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Does anyone have any book recommendations on EM and RF which integrates a simulator?

I find EM/RF to be interesting fields which I want to get some overview of but given that it's very applied in nature I'm finding doing hand calculations on paper to be incredibly boring and uninteresting.

I think I would be more motivated if there was a book which focused on integrating the use of simulation software since all interesting problems are essentially intractable by hand.

Any recommendations on learning material with a very applied/simulation based flavor?

FourierFlux
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  • https://electronics.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask – brhans May 05 '20 at 20:08
  • What's inconsistent with the rules? It's asking for a reference with a specific set of qualities - perfectly consistent. – FourierFlux May 05 '20 at 20:16
  • Questions seeking recommendations for specific products are off-topic and this case can also considered as "based on opinion" – Huisman May 05 '20 at 20:25
  • You're asking for an opinion-based list of external references. That's 3 off-topic reasons in one. – brhans May 05 '20 at 20:26
  • Uh, have you actually looked at the other posts on this site? https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/19997/good-resources-books-for-electromagnetics-and-other-advanced-concepts?rq=1 – FourierFlux May 05 '20 at 20:30
  • https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/8645/free-rf-simulation-software?rq=1 – FourierFlux May 05 '20 at 20:30
  • https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/24456/whats-a-reference-text-on-analog-design?rq=1 – FourierFlux May 05 '20 at 20:30
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    There are many unconvicted muderers. Does that mean that murdering someone should be somehow tolerated? – Andy aka May 05 '20 at 21:29
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    Interesting that your counterexamples are from all the way back in 2011 and 2012 ... but thanks for pointing them out, I'll add some close-votes there too. – brhans May 05 '20 at 22:01

3 Answers3

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Lots of bits of learning will occur with just a few equations on back of an envelope.

Such as: how to bias a transistor to have the emitter appear as NEGATIVE RESISTANCE at some frequency (range of frequencies), so you can hang a resonator on that emitter and have a quality oscillator.

You should understand that, not from the simulator direction, but as a gut feeling about the causal phenomena.

Now ---- why is RF usually rather narrowband? because historically we used inductors to resonate with the parasitic capacitances (and intentional lumped caps), thus making the parasitics of less of an energy-stealing path.

Speaking of energy stealing, ESD structures are bad about that. What to do with them? If half your RF energy flows into the ESD paths and is dissipated (which is the purpose of ESD structures, right?), then your system just got a 3dB hit in SNR. What to do?

Regarding EMI ---- the magnetic coupling from a wire to a rectangular loop (the easy toplogy) is

Vinduce = [ MUo * MUr * LoopArea/(2 * PI * Distance)] * dI/dT

If you have a PCB 4" by 4" in size, multiple layers of signal/vdd/gnd, located 40mm from a choppered Pulse Width Modulated 5,000 volt 2,000 amp, with the current switching in 1 microsecond, how clean is the Ground?

Probably worth simulating that one, as well as the back_of_envelope.

Truth is, the Ground Upsets are bigger than logic noise margins, and nothing is predictable, unless you shield.

regarding equipment: old spectrum analyzers and network analyzers will be less than one months pay, or visit your local HAM meetings and ask to bring your prototype over to their HAM SHACK, for 2 hours.

analogsystemsrf
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  • "Now ---- why is RF usually rather narrowband?" Guess it depends on what point in the RF chain you're talking about. We routinely build RF systems where the front end may have a 5:1, 10:1, or even a 20:1 (1 GHz - 20 GHz) frequency bandwidth. Nothing narrow band about that. Even after channelizing and filtering, we're still dealing with instantaneous bandwidths of 200 MHz - 500 MHz. – SteveSh May 05 '20 at 21:20
  • Consider the challenge as GBW, SNR or CNR that demands critical skills, tools and experience along with dBc phase noise and Return Loss over a wide band. Then consider the gain in your training required to operate at 5G ranges. – Tony Stewart EE75 May 05 '20 at 22:12
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RF is a skill with many levels of training and experience. After all the fundamentals of basic B Sc/ MSc EE training. It takes a few years of R&D application experience with the best simulation and test instruments all of which are above personal budgets unless you live in luxury.

Your expectations must be defined by prerequisites of theory and experience. The costs of such simulators will be equal or more than a year's salary and so will each test equipment. The training is not free either but these resources are available from Ansys, Keysight etc ...https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=EM+and+RF+which+integrates+a+simulator%3F

Tony Stewart EE75
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RF wasn't intractable by hand when I went to school. Amplifiers, matching networks and antennas were all done by hand. Smithcharts and algebra are pretty much all you need for 90% of it.

After that put your proposed circuit into LTspice or other favorite simulator.

After you have something built, measure it with a network analyzer to see if the S parameters match your hand and sim calcs.

RF Circuit Design by Chris Bowick is a great book to learn from.

enter image description here

Aaron
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  • I have seen some sophisticated microstrip designs which were certainly not done by hand. Same goes for radiation patterns, etc. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's pointless to know how to do, I just want something with a simulation component. – FourierFlux May 05 '20 at 21:03
  • I will check out that book though, thanks! – FourierFlux May 05 '20 at 21:11
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    search around, there are sim/calc tools for most things out there. Agilent made a free tool that did micro strips and coplanar wave guides. – Aaron May 05 '20 at 22:59
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    Appcad: http://www.hp.woodshot.com/ Does all sorts of RF calculations. – Aaron May 05 '20 at 23:07