Multi-PC FDTD: Solving large scale EM problems

After giving historical data on FDTD speed and problem sizes, the state of the art approach to fast and efficient FDTD simulations is explained for large scale structures. Future challenges include the simultaneous simulation of the RF device or antenna and its surrounding environment, increasing the modeling effort by at least an order of magnitude. An intelligent hierarchical concept exploiting the different size and speed levels of data storage (CPU-cache, RAM, hard-disc and Multi-Machine computing) is presented and analyzed to face the challenges.