Numerical Simulation of Multiscale Models for Radio Frequency Circuits in the Time Domain

Broadband data communication via high frequent (RF) carrier signals has become a prerequisite for successful introduction of new applications and services in the hightech domain, like cellular phones, broadband internet services, GPS, and radar sensors for automotive collision control. It is driven by the progress in microelectronics, i. e. by scaling down from micrometer dimensions into the nanometer range. Due to decreasing feature size and increasing operating frequency very powerful electronic systems can be realized on integrated circuits, which can be produced for mass applications at very moderate cost. However, technological progress also opens clearly a design gap, and in particular a simulation gap: • Systems get much more complex, with stronger interaction between digital and analog parts. • Parasitic effects become predominant, and neither mutual interactions nor the spatial extension of circuit elements can be further neglected. • The signal-to-noise ratio decreases and statistical fluctuations in the fabrication lines increase, thus enhancing the risk of circuit failures and yield reduction.