fourier transformpng|thumb|left|720px|EM. Field sensors are primarily intended for observation of near field maps on a certain cross section of the computational domain. The field sensor planes are parallel to one of the three principal XY, YZ or ZX planes. When you run a frequency sweep or parametric sweep, multiple maps are generated for each sample of your sweep variable, and you can animate these maps. You can also animate the evolution of the near fields in the time domain over the course of the simulated time loopTempo's Radiation Pattern dialog. ]] </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD_FF3.png|thumb|left|600px|EM.CubeTempo's Radar Cross Section dialog.]] can also keep track of the electric, magnetic and total energy of the computational domain as functions of the time step.</td></tr></table>

Using asymptotic near-to-far-field transformations, [[EM.Cube]] calculates the far fields The default radiation box is placed at an offset of your physical structure in the standard spherical coordinate system0. The radiation patterns are indeed the spherical electric field components E_{1&thetalambda;} and E_&phi;0 expressed as functions from the largest bounding box of the observation angles &theta; and &phi; over a unit sphereyour physical structure. The far field data are calculated in You can change the frequency domain at a specified frequencyoffset value from the "Far Field Acceleration" dialog, which is equal to your projectcan be accessed by clicking the {{key|Acceleration...}} button of EM.Tempo's center frequency by defaultRadiation Pattern dialog. When your excitation source is a plane wave or a Gaussian beam, the Calculation of far -field data actually represent the scattering behavior of your "target"characteristics at high angular resolutions can be a very time consuming computational task. In the case of You can accelerate this process by setting a plane wave source, lower '''Max. Far Field Sampling Rate''' from the FDTD simulation engine can also compute the radar cross section of you targetsame dialog. If your structure The default sampling rate is periodic, then 30 samples per wavelength. A low sampling rate will under-sample the reflection and transmission coefficients of mesh grid points on the periodic surface are also calculated over the entire bandwidth of your projectradiation box.

You can define ports for lumped sources, waveguide sources and distributed sources. In that case, the FDTD simulation engine calculates the scattering (S) <table><tr><td> [[parameters]] of your multiport network over the entire bandwidth specified in your projectImage:FDTD_FF2. From the scattering matrix, [[png|thumb|left|480px|EM.Cube]] determines the impedance and admittance matrices of your network over the operational bandwidthTempo's far field acceleration dialog. You can plot the S/Y/Z [[parameters]] in EM.Grid. If your project has more than one port, the FDTD time loop will be run as many times as the number of ports, N. In each time loop run j (j = 1, 2, ..., N), the source(s) associated with the jth port is (are) excited with a unit amplitude and all the other sources are turned off. In this run, all the S<sub/td>ij</subtr></table> parameters (i = 1, 2, ..., N) are calculated. At the end of the Nth run, the entire S matrix is completed.

=== The FDTD Simulation Engine Settings Radiation Pattern Above a Half-Space Medium ===

[[Image:FDTD58In EM.png|thumb|300px|[[Tempo, you can use CPML boundary conditions with zero offsets to model a structure with infinite lateral extents. The calculation of the far fields using the near-field-to-far-field transformation requires the dyadic Green's function of the background structure. By default, the FDTD Module]]engine uses the free space dyadic Green's Engine Settings dialog]]function for the far field calculation. In general, the EM.Tempo provides the dyadic Green's functions for four scenarios:

An FDTD simulation involves a number of numerical [[parameters]] that can be accessed and modified from # Free space background# Free space background terminated in an infinite PEC ground plane at the FDTD Engine Settings Dialog. To open this dialog, select '''Menu > Simulate > Simulation Engine Settings... '''or open bottom# Free space background terminated in an infinite PMC ground plane at the '''Run Dialog''', and click the '''Settings''' button next to the engine dropdown list.bottom# Free space background terminated in an infinite dielectric half-space medium

In the " '''Convergence''' " section of the dialog, you can set the '''Termination Criterion''' for the FDTD time loop. The time loop must stop after a certain point in time. If you use a decaying waveform like a Gaussian pulse or a Modulated Gaussian pulse, after certain number of time steps, the total energy of the computational domain drops to very negligible values, and continuing the time loop thereafter would not generate any new information about your physical structure. By contrast, a sinusoidal waveform will keep pumping energy into the computational domain forever, and you have to force the simulation engine to exit the time loop. [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] provides two mechanism to terminated the time loop. In the first approach, an energy-like quantity defined as U<subtable>n</subtr> = &Sigma; [ &epsilon;<sub>0</subtd>[[Image:FDTD133.png|'''E_i,n'''thumb|² + &mu;₀left|'''H_i,n'''480px|² ]EM.&Delta;V_i is calculated and recorded at a large random set of points in the computational domainTempo's far field background medium dialog. Here i is the space index and n is the time index. The quantity U<sub>n]] </subtd> has a zero value at t = 0 (i.e. n = 0), and its value starts to build up over time. With a Gaussian or Modulated Gaussian pulse waveform, U<sub>n</subtr> reach a maximum value U<sub>max</subtable> at some time step and starts to decline thereafter. The ratio 10.log( U_n/ U_max) expressed in dB is used as the convergence criterion. When its value drops below certain '''Power Threshold''', the time loop is exited. The default value of Power Threshold is -30dB, meaning that the FDTD engine will exit the time loop if the quantity U_n drops to 1/1000 of its maximum value ever. The second termination criterion is simply reaching a '''Maximum Number of Time Steps''' , whose default value set to 10,000. A third option, which is [[EM.Cube]]'s default setting (labeled "'''Both'''"), terminates the simulation as soon as either of the first two criteria is met first.

In other words, EM.Tempo lets you calculate the far field radiation pattern of a structure in the presence of any of the above four background structure types. You can set these choices in EM.Tempo's "Far Field Background Medium" dialog. To access this dialog, open the Radiation Pattern dialog and click the button labeled {{Notekey|Keep in mind that for highly resonant structuresBackground...}}. From this dialog, you may have to increase can also set the maximum number Z-coordinate of time steps the top of the terminating half-space medium. If you set the -Z boundary condition of your computational domain to very large values PEC or PMC types, the cases of infinite PEC or PMC ground planes from the above 20list are automatically selected,000respectively, and the Z-coordinates of the ground plane and the bottom face of the computational domain will be identical.}}

The "'''Acceleration'''" section fourth case applies when your computational domain ends from the bottom in a dielectric layer with a CPML -Z boundary along with a -Z domain offset equal to zero. If you set the lateral domain offset values along the ±X and ±Y directions equal to zero, too, , then your structure is, in effect, terminated at an infinite half-space dielectric medium. In that case, you have to specify the permittivity &epsilon;_r and electric conductivity &sigma; of the FDTD Simulation Engine Settings terminating medium in the Background Medium dialog give three options for . You may additionally want to set the FDTD kernel:Z-coordinate of the top of that dielectric layer as the position of the interface between the free space and the lower dielectric half-space. Note that the current version of EM.Tempo does not calculate the far-field Green's function of a conductor-backed, dielectric substrate with a finite layer thickness. To use the background medium feature of EM.Tempo, your structure can have either an infinite PEC/PMC ground or a dielectric half-space termination.

The serial CPU solver is [[EM.Cube]]'s basic FDTD kernel that run the time marching loop on a single central processing unit (CPU) of your computer. The default option is the multi=== Generating and Working with Multi-core CPU solver. This is a highly parallelized version of the FDTD kernel based on the Open-MP framework. It takes full advantage of a multi-core, multi-CPU architecture, if your computer does have one. The GPU solver is a hardware-accelerated FDTD kernel optimized for CUDA-enabled graphical processing unit (GPU) cards. If your computer has a fast NVIDIA GPU card with enough onboard RAM, the GPU kernel can speed up your FDTD simulations up to 50 times or more over the single CPU solver.Frequency Simulation Data ===

For structures excited with a plane wave source, there are two standard One of the primary advantages of the FDTD formulations: '''Scattered Field '''(SF) formulation and '''Total Field - Scattered Field''' (TF-SF) formulation. [[method is its ability to run wideband EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module|FDTD module]] offers both formulationssimulations. The TFfrequency domain data are computed by transforming the time-SF solver is domain data to the default choice and Fourier domain. This is typically much faster than the SF solver for most problems. In two cases, done automatically when EM.Tempo computes the structure has periodic boundary conditions or infinite CPML boundary conditions (zero domain offsets), only the SF solver is availableport characteristics such as S/Z/Y parameters. The other sections of the FDTD Simulation Engine Settings dialog will be described next in the context of [[Waveforms and Discrete Fourier Transforms]].following frequency-domain observables are defined at a single frequency:

Once you build your physical structure in The default computation frequency of the above observables is the project workspace 's center frequency (fc). You can change the observable frequency from the observable's property dialog and define an excitation source, you are ready to run an FDTD simulationenter any frequency in Hz. The reason these types of simulation engine will run even if data are computed at a single frequency is their typically very large size. However, you have not defined any can define as many instances of these observablesand set different frequency values for each one. ObviouslyIn the case of radiation pattern and RCS, no simulation data will be generated in there are two dialogs that casecan be accessed from the navigation tree. Right-click on the "Fer-Field Radiation Patterns" or "Radar Cross Sections" items of the navigation tree and select '''Insert Multi-Frequency Radiation Pattern.. [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] currently offers several different simulation modes as follows:'' or '''Insert Multi-Frequency RCS...''' from the contextual menu.

# Analysis<table># Frequency Sweep<tr># Parametric Sweep# Angular Sweep# R<td> [[Image:RadPattern multi.png|thumb|left|360px|EM.Tempo's Multi-frequency Radiation Pattern dialog.]] </T Macromodeltd># Dispersion Sweep# Huygens Sweep# <td> [[OptimizationImage:RCS multi.png|thumb|left|360px|EM.Tempo's Multi-frequency Radar Cross Section dialog.]]</td># HDMR</tr></table>

[[Image:FDTD57Using the multi-frequency dialogs, you can set the value of Start Frequency, Stop Frequency and Step Frequency in Hz.png|thumb|250px|Figure 1: [[EMYou can also set the values of Theta Angle Increment and Phi Angle Increment in degrees.Cube]]The default values of both quantities are 5&deg;. In the case of RCS, you have choose one of the two options: '''Bistatic RCS''' or '''Monostatic RCS'''s FDTD Simulation dialog.]]

