NEXT & FEXT Prediction using Hybrid 2D-3D Solver for Fast Electromagnetic Analysis

The excessive time and memory requirement for a 3D full-wave solver is a challenge in simulation for signal integrity. This paper presents a hybrid 2D-3D electromagnetic full-wave simulator based on automated segmentation of layout. The novelty of this work is primarily in the classification of segments of layout as 2D or 3D segments using corner points and analysis of the electric field profile. An appropriate error metric is defined and is used in the process of this classification. Finally, cascading studies are performed using different port-structures for concatenating segments to get the overall response. Numerical results for a differential pair is presented with near-end crosstalk (NEXT) and far-end crosstalk (FEXT) to illustrate the time versus accuracy merits.