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Feko Utilities
The Feko utilities consist of PREFEKO, OPTFEKO, ADAPTFEKO, the Launcher utility, Updater and the crash reporter.
OPTFEKO
OPTFEKO is the component that controls the optimisation process. The optimisation parameters are usually associated with geometric dimensions, material properties, excitations and loadings. For example, the gain of a horn antenna is maximised by varying the size of the horn aperture.
Farming
Farming out of the steps of an optimisation involves the concurrent solution of various optimisation steps on a number of available processors or hosts.
Farming in Conjunction with Parallel Computing
Large problems may require that Feko be run in parallel (simulation spread over more than one host or processor - not the same as farming.)

Welcome
Release Notes
See what's new in the latest release.
Get Started
The Feko Getting Started Guide contains step-by-step instructions on how to get started with Feko.
Examples
The Feko Example Guide contains a collection of examples that teaches you Feko concepts and essentials.
Introduction to Feko
Feko is a comprehensive electromagnetic solver with multiple solution methods that is used for electromagnetic field analyses involving 3D objects of arbitrary shapes.
CADFEKO
CADFEKO is used to create and mesh the geometry or model mesh, specify the solution settings and calculation requests in a graphical environment.
POSTFEKO
POSTFEKO, the Feko post processor, is used to display the model (configuration and mesh), results on graphs and 3D views.
EDITFEKO
EDITFEKO is used to construct advanced models (both the geometry and solution requirements) using a high-level scripting language which includes loops and conditional statements.
Feko Solution Methods
One of the key features in Feko is that it includes a broad set of unique and hybridised solution methods. Effective use of Feko features requires an understanding of the available methods.
Optimisation in Feko
Feko offers state-of-the-art optimisation engines based on generic algorithm (GA) and other methods, which can be used to automatically optimise the design and determine the optimum solution.
Feko Utilities
The Feko utilities consist of PREFEKO, OPTFEKO, ADAPTFEKO, the Launcher utility, Updater and the crash reporter.
- The Preprocessor PREFEKO
  Use PREFEKO to perform meshing and to prepare the input files for the Feko solver.
- Running PREFEKO
  Use PREFEKO with the correct syntax and optional parameters for advanced control.
- The Solver
  The Solver is the electromagnetic solver component that calculates the specified output requests.
- OPTFEKO
  OPTFEKO is the component that controls the optimisation process. The optimisation parameters are usually associated with geometric dimensions, material properties, excitations and loadings. For example, the gain of a horn antenna is maximised by varying the size of the horn aperture.
  - Optimisation Methods
    OPTFEKO provides various optimisation methods, each one with different characteristics.
  - Sensitivity Analysis
    OPTFEKO calculates upon termination of an optimisation, a sensitivity analysis of the goal function with relation to each parameter.
  - Farming
    Farming out of the steps of an optimisation involves the concurrent solution of various optimisation steps on a number of available processors or hosts.
    - Farming in Conjunction with Parallel Computing
      Large problems may require that Feko be run in parallel (simulation spread over more than one host or processor - not the same as farming.)
  - Optimisation Output
    Information on the optimisation process is stored in a .log file.
- ADAPTFEKO
  ADAPTFEKO is the adaptive frequency utility used to automatically select smaller frequency steps near narrow resonances and larger steps where the results are relatively smooth.
- AMRFEKO
  AMRFEKO is the adaptive mesh refinement utility used to automatically refine the mesh.
- Environment Initialisation Script - initfeko
  The initfeko.bat (batch file on Windows) and initfeko (bash shell script on Unix / Linux) scripts are executed from a terminal to configure the Feko environment. From this environment, the Feko applications can be launched without using their full path.
- Launcher Utility
  The Launcher utility is a single application that allows you quick access to the shortcuts for the Feko components, WinProp components (Microsoft Windows only), newFASANT, WRAP components (Microsoft Windows only), documentation and Altair license utility. Pin the application to the taskbar for quick launching.
- Updater
  The feko_update_gui utility and the feko_update utility allows you the flexibility to install an update containing features, minor software enhancements and bug fixes on top of an existing base installation for Altair Feko (which includes Feko and WinProp).
- The Multiport Processor
  The multiport processor allows you to calculate results for changes in the port excitations and loading without rerunning the Solver.
- S-Parameter Port De-embedding Calculator
  The command line utility accepts an augmented S-parameter network definition, de-embeds the specified ports using 2-port calibration definitions and exports the result to an S-parameter Touchstone file.
- Crash Report Utility
  In the event of a crash occurring in CADFEKO, POSTFEKO or EDITFEKO, the crash report utility generates a crash report.
- QUEUEFEKO
  QUEUEFEKO is a graphical user interface (GUI) application that can create a package which you can transport to a remote queuing system. Created packages can be extracted once the simulation on the queuing system has been completed.
Description of the Output File of Feko
Feko writes all the results to an ASCII output file .out as well as a binary output file .bof for usage by POSTFEKO. Use the .out file to obtain additional information about the solution.
Feko Application Macros
A large collection of application macros are available for CADFEKO and POSTFEKO.
Scripts and Application Programming Interface (API)
CADFEKO and POSTFEKO have a powerful, fast, lightweight scripting language integrated into the application allowing you to create models, get hold of simulation results and model configuration information as well as manipulation of data and automate repetitive tasks.
Appendix
Reference information is provided in the appendix.

Farming in Conjunction with Parallel Computing

Large problems may require that Feko be run in parallel (simulation spread over more than one host or processor - not the same as farming.)

Example

Run the Solver in parallel, while farming out the optimisation steps using a specified number of processes. For example:

optfeko <x> -np <n_farming> --machines-file <m> --runfeko-options -np <n_parallel>

where:

<x>: File name of the model
<n_farming>: Number of farming processes
<n_parallel>: Number of parallel processes
<m>: File name of the machines file

Note: For optimisation using the Solver in parallel, but not farming:

optfeko <x> --runfeko-options -np <n_parallel> --machines-file <m>