HFSS15: The HFSS Solution Process

To calculate the S-matrix associated with a structure with ports, HFSS does the following:

• Divides the structure into a finite element mesh.

• Computes the modes on each port of the structure that are supported by a transmission line having the same cross-section as the port.

• Computes the full electromagnetic field pattern inside the structure, assuming that one mode is excited at a time.

• Computes the generalized S-matrix from the amount of reflection and transmission that occurs.

The resulting S-matrix allows the magnitude of transmitted and reflected signals to be computed directly from a given set of input signals, reducing the full 3D electromagnetic behavior of a structure to a set of high frequency circuit parameters.