Analysis is To facilitate the simplest and most straightforward simulation mode process of all the [[FDTD Module]]. It runs the FDTD time marching loop once. At the end of the simulation, the timedefining multi-domain field data are transformed into the frequency domain using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT)observables in EM. As a resultTempo, you can generate wideband frequency data from a single time-domain simulation run. The other simulation modes will be explained later in this manual.also use the following Python functions at the command line:

To start the FDTD simulationemag_field_sensor_multi_freq(f1, click the '''Run''' button at the bottom of this dialog. Once the simulation startsf2, the "'''Output Window'''" pops up and reports messages during the different stages of the FDTD simulation. During the FDTD time marching loopdf, after every 10th time stepdir_coordinate, the output window updates the values of the time stepx0, elapsed timey0, the engine performance in Mega-cells per seconds, and the value of the convergence ratio U_n/U_max in dB. An [[EM.Cube]] FDTD simulation is terminated when the ratio U_n/U_max falls below the specified power threshold or when the maximum number of time steps is reached. You can, however, terminate the FDTD engine earlier by clicking the '''Abort Simulation''' button.z0)

The accuracy of the FDTD simulation results depends on the right choice of temporal waveform. [[EM.Cube]]'s default waveform choice is a modulated Gaussian pulse. At the end of an FDTD simulationemag_huygens_surface_multi_freq(f1, the time domain field data are transformed into the frequency domain at your specified frequency or bandwidth to produce the desired observables. f2,df,x1,y1,z1,x2,y2,z2)

Of [[FDTD Module]]'s observables, In the near fieldsabove Python functions, far fields f1 and all of their associated [[parameters]] like directivityf2 are the start and stop frequencies, RCSrespectively, etc., are calculated at a certain and df is the frequency increment, all expressed in Hz. Note that is specified as part of the definition of above commands simply create and insert the observablespecified observables in the navigation tree. On They do not run perform a simulation. The created observables have the other handsame "base name" with ordered numeric indices. For example, port characteristics like S/Y/Z [[parameters]]far-field radiation patterns are names as Multi_FF_1, VSWR and periodic characteristics like reflection and transmission coefficientsMulti_FF_2, are calculated over the entire specified bandwidth of your project...

===Probing Fields in Time EM.Tempo also provides some additional Python functions for the far-field radiation patterns and Frequency Domains===RCS observables.

* Right click on the '''Field Probe''' item in the '''Observables''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Observable...'''* You can change the default name of the probe as well as its color. The field probe is displayed as a small green arrow in the Project Workspace.* By default [[EM.Cube]] creates a field probe located at the origin of coordinates emag_farfield_consolidate(0x1,0x2,0dx,base_name). You can move the probe to any location by changing its X, Y and Z coordinates.* In the Probe Location section of the dialog, you can also set the '''Direction''' of the probe from a dropdown list that contains ±X, ±Y and ±Z options. The default direction is +Z.

[[Image:FDTD71emag_rcs_average(1n,base_name).png|thumb|300px|[[FDTD Module]]'s Field Sensor dialog]]

* Right click on == Generating the '''Field Sensors''' item FDTD Mesh in the '''Observables''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Observable...'''* The '''Label''' box allows you to change the sensor’s name.* Set the '''Direction''' of the field sensor. This is specified by the normal vector of the sensor plane. The available options are '''X''', '''Y''' and '''Z''', with the last being the default option.* By default [[EM.Cube]] creates a field sensor plane passing through the origin of coordinates (0,0,0) and coinciding with the XY plane. Note that the sensor plane extends across the entire computational domain. You can change the location of the sensor plane to any point by typing in new values for the X, Y and Z coordinates. Keep in mind that you can move a sensor plane only along the specified direction of the sensor. Therefore, only one coordinate can effectively be changed. As you increment or decrement this coordinate, you can observe the sensor plane moving along that direction in the project workspace.* The frequency at which the field is evaluated has to be specified in the box labeled '''Near Field Frequency''' in the project's frequency unit. By default, this is equal to the project's center frequency.Tempo ==

After closing the Field Sensor Dialog, the a new field sensor item immediately appears under the === EM.Tempo'''Observables''' section in the Navigation Tree and can be right clicked for additional editing. Once an FDTD simulation is finished, a total of 14 plots are added to every Field Sensor node in the Navigation Tree. These include the magnitude and phase of all three components of E and H fields and the total electric and magnetic field values at the specified frequency. Click on any of these items and a color-coded intensity plot of it is visualized in the project workspace. A legend box appears in the upper right corner of the field plot, which can be dragged around using the left mouse button. The values of the magnitude plots are normalized between 0 and 1. The legend box contains the minimum field value corresponding to 0 of the color map, maximum field value corresponding to 1 of the color map, and the unit of the field quantity, which is V/m for E-field and A/m for H-field. The values of phase plots are always shown in Radians between -p and p. To display the fields properly, the structure is cut through the field sensor plane, and only part of it is shown. If the structure still blocks your view, you can simply hide or freeze it. You can change the view of the field plot with the available view operations such as rotating, panning, zooming, etc.s Mesh Types ===

{{twoimg|FDTD72EM.png|Field Sensor (E-field) |FDTD74Tempo generates a brick volume mesh for FDTD simulation.png|Field Sensor The FDTD mesh is a rectangular Yee mesh that extends to the entire computational domain. It is primarily constructed from three mesh grid profiles in the XY, YZ and ZX principal planes. These projections together create a 3D mesh space consisting of a large number of cubic volume cells (H-fieldvoxels)}}carefully assembled in a way that approximates the shape of the original structure.

[[Image:FDTD73In EM.png|thumb|300px|Cartesian graph Tempo, you can choose one of total magnetic field vs. Y-index along the crosshair in the field senor plane.]]three FDTD mesh types:

You can plot frequency domain fields in EM.Grid on 2D Cartesian graphs. Using field probes, you can plot any frequency domain field component as a function of frequency over the specified bandwidth at any point within the computational domain. Using field sensors, you can plot the total frequency domain fields as a function of position (spatial coordinates) across the computational domain. Every field sensor has a crosshair made up of two perpendicular lines parallel to the boundaries of the sensor plane. When you define a field sensor for the first time, the crosshair passes through the origin of coordinates. You can change the location of the crosshair on the sensor plane using the other two coordinate boxes besides the one that moves the location of the sensor plane. At the end of an FDTD simulation, in addition to the 3D near field maps, [[EM.Cube]] also generates 2D Cartesian graphs of the total electric and magnetic fields along the two perpendicular crosshair lines. A total of four Cartesian data files are generated, two for total E* Adaptive Mesh* Regular Mesh* Fixed-field and two for total H-field along the two lines. You can plot these data in EM.Grid, which can be accessed from [[EM.Cube]]'s Data Manager. To open data manager, click the '''Data Manager''' [[Image:data_manager_icon.png]] button of the '''Simulate Toolbar''', or select '''Simulate > Data Manager''' from the menu bar, or right click on the '''Data Manager''' item of the Navigation Tree and select Open Data Manager... from the contextual menu, or use the keyboard shortcut '''Ctrl+D'''. In the Data Manager dialog, you see a list of all the data files available for plotting including the frequency-domain sensor data files with a '''.DAT''' file extension. Select any data file by clicking and highlighting its row in the table and then click the '''Plot''' button to plot the graph. Frequency domain field sensor graphs show the total field as a function of cell index along one of the principal axes. If the FDTD mesh is uniform in that direction, the position is found by multiplying the cell index by the cell dimension and offsetting with respect to lower-front-left corner of the computational domain.Cell Mesh

===Visualizing Field Evolution EM.Tempo's default mesh generator produces an adaptive brick mesh of your physical structure, whose mesh resolution varies with the frequency. As the operating frequency of your project increases, the default '''Adaptive''' FDTD mesh generator creates a larger number of smaller voxels for a given physical structure. The adaptive mesh is optimized in Time Domain===such a way as to capture all the geometric details, curvatures and thin slanted plates or sheets, which often pose a challenge to staircase meshing. It usually provides a reasonably accurate discretization of most complex structures. Occasionally, you may opt for a more regularized FDTD mesh with almost equal grid line spacings everywhere, but still with a frequency-dependent cell size. In that case, you can use EM.Tempo's '''Regular''' FDTD mesh generator, which is indeed a simplified version of its adaptive mesh generator. The regular FDTD mesh enforces only two criteria: minimum mesh density and absolute minimum grid spacing. The grid cell sizes in this mesh are almost uniform in objects of the same material composition or in free-space regions.

In the course of the FDTD time marching process, a tremendous amount of data are generated that include all the six E/H field components at every Yee cell and at every time step. The temporal field values at a sensor plane are of particular interest. Such plots show the evolution of the fields as a function of time starting from time t = 0, when all the fields are zero everywhere in the computational domain. [[EM.Cube]] can record snapshots of the field sensor data as the time loop marches forward. When you define Tempo also offers a field sensor for the first timeuniform, by default it displays the frequency domain near field data. In order to record and save the time domain data-independent, you have to open the field sensor's property dialog by right clicking on the field sensor's name in the Navigation Tree and selecting 'Fixed-Cell''Properties...'''from the contextual menuFDTD mesh generator. In The fixed-cell mesh consists of three uniform grids in the section titled '''Sensor Domain'''XY, select the radio button labeled '''Time Domain'''YZ and ZX principal planes. AlsoHowever, in the section titled "Field Display - Multiple Plots", select one of uniform mesh cell dimensions along the two radio buttons labeled '''E-Field''' or '''H-Field'''. By defaultthree direction, the time domain field data are saved every 100 time stepsi. To change this settinge. &Delta;x, right click on the '''Field Sensors''' item in the Navigation Tree &Delta;y and select '''Time Domain Settings&Delta;z do not have to be equal...''' from The fixed-cell mesh generator tries to fit your physical structure to the contextual menu. In mesh grid rather than adapting the Time Domain Settings Dialog, change the value of the box labeled '''Sampling Interval (in time steps)'''mesh to your physical structure.

