Hi, Vittal, Chris: This is great stuff. Thanks very much ! Now I need to figure out if I can put it in use for CST. I suppose it should work as I can generate a HFSS model and then import it into CST. Just I will lose parameterization. Anyone has tried this ? This might be a better solution as nothing beats free tool. :) Cheers Perry ======================================= Perry Qu IPD Design & Qualification, Alcatel-Lucent Canada Inc. 600 March Road, Ottawa ON, K2K 2E6, Canada DID: 613-7846720 Fax: 613-5993642 Email: perry.qu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ======================================= -----Original Message----- From: Chris Herrick [mailto:cherrick@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 5:16 PM To: Vittal.Balasubramanian@xxxxxxx; QU Perry; asparkman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; weirsi@xxxxxxxxxx Cc: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [SI-LIST] Re: PCB modelling wizard ? Hello all, as Vittal mentioned, a colleague and I wrote an HFSS Via Wizard a few years back that's available free on the web. You can download this from http://3DViaDesign.com. It has a simple GUI where the user can enter stackup, padstack and via locations. The project is then generated in HFSS ready solve. I parameterized most of the geometry so the user can easily optimize the vias. There is no need to be a 3D modeling expert. This code is old but still works pretty well. I've recently updated and enhanced the wizard and will be releasing a new version in the next few weeks. If anyone has any questions or comments please email me offline. Thanks, Chris -----Original Message----- From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Vittal.Balasubramanian@xxxxxxx Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 12:53 PM To: Perry.Qu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; asparkman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; weirsi@xxxxxxxxxx Cc: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: PCB modelling wizard ? Perry, Ansoft HFSS has a free "via wizard" which does exactly what you need. You might want to get in touch with them if you do not already have it. Best regards, Vittal Balasubramanian Sr. Signal Integrity Engineer FCI USA, Inc. -----Original Message----- From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of QU Perry Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 1:09 PM To: Aubrey Sparkman; steve weir Cc: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: PCB modelling wizard ? Thanks, Aubrey, Steve. I guess we need to invest considerable amount of time and effort to get the scripts done, and I was thinking since such feature are widely useful for many EM tool users, why can't they do this as this is their strength ? In the meanwhile, I will look into the allegro link you mentioned. It's not as straightforward but should save me some time. Regards Perry ======================================= Perry Qu IPD Design & Qualification, Alcatel-Lucent Canada Inc. 600 March Road, Ottawa ON, K2K 2E6, Canada DID: 613-7846720 Fax: 613-5993642 Email: perry.qu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ======================================= -----Original Message----- From: Aubrey Sparkman [mailto:asparkman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 12:58 PM To: 'steve weir'; QU Perry Cc: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [SI-LIST] Re: PCB modelling wizard ? Perry, I agree that scripts are certainly the way to go if you do LOTS of 3D modeling on a continual basis. For others who 3D modeling only at certain points in a design cycle, it may be faster to use the interface tool. Even for the pre-layout stage (and perhaps because I have some experience with Allegro), I find it easier to setup a board and draw the desired geometry in Allegro and then transfer it to the 3D tool than to setup a board and draw the geometries in the 3D tool. For the post-layout correlation cases, it's easy to delete unwanted geometries in Allegro and transfer the remainder. Transfer to Momentum is very easy; transfer via Alinks to HFSS or Q3d has a couple of bugs you need to watch out for but can be made to work. In any case, you can convert specific parts of the design to parameterized parts after the transfer. For your specific needs, you should consider the script development as an investment and see which way wins for overall productivity. Aubrey Sparkman Aubrey.K.Sparkman@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of steve weir Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 11:23 AM To: QU Perry Cc: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: PCB modelling wizard ? Perry, scripts are your friend here. Best Regards, Steve. QU Perry wrote: > Hi, > > I wonder how everyone here creates the model when you try to do a 3D > EM simulation of PCB related features, do you: > > 1. manually create 3D model using the modeler that comes with the > tool; 2. Use the interface tool provided by EM tool vendor to link to > PCB or mechanical CAD tool; > > I always used option 1 for the following reasons: > 1. only include features I need so make the model clean and small; 2. > be able to parameterize and do what if analysis; 3. such 3D simulation > is usually done in prelayout stage to explore design space so no board > file is available. > > However, I get increasingly tired of doing this as it's a very time > consuming process. It's no fun to create multi layer PCB and all small > features such as pads, vias, traces, etc., manually, and each design > has something different which makes model reuse very difficult. > > Was hoping for some kind of wizard tool to let me e.g. create > multi-layer PCB stackup, define via (pads, antipad etc.) using text > based dimensions and have the modeler create a PCB model > automatically, and I can add unique features/structures on top of > that. That should save a lot of time. Unfortunately not many vendors > have that option or interested in implementing them (currently using CST Microwave Studio). > I'm aware that Simberor has some of the capability described above but > then we can't afford getting every new tool in the market. > > Regards > > Perry > > ======================================= > > Perry Qu > > IPD Design & Qualification, Alcatel-Lucent Canada Inc. > > 600 March Road, Ottawa ON, K2K 2E6, Canada > > DID: 613-7846720 Fax: 613-5993642 > > Email: perry.qu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > ======================================= > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To unsubscribe from si-list: > si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field > > or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: > //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list > > For help: > si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field > > > List technical documents are available at: > http://www.si-list.net > > List archives are viewable at: > //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list > or at our remote archives: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages > Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: > http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu > > > > -- Steve Weir Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC 121 North River Drive Narragansett, RI 02882 California office (866) 675-4630 Business (707) 780-1951 Fax Main office (401) 284-1827 Business (401) 284-1840 Fax Oregon office (503) 430-1065 Business (503) 430-1285 Fax http://www.teraspeed.com This e-mail contains proprietary and confidential intellectual property of Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- -------------------------- Teraspeed(R) is the registered service mark of Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.net List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list or at our remote archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.net List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list or at our remote archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.net List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list or at our remote archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.net List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list or at our remote archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu