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Home > Sonnet Suites > Detailed Features

Sonnet Suites - Detailed Features

Read about the New Features added in the most recent release.

Most accurate planar EM solver in the industry

Sonnet provides the industry standard for 3D planar electromagnetic software. Analysis accuracy and speed are combined with powerful features to give you an analysis suite which will consistently provide answers you can trust during the design process. This results in timely products with reduced development costs.

Feature   Sonnet
Pro
Level3
Gold
Level2
Silver
Level2
Basic
Sonnet Lite
FFT Based Solver info Because no numerical integration is required, the FFT-based solver calculates all coupling to full numerical precision, yielding the most robust and accurate analysis.
Accuracy Quantified info Proven monotonic convergence to an exact solution - to less than 0.1% error.
Pushes the Limits   Asymptotically exact analyses are provided for ultra-thin dielectrics and vias.
Noise Free Plots   High accuracy current distributions means high accuracy results.
Dynamic Range info Sonnet pushes the limit to over 100 dB dynamic range.
Accurate Loss   Accurate frequency-dependent metal and dielectric loss. 
Reliable   State-of-the-art technology used for testing.
Multi-layer   Layer-to-layer coupling calculated at full precision for all layers.
Metal Levels Allowed   Unlimited 3 + GND 2 + GND 2 + GND 2 + GND
Published Papers info Sonnet's solver (em) is quoted in more technical papers than any other planar EM solver.
Documented Approach info Sonnet's theory is published in the open domain. No hidden mysteries concerning the technical method used.
Via modeling info Sonnet calculates electromagnetic effects of arbitrarily placed vias embedded in planar dielectric
Anisotropic Materials info yes          
Rough Metal Modeling info yes          
Circuit Ports   Unlimited Unlimited 8 6 6
Internal Ports   Accurate modeling at polygon edge where the port is located with coupling between all components accounted for.
Co-calibrated™ Ports info yes yes yes      
Ideal Components info yes yes yes yes 3
Components Vendor SMD Models info yes yes        
TrueVolume info yes          

Fast and Efficient for Demanding Applications

For a given level of analysis accuracy, Sonnet provides one to two orders of magnitude speed advantage over other planar EM software packages. Sonnet uses the most accurate and fastest frequency domain technology in the industry.

Feature   Sonnet
Pro
Level3
Gold
Level2
Silver
Level2
Basic
Sonnet Lite
Adaptive Band Synthesis (ABS) info With Sonnet’s unique ABS technique, you can achieve detailed simulation results in a small fraction of the time required by point-by-point EM simulation
Efficient for Multi-Layer Circuits   Extra dielectric layers have little or no impact on simulation time. Circuits with hundreds (at the Pro level) of layers are reasonable.
Flexible Mesh   You can specify coarse mesh in non-critical locations to save analysis time.
Conformal Mesh info yes          
Enhanced Meshing info The meshing engine efficiently meshes regions around vias, diagonal transmission lines and edges, and over extended ground planes.
RFIC Micro Via Array Simpification info yes+ yes+ yes+ yes+ yes+
Parallel Processing for Multicore Processors info yes          
emCluster® (Distributed Computing) info option          
Remote em Processing info yes          
Analysis Memory Allowed   Unlimited 2 GB 256MB 128 MB 64 MB

Easy to Use and Learn

Sonnet is designed by RF engineers who understand your unique design challenges and who add features that streamline your high frequency design process.  Our user-oriented features are designed to simplify your high frequency engineering tasks and make your job easier.

We take the mystery out of electromagnetics and provide features that make it easy to learn without requiring a Ph.D. in electromagnetics. Most users are up and running Sonnet in less than an hour. All levels of the Sonnet Suites provide both feature-based context sensitive help and concept-based manuals that really help in you getting started with tutorials and explanation of background theory. You also get tutorials and example files.

Feature   Sonnet
Pro
Level3
Gold
Level2
Silver
Level2
Basic
Sonnet Lite
Easy to use user interface   Geometry editor designed to be easy to learn and to use.
AWR Microwave Office Interface info option option option option
Improved Keysight ADS Interface info option option option option
Keysight Genesys Interface   Available from Keysight
Cadence Virtuoso Interface info option          
DXF Translator info option yes yes yes yes  
GDSII Translator info yes option option option    
Gerber/ODB++ Translator info option option option option    
SonnetLab toolbox for MATLAB info Free MATLAB® toolbox that enables users to control and automate Sonnet's 3D planar electromagnetic simulator.
Broadband Spice info option option option option    
Transmission Line Model Extraction info Provides transmission line models for multi-conductor 2.5D transmission lines.
Inductor Model Extractor info option option option option    
DC S-Parameters   yes          
Industry Standard Response File Formats info Output formats include Touchstone, Data Bank, and SPICE.
Box Resonance Detection info Check your packages for resonances ahead of time.
Libraries info Includes libraries of standard materials for Dielectrics and Metals.
Dimension Callouts info Dimension Callouts let you read and watch dimensions directly.
Palette of Standard Geometries info Standard artwork elements can be quickly and automatically created
Example Browser info Quickly find examples that are relevant to your work.
Visual Continuity Checker info Check your model for unintentional opens and shorts.
3D Viewer info View your model and current density in 3D.
Response Viewer info Sonnet provides an easy-to-use tool for presenting S-, Y-, and Z-parameter data in either Smith chart or Cartesian plot format.
Plot Equation Curves info Predefined equations such as inductance, Q, capacitance, power ratios and phase difference. (Starting with Level 2 Basic you can define your own custom equations)
Far-field Radiation Pattern Display info option option option option    
Technology Layers info Groups common attributes such as orginal CAD drawing layer, physical location within the technology stackup, metal properties & meshing controls.
Stackup Manager info Provides an intuitive interface for creating or editing the process stackup.

Versatile and Flexible

Sonnet is designed to solve your most difficult problems within a tight schedule and with limited resources. The following features provide the versatility and flexibility you need to get the job done.

Feature   Sonnet
Pro
Level3
Gold
Level2
Silver
Level2
Basic
Sonnet Lite
Ideal Components info yes yes yes yes 3
Components Vendor SMD Models info yes yes
Flexible ports   Standard ports, de-embedded internal ports, even-mode and odd-mode ports.
Diagonal Ports and Componets info yes All Versions allow rotated components.
Independent Reference Planes info yes
Thick Metal info yes yes yes yes    
Uniaxially Anisotropic Dielectric Modeling info yes          
Causal Dielectric Modeling   yes yes yes yes    
Circuit Parameters info With Dimension Parameters, you can easily modify lengths, widths and gaps.
Variables info Many circuit properties and geometry parameters can be driven by variables.
Equation-Driven Parameters info All variables can be set to equations and can be frequency dependent.
Material Parameters info Control your materials parametrically using variables to control material properties and thicknesses, as well as for lumped element values.
Parameter Sweeps info unlimited 4 2 2 1
Circuit Optimization info unlimited 4 2 2 1  
Automated User-Guided Circuit Subdivision info yes yes yes      
Hybrid Netlists info Analyze networks consisting of Sonnet geometry projects, lumped elements, ideal transmission lines and external data files such as S-parameters.
Flexible Licensing   Support of single-user and multi-user network environments, including floating licensing at the Professional level.     
OS Supported info
PC Windows, Linux
PC Windows

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