Time domain [[animationImage:Info_icon.png|30px]] is available only for FDTD simulations of "Analysis" type. It cannot be used in conjunction with sweep simulations. Once Click here to learn more about the FDTD Analysis is finished, you can click any properties of the field plots and visualize it in the main window or you can animate them by right clicking on the field sensor's name in the Navigation Tree and selecting '''[[Animation]]''' from the contextual menuGlossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Simulation-Related_Operations#Adaptive_Yee_Mesh | EM. You can change the [[animation]] settings from the Tempo'''[[Animations Adaptive Brick Mesh Generator]] Controls Dialog'''. Note that the [[animation]] loop repeats itself indefinitely until you close the [[Animation]] Controls dialog or hit the keyboard’s '''Esc Key'''.

{{twoimg|FDTD121[[Image:Info_icon.png|Field sensor setup for time30px]] Click here to learn more about the properties of '''[[Glossary_of_EM.Cube%27s_Simulation-domain outputRelated_Operations#Fixed-Cell_Brick_Mesh |FDTD126EM.Tempo's Fixed-Cell Brick Mesh Generator]]'''.png|Time interval settings}}

===Scattering Parameters <table><tr><td> [[Image:Tempo L11 Fig5.png|thumb|left|550px|A human head model and Port Characteristics===a cellular phone handset on its side.]] </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:Tempo L11 Fig7.png|thumb|left|550px|The FDTD mesh of the human head model and the cellular phone handset.]] </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:Tempo L11 Fig8.png|thumb|left|550px|Another view of the FDTD mesh of the human head model and the cellular phone handset.]] </td></tr></table>

If your physical structure is excited by a Lumped Source or a Waveguide Source or a Distributed Source, and one or more ports have been defined, === Discretizing the FDTD engine calculates Physical Structure Using the scattering (S) [[parameters]], impedance (Z) [[parameters]] and admittance (Y) [[parameters]] of the selected ports. The S [[parameters]] are calculated based on the port impedances specified in the project's "Port Definition". If more than one port has been defined in the project, the FDTD engine runs an internal port sweep. Each port is excited separately with all the other ports turned off. When the ''j''th port is excited, all the S_ij [[parameters]] are calculated together based on the following definition:Adaptive Yee Mesh ===

EM.Tempo's default mesh generator creates an adaptive brick volume mesh that uses a variable staircase profile, where the grid line spacings vary with the curvature (derivative) of the object edges or faces. As a result, a higher mesh resolution is produced at "curved" areas to better capture the geometrical details. The resolution of the adaptive FDTD mesh is driven by the '''Mesh Density''', expressed in cells per effective wavelength. Since FDTD is a time-domain method and the excitation waveform may have a wideband spectral content, the effective wavelength is calculated based on the highest frequency of the project:f<mathsub>max</sub> S_{ij} = \sqrt{\frac{Ref₀ + &Delta;f/2, where f₀ (Z_ior fc)}{Reis your project's center frequency and &Delta;f (Z_jor bw)}} \cdot \frac{V_j - Z_j^*I_j}{V_i+Z_i I_i} is its specified bandwidth. In other words, the effective wavelength in the free space is &lambda;_{0,eff</mathsub>= c / f<!--[[Image:FDTD82(1)sub>max}, c being the speed of light in the free space.png]]--The effective wavelength in a dielectric material with relative permittivity &epsilon;_r and permeability &mu;_r is given by &lambda;_d,eff = &lambda;_0,eff / &radic;&epsilon;_r&mu;_r.

where VThe adaptive FDTD mesh, by default, produces different grid cell sizes in the free space regions than inside dielectric regions. The effective wavelength in a dielectric material with relative permittivity e_r and permeability µ_ir is the voltage across Port igiven by &lambda;_{d, Ieff}i= &lambda;_0,eff is / &radic;&epsilon;_r&mu;_r. Therefore, the current flowing into Port i and Zaverage ratio of the cell size in a dielectric region to the cell size in the free space is 1/&radic;(&epsilon;_ir &mu;_r). The adaptive FDTD mesh generator also takes note of the geometrical features of the objects it discretizes. This is more visible in the characteristic impedance case of Port icurved solids, curves surfaces and curved wires or obliquely oriented planes and lines which need to be approximated using a staircase profile. The sweep loop then moves mesh resolution varies with the slope of the geometrical shapes and tries to capture the next port until all ports have been excitedcurved segments in the best way. After Another important feature of the adaptive FDTD simulation mesher is finished, the S [[parameters]] are written into output ASCII data filesgeneration of gradual grid transitions between low-density and high-density mesh regions. Since these data are complexFor example, they are stored as '''.CPX''' files. Every file begins with a header starting with "#". Besides this often happens around the scattering [[parameters]], interface between the admittance (Y) free space and impedance (Z) [[parameters]] are also calculated and saved high permittivity dielectric objects. Gradual mesh transitions provide better accuracy especially in complex data files with '''the case of highly resonant structures.CPX''' file extensions. The following relationships are used:

:A carefully calculated, "<mathu>\mathbf{ [Z] = [\sqrt{Z_0}] \cdot ([U]+[S]) \cdot ([U]-[S])^{-1} \cdot [\sqrt{Z_0}] }'''Adaptive'''</mathu>" mesh of your physical structure is generated in order to satisfy the following criteria:

:<math> \mathbf{ [Y] = [Z]^{* Optimize the number of mesh cells in each dimension. The product of the number of cells in all the three dimension determines the total mesh size. The larger the mesh size, the longer the simulation time, especially with the CPU version of the FDTD engine. Also, a very large mesh size requires more RAM, which may exceed your GPU memory capacity. Set the '''Minimum Mesh Density''' to a moderately low value to keep the mesh size manageable, but be careful not to set it too low (see the next item below).* Ensure simulation accuracy by requiring an acceptable minimum number of cells per wavelength through each object and in the empty (free) space between them and the computational domain boundaries. An effective wavelength is defined for each material at the highest frequency of the project's specified spectrum. We recommend a '''Minimum Mesh Density '''of at least 15-1} } <20 cells/math>wavelength. But for some resonant structures, 25 or even 30 cells per wavelength may be required to achieve acceptable accuracy. As you reduce the mesh density, the simulation accuracy decreases.<!* Accurately represent and approximate the boundaries of edges or surfaces that are not grid--[[Image:FDTD83aligned by closely adhering to their geometric contours.png]]This is controlled by the '''Minimum Grid Spacing Over Geometric Contours''', which can be specified either as a fraction of the free space grid spacing or as an absolute length value in project units.* Maximize the minimum grid spacing in any dimension inside the computational domain and thus maximize the simulation time step. The time step size is dictated by the CFL stability criterion and is driven by the smallest grid spacing in each dimension. The smaller the time step, the larger the number of time steps required for convergence. This is controlled using the '''Absolute Minimum Grid Spacing''', which can be specified either as a fraction of the free space grid spacing or as an absolute value. It is critical to accurately represent and precisely maintain the object edge/surface boundaries in certain structures like resonant antennas and filters, as the phase of the reflected fields/waves is affected by the object boundary positions. When object boundaries are very close to each other, the mesh needs to represent them by two separate, but very closely spaced, grid lines. To control the minimum allowed grid spacing, use the '''Absolute Minimum Grid Spacing '''settings,* Maintain a smooth grid with no abrupt jumps from low-density to high->density regions. This feature is enabled with the '''Create Gradual Grid Transitions '''check box (always checked by default).

where <math>\mathbf{When [U[EM.Cube]}</math> is ] generates an FDTD mesh, a large number of geometrical considerations are taken into account. These include the identity matrix bounding box of order Neach object and its corners, the ends of a line, the apex of a cone or pyramid, or the locations of lumped sources, field probes and <math>\mathbf{\sqrt{Z_0}}</math> is sensors, vertices of plane wave or far field boxes, to name a diagonal matrix whose diagonal elements few examples. These points are “locked” as fixed grid nodes in the square roots of port characteristic impedancesFDTD mesh. The voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of [[EM.Cube]] determines these points internally to generate a mesh that best approximates the original structure at . As you saw earlier, you can use the first port is also computed and saved FDTD mesh settings to a real data '''control the shape and resolution of the mesh, for example, around the curved portions of your structure, or on slanted lines or faces, etc.DAT''' fileThese settings are global and apply to all the objects making up your physical structure. The following definition is used:

:<math> \text{VSWR} = \frac{|V_{max}|}{|V_{min}|} = \frac{You can control the global mesh more selectively using the Advanced FDTD Mesh Settings Dialog. To open this dialog, click the '''Advanced '''button at the bottom of the FDTD Mesh Settings dialog. For example, you can control the quality of the gradual grid transitions by setting the value of '''Max Adjacent Cell Size Ratio'''. The default value of this parameter is 1+|S_{11}|}{.3, which maintains a smooth grid line spacing scheme with no more than 1-|S_{11}|} </math><!--[[Image:FDTD841.png]]3 ratio for adjacent cells. By default, grid lines are enforced at all source and observable locations. You have the option to disable this feature and round up source locations to their closest grid lines. You may also uncheck the box labeled "Adapt mesh resolution to material properties". In that case, the same effective wavelength will be used to determine the mesh resolution inside all materials as well as the free-->space regions.

