FEKO is a high frequency electromagnetic simulation tool which was developed over the last 25 years. Through the acquisition of EM Software & Systems by Altair in 2014 FEKO is now part of the Altair HyperWorks solver portfolio. The presentation will introduce the area of CEM (Computational Electromagnetics) with its various applications. The spectrum of different solvers in FEKO for different applications is discussed (like high frequency ray optical methods for electrically large problems and full wave methods for smaller structures). After a brief review of the FEKO user interface components, the main part of the talk will be devoted to application examples from key industries. These include for instance antenna design, antenna placement, radome modelling, radar cross section analysis, bio-electromagnetics, and various aspects of electromagnetic compatibility (cable harness analysis, coupling, shielding) from industry sectors like automotive, aerospace, marine, communications, energy, or healthcare. Speakers Dr. Ulrich Jakobus, Vice President – Electromagnetic Solutions, Altair Development S.A. (Pty) Ltd

1. FEKO now part of HyperWorks for
Electromagnetic Simulations
Dr. Ulrich Jakobus
Vice President – Electromagnetic Solutions
jakobus@altair.com
2015 European Altair Technology
Conference, Paris, France

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Contents
• Introduction to Computational Electromagnetics (CEM)
• Overview and History of FEKO (now part of Altair!)
• FEKO Components and Technology
• FEKO Application Examples for some Key Industries

3. Introduction to Computational
Electromagnetics (CEM)

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What is Computational Electromagnetics (CEM)?
• Electromagnetic field phenomena are described
by Maxwell’s equations
• CEM is the numerical solution of Maxwell’s equations
• CEM has become an indispensable industrial tool
Computer modeling Numerical analysis
CEM tool
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Applications for Various Frequencies
• FEKO targets high frequency applications (electro-dynamic solvers), from around
100 kHz to 100 GHz
• Low frequency applications (motors, transformers etc.):
JMAG from JSOL Corporation available to Altair customers through APA
• Optical: FEKO includes some ray optical solvers capable of this, but not target market
OpticalHigh frequencyLow
frequency

6. Overview and History of FEKO

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What is FEKO?
• FEKO is a state-of-the-art CEM tool incorporating different solvers
• Name derived from FEldberechnung bei Körpern mit beliebiger Oberfläche

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FEKO History
• 1991: Start of FEKO as part of my PhD thesis
• 1998: Joining forces with EM Software & Systems
(EMSS) in South Africa
• 2002: Opening offices in USA and Europe and
appointment of various resellers for other
regions (Korea, Japan, India, China, …)
to support the FEKO growth in these regions
• 2003: First interface to HyperMesh
• 2008: Joining the Altair Partner Alliance
as one of the 7 founding members
• 2011: Opening office in China
• 2014: Acquisition of EMSS (then
around 80 employees) by Altair

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Applications of FEKO
Specializing in the analysis of:
• Antennas and antenna arrays
• Antenna placement on platforms
• Electromagnetic compatibility
• Radar cross section analysis
• Bio-electromagnetics
• Microwave devices

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Industry Sectors

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Selection of Commercial Customers

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What Customers say about FEKO
“The code is easy to use and is right in the sweet spot of the aircraft antennas that we build at
Northrop Grumman. The theoretical results match the flight data so well that we realised that
scale models were no longer as accurate as the predicted data.”
- Northrop Grumman, USA
“For several years now, FEKO is our first choice antenna design tool.”
- Rohde & Schwarz R&D Antennas, Germany
“Our antenna team has been using FEKO since 2003 for antenna design, analysis, performance
assessment and large structure scattering effects. We also found FEKO technical support to be
superior both in response time and technical competence of its team.”
- Lockheed Martin, USA
“In my opinion, FEKO has evolved to be the most comprehensive generic electromagnetic (EM)
solver commercially available.”
- Department of National Defence, Canada

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FEKO part of Altair since 2014
• While FEKO is new to Altair, it is mature technology, for almost 25 years
in the market with a broad customer base for various types of
electromagnetic applications!
• All FEKO developers and specialists are now part of Altair!
• FEKO under HyperWorks Units (HWU) readily available for download in
Altair Connect and Client Center:

14. FEKO Components and
Technology

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Diverse Spectrum of Electromagnetic Problems
FDTD
Complexity of Materials
UTD
PO/RL-GO
MOM
MLFMM
FEM
ElectricalSize
Full-wave
Methods
(physically
rigorous solution)
Asymptotic
Methods
(high-frequency
approximation)

