Performance-Driven Yield Optimization of High-Frequency Structures by Kriging Surrogates

Abstract

Uncertainty quantification is an important aspect of engineering design, as manufacturing tolerances may affect the characteristics of the structure. Therefore, the quantification of these effects is indispensable for an adequate assessment of design quality. Toward this end, statistical analysis is performed, for reliability reasons, using full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulations. Still, the computational expenditures associated with EM-driven statistical analysis often turn out to be unendurable. Recently, a performance-driven modeling technique has been proposed that may be employed for uncertainty quantification purposes and can enable circumventing the aforementioned difficulties. Capitalizing on this idea, this paper discusses a procedure for fast and simple surrogate-based yield optimization of high-frequency structures. The main concept of the approach is a tailored definition of the surrogate domain, which is based on a couple of pre-optimized designs that reflect the directions featuring maximum variability of the circuit responses with respect to its dimensions. A compact size of such a domain allows for the construction of an accurate metamodel therein using moderate numbers of training samples, and subsequently, it is employyed to enhance the yield. The implementation details are dedicated to a particular type of device. Results obtained for a ring-slot antenna and a miniaturized rat-race coupler imply that the cost of yield optimization process can be reduced to few dozens of EM analyses.