You can plot the port characteristics from the Navigation Tree. Right click on the '''Port Definition''' item in the '''Observables''' section of the Navigation Tree and select one of the items: '''Plot S <table><tr><td> [[Parameters]]''', '''Plot Y [[Parameters]]''', '''Plot Z [[Parameters]]''', or '''Plot VSWR'''Image:FDTD80. In the first three cases, another sub-menu gives a list of individual port [[parameters]]. Keep in mind that in multi-port structures, each individual port parameter has its own graph. You can also see a list of all the port characteristics data files in [[png|thumb|left|720px|EM.Cube]]Tempo's data managermesh settings dialog. To open data manager, click the '''Data Manager''' [[Image:data_manager_icon.png]] button of the '''Simulate Toolbar''' or select '''Simulate </td></tr> Data Manager''' from the menu bar or right click on the '''Data Manager''' item of the Navigation Tree and select Open Data Manager... from the contextual menu or use the keyboard shortcut '''Ctrl+D'''. Select any data file by clicking and highlighting its row in the </table and then click the '''Plot''' button to plot the graph in '''EM.Grid'''. By default, the S [[parameters]] are plotted as dual magnitude-phase graphs, while the Y and Z [[parameters]] are plotted as dual real-imaginary part graphs. The VSWR data are plotted on a Cartesian graph. You change the format of complex data plots. In general complex data can be plotted in three forms:>

In particular, it may be useful to plot the S<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN21.png|thumb|left|360px|The geometry of a dielectric ellipsoid with &epsilon;_iir [[parameters= 4.]] on a Smith chart</td><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN22. To change the format png|thumb|left|360px|The adaptive mesh of a data plot, select it and click the '''Edit '''button of Data Manager and select one of the available graph type optionsdielectric ellipsoid.]]</td></tr><br /table>

{{twoimg|FDTD114<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN18.png|thumb|left|360px|The top view of the adaptive FDTD mesh of the dielectric ellipsoid.]]</td><td> [[EMImage:FDTD MAN19.png|thumb|left|360px|The top view of the regular FDTD mesh of the dielectric ellipsoid with the same mesh density.Cube]]'s data manager showing a list of complex data files available for plotting in EM.Grid</td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN20A.png|FDTD115thumb|left|360px|The top view of the fixed-cell FDTD mesh of the dielectric ellipsoid using the larger cell size inside the air region.]]</td><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN20.png|Plot thumb|left|360px|The top view of Sthe fixed-cell FDTD mesh of the dielectric ellipsoid using the smaller cell size inside the dielectric region.]]<sub/td>21</subtr></table> of a filter in EM.Grid.}}

===Far Field Calculations in The figures below compare the low resolution and high resolution adaptive FDTD===meshes of a PEC parabolic reflector. This structure involves both a curved surface and a very thin surface.

{{mainpage|<table><tr><td> [[Farfield Calculations in EMImage:FDTD MAN23.png|thumb|left|450px|The geometry of a PEC parabolic reflector.Tempo]]}}</td></tr></table>

For radiating structures or scatterers, the far field quantities are of primary interest. <table><tr><td> [[EMImage:FDTD MAN24.png|thumb|left|360px|The low-resolution adaptive mesh of the PEC parabolic reflector.Cube]]'s </td><td> [[Image:FDTD ModuleMAN27.png|thumb|left|360px|The high-resolution adaptive mesh of the PEC parabolic reflector.]] can calculate </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN26.png|thumb|left|360px|The top (XY) view of the far field radiation patterns low-resolution adaptive mesh of an antenna or the radar cross section PEC parabolic reflector.]]</td><td> [[Image:FDTD MAN25.png|thumb|left|360px|The right (RCSYZ) view of a target. In general, by far fields we mean the electric fields evaluated in the far zone low-resolution adaptive mesh of a physical structure, which satisfies the following condition:PEC parabolic reflector.]]</td></tr></table>

In the FDTD method, the far fields are calculated using a near-field-to-far-field transformation of the field quantities on a given closed surface. [[EM.Cube]] uses rectangular boxes to define these closed surfaces. You can use [[EM.Cube]]'s default radiation box or define your own. Normally, the radiation box should enclose the entire FDTD structure. In this case, the calculated radiation pattern corresponds === Adding Fixed Grid Points to the entire radiating structure. The radiation box may also contain only parts of a structure, which results in partial radiation patterns.Adaptive Yee Mesh ===

[[Image:FDTD116* Open the Fixed Grid Points Dialog by selecting '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Fixed Grid Points.png..''' or by right-clicking on the '''FDTD''' '''Mesh''' item of the navigation tree and selecting '''Fixed Grid Points Settings...'''* Click the {{key|thumbAdd/Edit}} button to open the "Add Fixed Grid Point" dialog.* Enter the (X, Y, Z) coordinates of the new fixed point in the coordinate boxes and click the {{key|250pxOK}} button.* To modify the coordinates of an existing fixed grid point, select it from the table and click the {{key|[[Add/Edit}} button.* You can also remove a fix grid point from the FDTD Module]]'s Radiation Pattern dialog]]mesh using the {{key|Delete}} button.

For any far field calculations in <table><tr><td> [[EMImage:FDTD36.Cube]], first you have to define a far field observable png|thumb|left|480px|A user-defined fixed grid point in the Navigation Tree. In [[an FDTD Modulemesh.]], defining </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD38.png|thumb|left|480px|Adding a far field observable also initiates a far field box new fixed grid point in the computational domainEM. This box is used to perform the near-to-far-field transformation at the end of an FDTD simulationTempo's fixed grid points settings dialog. To insert a new far field box, follow these steps]] </td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD39.png|thumb|left|480px|The "Add Fixed Grid Point" dialog.]] </td></tr></table>

* Right click on the '''Far Fields''' item in the '''Observables''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New Radiation Pattern...''' According to open the Radiation Pattern Dialog.* Use Courant-Friedrichs-Levy (CFL) stability criterion, the '''Label''' box to change FDTD time step is determined by the name of the far field or change the color of the far field box using the '''Color''' button.* The frequency of radiation pattern calculation can be specified smallest cell size in the box labeled '''Far Field Frequency'''your FDTD mesh. By defaultOccasionally, this is equal to the center frequency of the projectEM. However, you can calculate the far field data at any other frequency within the projectTempo's frequency range.* The resolution of far field calculations is specified by '''Angle Increment''' expressed adaptive mesh generator may create extremely tiny grid cells that would result in degreesextremely small time steps. By default, the &theta; and &phi; angles are incremented by 5 degreesThis would then translate into a very long computation time.* Define the desired box for far field calculations in the '''Radiation Box''' section of the dialog[[EM. As in Cube]] offers the case of plane waves and Gaussian beams, there are two options available"Regular" FDTD mesh generator, which is a default radiation box (radio button '''Size: Default''') or a user defined radiation box (radio buttons '''Size: Custom'''). If you check '''Size: Default''', no radiation box corner coordinates need to be specified. The radiation box will always be 0.1 free space wavelength away from the bounding box simplified version of the entire structureadaptive mesh generator. Select '''Size: Custom''' to set In a regular FDTD mesh, the far field box manually. The values for grid cell sizes stay rather the coordinates same in objects of '''Corner 1''' and '''Corner 2''' can now be changed. '''Corner 1''' is the lower-front-left corner and '''Corner 2''' is the upper-rear-right corner of the radiation boxsame material composition. The dimensions are specified mesh resolution increases in the world coordinate system (WCS).* At the end materials of an FDTD simulation, besides calculating higher permittivity and/or permeability based on the radiation data over the entire (spherical) 3D space, a number of 2D pattern graphs are also generated. These are indeed pattern cuts at certain planes, which include the three principal XY, YZ and ZX planes plus one additional constant f-cut. This latter cut is at &phi; = 45° by default. You can assign another phi angle in degrees effective wavelength in exactly the box labeled '''Non-Principal Phi Plane'''. Also, the 2D radiation pattern graphs are normalized by default. You can instruct [[EM.Cube]] to plot the 2D pattern graphs un-normalized (same way as calculated) by removing the check mark from the box labeled '''Normalize 2D Patterns'''adaptive mesh.

After closing === Profiling the Far Field Dialog, a far field entry immediately appears with its given name under the '''Far Fields''' item of the '''Observables''' section in the Navigation Tree. A far field box shows up as a light blue wireframe box in the project workspace. You can right click on the far field item's name in the navigation tree and select '''Properties...''' to open up the radiation pattern dialog for further editing. Bear in mind that a full 3D radiation pattern calculation with a high angular resolution might be very time-consuming.Brick Mesh ===

===Visualizing A volumetric brick mesh is overwhelming for visualization in the 3D Radiation Patterns===space. For this reason, [[EM.Cube]]'s mesh view shows only the outline of the cells on exterior surface of the (staircased) meshed objects. The mesh grid planes provide a 2D profile of the mesh cells along the principal coordinate planes. To display a mesh grid plane, select '''Menu > Simulate > Discretization > Grid Planes >''' and pick one of the three options: '''XY Plane''', '''YZ Plane''' or '''ZX Plane'''. You may also right click on one of the '''XY Plane''', '''YZ Plane''' or '''ZX Plane''' items in the '''Discretization''' section of the navigation tree and select '''Show''' from the contextual menu.

Once an FDTD simulation While a mesh grid plane is finishedvisible, three far field items are added to you can move it back and forth between the Far Field section two boundary planes at the two opposite sides of the Navigation Treecomputational domain. These are the far-zone E-field component along &phi; direction, the far-zone E-field component along &phi; direction and You can do this in one of the total far-zone E-field defined asfollowing four ways:

:<math>|\mathbf* Using the keyboard's Page Up {E_{ff,totkey|PgUp}}| = \sqrtkey and Page Down {| E_{\theta}key|^2 + |E_{\phiPgDn}|^2 }</mathkey.* By selecting '''Menu >Simulate > Discretization > Grid Planes > Increment Grid''' or ''' Decrement Grid'''.<!--[[Image:FDTD129* By right clicking on one of the '''XY Plane''', '''YZ Plane''' or '''ZX Plane''' items in the '''Discretization''' section of the navigation tree and selecting '''Increment Grid''' or ''' Decrement Grid''' from the contextual menu.png]]--* Using the keyboard shortcut {{key|>}} or {{key|<}}.

The 3D plots can be viewed in the project workspace by clicking on each item. The view of the 3D far field plot can be changed with As you “step through” or profile the available view operations such as rotatemesh grid, pan and zoom. A legend box appears in the upper right corner of the 3D radiation pattern plot, which you can be dragged around with see how the left mouse button. The (maximum) '''Directivity''' of the radiating structure is displayed at the bottom discretized along internal planes of the legend box and is calculated using the definition:computational domain.