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Computational Kernel of FEKO
• Many special extensions (e.g. coatings, windscreen modelling, fast
ground simulations, low frequency stabilisation, thin dielectric sheets,
fast adaptive frequency interpolation, cable harness modelling,
optimizer, characteristic mode analysis, …)
• Parallelized (clusters and multicore, i.e. distributed and shared memory)
and GPU acceleration

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Pre-processor CADFEKO
• Sophisticated CAD
creation and
manipulation with Lua
scripting
• CAD and mesh
import/export (also
interface to
HyperMesh)
• Meshing for CEM
• EM solution setup:
– Material parameters
– Frequency
– Loads and excitations
– Solver specifications
• Optimization setup
• Output calculation
requests

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Post-processor POSTFEKO
• Comprehensive post-
processing and
solution visualization
with Lua scripting
• Output quantities:
– Near-fields
– Radiation patterns
– Input impedances
– Coupling
parameters (S)
– Currents/charges
• Export:
– Data
– Graphs
– Animations
– Automatic report
generation

19. FEKO Application Examples
for some Key Industries

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Antenna Analysis
• Wire antennas (Dipole, Helix, Yagi)
• Horn antennas
• Planar microstrip
• Large arrays
• Conformal antennas
• Broadband
• Reflector antennas

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L-Band Antenna Analysis on Dash 8 Q300
L-band 3D antenna pattern
FEKO simulation results Antenna measurement

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Antenna Placement on a Ship
• Full wave analysis of antenna on ship with MLFMM at 370 MHz
• Unknowns: 3.25 million (complex dense matrix)
• Memory requirement:
44 GByte for MLFMM versus 131 TByte of MoM

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FM/TV Windscreen Antenna (WA) in Audi AU484
• Special windscreen antenna
solver in FEKO (curved thin
multilayer dielectric)
• Simulation compared with
measurements

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Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) System
A Novel Link Budget Approach for the Analysis of
Automotive Remote Keyless Entry Systems
R. El-Makhour et al., VTC 2013
Typical keyless entry system scenario
Validation of the fob: comparison of the simulated and
measured transmitter gain at 433.92 MHz
Key fob and corresponding FEKO model
Measured chamber test setup

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Radome Modeling
Multilayer radomes,
also with anisotropic
materials

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Modelling RFID Tag Reader Environment
RFID tag reader antenna on forklift in warehouse environment

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Automotive Cable Coupling Analysis
FEKO includes comprehensive cable harness
modeling tools.
Example: Coupling of external electro-
magnetic fields into cable harnesses

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Analysis of ECU-PCB Emissions at a Vehicle Level
Near fields of PCB imported into FEKO as an equivalent source for a high
level simulation, which includes an antenna and a cable harness in a car
Cable Harness
Windscreen
Antenna

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Anechoic Chamber Modeling
Modeling the measurement setup in an anechoic chamber and
verification of the quiet zone (QZ)
Conductive
Outer Wall
Absorber
Antenna
10’
10’
12.5’

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9GHz(HH,VVpol.)
ISAR (inverse synthetic
aperture radar) images
created with Lua scripts
NASA benchmark target
Radar Cross Section (RCS) Analysis

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Wind Turbine 3D Shadow Zone at 1 GHz
In collaboration with
Determination of 3D shadow zones behind wind turbines

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ICNIRP Radiation Hazard Zones
ICNIRP radiation hazard zones for TETRA vehicle mounted radio
• Yellow - Public safety zone
• Red - Occupational safety zone

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Design of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Systems
The 7T birdcage head coil with head phantom showing B1+ field distribution, simulated with
FEKO’s hybrid MoM/FEM.
0 0.5 uT

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Complex PCB geometries (ODB++ or Gerber formats) can
be imported into FEKO for board level analysis, including:
• Noise interference with antenna feeds and sensitive components
• Coupling between traces and layers
• Component placing and shielding analysis
PCB Level EMI – Noise Coupling Analysis
Modal current, mode #3, 1.7 GHz - original geometry Modal current, mode #3, 1.7 GHz – modified geometry

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Shielding Effectiveness for a PC tower
Study of the field leakage into the PC tower
Using FDTD with GPU acceleration as solver
1 GHz 6.5 GHz 12 GHz

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Thank you!
jakobus@altair.com
www.altairhyperworks.com/feko