Comparison of CST MW studio and Remcom XFDTD

Hi, Could you compare CST MW studio with XFDTD, according to efficiency, accuracy, number of meshes, compactible to cluster?

Thank you very much.

hi, from my iterations in cst and xfdtd ,they have the same accuracy but
1-cst has more saving time than xfdtd
2- cst easy to make simulation than xfdtd
3- cst has adaptive meshing automatically but xfdtd not
4- cst has easy far field rather than xfdtd
5- cst automatically adjust the time step to avoid instability
at all,i repffered xfdtd and cst for antenna simulation
regards

abdoeng
for what versions you give this comparison ?

PS:
is cst based on MOM or FDTD ?!

CST is based on FEM

My observation is limited to XFDTD 6

1) XFDTD is faster than CST
2) Its difficult to design in XFDTD
3) FDTD based tools does not employ adaptive meshing (there might be some technical issue)
4) stability factor is adjusted in newer version 6.2 (i heard)

5)

Hi !

I love following this discussion - since I once was at the same point of comparing CST and XFDTD and trading off one feature against the other.

Fortunately at that time a colleague which I met at a conference pointed me on SEMCAD X (www.semcad.com) which I gave a look and - without hesitating - decided for.

Working with a big mobile manufacturer now, we simulate entire CAD phones with thousands of parts with it, fast and getting the results I can reproduce with measurements. I could never have done this with CST or XFDTD.

They look like Cornflakes add-ons compared to SEMCAD X !

Regards

CST Microwave Studio: Finite Integral (FI) - Time and Frequency Domain

XFDTD: FDTD(finite difference time domain)

i already have cst2006b,xfdtd 6.3.8.4
i hope xfdtd be more friendly that t is powerfully package,hope facility in farfield plotting,automatic meshing,so on
regards

FDTD is working with" finite difference time domain" and CST working with "finite integration method(FIM)" .
CST and XFDTD are commersial simulators. CST is more covenient to design than XFDTD.
But remember if you want to use numerical method to analyse FDTD is easier to underestand than FIM

haha i got it

Dr Nikken

You must be working for Motor** to be using SEMCAD. I say so cuz its quite the only customer SEMCAD has all over the world.

But on the other way round, check on how many customers CST has - even better, look at how many questions on EDABOARD regard to CST, how many relate to SEMCAD.

SEMCAD's interface looks pre-historical compared to any other professional EM tool on the market. I dont know what kind of application you couldnt get done with CST that its only possible with SEMCAD. Maybe you lack experience with CST, I bet.

peace
mpero

?I say so cuz its quite the only customer SEMCAD has all over the world.?
Obviously what you said is not right.

DrNiiken

"They look like Cornflakes add-ons compared to SEMCAD X ! "

How can reduce other good tools on the market to "cornflakes add-ons"? Seems like a very wild condemnation of other tools without any facts. Sounds like sales talk to me.

But is SEMCAD really THAT good? Should we all buy this "without hesitating" rather than a recognised, almost standard time domain tool?

Please explain why Semcad is much better so that we can return to a serious discussion on this......

Dear mpero,

I dont think that they have only one customer. Please check their webpage and testimonials. I dont know whay you wrote so angry (this is what I felt from your words)

I used both CST and SEMCAD X. I did not get a feeling that SEMCAD X's interface is pre-historic :) It is pretty good in fact. Both has advantages and disadvantages. Have you seen the speed SEMCAD X is achieving with hardware acceleration. On the other hand CST has much more solver. If you compare only FDTD solver and data handling, my vote is for SEMCAD X. Please check their webpage and application examples there.

Best wishes,

Here is another choice can be tried. GEMS Simulator from 2COMU. The interface looks much more friendly than XFDTD. And they provide the DEMO version in their website http://www.2comu.com/download. Because it is a new commercial software involved in the EM market. The standard version only cost S15,000 at discount price.

Hi everybody!

Hehe, nice discussion. I'm amazed that engineers can show so much emotions
"mpero" and "aw", please don't take my "cornflakes" expressions too direct and personal.
I totally agree that CST and XFDTD are great tools, no doubt.

However, at that moment when I was pointed to SEMCAD X, I was glad that I gave it a look and saw what is actually possible today using a CEM platform - related to my kind of work of course.
But this is my impression (and the one of colleagues). It must not match with yours. There are even people out there loving MS Win Vista. And that's quite widespread, too

Anyhow, what are we discussing here. I always suggest the best is to have a look at things yourself and make your own opinion. Ask SEMCAD to send you a demo and check it - maybe you think it's total crap, maybe you love it.

Related to this discussion, maybe check this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave

Finally I'm not working for Motor** (might be nice to be with them) but for an Asian one. Moreover, Motor** seems to be by far not their only customer, cute idea though

Relax and Regards

I just wanna comment: Before you start using any EM software you should know CEM to some degree. Reading through various posts in this forum regarding CEM, there seem to be a lot of people who has no knowledge of CEM. It is essential to know this so that you know how the software works, how to mesh and set other settings.

Dear all,
recently I have been working on simulations of Through the Wall radar scenarios in CST (simulations of room with objects like pieces of furniture and human body phantoms inside, plus some radar structures outside the wall; these simulations must be performed at UWB frequencies like 1-5GHz).

My license for CST is going to expire soon and we were thinking if it is worth renewing it or switching to xFDTD.

Any good piece of advice is more than welcomed.
Thanks

Daer all
thera are difference between them xfdtd depend on numerical technique differ from the tchnique used for cst .cst depend on integral equation but xfdtd depend on fdtd method so thera are many problem solved better in fdtd and there are others solved in integral equation and if u want to work with xfdt and get accurate result u must know about fdtd method but in cst u can work without knoweing about integral equation and the speed of them depend on number of cell u add in two programm
Best Regard
eng ahmed

I don't understand. If you buy CST, don't you have it forever?