:<mathtable><tr><td> D_0 = \frac{4\pi [S(\theta,\phi)]_{max}}{P_{rad}} = \frac{ 4\pi \big[Image:Tempo L1 Fig11.png| \mathbf{E^{ff}}(\theta,\phi) \bigthumb|^2 left|_{max} } { \int\limits_0^{2\pi} \int\limits_0^{\pi} \big360px| \mathbf{E^{ff}}(\theta,\phi) \big|^2 \sin\theta \,d\theta \,d\phi } The XY mesh grid plane.]] </mathtd><!--td> [[Image:FDTD113Tempo L1 Fig12.png|thumb|left|360px|The YZ mesh grid plane.]]--</td></tr></table>

You can change the type of the 3D radiation pattern plot through the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''. In the '''3D Display Type''' section of this dialog you can choose from three options: '''3D Polar''', which is the default choice, '''Spherical Map''' and '''Cone'''. In the case of cone type, you can also set the size of the cones that are used for a vectorial visualization of the far field data. If the structure blocks the view of the radiation pattern, you can simply hide or freeze the entire physical structure or parts of it. Note that 3D radiation patterns are always positioned at the origin === The FDTD Grid Coordinate System (0,0,0GCS) of the spherical world coordinate system even though the radiation center of the structure may not be located at that point. Sometimes, it might be a good idea to hide the physical structure when you are viewing the 3D radiation patterns to avoid any confusion. In a 3D radiation pattern visualization, the fields are always normalized to the maximum of the total far field. For this reason, sometimes the cross-polarization component might get lost compared to the co-polarization component and you have to zoom in to make it visible.===

You can also change When your physical structure is discretized using the properties brick mesh generator, a second coordinate system becomes available to you. The mesh grid coordinate system allows you to specify any location in the computational domain in terms of node indices on the 3D radiation pattern plot by selecting the '''Propertiesmesh grid.[[EM..''' item in Cube]] displays the right click menu total number of mesh grid lines of the plot's name in simulation domain (N_x × N_y × N_z) along the Navigation Tree or by double-clicking the legend box. This opens up three principal axes on the '''Output Plot Settings DialogStatus Bar'''. In generalTherefore, there are two scale options: Linear (which the number of cells in each direction is one less than the default option) and dB. In the case number of a linear plotgrid lines, the plot range varies between 0 and i.e. (N_x-1)× (N_y-1) × (N_z-1). In the case The lower left front corner of a dB plotthe domain box (Xmin, Ymin, Zmin) becomes the range is fixed from -50 to 0dB. You can change origin of the '''Color Map''' option as well the foreground and background colors mesh grid coordinate system (I = 0, J = 0, K = 0). The upper right back corner of the legend domain box(Xmax, Ymax, Zmax) therefore becomes (I = N_x-1, J = N_y-1, K = N_z-1).

{{twoimg|fdtd_out26_tn[[EM.Cube]] allows you to navigate through the mesh grid and evaluate the grid points individually. Every time you display one of the three mesh grid planes, the "'''Grid Coordinate System (GCS)'''" is automatically activated. On the Status Bar, you will see [[Image:statusgrid.png|The 3D total radiation pattern ]] instead of a dipole antennathe default [[Image: polar type.|fdtd_out28_tnstatusworld.png|]]. This means that the current coordinates reported on Status Bar are now expressed in grid coordinate system. The 3D total radiation pattern of current grid point is displayed by a dipole antenna: cone typesmall white circle on the current mesh grid plane, and it always starts from (I = 0, J = 0, K = 0). Using the keyboard's '''Arrow Keys''', you can move the white circle through the mesh grid plane and read the current node's (I, J, K) indices on the status bar. You can switch back to the "'''World Coordinate System (WCS)'''" or change to the "'''Domain Coordinate System'''" by double-clicking the status bar box that shows the current coordinate system and cycling through the three options. The domain coordinate system is one that establishes its origin at the lower left front corner of the computational domain and measure distances in project unit just like the WCS. }}

At the end of an == Running FDTD simulation, the radiation pattern data E_&theta;, E_&phi; and E_tot Simulations in the three principal XY, YZ and ZX planes plus one additional user defined phi plane cut are available for plotting on 2D graphs in '''EM.Grid'''. There are a total of eight 2D pattern graphs in the data manager: 4 polar graphs and 4 Cartesian graphs of the same pattern data. To open data manager, click the '''Data Manager''' [[Image:data_manager_icon.png]] button of the '''Simulate Toolbar''' or select '''Simulate > Data Manager''' from the menu bar or right click on the '''Data Manager''' item of the Navigation Tree and select '''Open Data Manager...''' from the contextual menu or use the keyboard shortcut '''Ctrl+D'''. In the Data manager Dialog, you will see a list of all the data files available for plotting. These include the four polar pattern data files with a '''.ANG''' file extension and the four Cartesian pattern data file with a '''.DAT''' file extension. Select any data file by highlighting its row in the table and then click the '''Plot''' button to plot the graph.Tempo ==

At the end of an FDTD sweep simulation, other radiation characteristics are also computed as a function of the sweep variable (frequency, angle, or any other user defined variable). These include the '''Directivity (D0)''', '''Total Radiated Power (PRAD)''' and '''Directive Gain (DG)''' as a function of the &theta; and &phi; angles. Another radiation characteristic of interest especially in circularly polarized scenarios is the Axial Ratio. In [[=== EM.Cube]], the axial ratio is always defined in the LCP_z or RCP_z sense based on the X- and Y-components of the electric field. In order to calculate the directive gain or axial ratio, you have to check the boxes labeled Tempo'''Axial Ratio (AR)''' or '''Directive Gain (DG)''' in the "Additional Radiation Characteristics" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''. Four 2D Cartesian graphs of the axial ratio as functions of the theta angle are generated in the three principal XY, YZ and ZX planes as well as the additional user defined phi plane cut. At the end of an FDTD sweep simulation, the directive gain and axial ratio can also be plotted as functions of the sweep variable. In that case, either quantity needs to be computed at a fixed pair of &theta; and &phi; angles. These angles are specified in degrees as '''User Defined Azimuth & Elevation''' in the "Output Settings" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''. The default values of the user defined azimuth and elevation are both zero corresponding to the zenith.s Simulation Modes ===

Once you build your physical structure in the project workspace and define an excitation source, you are ready to run an FDTD simulation. The simulation engine will run even if you have not defined any observables. Obviously, no simulation data will be generated in that case. [[EM.Tempo]] currently offers several different simulation modes as follows: {| borderclass="0wikitable"

! scope="col"| valignSimulation Mode! scope="topcol"|Usage[[File:FDTD119.png|thumb|left|250px! scope="col"|[[EM.Cube]]'s Data Manager dialog showing a list Number of 2D polar and Cartesian radiation pattern graphs.]]Engine Runs| valign! scope="topcol"|Frequency [[File:FDTD118.png|thumb|left|250px|A 2D Cartesian radiation pattern in the ZX plane cut.]]| valign! scope="topcol"|[[File:FDTD117.png|thumb|left|250px|A 2D Cartesian radiation pattern in the ZY plane cut.]]Restrictions

===Radiation Pattern Above A Half-Space MediumRunning a Wideband FDTD Analysis ===

As mentioned earlier when discussing boundary conditions * Identify material types and computational proper domain, you can use CPML boundary conditions with zero offsets to model a structure with infinite lateral extents. At * Identify the end of source type and excitation mechanism.* Define the FDTD simulation, project observables.* Mesh the far fields are calculated using physical structure and examine the near-field-to-far-field transformation. This calculation requires the dyadic Green's function quality of the background structuregenerated mesh and it geometric fidelity.* Determine the proper temporal waveform. By default, * Select the simulation mode and run the FDTD engine uses the free space dyadic Green's function for the far field calculation. In general, the [[FDTD Module]] features dyadic Green's functions for four scenarios:

# Free space background# Free space background terminated in an infinite PEC ground plane at Wideband analysis is [[EM.Tempo]]'s simplest and most straightforward simulation mode. It runs the bottom# Free space background terminated in an infinite PMC ground plane at FDTD time marching loop once. At the bottom# Free space background terminated in an infinite dielectric halfend of the simulation, the time-space mediumdomain field data are transformed into the frequency domain using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT). As a result, you can generate wideband frequency data from a single time-domain simulation run. The other simulation modes will be explained later in this manual.

<table><tr><td> [[Image:FDTD131Tempo L1 Fig13.png|thumb|300pxleft|[[FDTD Module480px|EM.Tempo's simulation run dialog.]]</td></tr><tr><td> [[Image:Tempo L1 Fig15.png|thumb|left|550px|EM.Tempo's RCS dialogoutput message window.]]</td></tr></table>

:<mathAn FDTD simulation involves a number of numerical parameters that can be accessed and modified from the FDTD Engine Settings Dialog. To open this dialog, select '''Menu >\sigma_{\theta} = 4\pi r^2 \dfrac{ \big| \mathbf{E}_{\theta}^{scat} \big| ^2} {\big| \mathbf{E}^{inc} \big|^2}Simulate > Simulation Engine Settings... '''or open the '''Run Dialog''', \quad \sigma_and click the {\phi} = 4\pi r^2 \dfrac{ \bigkey| \mathbf{ESettings}_{\phi}^{scat} \big| ^2} {\big| \mathbf{E}^{inc} \big|^2}, \quad \sigma = \sigma_{\theta} + \sigma_{\phi} = 4\pi r^2 \dfrac{ \big| \mathbf{E}_{tot}^{scat} \big| ^2} {\big| \mathbf{E}^{inc} \big|^2}</math><!--[[Image:FDTD130button next to the engine dropdown list.png]]-->

