Global Modeling of Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Integrated Circuits

In this paper, some global modeling techniques are discussed. A simulator based on a global electromagnetic model, suitable for the analysis of high-frequency integrated and hybrid circuits, is presented. The model relies on a self-consistent solution of Maxwell’s equations and of the semiconductor transport equations, and exploits a generalized FDTD scheme. The tool is therefore capable of accounting, on a distributed basis, for actual interactions between wave propagation and charge transport, thus providing a physically-based picture of traveling-wave semiconductor devices. The scheme’s implementation is such that more conventional schemes (e.g., lumped- element FDTD) can be regarded as a subset of the global model itself, allowing for intermixing models featuring different levels of physical accuracy and computational efficiency. A short review of state-of-the-art research work is given. Strategies aimed at the reduction of computational costs are briefly discussed, as well. A set of simulation examples is eventually shown, in order to highlight the main characteristics of the modeling approach.