Verifying Electromagnetic Simulation Results with Measurements 2012-01-1160

Whenever a new simulation tool or method is introduced into a product development process, immediately the tool is required to prove its worth before it can be trusted. Typically, this requires a reproduction of results that were originally obtained using physical measurement equipment. Proving out a simulation tool or method has challenges. The challenges include the need to engineer a test representative of the problems that the tool will need to solve but be simple enough for the results to be easily understood. Electromagnetic modeling and simulation tools are able to solve many types of problems, such as determining electromagnetic cross coupling from one conductor to another, the radiation of an electromagnetic field by a conductor, and analyzing impedance of a printed circuit board power distribution network. There are problems that arise in both measurement and modeling techniques but the two used together can overcome the weaknesses of either technique.