Release Notes: Altair Feko 2023.1.1

Altair Feko 2023.1.1 is available with various corrections and improvements. This version (2023.1.1) is a patch release that should be applied to an existing 2023 or 2023.1 installation.

Feko is a powerful and comprehensive 3D simulation package intended for the analysis of a wide range of electromagnetic radiation and scattering problems. Applications include antenna design, antenna placement, microstrip antennas and circuits, dielectric media, scattering analysis, electromagnetic compatibility studies including cable harness modelling and many more.

newFASANT complements Altair’s high frequency electromagnetic software tool (Altair Feko) for general 3D EM field calculations, including, among others, special design tools tailored for specific applications like complex radomes including FSS, automated design of reflectarrays and ultra-conformed reflector antennas, analysis of Doppler effects, ultrasound systems including automotive or complex RCS, and antenna placement problems. Advanced solver technologies like the MoM combined with the characteristic basis functions (CBFS), PO/GO/PTD, GTD/PO and MLFMM parallelised through MPI/OpenMP, being some of them especially efficient for the analysis of electrically very large problems.

WinProp is the most complete suite of tools in the domain of wireless propagation and radio network planning. With applications ranging from satellite to terrestrial, from rural via urban to indoor radio links, WinProp’s innovative wave propagation models combine accuracy with short computation times.

WRAP is a comprehensive tool for electromagnetic propagation, antenna collocation and spectrum management. WRAP combines propagation analysis, often over large areas with many transmitters and receivers, with system analysis to include complex non-linear equipment properties.

Feko 2023.1.1 Release Notes

The most notable extensions and improvements to Feko are listed by component.

CADFEKO

Features

  • Improved the new mesher behaviour, specifically related to wire meshing.
  • Fixed a crash that could have triggered when closing some dialogs with the X in the title bar.
  • Extended the Lua API with run and continue methods to be used in addition to the run and wait until complete methods. These methods apply to the Feko Solver, PREFEKO and OPTFEKO. Support is also added for running AMRFEKO from scripts.
  • Added validation that would trigger an error message when a shielded enclosure references an excluded region.
  • Improved the problem description and the validation for coatings and thin dielectric sheets.
  • Added missing documentation for view manipulation API methods.

