AI-Driven 3D System Analysis and Optimization for EM Antenna/RF Problems

In the ever-evolving world of electronics design, engineers face a dual challenge: pushing the boundaries of innovation while managing the exploding complexity of modern systems. From 5G antennas to high-speed PCBs, electromagnetic (EM) simulations are an essential part of the design—but they’re also time-consuming, resource-heavy, and often a bottleneck in the design cycle. Cadence, a leader in electronic design automation (EDA), is addressing these challenges head-on with AI-based solutions. This blog post explores how Cadence, with its AI-based Clarity 3D Solver and Optimality Intelligent Explorer, provides actionable insights to help engineers adopt AI-focused workflows for EM design challenges.

Need for AI-Driven Optimization

EM simulations are essential for capturing second-order effects, such as different inductive and capacitive coupling mechanisms, resonances, and parasitic behaviors that fast circuit simulators often miss. However, the computational cost increases significantly as RF designs become more complex—like large phased array antennas for 5G/6G or multi-layered PCBs with thousands of extraction ports. Add multiphysics considerations like signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI), and the challenge becomes even more daunting.

Traditional optimization methods, like genetic algorithms or gradient-based approaches, are often ineffective for high-dimensional problems and impractical due to the following reasons:

• High Computational Load: Scaling to problems with multiple design variables becomes infeasible due to exponentially growing simulation demand.

• Data Dependency and Limited Access to Customer IP: These methods require extensive data samples, which is often infeasible given the expense and time required to collect it in EM simulations.
• Lack of Flexibility: Traditional tools fail to incorporate pre-existing design insights or efficiently explore high-dimensional solution spaces.

This is where AI-driven 3D system analysis and optimization tools from Cadence come in. These tools combine machine learning (ML) with 3D simulation frameworks, allowing engineers to tackle these roadblocks and unlock innovative ways to optimize designs rapidly, efficiently, and effectively.

Cadence Solution: Speed Meets Intelligence

Problems like expensive simulations for each optimization iteration and large data set requirements demand a paradigm shift in optimization approaches. Cadence tackles these challenges with a two-pronged approach: accelerating simulations and reducing the optimization cycles. Cadence offers an integrated ecosystem of tools specifically tailored to address AI-driven optimization challenges in RF design. Let's take a closer look at two flagship products reshaping the industry.

The Cadence Optimality Intelligent Explorer utilizes a novel reinforcement learning surrogate model-aware mechanism that significantly reduces the sample evaluations (EM simulations), especially for high-dimensional complex SI/PI and antennas/RF synthesis applications. It is an AI-driven multiphysics optimization software that enables electronic systems' analysis and optimization realization. Optimality Explorer replaces the traditional interactive “design, test, and refine” loop flow with generative AI-driven technology that results in the optimal system design solution expeditiously and without compromising accuracy. With Optimality Explorer, it is possible to orchestrate the optimization of physical geometry changes to design requirements. The below feature set makes Optimality Explorer very efficient in developing solutions:

• Guided optimization exploration (no intensive training required)
• Automatic parameterization (direct import from Allegro/APD, 3D MCAD design integration)
• Mixed continuous, discrete, binary, and configuration sweeping
• Concurrent training sample generation
• SI/PI and antenna/RF objective functions
• Sensitivity and feature ranking analysis
• Robustness, sigma levels, probability indicators, and Monte-Carlo analysis
• Bi-directional Circuit-field co-optimization (Clarity-System, SI-Optimality)

Cadence’s Clarity 3D Solver is a high-fidelity general-purpose full-wave EM simulation platform with 10X performance, scalability, and gold-standard accuracy benefits.

The Clarity solver's primary applications include system structures and component-level problems, from SI/PI in DDRx, PCI, and SerDes to S, Y, and Z parameters extractions for PCB, Package and ICs, and EMI/EMC analysis.

Its unique features, such as automatic distributed initial and adaptive meshing, massively parallelized matrix solver, and integration with Cadence tools like Virtuoso Studio, Allegro X Design Platform, AWR Design Environment Platform, and Optimality Explorer, make it much more effective for an end-to-end high-performance workflow for RF, antenna, EMI/EMC, and other applications. Integrating Optimality Explorer with Clarity 3D Solver Layout and Clarity 3D Solver Workbench allows users to optimize planar designs from Cadence PCB design tools like the Allegro platform. Additionally, users can optimize the integrated CAD structure directly within Clarity 3D Solver Workbench. Optimality Explorer offers a variety of benefits when used in different applications; a few of the use cases are as below:

• In a differential signal pair, we optimized the padstack properties and existence of surrounding ground vias using 14 parameters. This optimization aimed to minimize differential return loss from DC to 10GHz and find the best combination. Optimality Explorer provided a solution under 100 iterations. Moreover, the parallel sample generation provides a near-linear scalability, reducing the total optimization time by 5X in this example.

• Optimality Explorer offers impressive optimization results at high speed via structure optimization and sensitivity analysis.

In an ultra-wideband antenna application, the goal is to optimize the antenna peak gain to be larger than 8dB at an operating frequency of 3 – 12GHz. As shown below, Optimality Explorer completed the optimization in 112 iterations.

Efficiency, accuracy, and scalability are the main benefits of using Optimality Explorer. Its ML capabilities reduce data dependency and simulation requirements, providing a practical solution for resource-intensive optimization tasks.

The Future of Design Optimization

AI-driven tools are no longer a luxury but necessary for engineers tackling complex EM and RF design challenges. Solutions like Cadence’s Clarity 3D Solver and Optimality Intelligent Explorer illustrate what’s possible when cutting-edge technology meets the world of simulation. By empowering engineers with intelligent optimization processes, AI is revolutionizing EM simulation and design, paving the way for faster, more efficient, and more innovative products.

Integrating AI into the design pipeline is reshaping the industry and enabling engineers to focus on innovation rather than the iterative grind of traditional methods. AI offers EM system designers a competitive advantage. By integrating cutting-edge tools like Clarity 3D Solver and Optimality Intelligent Explorer, engineers can confidently and precisely tackle complex challenges in RF antenna design.

This blog is an excerpt from the presentation by Gary Lytle and Moein Nazari from Cadence. Click here to watch the completer presentation.

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