To compute In the RCS " '''Convergence''' " section of the dialog, you can set the '''Termination Criterion''' for the FDTD time loop. The time loop must stop after a certain point in time. If you use a decaying waveform like a Gaussian pulse or a Modulated Gaussian pulse, after certain number of time steps, the total energy of the computational domain drops to very negligible values, and continuing the time loop thereafter would not generate any new information about your physical structure. By contrast, a sinusoidal waveform will keep pumping energy into the computational domain forever, and you must define have to force the simulation engine to exit the time loop. [[EM.Tempo]] provides two mechanism to terminated the time loop. In the first approach, an RCS observable instead energy-like quantity defined as U_n = &Sigma; [ &epsilon;₀|'''E_i,n'''|² + &mu;₀|'''H_i,n'''|² ].&Delta;V_i is calculated and recorded at a large random set of points in the computational domain. Here i is the space index and n is the time index. The quantity U_n has a radiation patternzero value at t = 0 (i.e. n = 0), and its value starts to build up over time. With a Gaussian or Modulated Gaussian pulse waveform, U_n reach a maximum value U_max at some time step and starts to decline thereafter. The ratio 10.log( U_n/ U_max) expressed in dB is used as the convergence criterion. When its value drops below certain '''Power Threshold''', the time loop is exited. The default value of Power Threshold is -30dB, meaning that the FDTD engine will exit the time loop if the quantity U_n drops to 1/1000 of its maximum value ever. The second termination criterion is simply reaching a '''Maximum Number of Time Steps''' , whose default value set to 10,000. A third option, which is [[EM.Tempo]]'s default setting (labeled "'''Both'''"), terminates the simulation as soon as either of the first two criteria is met first. Follow these steps:

* Right click on the '''Far Fields''' item {{Note|Keep in the '''Observables''' section of the Navigation Tree and select '''Insert New RCS...''' to open the Radar Cross Section Dialog.* Use the '''Label''' box to change the name of the far field or change the color of the far field box using the '''Color''' button.* The frequency of RCS calculation can be specified in the box labeled '''Far Field Frequency'''. By default, this is equal to the center frequency of the project. However, you can calculate the far field data at any other frequency within the project's frequency range.* The resolution of RCS calculation is specified by '''Angle Increment''' expressed in degrees. By default, the &theta; and &phi; angles are incremented by 5 degrees.* Define the desired box mind that for far field calculations in the '''Scattering Box''' section of the dialog. As in the case of radiation patternhighly resonant structures, there are two options available, a default radiation box (radio button '''Size: Default''') or a user defined radiation box (radio buttons '''Size: Custom'''). If you check '''Size: Default''', no radiation box corner coordinates need may have to be specified. The radiation box will always be 0.1 free space wavelength away from increase the bounding box maximum number of the entire physical structure. Select '''Size: Custom''' time steps to set the far field box manually. The very large values for the coordinates of '''Corner 1''' and '''Corner 2''' can now be changed. '''Corner 1''' is the lower-front-left corner and '''Corner 2''' is the upper-rear-right corner of the radiation box. The dimensions are entered in world coordinate system (WCS).* At the end of an FDTD simulationabove 20, besides calculating the RCS data over the entire (spherical) 3D space, a number of 2D RCS graphs are also generated. These are indeed RCS cuts at certain planes, which include the three principal XY, YZ and ZX planes plus one additional constant &phi;-cut. This latter cut is at &phi; = 45° by default. You can assign another &phi; angle in degrees in the box labeled '''Non-Principal Phi Plane'''000.}}

At the end of an The serial CPU solver is [[EM.Tempo]]'s basic FDTD simulation, in kernel that run the far field section of the Navigation Tree, you will have the &theta; and &phi; components of RCS as well as the total radar cross section: &sigma;_&theta;, &sigma;_&phi;, and &sigma;_tot. You can view time marching loop on a 3D visualization of these quantities by clicking on their entries in the Navigation Tree. The RCS values single central processing unit (&sigma;CPU) are expressed in m²of your computer. The 3D plots are normalized to the maximum RCS value, which default option is displayed in the legend boxmulti-core CPU solver. The 2D RCS graphs can be plotted in '''EM.Grid '''exactly in This is a highly parallelized version of the same way that you plot 2D radiation pattern graphsFDTD kernel based on the Open-MP framework. A total It takes full advantage of eight 2D RCS graphs are available: 4 polar and 4 Cartesian graphs for the XYa multi-core, YZmulti-CPU architecture, ZX and user defined plane cutsif your computer does have one. at the end of The GPU solver is a sweep simulation, [[EM.Cube]] calculates some other quantities including the backscatter RCS (BRCS), forwardhardware-scatter RCS accelerated FDTD kernel optimized for CUDA-enabled graphical processing unit (FRCS) and the maximum RCS (MRCS) as functions of the sweep variable (frequency, angle, or any user defined variableGPU)cards. In this caseIf your computer has a fast NVIDIA GPU card with enough onboard RAM, the RCS needs to be computed at a fixed pair of &phi; and &theta; angles. These angles are specified in degrees as '''User Defined Azimuth & Elevation''' in the "Output Settings" section of the '''Radar Cross Section Dialog'''. The default values of the user defined azimuth and elevation are both zero corresponding GPU kernel can speed up your FDTD simulations up to 50 times or more over the zenithsingle CPU solver.

{{Note|Unlike For structures excited with a plane wave source, there are two standard FDTD formulations: '''Scattered Field '''(SF) formulation and '''Total Field - Scattered Field''' (TF-SF) formulation. [[EM.CubeTempo]]'s Planar, MoM3D and Physical Optics Modules, the [[FDTD Module]] currently does not support 3D monooffers both formulations. The TF-static RCS calculation due to SF solver is the enormous amount of computational work neededdefault choice and is typically much faster than the SF solver for most problems. Only In two cases, when the bi-static RCS structure has periodic boundary conditions or infinite CPML boundary conditions (zero domain offsets), only the SF solver is calculated for a given plane wave sourceavailable.}}

===Angular Sweeps===<table>If your FDTD project has a plane wave excitation, then you can also run an angular sweep<tr><td> [[Image:FDTD58. In this sweep, the values of the incidence angles &theta; and &phi; are varied at each sweep runpng|thumb|left|720px|EM. To run an angular sweep, open the FDTD Tempo'''Run Dialog''' and from the '''Simulation Mode '''dropdown list select the '''Angular Sweep''' option. Click the '''Settings''' button next to this dropdown list to open up the Angle Settings Dialog. In an angular sweep, only one of the two angles, &theta; and &phi;, can be varied at a time. Choose the radio button corresponding to the angle that you want to sweep. Then, set the values of the '''Start Angle''' and '''End Angle''' as well as the '''Number of Samples'''. Under normal circumstances, you would sweep &theta; from 180°to 90° backward and sweep &phi; from zero to 360° forwards simulation engine settings dialog.]]</td></tr><br /table>

{{isoimg|FDTD128==Modeling 3D Periodic Structures in EM.png|[[FDTD Module]]'s Angle Settings dialog.}}Tempo==

{{mainpageNote|Custom Output[[EM.Tempo]] can only handle regular, non-skewed periodic lattices with no secondary offsets.}} [[Image:Info_icon.png|30px]] Click here to learn more about the theory of '''[[Basic_Principles_of_The_Finite_Difference_Time_Domain_Method#Time_Domain_Simulation_of_Periodic_Structures | Time Domain Simulation of Periodic Structures]]'''.

At the end of an FDTD simulation, ===Defining a number of computed quantities are designated as "Standard Output" [[parameters]] and can be used for various post-processing data operations. For example, you can define design objectives based on them, which you need for [[optimization]]. The table below gives a list of all the currently available standard output [[parameters]] Periodic Structure in [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]]:Tempo===