Resolved Issues

  • Removed an error given incorrectly when defining an edge port on a VEP region.
  • Improved verification of FEM line port validity.
  • Removed a warning message that was incorrectly issued for S-parameter and characteristic mode analysis configurations when modelling cables with circuit crosstalk.
  • Prevent a crash when importing geometry with corrupt bounding boxes.
  • Added API documentation for auxiliary Lua methods that were previously undocumented.
  • Fixed an issue with the new mesher not refining the mesh around feed points.
  • Fixed an issue with the new mesher creating meshes with intersecting triangles.
  • Fixed a problem with the new mesher that would cause volume meshing to fail.
  • Resolved an issue where wires with the windscreen solution method did not have their labels written to the .pre file correctly in all cases. The solver would terminate with ERROR 34480: Different windscreen antennas/reference planes not allowed to share the same label, even though the model was correctly set up in CADFEKO.
  • Resolved a crash when adding multiple polylines or cable paths in succession, without closing the creation dialog, and using point entry mode to add values to the dialog from the 3D view.
  • Fixed a bug where symmetric meshing would take longer than regular meshing.
  • Fixed a crash when trying to modify a locked part.
  • Fixed a crash when clicking on a geometry preview in the 3D view.
  • Fixed an issue with the Reverse polarity setting on wire and microstrip ports not being correctly written to the .pre file for transmission lines.
  • Fixed an issue with the manually specified cable reference direction not taking the cable path workplane into account.
  • Resolved an issue where the waveguide mode rotation angle specified in S-parameter requests was not written correctly to the .pre file.
  • Fixed an issue where certain cable models would not generate .pre file cards correctly, causing an empty .pre file to be written out.
  • Resolved an issue that caused a crash when attempting to add or modify a far field request in some models. This was a regression that got introduced in CADFEKO 2023.0.1.
  • Fixed a bug where working with a large number of selected mesh elements could crash or hang the application.
  • Resolved an issue where unlinking a wire with a surrounding medium did not result in a mesh wire with the same surrounding medium. This could have triggered the error ERROR 3848: Wrong specification of the medium for a wire segment when solving the model without manually setting the wire surrounding medium properties.
  • Improved .pre file writing so that the ground planes are only written out once. This leads to faster solutions for models with multiple configurations.
  • Corrected near field request .pre file writing when using the conical coordinate system.
  • Expressions in Lua can now be assigned using variables and named points when using a properties table or individual property assignments. Previously, variables and named points could not be directly assigned and the Label property had to be used to assign variable and named point values.
  • Improved edge and face selection so that edges behind faces are not selectable.
  • Resolved issues for various geometry and request types, as well as the cutplane and workplane, where dimensions and coordinates defined by named points were not correctly interpreted. This could have resulted in incorrect positions and dimensions for non-default workplanes and applying rotations could unexpectedly change the dimensions of geometry.
  • Fixed a bug with periodic boundary condition meshing precision. This could have resulted in the Feko Solver issuing ERROR 32723: For periodic boundaries no geometry is allowed outside the unit cell. for a model that should have been solved successfully.
  • Fixed a crash when importing geometry with many parts.
  • Improved the tolerance of the PCB simplification algorithm to avoid import failures when scaling is applied. Before this fix, polygons could have imported with gaps resulting in a failure to create the correct face.
  • Resolved a crash when running a script that deletes an object twice. An error will now be issued when the object being deleted is invalid.
  • Resolved a crash when using the details tree while a group was selected.
  • Added previews to transformations of groups.
  • Resolved unresponsive dialog behaviour when double clicking instead of clicking once to enter a value from the model tree while in point entry mode (holding Ctrl+Shift).
  • Fixed a crash where the target geometry of a projection is deleted before the projection is applied.
  • Fixed an issue with the Split process where variables were not preserved for the resultant geometries.
  • Fixed a crash when opening the properties of geometry from the tree in some special cases.
  • Fixed a bug where an error message was given incorrectly for a dielectric sheet with frequency-dependent magnetic properties.
  • Resolved various problems that could ensue after replacing the target in an operator that has a target, for example, subtract or path sweep.
  • Fixed a crash when unlinking a mesh containing a port that doesn't reference a face or wire.
  • Fixed a bug where simplification of geometry would not remove all edges that were expected to be removed.
  • Corrected the .pre file writing for cable device grounds connected directly to an installation.
  • Fixed a bug where refinement regions with a size larger than the global mesh size caused incorrect meshing.
  • Resolved an incorrect warning for FEM regions that were previously set to the SEP (default) solution method with local basis function control enabled.
  • Resolved an issue where FEM element order and higher order basis function settings were not written to the .pre file for FEM and MoM regions.
  • Fixed the legacy model conversion of some path sweeps that failed to convert correctly.
  • Resolved an issue where the full path to a file was required when importing PCB files through the API.
  • Resolved an issue with scripting where evaluating an expression with an invalid value would crash the application.
  • Resolved an issue where a model kept showing unsaved changes (indicated by an asterisk next to the filename in the title bar) after it was saved from the prompt that gets triggered when running the Feko Solver.
  • Resolved a crash when remeshing UTD model meshes using the legacy mesher.
  • Resolved an issue with cable paths not always being visible in the 3D view when the view is zoomed out.
  • Fixed a symmetry verification issue where excluded entities were causing errors.
  • Avoid a crash when the machines file (used for parallel execution and farming) has invalid content, is empty or missing.
  • Improved the run dialog to update more regularly from the output produced by the running component.
  • Ensured CADFEKO_BATCH will show an error message if the memory check finds insufficient resources for meshing.
  • Added API documentation for the CableRoute object.
  • Fixed a bug where CADFEKO_BATCH did not maintain the automatic meshing setting of a model and would save the model with automatic meshing enabled. The setting is now restored once meshing is complete.
  • Resolved an issue where the continuous snapping marker was too large.
  • A model of a base station sector antenna was added to the component library.
  • Always apply basic healing, including removal of duplicate points and making small tolerance adjustments, when importing PCB files to avoid unexpected import errors and tiny gaps in imported geometry.
  • Fixed the meshing of edges with local mesh sizes set. These edges were getting over-refined in the resulting mesh.
  • Resolved an issue with .pre file writing where FP cards for FEM regions did not contain element order or MoM decoupling information when global HOBF was disabled.
  • Fixed the show/hide tree action on the ribbon (Tree button on the View tab).
  • Removed the ability to transform edge mesh refinements. The refinement position is defined by the edge, thus transforms are not applicable.
  • Fixed the message output in interactive mode for the Adaptive Meshing application macro.
  • Revised API documentation to add missing links.
  • Resolved a crash when manipulating variables using the Modify Variables dialog and then opening a model.
  • A regression that got introduced in Feko 2023.1 prevented the exclamation icons that indicate warnings or errors to be shown for tree items that do not have a default icon. The icon now gets shown with the tooltip that displays the associated warning or error messages.
  • Improved automatic mesh size choices for electrically small models or simulations at low frequency.
  • Fixed a problem that could cause the volume mesher to crash on Linux.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when filling holes.
  • Changed the background colour of images exported from CADFEKO from grey to white.
  • Modified cutplanes to affect named points shown in the 3D view.

