XFdtd Release 7.10.2 – Remcom Support

December 20, 2022: The content below helps navigate the new features in this release. A full list of updates is available in the Reference Manual's Appendix.

XF 7.10.2 upgrades FLEXlm licensing libraries to version v11.16.2-TRL from v11.14.1-TRL. Customers using a floating license must update their floating license server. Customers using a green 9-key USB dongle must upgrade their USB driver.

Video Walk-Through

The following video introduces several user-interface (UI) features.

Minor usability updates:

[01:01] Parameter list filtering.
[02:00] Graph tick spacing and resetting plot themes.

Minor schematic editor updates:

[03:55] Coplanar waveguide component.
[05:28] Hotkey updates.

Schematic editor analysis workbench with tuning sliders:

[07:14] Fixed-band match use case.
[11:54] Circuit element optimization (CEO) use case.
[15:16] Tunable match use case.

[19:26] Huygens surface sensor.

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Schematic Editor Updates

This release adds several new capabilities to the schematic editor. Most notably, the analysis workbench provides sliders for tuning schematic components. This helps engineers acheive a matching network that meets design requirements, as well as understand their network's sensitivity to individual components. Overview videos demonstrate the capabilities for antennas with fixed-band and tunable matches.

The following improvements are also included:

A coplanar waveguide component type in the tool pallette supports both grounded and ungrounded transmission lines.
Additional hotkeys improve ease of use and increase efficiency.
Expanded results with impedance availability.

Huygen's Surface Sensor

A Huygen's surface sensor in the project tree records steady-state electric and magnetic fields near the boundary of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation space. These fields are available for export to Wireless InSite, a ray-tracing simulator, where they represent an antenna's radiation characteristics. The sensor allows users to specify a reference point at which rays either originate or terminate, and a geometric locator for placing the surface within the ray-tracing environment.

IEC/IEEE Standards

XF 7.10.2 is compliant with and passes all tests outlined in the international standards determined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

IEC/IEEE 62704-1 specific absorption rate (SAR).
IEC/IEEE 63195-2 incident power density.

Additional Capabilities

This version introduces over 19 usability, performance, scripting, and other updates.

Here is a select list of modifications:

Added throughput unit.
Added a search filter to the parameters window.
Added a reset line theme button to graphs that returns visible data traces to default themes.
Added user-defined XY graph tick spacing.
Added CAD import and export options to the UI.
Added bend modeling ability to attach positions to other parts.
Changed circuit element optimizer (CEO) goals to invalid if zero samples are specified.
Improved frequency band table to remember previous size.
Resolved crashing caused by closing a project that ran a script containing ResultUtils.exportResultDataSet
Resolved issue with XF instances that are slow or blocked by another instance due to the clipboard.
Improved the parameter window with consistent ordering behavior for new projects and when importing or exporting sets of values.
Improved multi-line object notes in the object library.
Corrected helix geometry to update when handeness changes.
Fixed a bug in the flat view of surface current sensor results that did not display conductor surfaces with zero thickness and a width of less than two grid cells in the mesh.
Added missing documentation of scripted NewCircuitSuperpositionSimulationData functions.
Resolved issue with the Wireless InSite MIMO export logic when not all ports were used in S-parameter matrix.
Fixed occassional crashing caused by clicking the undo button while a near-field sensor editor is open.
Resolved crashing in CEO UI when setting efficiency goal's response matrix.