A parallel FDTD algorithm for the solution of Maxwell's equations with nearly PML absorbing boundary conditions

Abstract

A parallel three dimensional (3-D) finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm for the solution of Maxwell's equations with nearly perfectly matched layer (NPML) absorbing boundary conditions is presented. In the proposed algorithm, the FDTD computational domain is divided into subdomains using two-dimensional topology and the interprocessor communication operations between the neighboring subdomains are carried out by using the message passing interface (MPI) library. The performance of the proposed parallel algorithm has been studied by using a point source radiating in 3-D domains. It has been observed that the proposed parallel system provides a speed up factor of 13.39 with 16 PCs for 240 x 240 x 40 domain size. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.