POSTFEKO

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed a bug where POSTFEKO incorrectly used global coordinates when writing out coordinate values to .efe and .hfe files for near field requests that were specified with local coordinates.
  • Fixed an assertion that failed when loading a .bof file without the .fek file present when the model contained finite antenna arrays (FA cards).
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when opening a .pfs file containing a large model and selecting Hide geometry.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented POSTFEKO displaying near field potential values when requested as specified points.
  • Fixed an issue where zoom to extents was not working for surface graphs when called from a script.
  • Fixed an issue where coordinates on annotations of Cartesian-based near field results were displayed as local coordinates. The annotations now correctly show global coordinates.

Solver

Features

  • The double wedge diffraction is computed if the user selects Include edge and wedge diffractions and the maximum number of interactions is greater than 1.
  • The summary of required times written to the out file now includes a separate row for the calculation of CBFs related to the characteristic basis function method.
  • Upgrade to MUMPS 5.6.2.1altair.

Resolved Issues

  • Some reflected rays which may have been missed are now correctly resolved when using the faceted UTD solution method,.
  • Address an internal Feko error for the sparse LU FMM preconditioner due to a negative count at MPI_Pack (related to upgrade to MUMPS 5.6.2.1altair).
  • Fixed a bug that caused invalid memory allocation errors for MLFMM problems with very high losses.
  • Consistent results will be given for all reference vector directions when using characterised surfaces illuminated at normal incidence with RL-GO.
  • Improve robustness with the conversion of MPI processes to OpenMP threads to conserve FEM or MLFMM-FEM sparse LU preconditioner memory for an irregular distribution of MPI processes over compute nodes.
  • During solutions on Windows machines, the correct output will always be directed to stdout (this corrects a situation where some output may have incorrectly been directed to stderr for some situations).
  • Various improvements to MoM/MTL solutions to reduce numerical noise, improve management of connection points and schematic link connections as well as error message text improvements.

Shared Interface Changes

Resolved Issues

  • Corrected the rendering of plane waves with a local workplane in CADFEKO and the POSTFEKO rendering of plane waves with an origin (phase reference point) that does not coincide with the global origin.
  • Fixed an issue where the version number shown in the Feko Terminal title was incomplete.

Support Components

Features

  • Improved the text formatting of AMRFEKO output to be more consistent with other components.
  • Variable limits defined in the CADFEKO model will be transferred to HyperStudy when using the Feko-HyperStudy interface.
  • Added create line options for the Transmission Line Calculator application macro. This allows the user to create the line calculated in a CADFEKO model.

Resolved Issues

  • Improved the handling of S-parameter configurations when using AMRFEKO.
  • Disabled CADFEKO auto-meshing where relevant when using the HyperStudy Feko interface.

WinProp 2023.1.1 Release Notes

The most notable extensions and improvements to WinProp are listed by component.

General

Feature

  • Added the tunnel length per segment to the information dialog given by the tunnel check.

Resolved Issues

  • Resolved an issue where surface roughness was not considered in TuMan.
  • Walls with material ID -1 are no longer exported from TuMan.

