Dr. Larry Williams of ANSYS, Inc.

In this forward-looking keynote, hear ANSYS Director of Product Management Dr. Larry Williams share insights on how high-performance electronic simulation has been turned inside out with electromagnetic field simulation.  At DesignCon 2017, the founder of Ansoft Corporation (acquired by ANSYS) Dr. Zoltan Cendes delivered a keynote presentation that first articulated the concept.  Modern simulation has physics-based solvers in the foreground supported by circuit and system simulation rather than the other way around.  Dr. Williams will highlight the growth of advanced signal integrity analysis, from the creation of HFSS to the automated electronic assembly simulation of today.  He will conclude with his vision on what the future will bring and how it will impact organizations that embrace it.

ANSYS electromagnetic simulation is founded on the vision that all electronic design is fundamentally based on Maxwell’s Equations and thus solving them directly would one day become the basis for the highest performance design.  That day is today.  Electromagnetic simulation has evolved to the point where entire electronic systems can be simulated from a layout assembly.  Advanced numerical methods, high-performance computing, new technologies for handling massive EDA data in an automated way, and multiphysics for thermal and stress are all being used for electronic design. 

The new era permits circuit and system analysis to be part of the broader EM assembly solution rather than the other way around.  Transient circuit analysis will be run directly from the layout.  The idea is to “assemble” an electronic system with IC packages, printed circuit boards, connectors, and cables just as you would in the real world, then perform analysis of that system using appropriate technology. 

Signal integrity analysis has therefore been turned inside out, where we solve “Big EM” systems punctuated by isolated nonlinear driver/receiver circuits solved by circuit simulation.  The physics is primary, circuits is secondary, providing accurate simulation of high-speed devices.

Organizations are streamlining their processes to include this rapid, accurate simulation, and strong executive buy-in makes the change possible.  A CTO can recalibrate his entire team by setting a 10x design turnaround goal.  Automation of simulation is a huge opportunity for design teams to meet that challenge.

Biography:

Dr. Larry Williams is Director of Product Management at ANSYS Inc., Electronics Business Unit.  He is responsible for the strategic direction of the company’s electrical and electronics products, including the High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) finite element simulator.  Dr. Williams is an expert in the application of electromagnetic field simulation to the design of antennas, microwave components, and high-speed electronics.  He has over 20 years’ experience in the fields of electromagnetics and communications engineering, has delivered technical lectures internationally, and has published numerous technical papers on the subject.  He and his co-authors won the prestigious H.A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 1995, and the best paper award at DesignCon 2005.  He serves on the UC Irvine Henry Samueli School of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board and on the California State Polytechnic University Electrical Engineering Department Advisory Board.

Dr. Williams held various senior engineering positions in the Engineering Division of Hughes Aircraft Company, Radar Systems Group, where he was responsible for hardware design and development of advanced active phased array radar antennas, array element and aperture design, associated microwave subsystems, and antenna metrology. 

He received his Masters, Engineers, and Ph.D. degrees from UCLA in 1989, 1993 and 1995, respectively.

Email:

Address:ANSYS Inc., 3240 El Camino Real, Suite 290, Irvine, California, United States, 92602