Guest Editorial - Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

RECENT advances in microwave computer-aided design (CAD) technology, the availability of powerful PC’s, workstations, and massively parallel systems, suggest the feasibility of interfacing electromagnetic (EM) simulations into optimization systems or CAD frameworks for direct application of powerful optimizers. With fast, robust, commercial EM simulators increasingly available, microwave engineers are already pushing the frontiers beyond traditional uses of EM simulators. The new thrust is to integrate EM simulations directly into the linear/nonlinear circuit design process in a manner transparent to the designer. The previous Special Issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES for which I was Guest Editor (vol. 40, no. 7, July 1992) had a broader focus: processoriented microwave CAD and modeling. This present Special Issue addresses expectations of using EM simulations as effective tools in an automated design environment. Expectations for this have been raised, in part by myself, based on the considerable and excellent work currently in progress. This emerging design technology is expected to be a cornerstone of future integrated CAD systems. In the call for papers, novel theoretical contributions as well as practical applications and software implementational aspects were encouraged, including: 1) design with tolerances and yield-driven design using EM simulators; 2) implementable adjoint parameter sensitivity computations; 3) automatic layout optimization with EM validation; 4) techniques for capturing and automating parameterization of twodimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) geometries; 5) novel parameterized geometrical model primitives; 6) scalable models for optimization; 7) space-mapping optimization; 8) quasi-global modeling of EM simulated subcircuits and devices; 9) parameter extraction methodologies for companion modeling; 10) novel techniques for numerical, geometrical, and EM decomposition; 11) optimization strategies for complex and irregular shapes; 12) active device physical/EM simulation and optimization; 13) use of supercomputers, massively parallel and heterogeneous workstations; 14) novel software architectures for EM optimization environments; 15) use of databases and automated table look-up for EM simulations; 16) multidimensional response approximation and effective interpolation techniques; 17) exploitation of meshing, simulation accuracy, and simulation speed; 18) techniques for inverse electromagnetic problems; 19) visualization for automated EM design; 20) mixed analytical, empirical, and numerical EM simulation and optimization; 21) merging of linear/nonlinear circuit theoretic and field-theoretic simulations; 22) asymptotic waveform techniques applied to EM simulations; 23) optimization techniques for chip compaction; 24) optimization in the frequency, time, and mixed domains; and 25) applica-