ProMan

Features

  • The 5G numerologies 4, 5, and 6 have been added for 100, 200, and 400 MHz bandwidth.
  • The upper limit for the Tx power was increased to 150 dBm.
  • Different colours for already used and unused frequency carriers are now also applied in the Carrier Assignment dialog.
  • Support was added to export images of all the results to a specified folder. These images can be used to create a report.

Resolved Issues

  • Avoided a crash with leaky feed cables where DPM was used for an indoor project.
  • The RunMS option of randomly distributed phases has been corrected.
  • Resolved an issue for rural projects, where using the deterministic two-ray model, the correct ground reflection point is now computed for the case where the transmitter is defined outside the topo map, for example, a satellite.
  • Resolved an issue that prevented components from being connected across different floors.
  • Resolved a crash that could have occurred when the SBR solver only found a ray with transmission.
  • Fixed a crash which might have occurred when opening a result file individually without a project.
  • Resolved an issue where rays with invalid ray geometry were not discarded for the SBR solver.
  • Fixed a crash in ProMan when displaying the Doppler-Heat map a second time.
  • Fixed a crash that could have occurred for the calibration of DPM using point mode, which is not supported.
  • Resolved an issue for the SRT where reflections were not computed after scattering.
  • For furniture objects, default properties can now be defined and considered in the simulation (for all the furniture objects in the scenario).
  • Resolved a crash that occurred in Propagator.dll when computing the propagation.
  • Included Doppler shift when interacting with vegetation and furniture.
  • Fixed the progress bar output for the urban IRT preprocessing and prediction to avoid overflows in case of a huge number of pixels.
  • Fixed the not predicted areas in LOS when using the KE post-processing for an urban IRT project with a sub-area preprocessed for IRT.
  • Resolved an issue where the total power result was unavailable for point mode analysis.
  • Resolved an issue with the display of topography where the wrong colour was used in the 2D view. After displaying a result and selecting a display layer, the topography was no longer displayed if clicking on Database > Topography.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when running RunMS if multiple trajectories were defined and one was disabled.
  • Corrected the dialog text for post-processing results with multiple heights (for example, subtract).
  • Fixed the legend display to use the correct scaling when importing measurements using File > New Measurement File.

WallMan

Features

  • Resolved an issue where the topography map in .tif format could not be converted to .tdb format due to undefined values.
  • Added an information dialog for the preprocessing in WallMan that asks if the existing preprocessed file should be overwritten should it already exists.

Resolved Issues

  • Resolved an issue where group names were not stored in the .idb file with the result that it displayed incorrectly on dialogs.
  • Resolved an issue with the export of a MapInfo file, where building heights were exported as an integer instead of a float in the .mif file.
  • Improved the file handling in WallMan to suggest by default the same folder for File > Save As as used for File > Open.

Application Programming Interface

Feature

  • Added support for urban API computations to load buildings and the topography from either a file or memory. In the past, building and topography could only be loaded from a file or memory, but not a combination of the two.

Resolved Issue

  • Resolved an issue with the API where the hwloc-15.dll library was missing from the installation.

WRAP 2023.1.1 Release Notes

The most notable extensions and improvements to WRAP are listed by component.

General

Feature

  • Added several example files with measured coverage results using different formats.

Resolved Issues

  • Resolved an issue with the Pan and Zoom check box in the ObsMan Link Check Tool.
  • Resolved issues in propagation models ITU-R P.2001/P.368 and ITU-R P.526, which led to strange transmission loss values when the transmitter or receiver antenna was below/inside an object.
  • Disabled mobile heights settings for trajectory type of calculation area on the Coverage dialog. Added new settings on the Edit Trajectory dialog to allow setting the same altitude for all trajectory points.
  • Fixed a bug in the importing of measured coverage results from text files.
  • Removed a warning message in ObsMan regarding the z value shown when irrelevant.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when using a MapInfo file lacking CRS information.
  • Resolved an issue where the heights in the site and station dialogs were not updated correctly when a sub-site was moved relative to its parent.
  • Resolved errors that occurred when using the geo class option Ground + building height ASL [m].
  • Sample projects paths have been updated in API messages.