Editor’s Pick: Big Speed Boost for Electromagnetic Simulations

By Anthony J. Lockwood

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

Computational-intensive applications and I have a lot in common: We’re both tough to process,  sometimes requiring more time to solve than you wish to spend on the job. Applications like 3D electromagnetic simulation are difficult to process even on modern 64-bit workstations. But not so much any more. Remcom, long-time developer of electromagnetic simulation software, has introduced a new version of its XStream GPU acceleration technology for its XFdtd 3D electromagnetic simulation (EM) tool that can reduce solution times from hours to minutes. Coupled with XFdtd’s ability to preview meshes before you hit go and dynamically display results as data changes, you could knock months off your development cycle with XStream.

XStream’s power comes from its ability to leverage NVIDIA CUDA architecture. In simplified terms, XStream offloads the heavy numerical processing jobs from your main CPU onto the NVIDIA GPU (graphical processing unit) on your graphics accelerator card. This frees the main processor to do other, less-intensive jobs. In effect, this turns your workstation into a massively parallel computer. The real benefit from your point of view is speed—lots more speed than you ever had from the same workstation doing the same sort of EM simulations that you always do. Remcom says that the speed increase can be up to twice as fast as you’ve experienced before.

Speed, of course, is where it’s at, especially in today’s,  um, vibrant economy. Anything that can get you through the development cycle and to market faster is worth the price of admission. Which brings up another great point about the new version of XStream GPU acceleration technology: New XFdtd release 7 users receive XStream capability as a featured part of their software. Existing users can download a free upgrade. Remcom has even cut a deal for a voucher that will go a long way toward your purchase of a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU if you need to upgrade your workstation.

Remcom first introduced FDTD (finite difference time domain)  software to the commercial market in 1994, and it has remained in the forefront of productivity solutions for antenna design and analysis, biological EM analysis, microwave circuit design, and other EM engineering ever since. With the release of its new version of XStream GPU acceleration for XFdtd 7.0,  Remcom brings more speed and more productivity to your work.

You can learn more about   XStream GPU acceleration technology and XFdtd 7.0 from today’s Pick of the Week write-up. Check out the link to some short, fascinating, and registration-free videos while you’re there.

Thanks, pal.—Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood
Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering  Magazine

Read today’s Pick of the Week write-up.