Hierarchical cascading in two-dimensional finite element method simulation of acoustic wave filter devices

1. A method, comprising:

hierarchically cascading, by a computing system, sets of adjacent unit blocks of a physical model of a microwave acoustic wave (AW) structure partitioned into a plurality of unit blocks into a combined single block having characteristics based on characteristics of a first unit block of the plurality of unit blocks; and

optimizing, by the computing system, the AW structure to provide an optimized design based on a comparison of a frequency response of the combined single block to a set of frequency response requirements of the AW structure, the optimized design serving as an input to a manufacturing process,

wherein the hierarchically cascading of the sets of the adjacent unit blocks into the combined single block further comprises:

(a) combining sets of adjacent unit blocks at a current hierarchical level to create cascaded unit blocks at a next hierarchical level; and

(b) repeating step (a) for sets of adjacent unit blocks for the next hierarchical level until the combined single block is created, wherein each of the unit blocks is either an original unit block or a previously cascaded unit block.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the computing system, the characteristics of the first unit block; and

determining, by the computing system from the characteristics of the first unit block, characteristics of the unit blocks of the first plurality of unit blocks other than the first unit block.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining characteristics of the unit blocks of the first plurality of unit blocks other than the first unit block further comprises:

deriving, by the computing system, electromechanical characteristics for each unit block based on electrical connections to the unit blocks of the first plurality of unit blocks other than the first unit block.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the characteristics of the first unit block or the unit blocks other than the first unit block uses a Finite Element Method (FEM).

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the characteristics for a block using the FEM comprises:

generating an A-matrix having left-side boundary degrees of freedom (DOFs), right-side boundary DOFs, and internal DOFs; and

removing the internal DOFs from the A-matrix to generate a B-matrix comprising only the left-side boundary DOFs and the right-side boundary DOFs.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the characteristics of each of the unit blocks other than the first unit block is represented by a B-matrix derived from B-matrix of the first unit block.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

identifying a first set of adjacent unit blocks;

cascading the first set of adjacent unit blocks into a first cascaded unit block by:

combining the B-matrices of the respective adjacent unit blocks of the first set into a first C-matrix having left-side boundary DOFs corresponding to the left-side boundary DOFs of a left one of the adjacent unit blocks, right-side boundary DOFs corresponding to a right one of the adjacent unit blocks, and internal DOFs corresponding to at least one shared edge between the adjacent unit blocks; and

reducing the first C-matrix by removing the internal DOFs from the first C-matrix to a first new cascaded B-matrix of a first cascaded unit block comprising only left-side boundary DOFs and right-side boundary DOFs.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein any of the unit blocks that are not combined at the current hierarchical level are transferred from the current hierarchical level to the next hierarchical level.

9. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein a first unit block has previously computed characteristics, and at least one other of the unit blocks is physically and electrically identical to the first unit block, and

wherein the method further comprising referencing the first unit block to assume the previously computed characteristics for the at least one other unit block when combining the sets of adjacent unit blocks at the current hierarchical level.

10. A filter design system, comprising:

a memory device storing a hierarchical cascading program; and

a processor, executing the hierarchical cascading program, configured to:

hierarchically cascade sets of adjacent unit blocks of a physical model of a microwave acoustic wave (AW) structure partitioned into a plurality of unit blocks into a combined single block having characteristics based on characteristics of a first unit block of the plurality of unit blocks, and

optimize the AW structure to provide an optimized design based on a comparison of a frequency response of the combined single block to a set of frequency response requirements of the AW structure, the optimized design serving as an input to a manufacturing process

wherein the processor is further configured to:

(a) combine sets of adjacent unit blocks at a current hierarchical level to create cascaded unit blocks at a next hierarchical level; and

(b) repeat step (a) for sets of adjacent unit blocks for the next hierarchical level until the combined single block is created, wherein each of the unit blocks is either an original unit block or a previously cascaded unit block.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine the characteristics of the first unit block; and

determine, from the characteristics of the first unit block, characteristics of the unit blocks of the first plurality of unit blocks other than the first unit block.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

derive electromechanical characteristics for each unit block based on electrical connections to the unit blocks of the first plurality of unit blocks other than the first unit block.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the characteristics of the first unit block or the unit blocks other than the first unit block using a Finite Element Method (FEM).

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the characteristics of a unit block by:

generating an A-matrix having left-side boundary degrees of freedom (DOFs), right-side boundary DOFs, and internal DOFs; and

removing the internal DOFs from the A-matrix to generate a B-matrix comprising only the left-side boundary DOFs and the right-side boundary DOFs.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the characteristics of each of the unit blocks other than the first unit block is represented by a B-matrix derived from B-matrix of the first unit block.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify a first set of adjacent unit blocks;

cascade the first set of adjacent unit blocks into a first cascaded unit block by:

combining the B-matrices of the respective adjacent unit blocks of the first set into a first C-matrix having left-side boundary DOFs corresponding to the left-side boundary DOFs of a left one of the adjacent unit blocks, right-side boundary DOFs corresponding to a right one of the adjacent unit blocks, and internal DOFs corresponding to at least one shared edge between the adjacent unit blocks; and

reducing the first C-matrix by removing the internal DOFs from the first C-matrix to a first new cascaded B-matrix of a first cascaded unit block comprising only left-side boundary DOFs and right-side boundary DOFs.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein any of the unit blocks that are not combined at the current hierarchical level are transferred from the current hierarchical level to the next hierarchical level.

18. The system of claim 10 ,

wherein a first unit block has previously computed characteristics, and at least one other of the unit blocks is physically and electrically identical to the first unit block, and

wherein the processor is further configured to reference the first unit block to assume the previously computed characteristics for the at least one other unit block when combining the sets of adjacent unit blocks at the current hierarchical level.