{| class="wikitable"!scope="col"| Standard Output Name / Syntax!scope="col"| Description|-| SijM| Magnitude of (iBy default,j)-th Scattering Parameter|-| SijP| Phase of (i,j)-th Scattering Parameter (in radians)|-| SijR| Real Part of (i,j)-th Scattering Parameter|-| SijI| Imaginary Part of (i,j)-th Scattering Parameter|-| ZijM| Magnitude of (i,j)-th Impedance Parameter|-| ZijP| Phase of (i,j)-th Impedance Parameter (in radians)|-| ZijR| Real Part of (i,j)-th Impedance Parameter|-| ZijI| Imaginary Part of (i,j)-th Impedance Parameter|-| YijM| Magnitude of (i,j)-th Admittance Parameter|-| YijP| Phase of (i,j)-th Admittance Parameter (in radians)|-| YijR| Real Part of (i,j)-th Admittance Parameter|-| YijI| Imaginary Part of (i,j)-th Admittance Parameter|-| VSWR| Voltage Standing Wave Ratio|-| D0| Directivity|-| PRAD| Total Radiated Power|-| THM| Main Beam Theta|-| PHM| Main Beam Phi|-| DGU| Directive Gain along User Defined Direction|-| ARU| Axial Ratio along User Defined Direction|-| FBR| Front-to-Back Ratio|-| HPBWXY| Half Power Beam Width in XY Plane|-| HPBWYZ| Half Power Beam Width in YZ Plane|-| HPBWZX| Half Power Beam Width in ZX Plane|-| HPBWU| Half Power Beam Width in User Defined Plane|-| SLLXY| Maximum Side Lobe Level in XY Plane|-| SLLYZ| Maximum Side Lobe Level in YZ Plane|-| SLLZX| Maximum Side Lobe Level in ZX Plane|-| SLLU| Maximum Side Lobe Level in User Defined Plane|-| FNBXY| First Null Beam Width in XY Plane|-| FNBYZ| First Null Beam Width in YZ Plane|-| FNBZX| First Null Beam Width in ZX Plane|-| FNBU| First Null Beam Width in User Defined Plane|-| FNLXY| First Null Level in XY Plane|-| FNLYZ| First Null Level in YZ Plane|-| FNLZX| First Null Level in ZX Plane|-| FNLU| First Null Level in User Defined Plane|-| BRCS| Back-Scatter RCS|-| FRCS| Forward-Scatter RCS along User Defined Incident Direction|-| MRCS| Maximum Bi-static RCS|-| RCM| Magnitude of Reflection Coefficient|-| RCI| Phase of Reflection Coefficient (in radians)|-| RCR| Real Part of Reflection Coefficient|-| RCI| Imaginary Part of Reflection Coefficient|-| TCM| Magnitude of Transmission Coefficient|-| TCP| Phase of Transmission Coefficient (in radians)|-| TCR| Real Part of Transmission Coefficient|-| TCI| Imaginary Part of Transmission Coefficient|} All the radiation- and scattering-related standard outputs are available only if you have defined a radiation pattern far field observable or an RCS far field observable, respectively. The standard output [[parameters]] DGU and ARU are the directive gain and axial ratio calculated at the certain user defined direction with spherical observation angles (&theta;, &phi;). These angles are specified in degrees as '''User Defined Azimuth & Elevation''' in the "Output Settings" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''. The standard output [[parameters]] HPBWU, SLLU, FNBU and FNLU are determined at a user defined f-plane cut. This azimuth angle is specified in degrees as '''Non-Principal Phi Plane''' in the "Output Settings" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog''', and its default value is 45°. The standard output [[parameters]] BRCS and MRCS are the total back-scatter RCS and the maximum total RCS of your planar physical structure when it is excited by an incident plane wave source at the specified &theta;_s and &phi;_s source angles. FRCS, on the other hand, is the total forward-scatter RCS measured at the predetermined &theta;_o and &phi;_o observation angles. These angles are specified in degrees as '''User Defined Azimuth & Elevation''' in the "Output Settings" section of the '''Radar Cross Section Dialog'''. The default values of the user defined azimuth and elevation are both zero corresponding to the zenith. ===3D Near & Far Field Animation=== [[Image:FDTD123.png|thumb|250px|[[Animation]] of total E-field plots and far field radiation patterns at the end of an FDTD sweep simulation]] At the end of a sweep simulation (a frequency sweep, angular sweep, parametric sweep, etc.), if you have defined a field sensor or a far field observable (either radiation pattern or RCS) in your project, a number of near field plots or far field plots are generated for all samples of the sweep variable. Each field sensor normally has 14 field maps for the amplitude and phase of all the three components of E- and H-fields plus the magnitude of the total fields. Each far field observable has three spherical plots corresponding to the &theta; and &phi; components of the far field and the total far field. Generating all these 14 near-field intensity plots or 3 far-field spherical plots at each sweep sample would result in a very large number of graphs on the Navigation Tree. Instead, during a sweep simulation, [[EM.Cube]] generates either a total E-field or a total H-field plot at each sweep run for the field sensors. By default, the total E-field plots are saved. You can change this setting from the field sensor's property dialog. Right click on the field sensor's name in the Navigation Tree and select '''Properties...'''from the contextual menu. In the section titled "Field Display - Multiple Plots", select one of the two radio buttons labeled '''E-Field''' or '''H-Field'''. As for far field observables, only the total field plot is generated at each sweep sample. Once the sweep simulation is finished, you can click any of the near-field or far-field plots and visualize it in the main window. You can also animate these field plots. [[Animation]] in [[EM.Cube]] consists of sequential display of the plots in the main window at a preset speed. To animate the field sensor plots, right click on the field sensor's name in the Navigation Tree and select '''[[Animation]]''' from the contextual menu. The field plots start to animate beginning with the first sample, going through all the plots one by one until the last one and repeating the loop all over again. While the [[animation]] proceeds in the main window, a dialog titled '''[[Animation]] Controls Dialog''' pops up at the lower right corner of the screen. You can drag this dialog anywhere in the project workspace from its title bar. The controls dialog shows the title of each graph as it is reviewed. You can set the speed of [[animation]] by typing in a value for '''Rate''', which is indeed the frame duration expressed in multiples of 100 milliseconds. The default frame duration is 300 msec. You can pause the [[animation]] and resume at any time. You can rewind to the first sample or skip to the last sample. You can also step through the samples one at a time using the increment (forward) or decrement (backward) buttons. To stop [[animation]] at any time, use the keyboard's '''Esc Key''' or click the '''Close (X)''' button of the [[animation]] controls dialog. {{twoimg|FDTD120.png|Selecting the field type for plotting at the end of an FDTD sweep simulation.|FDTD122.png|[[EM.Cube]]'s [[Animation]] Controls dialog.}} ==Modeling 3D Periodic Structures Using FDTD== EM.Tempo allows you to simulate doubly periodic structures with periodicities along the X and Y directions. Many interesting structures such as frequency selective surfaces (FSS), electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures and metamaterial structures can be modeled using periodic geometries. In the case of an infinitely extended periodic structure, it is sufficient to analyze only a unit cell. In the FDTD method, this is accomplished by applying periodic boundary conditions (PBC) at the side walls of the computational domain.  Click here to learn more about [[Time Domain Simulation of Periodic Structures]]. ===Setting Up A Periodic Unit Cell=== Using [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]], you can simulate complex 3D periodic structures. A periodic structure is one that repeats itself infinitely along one, two or three directions. In this release of [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]], the periodicity is limited to the X-Y plane. In other words, the periodic structure repeats itself along the X- and Y-axes, but not along the Z-axis. By default, your physical structure is not periodic, and you have to instruct [[EM.CubeTempo]] to turn it into a periodic structure through [[FDTD Module]]'s using its Periodicity Dialog. By designating a structure as periodic, you enforce periodic boundary conditions (PBC) on the side walls of its computational domain. Your structure in the project workspace then turns into a periodic unit cell. The periodic side walls are displayed with dashed blues lines. [[Image:FDTD134.png|250px|thumb|[[FDTD Module]]'s Periodicity Settings dialog]]

In [[===Exciting Periodic Structures as Radiators in EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]], a periodic structure can be excited using various source types. Exciting the unit cell structure using a lumped source, a waveguide source, an ideal source or a distributed source, you can model an infinite periodic antenna array. For most practical antenna types, you will excite your periodic structure with a lumped source or waveguide source. In this case, you can define a port for the lumped source or waveguide source and calculate the S₁₁ parameter or input impedance of the periodic antenna array. You can also compute the near-field and far-field data.Tempo===

In [[EM.CubeTempo]]'s , a periodic FDTD simulator uses periodic boundary conditions (PBC) to model an infinite periodic arraystructure can be excited using various source types. All the periodic replicas of Exciting the unit cell structure are excited. In this case, you can impose using a phase progression across the infinite array to steer its beam. You can do this from the property dialog of the lumped source or , a waveguide source. At the bottom of the '''Lumped Source Dialog''' , or '''Waveguide Source Dialog''', there is a section titled '''Periodic Beam Scan Angles'''. This section is grayed out when the project structure is not periodic. You can enter desired beam scan angle values for both '''Theta''' and '''Phi''' in degrees. At the end of the periodic FDTD simulationdistributed source, the radiation pattern of the unit cell is calculated and stored in a radiation data file with a '''.RAD''' file extension. The 3D radiation patterns that you normally visualize in [[EM.Cube]], in this case, correspond to the single unit cell, not the can model an infinite periodic antenna array. Therefore, they do not show the beam scanning even if you have entered nonzero values for the &theta; and/or &phi; scan angles. For this purposemost practical antenna types, you have to define excite your periodic structure with a finite-sized array factorlumped source or waveguide source. You do In this in the "Impose Array Factor" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''. In the case of a periodic structure, when you can define a new far field item in port for the Navigation Tree, the values of element spacing along the X lumped source or waveguide source and Y directions are automatically set equal to calculate the values S₁₁ parameter or input impedance of the periodic lattice spacing along those directionsantenna array. Set the number of elements along the X and Y directions to any desired values. [[EM.Cube]] will then You can also compute the radiation pattern of the specified finitenear-sized periodic array, field and the beam scanning will appear in the radiation pattern plots, if anyfar-field data.

{{Note|For large &theta; scan angles[[EM.Tempo]]'s periodic FDTD simulator uses periodic boundary conditions (PBC) to model an infinite periodic array. All the periodic replicas of the unit cell structure are excited. In this case, you can impose a phase progression across the infinite array to steer its beam. You can do this from the property dialog of the lumped source or waveguide source. At the bottom of the '''Lumped Source Dialog''' or '''Waveguide Source Dialog''', there is a section titled '''Periodic Beam Scan Angles'''. This section is grayed out when the project structure is not periodic FDTD time matching loop may take far more time steps . You can enter desired beam scan angle values for both '''Theta''' and '''Phi''' in degrees. To visualize the radiation pattern of the beam-steered array, you have to convergedefine a finite-sized array factor. You do this in the "Impose Array Factor" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''.}}

{{twoimgNote|FDTD137.png|Setting periodic For large &theta; scan angles in , the lumped source dialog|FDTD138.png| Setting the array factor in radiation pattern dialogperiodic FDTD time marching loop may take far more time steps to converge.}}

{{twoimg|FDTD135<table><tr><td> [[Image:Period1.png|Radiation pattern of a 8×8 finite-sized periodic dipole array with scan angles with phi and theta equal to 0 degrees.thumb|FDTD136.png350px| Radiation pattern of a 8×8 finite-sized Setting periodic dipole array with scan angles theta equal to 45 degrees, and phi equal to 0 degreesin EM.Tempo's Lumped Source dialog.}}]] </td></tr></tr></table>

Real antenna arrays have finite extents, that is, finite numbers of elements along the X and Y directions. Earlier, you saw how to excite an array of line objects using an array of lumped sources or an array of rectangular waveguides (hollow boxes) using an array of waveguide sources. Setting up array structures of this kind using <table><tr><td> [[EMImage:Period3.Cube]]'s '''Array Tool '''and exciting the individual elements using individual lumped or waveguide sources results in png|thumb|360px|Radiation pattern of an accurate full-wave analysis of your antenna array. This type of simulation takes into account all the inter-element coupling effects as well as the finite edge and corner effects of the 8×8 finite-sized periodic wire dipole array. At the end of the FDTD simulation of your antenna array, you can plot the radiation patterns with 0&deg; phi and other far field characteristics of the array just like any other FDTD structuretheta scan angles. However, depending on the total size ]] </td><td> [[Image:Period4.png|thumb|360px|Radiation pattern of your array, a fullbeam-wave simulation like this may easily lead to a very large computational problem. As the number of elements grow very large, the array starts to look like an infinite periodic structure. In that case, it is possible to consider and analyze a periodic unit cell of the array structure and use an "Array Factor" representing the steered 8×8 finite-extent topology of the sized periodic wire dipole array grid to calculate the radiation pattern of your antenna array. This approach works well for most large arrays. However, it ignores the finite edge with 45&deg; phi and corner effects, which may be important for certain array architecturestheta scan angles. In that case we recommend that you use [[EM.Cube]]'s [[Planar Module]]. Also, note that using an array factor for far field calculations, you cannot assign non-uniform amplitude or phase distributions to the array elements. For this purpose, you have to define an array object.</td></tr></table>

