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I recently came across a great project here to build a 4.3 GHz radar ground detection unit for an aircraft. Interestingly, it uses a very complex looking microstrip matching layout:

enter image description here

What is a common software to use for the design and/or analysis of these types of microstrip layouts that become very relevant at higher frequencies? I'm trying to locate not just the software that allows for simple things like square pads, but for odd shapes like these.

pipe
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Dewey
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    Possible duplicate of RF microstrip track parameters calculation – Bence Kaulics Jun 28 '16 at 08:29
  • QUCS ( http://qucs.sourceforge.net/ ) has some basic microwave functions. For proper EM simulations of almost any structure professionals use CST ( https://www.cst.com/products/cstems ) or Keysight Momentum ( http://www.keysight.com/en/pc-1887116/momentum-3d-planar-em-simulator?cc=NL&lc=dut ) Note that only QUCS is an affordable tool ! – Bimpelrekkie Jun 28 '16 at 08:55
  • Not a duplicate, because they are asking specifically about the design of microstrip lines. – Voltage Spike Jun 28 '16 at 15:24
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    Not a duplicate, because from the image it is clear that the question is about simulating a complete RF PCB (or the individual "components" of it), contrary to simulating a cross section with infinite length. – cx05 Jun 28 '16 at 17:26

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You can take a look at the packages from National Instruments (former AWR), Keysight (former Agilent), CST and many more.

Contrary to simple microstrip calculation tools (may they be based on empirical formulas or 2d field solvers) you need at least a 2.5D EM field solver to model the shapes you have shown in your example.

Unfortunately, this simulation software is not trivial to build, does not sell in high numbers and therefore the packages are very costly. There are some free frameworks that claim to do 3D field solving, but they lack the GUI and import/export capabilities of the commercial packages and therefore require a lot of extra work, even for very simple tasks. I cannot comment on the accuracy, but you should at least cross-check some known geometries.

Also, expect that for using any of these packages effectively, you will need several weeks (if not months) of learning as well as some solid knowledge in microwave design.

The software cannot do the thinking for you and since simulation times tend to be too long for trial and error for complex geometries, you will need some basic understanding of how to accomplish the tasks, with the software merely doing number crunching and fine tuning for you.

cx05
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