Adding a Q3D Equivalent Circuit Coupling Component

Follow this procedure to add a Q3D SML Dynamic Equivalent Circuit component to a Twin Builder design.

1. On the Twin Builder main menu, select Add Component > Q3D Dynamic Component > Add Equivalent Circuit. The Q3D SML Dynamic Coupling dialog box appears.
2. Specify a Name for the component. See Names of Components and Variables for naming conventions.
3. In the Project & Design panel, enter the project File. Click to find and select the Q3D file (*.q3dx or *.aedt) that you want to use.

   The selected project loads into its application.

4. Based on the Source file and the Link Type (Q3D Equivalent Circuit Link), Twin Builder communicates with Q3D, retrieves the applicable Design, Solution, and Reduced Matrix information, and populates the corresponding menus with the information.

   The dialog box’s Information tab updates to show the Number of Conservative Pins and various other Quantities present in the selected design. You can choose to add pins for listed Quantities.

5. After you select the Source file, select the design you want to use in the coupled design from the list in the Design drop-down list.
6. Select the desired solution from the Solution drop-down list.
7. Select the Reduced Matrix to use with the component during simulation.
8. For 2D designs, a Depth field displays. Enter a positive number for the design length in this field. The default unit of length is the meter. You can change this to any valid unit of length ("ft" or "cm," for example). If you omit the unit of length, the component uses the default unit of length set in the Default Units tab of the General Options dialog box.
   Note:

   Depth is controlled based on the COMPONENT_DEPTH design quantity of the component instance, so changes will propagate only by changing this property either on the Quantities tab of the component's Properties dialog box or in the Depth field in the coupling component dialog box. However, in designs created or saved in Twin Builder, the quantity is shown as DEPTH_FROM_SIMPLORER.

9. Optionally, on the Options tab:

1. Select Save project after use to have the linked project file saved by its application after co-simulation is completed.
2. Select Unload project after use to have the linked project file closed by its application after co-simulation is completed.
3. Select Create static link to create a static link and enable Clear Static Cache.
   • If Create static link is not selected, Twin Builder obtains sml/netlist information from Q3D every time a simulation analysis is run, even if no parameter has changed. This is the default behavior.
   • If Create static link is selected, Twin Builder obtains sml/netlist information from Q3D only if a parameter value has changed since the previous simulation run. Click Clear Static Cache to delete the sml/netlist information currently stored in Twin Builder. The next simulation run will then obtain fresh sml/netlist information from Q3D and store it in Twin Builder.

10. Choose to show either the Pin Name or Pin Description on the new component. By default, pin names are shown.
    Note:

    Pin description properties are always added to the component regardless of whether they are selected to be shown with pins.

• If you chose Pin Description when adding the component, you can subsequently enable individual pin names. Open the component symbol in the symbol editor, delete a pin’s description, double-click the pin and enable ShowName in the pin properties dialog box.
• If you chose Pin Name when adding the component, you can subsequently hide individual pin names. Open the component symbol in the symbol editor, double-click a pin and disable ShowName in the pin properties dialog box. You can then add descriptive text to the pin using the editor’s Draw > Text tool.

11. When finished click OK to accept the values and close the dialog box.
12. Place the component on the schematic sheet.
13. After placing the component on a sheet, its Properties dialog box may be opened for configuration of the component.

The dynamic coupling component configuration is saved with the schematic sheet. Twin Builder must establish a link to the associated application each time you run a simulation.