For software vendors, acquisitions usually offer a chance to enter new market areas and an immediate way to provide new services and products for customers. Through its acquisition of Flomerics’ (www.flomerics.com) electromagnetic (EM) simulation software business, for example, Computer Simulation Technology or CST (www.cst.com) gains considerable EM simulation capability while adding established product lines. This acquisition, which took effect on the first of January, also should help CST to better serve the high-frequency EM market.

Through this acquisition, CST will gain complementary EM technology for its customers. Of particular interest to the company is the transmission-linematrix (TLM) method as an alternative time-domain approach. Essentially, the TLM solver will be integrated into CST Studio Suite. As a result, Flomerics' Microstripes users will be able to access the TLM module through CST Design Environment. CST hopes that Flomerics’ strong position in the EMC market and related specialized product features will offer new possibilities for its users—many of whom also operate in this market.

On an application level, the Flomerics EM tools offer numerous interesting features that typically target the EMC market. These features include the simulation of shielding effects—particularly with thin metal sheets. These sheets also can be perforated with holes or slots. In addition, flexible cable and wire models are available. CST users should enjoy having access to these time-saving features. The company also sees exciting benefits in coupling to Flomerics Flo- Therm. Of course, CST already boasts Perfect Boundary Approximation (PBA) conformal meshing method for accurate time-domain simulations. In addition, CST users have access to a wide variety of solvers including the firm’s proprietary multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM) solver.

Going forward, Flomerics and CST will be working together to ensure that Flomerics EM staff will be offered continuous employment by CST GmbH. Such staff retention should ensure optimal ongoing support and the best future migration path for customers. All MicroStripes and FLO/EMC customers will receive full technical support from CST GmbH. In addition, CST will provide further updates for MicroStripes customers.