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Ansoft announced on June 9, 1998, that its upcoming HFSS Version 6.0 would include new matrix-solver technology and a library of parameterized standard geometries. The most clearly described feature was a macro workflow: record drawing and simulation steps in an editable text file, then replay them with prompts for geometry dimensions. The announcement described intended uses for parametric studies, but supplied no solver algorithm or performance benchmarks.
What Ansoft announced for HFSS 6.0
Ansoft’s June 9, 1998 announcement covered two additions to the planned release: new matrix-solver technology and a macro-based library of standard geometries. The report does not explain how the solver was designed or provide measured comparisons against an earlier solver. EE Times’ June 12, 1998 report reproduces the announcement.
The library drew on HFSS 6.0’s macro-recording and playback features. Ansoft described the workflow this way: “The Version 6.0 macro recording and playback features allow users to log an entire drawing and simulation session to an ASCII text file.” The report names no individual speaker; attribute the statement to Ansoft’s announcement as reproduced by EE Times.
How the parameterized macro workflow worked
- Record: Capture drawing and simulation operations in an ASCII text file.
- Edit: Modify the file to create or adapt a macro for the geometry being modeled.
- Replay: Run the macro; it can prompt the user for geometry dimensions during playback.
- Vary and simulate: Use changed dimensions to run parametric simulations around a nominal structure.
Ansoft said this approach could produce design curves and geometric-sensitivity information, and help users seek an optimal design. Those are capabilities claimed in the announcement, not independently reported test results.
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Geometries included in the announced library
The announcement listed these examples of standard geometries:
- Microstrip tee junctions and broadside-coupled lines
- Mitered and unmitered bends, plus radial and asymmetric bends
- Coaxial lines with prescribed characteristic impedance
- Round and square spirals
- Magic tees, patch antennas, and helix geometries
The list illustrates the library’s intended range, from transmission-line structures to antenna geometries; the report does not provide a complete catalog or detailed instructions for each model.
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What the announcement does—and does not—establish about the solver
The June report confirms that Ansoft planned to include new matrix-solver technology, but it does not identify the algorithm, solver settings, test problems, or measured changes in speed, memory use, or accuracy. It therefore supports describing a planned feature, not claiming a quantified improvement.
A separate EE Times account of HFSS 5.0 in February 1997 reported that release paired adaptive meshing with an advanced matrix solver and attributed a “ten times speed-up” in many cases to Ansoft. The cited passage gives no benchmark conditions, and the figure applies to the Version 5.0 claim—not HFSS 6.0. EE Times’ HFSS 5.0 report is useful only as earlier product context.
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Release timing and platforms as reported in 1998
When the June announcement appeared, HFSS 6.0 was in beta, and Ansoft expected the final release to commence in the following weeks. The report listed popular Unix workstations and PCs running Windows NT, Windows 95, and Windows 98. These details describe the planned 1998 release and are not guidance about present-day availability or compatibility.
For broader release context, EE Times’ February 1998 HFSS 6.0 overview described the product as a full-wave, finite-element-based electromagnetic simulator for computing S-parameters and fields in passive three-dimensional structures. It also covered a graphical interface, an integrated solid modeler based on Spatial Technology’s ACIS kernel, macro recording and scripting, and other postprocessing and antenna-analysis capabilities. That overview does not fill in the June announcement’s missing solver design or benchmark evidence. Read the February 1998 HFSS 6.0 overview.
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