The momentum for realizing the 5G network has reached a fever pitch, with many of the major wireless providers touting the proposed launch of the network. However, one question remains: “What still needs to be done to make this a reality?” System and device design engineers working on the frontlines of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications can benefit from electromagnetic (EM) simulations with a cost-effective procedure. Simulation offers a virtual test environment that ultimately reduces the duration of the design cycle.
Conventional EM numerical analyses, such as finite-element method (FEM) and method of moments (MoM), are typically performed in the frequency domain for S-parameter calculations. S-parameters provide information like impedance mismatch, insertion loss, and phase variation as a function of frequency. This type of analysis is compatible with typical network-analyzer measurements conducted in the laboratory.