HFSS15: Mesh Refinement on Ports

The port solver computes mode patterns and propagation constants based on solutions of a finite element system of equations. The finite element mesh associated with each port is a 2D mesh of triangles corresponding to the faces of the tetrahedra that lie on the planar port surface. The port solver performs an iterative refinement of the triangular mesh.

User settings for the iterative refinement can be found under Port Options in the Advanced tab of the Solution Setup window. Those settings are reflected in the flow chart below that describe the refinement procedure where #Triangles refer to the number of triangles of the current mesh in the refinement process. The numerical implementation of DZo(k) in the flow chart is actually based on relative difference when |Zo(k)| > 1.0. Moreover, for terminal projects the comparison is done for each entry of the terminal characteristic impedance matrix rather than the modal impedances such that the worst entry in the impedance matrix satisfies the user specified value.

For a good technical discussion of the port solution procedure, refer to the following:

Jin-Fa Lee, Din-Kow Sun, and Zoltan J. Cendes, "Full-Wave Analysis of Dielectric Waveguides Using Tangential Vector Finite Elements," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 39, No 8, August 1991.