[[Image:FDTD146(1).png|thumb|250px|Defining additional radiation characteristics ===Exciting Periodic Structures Using Plane Waves in [[FDTD Module]]'s Radiation Pattern dialogEM.]]Tempo===

In the previous section, you saw how Using a plane wave source to excite a periodic unit cell using a lumped source or a waveguide sourcestructure in [[EM. You Tempo]], you can specify model frequency selective surfaces, electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures, metamaterials, etc. Exciting periodic structures with plane wave sources requires careful attention. [[EM.Tempo]]'s FDTD simulation engine uses the beam scan angles in the source dialogsdirect spectral domain FDTD or constant transverse wavenumber method for analyzing periodic structures. The finite array factor is defined in In this technique, instead of a plane wave box, one defines a plane wave surface parallel to the radiation pattern dialogX-Y plane. At the end of the periodic FDTD simulationof a periodic structure with plane wave excitation, you can visualize the 3D radiation patterns in the project workspace reflection and plot the 2D Cartesian and polar pattern graphs in EM.Grid. [[EM.Cube]] also calculates the '''Directive Gain (DG)''' as a function transmission coefficients of the &theta; structure are calculated and &phi; anglessaved into ASCII data files. This is defined as:

<mathtable><tr><td>D(\theta,\phi) = \dfrac{4\pi [S(\theta,\phi)[Image:Period11.png|thumb|380px|Geometry of a periodic printed strip FSS in EM.Tempo.]}{P_{rad}} = ] </td>\dfrac{4\pi \big<td> [[Image:Period12.png| \mathbf{E}^{ff}(\theta,\phi) \bigthumb|^2} {\int\limits_0^{2\pi} \int\limits_0^{\pi} \big340px| \mathbf{E}^{ff}(\theta,\phi) \big|^2 \sin\theta \, d\theta \, d\phi}Define a custom periodic plane wave box in EM.Tempo.]] </td></tr></mathtable>

The directivity D₀ is the maximum value of the directive gain. [[EM.Cube]] generates four Cartesian graphs of directive gain in the three principal XY, YZ, ZX planes as well as in the user defined f-plane cut. The radiation patterns of antenna arrays usually have a main beam and several side lobes. Some [[parameters]] of interest in such structures include the '''Half Power Beam Width (HPBW)''', '''Maximum Side Lobe Level (SLL)''' and '''First Null [[Parameters]]''' (i.e. first null level and first null beam width). You can have [[EM.Cube]] calculate all such [[parameters]] if you check the relevant boxes in the "Additional Radiation Characteristics" section of the '''Radiation Pattern Dialog'''. These quantities are saved into ASCII data files of similar names with '''.DAT''' file extensions. You can plot graphs of such data files at the end of a sweep simulation in''' '''EM.Grid. You can also plot the directive gain as a function of the sweep variable at the end of an FDTD sweep simulation. In that case, the directive gain is computed at a fixed pair of &theta; and &phi; angles. These angles are specified in degrees as '''User Defined Azimuth & Elevation''' in the "Output Settings" section of the Radiation Pattern dialog. The default values of the user defined azimuth and elevation are both zero corresponding to the zenith. The results are saved to an ASCII data file called "DGU.DAT". Note that DGU is also one of [[EM.Cube]]'s standard output [[parameters]] and can be used to define custom output or design objectives. ===Exciting A Periodic Surface With A Plane Wave=== Using a plane wave source to excite a periodic structure in [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD ModuleTempo]], you can model frequency selective surfaces, electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures, metamaterials, etc. Exciting periodic structures with plane wave sources requires careful attention. [[EM.CubeTempo]]'s FDTD simulation engine uses the direct spectral domain FDTD or constant transverse wavenumber method for analyzing periodic structures. In this technique, instead of a plane wave box, one defines a plane wave surface parallel to the X-Y plane. If the plane wave source illuminates the periodic unit cell from the top (90&deg; < &theta; < 180&deg;), the excitation surface is placed above the structure's bounding box. If the plane wave source illuminates the periodic unit cell from the bottom up (0&deg; < &theta; < 90&deg;), the excitation surface is placed below the structure's bounding box. In either case, the plane wave must intercept the excitation surface before hitting the unit cell's physical structure. It is highly recommended that you accept [[EM.CubeTempo]]'s default settings for the plane wave box of periodic structures. Nevertheless, you can change the location of the excitation surface if you wish. To do so, you have to open the '''Plane Wave Dialog'''. In the Excitation Box section of the dialog, select the '''Size: Custom''' option. Only the '''Z Coordinate''' of '''Corner 1''' is available for editing. The rest of the coordinates are enforced by the periodic domain. You can enter the incidence angles '''Theta''' and '''Phi''' in degrees. For periodic structures, only the '''TM_z''' and '''TE_z''' polarization options are available.

{| border="0"|-| valign="top"|[[File:FDTD141.png|400px|thumb|Magnitude and Phase of reflection coefficient from = Running a periodic surface plotted vsDispersion Sweep in EM. frequency.]]| valignTempo ==="bottom"|[[File:FDTD142.png|400px|thumb|Magnitude and Phase of transmission coefficient from a periodic surface plotted vs. frequency.]]|-|}

===Periodic FDTD The '''Dispersion Sweep '''option of the Simulation TypesMode drop-down list performs a sweep of constant k_l wavenumber values. This is a specialized sweep for the constant transverse wavenumber method that [[EM.Tempo]] uses to model periodic structures illuminated by a plane wave source. The real advantage of a dispersion sweep is that through a one-dimensional sweep of k_li, you can find the reflection and transmission coefficients for all combinations of frequency f_j and incident angle &theta;_j such that (2&pi;/c) . f_j. sin &theta;_j =k_li. This provides a complete picture of the dispersion behavior of your periodic structure. The sweep data can be graphed as a wavenumber-frequency intensity plot (also known as beta-k diagram) that projects the eigenvalues of the periodic structure. The horizontal axis represents the constant transverse wavenumber k_l (or beta). The vertical axis represents frequency. Sometimes, the free space wave number k₀ =(2&pi;/c).f is used as the vertical axis, hence, the term beta-k diagram. However, [[EM.Cube]] plots frequency vs. wavenumber. Both the horizontal and vertical axes start from 0 and extend to f_max and k_l,max, respectively, where f_max =f₀ + &Delta;f/2, and &Delta;f is the specified bandwidth of the project. For this sweep option you have to specify the number of wavenumber samples. Note that the dispersion sweep is run for a fixed given value of the plane wave incident angle &phi; as specified in [[EM.Tempo]]'s Plane Wave Dialog.

<table><tr><td>[[FileImage:FDTD143KBT R.png|thumb|200px360px|[ R/T Macromodel Settings Dialog.]] Besides analyzing A typical reflection coefficient dispersion diagram of a periodic structure in a single-run simulation, [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] offers a number of sweep simulations for periodic structures. These include '''Frequency Sweep''', '''Angular Sweep''', '''R</T Macromodel Sweep '''and '''Dispersion Sweep'''. These options are available from the '''Simulation Mode''' dropdown list of the [[FDTD Module]]'s '''Run Dialog'''. Of these, frequency sweep and angular sweep are similar to the non-periodic case as discussed earlier. Keep in mind that in this release of [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]], for oblique plane wave incidences, you need to run a frequency sweep to get wideband reflection/transmission coefficient data. Similarly, you need to run an angular sweep to plot R/T coefficients vs. the incident angle.td><td>[[FileImage:FDTD144KBT T.png|thumb|200px360px|[[FDTD Module]]'s Dispersion Sweep Settings dialogA typical transmission coefficient dispersion diagram of a periodic structure.]]</td>The '''R</tr></T Macromodel Sweep''' option of the Simulation Mode dropdown list is only available for periodic structures. It is used to generate a lookup table model for the reflection and transmission coefficients of a periodic surface for both TM and TE polarizations. The results are written into a file named "PW_UserDefinedMacroData.mat". Through the Macromodel Settings dialog you can set the start and end value and number of samples for both the Theta (&theta;) and Phi (&phi;) angles of the incident plane wave. The R/T macormodels can be used by [[EM.Cube]]'s [[Propagation Module]] to calculate the reflection and transmission coefficients of incident rays at the facets of obstructing blocks with "non-standard" periodic surfaces.>

The '''Dispersion Sweep '''option of the Simulation Mode dropdown list performs a sweep of constant k<sub>l<br /sub> wavenumber values. This is a specialized sweep for the constant transverse wavenumber method that [[EM.Cube]]'s [[FDTD Module]] uses to model periodic structures illuminated by a plane wave source. The real advantage of a dispersion sweep is that through a one-dimensional sweep of k_li, you can find the reflection and transmission coefficients for all combinations of frequency f_j and incident angle &theta;_j such that (2&pi;/c) . f_j. sin &theta;_j = k_li. This provides a complete picture of the dispersion behavior of your periodic structure. The sweep data can be graphed as a wavenumber-frequency intensity plot (also known as beta-k diagram) that projects the eigenvalues of the periodic structure. The horizontal axis represents the constant transverse wavenumber k_l (or beta). The vertical axis represents frequency. Sometimes, the free space wave number k₀ = (2&pi;/c).f is used as the vertical axis, hence, the term beta-k diagram. However, [[EM.Cube]] plots frequency vs. wavenumber. Both the horizontal and vertical axes start from 0 and extend to f_max and k_l,max, respectively, where f_max = f₀ + &Delta;f/2, and &Delta;f is the specified bandwidth of the project. For this sweep option you have to specify the number of wavenumber samples. Note that the dispersion sweep is run for a fixed given value of the plane wave incident angle &phi; as specified in [[FDTD Module]]'s Plane Wave Dialog.

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