AWR announced significant improvements to its AXIEM three-dimensional (3D) planar electromagnetic (EM) analysis software to increase the modeling tool's speed, accuracy, and capacity. Enhancements for the second major release of AXIEM include new support for 64-b personal computers (PCs) that make it possible to solve designs with more than 100,000 unknowns considerably faster than when using 32-b operating systems.

Based on the method of moments (MoM), the 3D planar EM software also includes expanded support for multicore microprocessor configurations to further reduce simulation time. In addition, improvements to loss models deliver more robust data at low frequencies. Extensive sources/ports and de-embedding options that provide greater flexibility and accuracy when handling internal edges, extracting ports, and modeling coupled lines. The AXIEM software can be used as a stand-alone tool or as part of the Microwave Office design environments. It is ideal for the EM analysis of planar components such as RF printed circuit boards (PCBs) and modules, low-temperature, co-fired ceramic (LTCC) packages, monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), and RF integrated circuits (RFICs).