Solver Features

OS/Hardware Features

Applications

Modelling Features

Optimizer Features

What is FEKO?

FEKO is a comprehensive electromagnetic (EM) analysis software suite, building on state of the art computational EM (CEM) techniques to provide users with software that can solve a wide range of electromagnetic problems.

Solver Features

The FEKO solver is based on the Method of Moments (MoM) and was the first commercial code to utilise the MLFMM technique for the solution of electrically big problems when it was released with Suite 4.2 in June 2004.

The MoM has also been hybridised with the following solution techniques:

• Finite Element Method (FEM)
  
• Physical Optics (PO)
• Geometric Optics (GO)
  
• Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD)

The hybridisation implies that these solution techniques can be applied to different parts of the same model to optimise the solution time and results.

Advanced features that enable complex models to be solved efficiently include:

• Advanced adaptive frequency interpolation scheme for the efficient calculation of broadband responses.
  
• Efficient out-of-core solver (also available in parallel) for large scale problems.
  
• Multilayer planar Green's function for modelling of real earth or dielectric substrates.
  
• Various options to model dielectric bodies (volume / surface meshes, approximations for earth, thin sheets, coated wires).

OS / Hardware Features

Solver Platforms and OS

GUI Platforms and OS

• Windows and Linux (32-bit and 64-bit)

Parallel Processing

• 32-bit systems can only address 2 GBytes of RAM per process.
• 64-bit systems can address more than 2 GBytes of RAM per process and therefore have an advantage over 32-bit systems.
• Scalable to multiple processor servers (e.g. SGI) or clusters with various interconnect technologies (e.g. Ethernet, Myrinet, Infiniband).

Network Features

• Remote execution of solvers from GUI versions.
  

Licencing

• Three licensing and price categories: Silver, Gold and Platinum dependent on platform.
  
• Free evaluation licence.
• Educational licence options are available for academic institutions or the creators of teaching material.
• Classroom licences (256 MByte limitation) are available to academic institutions who purchase or rent full licences.
  
• FEKO LITE (Limited, licenced, but FREE version of FEKO).
• Floating licences are supported via single or redundant licence server configurations.
• Dongle licensing is supported for multiple installations of a single licence. Note that dongle licensing is only supported for Windows and Linux on IA32, AMD64, EM64T and IA64 platforms.

Applications

Multiple solution techniques make FEKO applicable to a wide range of problems for a large array of industries. Typical applications include:

• Antennas. Analysis of horns, microstrip patches, wire antennas, reflector antennas, conformal antennas, broadband antennas, arrays.
• Antenna placement. Analysis of antenna radiation patterns, radiation hazard zones, etc. with an antenna placed on a large structure, e.g. ship, aircraft, armored car.
• EMC. Analysis of diverse EMC problems incl. shielding effectiveness of an enclosure, cable coupling analysis in complex environments, e.g. wiring in a car, radiation hazard analysis.
• Bio-electromagnetics. Analysis of homogeneous or non-homogeneous bodies, SAR extraction.
• RF components. Analysis of waveguide structures, e.g. filter, slotted antennas, directional couplers.
• 3D EM circuits. Analysis of microstrip filters, couplers, inducturs, etc.
• Radomes. Analysis of multiple dielectric layers in a large structure.
• Scattering problems. RCS analysis of large and small structures.

Modelling Features

GUI Features

• Large array of primitives for model creation (e.g. helix, cone, wire, paraboloid, hyperboloid, bezier curves)
• Importation of externally computed lists of points for creation of lines, polygons, etc.
  
• Tree based access to simulation elements (settings, materials, grids, results, etc.)
• Selection, zooming, 3-D mouse-only based handling, etc.
• Full solver control via GUI.
  

Excitations

Ports:

• Wire.
• Edge.
  
• Stripline.
  
• Waveguide.

• Voltage.
  
• Plane wave.
  
• Magnetic point source.
  
• Electric point source.
  
• Point source with specified radiation pattern.
  
• FEM region source.
• Impressed line currents.
• Near-field aperture.
• Spherical modes.

CAD Import Features

• Parasolid import/export on standard FEKO versions.
• IGES, STEP, VDA-FS, ProEngineer, Unigraphics, CATIA, ACIS as additional options.

Mesh Import Features

• FEKO mesh import on standard FEKO versions.
  
• FEMAP neutral, NASTRAN, meshed AUTOCAD DXF, STL mesh, PATRAN mesh, Ansys CDB file mesh, Concept mesh, ABAQUS mesh, ASCII data format mesh as additional options.
  

Meshing Features

• Variable mesh densities in a single model to accurately and efficiently model small features.
• Mesh density specifiable on faces and edges.
• Mesh fixing tools.
  

Post Processing Features

• 2-D and 3-D views
• 2-D XY plots, polar plots, Smith chart
• Radiation pattern (3-D in model, 2-D XY/polar)
• Radiation and far-field data, Radar Cross-Section (RCS), etc.
• SAR (IEEE standard compliant whole body average, 10g cube localized, 1g cube localized)
• Full multi-port S-Parameter extraction.
• Several visualization options for surfaces, incl. isosurfaces, 2D field cuts.
  
• Multiple results displayable in same viewport for comparison.
  
• 64-bit enabled for large model viewing.
  
• Export views to image formats.
  

Optimiser Features

Techniques

• Grid search (optimum for specified test points)
• Linear search (Nelder-Mead)
• Genetic Algorithms
• Particle Swarm
  

Goal Functions

• GUI interface for construction of goal functions (fitness functions).
• Weighted combination of multiple goal functions.
• Live feedback on optimisation process and goal function status.