The inventions and products featured on these pages were chosen either for their
uniqueness in the RF engineering realm, or are simply awesome (or ridiculous) enough
to warrant an appearance.
While on a software theme for the
Cool product (Maple math software featured last week), I ran across a demo for wind
analysis software that architects and civil engineers use for predicting building
structural loads, wind velocity at street level (recall stories of gale-force winds
generated between tall buildings due to venturi effect), land erosion, and more.
Both 2-D and 3-D simulations are possible.
Vasari Ecotect Wind Tunnel color-coded graphs look a lot like
many of the finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD),
vector field plots that we are accustomed to seeing for electric and magnetic field
analysis, thermal maps, and load stress analysis on mechanical structures. It is
no coincidence since many of the equations and techniques are either exactly the
same or are very closely related. Recall in physics and circuit analysis classes
how often mechanical analogies were used for explaining electrical principles, and
vice versa. This is actually part of Autodesk's Project Vasari which was created
specifically to analyze conceptual building layouts.
AWR's
Axiem software generates vector diagrams for electromagnetic fields surrounding
conductors in a similar manner (left image).
The
image to the right is Remcom's Wireless InSite. It looks a lot like the Wind Tunnel software
in that it models fields surrounding and even through buildings in an urban environment.
The difference is that Wireless InSite projects EM fields rather than wind fields.
Anyone in the wireless network planning business might want to look into this software
since it appears to include multipath effects on signal integrity.
Vasari Ecotect Wind Tunnel
CST (Computer Simulation Technology) is another familiar program
for analyzing electromagnetic fields. It is often seen being used for SAR (Specific
A Radiation) studies of human body parts (heads, hands, reproductive organs, etc.).
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools"
in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide
me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing
my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet)
was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity.
Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line,
and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...
While on a software theme for the
Cool product (Maple math software featured last week), I ran across a demo for wind
analysis software that architects and civil engineers use for predicting building
structural loads, wind velocity at street level (recall stories of gale-force winds
generated between tall buildings due to venturi effect), land erosion, and more.
Both 2-D and 3-D simulations are possible.
AWR's
The
image to the right is Remcom's 
