Investigation of Segmentation Method for Enhancing High Frequency Simulation Accuracy of Q3D Extractor

ANSYS Q3D Extractor is a fast quasi-static 3D solver for extracting lumped RLGC parameters and SPICE models. Although Q3D Extractor is faster than full wave simulation, it results in inaccuracies at high frequency simulation, especially for PCB sructures. This paper proposes a method of improving the accuracy of high frequency simulations by using segmentation. For the convenience of study, a transmission line on PCB is selected as the device under test without sacrificing generality, and HFSS simulation results and measurement data are used as reference. Extensive simulations are performed to investigate the effectiveness of segmentation method. It is found that by dividing the transmission line into a set of electrically small segments, the high frequency simulation accuracy can be effectively enhanced. Some other relevant tips for using Q3D are also presented.