Whitepaper

ANSYS® 5G Mobile/UE Solutions

Electronics Thermal Management of 5G Smartphones
The thermal stability of miniature wireless assemblies in a 5G-capable smartphone or other antenna-enabled 5G user
equipment is important to ensure that the entire system conforms to its expected behavior. Power-hungry applications
in varying environmental conditions can cause swings in device temperatures, leading to thermal cycling effects.
Consider the antenna of a smartphone in Figure 1.
When temperature-dependent material properties are included in the
electrothermal simulation of the phone, the results predict considerable
attenuation. The return loss plot in Figure 1 shows a shift in the receiver’s
resonant frequency due to overheating. Thermal effects can detune the
device. Overheating is risky as it can adversely impact various components
of a phone and the RF/antenna performance. Temperature rise of the PCB
components can also affect the RF/antenna performance. Prolonged use of
the phone drains the battery and the phone itself becomes hot causing loss
of connectivity. Detailed multiphysics analysis of these systems can identify
the potential issues and assist engineers in delivering a reliable, high-
performance device.

Radiated Power 146.28 mW

Accepted Power 310.84 mW
Radiation Efficiency 0.47059

Figure 1. Smartphone receiver frequency shift and attenuation
due to overheating
Multiple electromagnetic loss sources can be mapped to a single smartphone
design to get a comprehensive view of the entire system’s thermal behavior
rather than the thermal performance of individual components of the phone.
The thermal behavior of a smartphone is driven by the heat dissipation of
all the active and passive components in the design. Interactions between
different components can be studied under a variety of different scenarios,
allowing engineers to improve the performance and reliability of the entire
product. Engineers can also dynamically link electrothermal field simulations
of the antennas in the smartphone to circuit-level analyses of the RF amplifier
to predict the return loss and the extent of the detuning.

Figure 2. Dynamic links between EM

losses and RF amplifier circuit

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 5G Mobile / UE Solutions

EM losses from antennas in a smartphone and the RF amplifier circuit

analyses can be dynamically linked to predict the return loss of the combined
model and determine the extent of detuning. The losses can be mapped to
a single design in ANSYS Icepak, a powerful cooling solution for electronic
assemblies. For example, disparate EM loss sources from PCB components,
antennas and the RF amplifier can be mapped to a single smartphone model
in ANSYS Icepak for performing an electrothermal analysis. The simulation
predicts safe operating temperatures of the individual PCB components, the
RF amplifier and the antennas.

Through this analysis, engineers get a full picture of the phone’s thermal
performance. Figure 3 shows one such temperature plot in Icepak. Results
show that the RF amplifier junction temperatures and the antenna (along
with the channel) temperatures range from 50.6°C to 70.6°C.

These solutions allow engineers to simulate the thermal effects on the

antenna performance along with the temperature-dependent amplifier as
evidenced through the return loss plot in Figure 4. The plot depicts the
extent of detuning occurring when temperature-dependent properties of
the materials are included in the analyses. Figure 3. Electrothermal analysis of the phone

A multiphysics simulation of the phone is

important since an antenna’s efficiency could
drop significantly when temperature-dependent
material properties are considered as well as that
of the amplifier. For this design, the temperature
of the phone rises as the amplifier’s power
increases. For this example, the efficiency of the
antenna drops from 47 percent to 32 percent
when temperature feedback is included in the
simulation, resulting in significant detuning of
the input impedance. This valuable insight would
be missed if the design is analyzed with a single-
physics approach.

To boost the reliability of 5G smartphones,

Figure 4: Thermal impact on antenna performance
it is necessary to use multiphysics analyses.
Comprehensive multiphysics solutions from
ANSYS predict the impact of EM and thermal
physics on RF/antenna connectivity problems,
resulting in an accurate assessment of the
UE’s stability.

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 5G Mobile / UE Solutions

Advanced RF Front-End Design

The increasing desire for miniaturization and integration of modules when designing advanced RF front-ends will generate a lot
of heat. Therefore, evaluating thermal integrity of these devices is important. ANSYS offers industry standard thermal simulation
tools to ensure that these wireless products function within safe operating temperatures, thereby improving the thermal
stability of the overall system.

Higher complexity of the RF front-ends (RFFE) for 5G radios presents new challenges for RF circuit design. The necessity of
multimode and multiband devices provides the desired higher data rates to users, but has an impact on power management
(battery life) and requires higher performance RF components such as filters, amplifiers, diplexers, etc.
For example, amplifier design is complicated by the higher peak-to-average power ratios necessitated by the advanced
modulations used for 5G, leading to the need for high linearity to minimize distortion of the signals. Integration often requires
the RFFE and the antennas to be consolidated into the same assembly.

While base station front-ends require wide bandwidth RF switches capable of handling high powers on transmit while
maintaining a low noise figure for receiver RF, the miniaturization of low noise RF switches in the mobile 5G front-ends also
present new challenges for the designer.

ANSYS solutions provide simulation capability for

RF circuits and systems in the time and frequency
domains and dynamic links to electromagnetic
field simulation of the device within the RFFE
model to extract S-parameters for components
that are used in the circuit simulations. Figure 5
shows a complete baseband-to-RFFE transmitter
chain. Both baseband and RF circuits are
included in the simulation model. We show the
simulated eye diagram and output spectrum
with and without noise. Furthermore, parametric
studies can be set up to assess the impact of
individual component characteristics on the
system performance.

Figure 5. Baseband RFE transmitter chain

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Radio Desensitization and EMI Issues of 5G Smartphones

4G and 5G smartphones typically contain multiple short-range and wide-area miniaturized radios assembled and integrated into
the smartphone. Their co-existence within a small form factor can cause receiver desensitization or “de-sense” issues. When an
out-of-channel or out-of-technology signal appears at the receiver input it decreases its sensitivity. The problem is compounded
when multiple RF devices exist in a compact area rich with digital signals that themselves produce RF emissions leading to
receiver desensitization.
Mitigating these issues early is crucial for product development to stay on
schedule and keep potential runaway costs in check. Solving RFI issues through
out-of-channel receiver tests and measurements is costly and time-consuming
and typically occurs late in the design process. Multidomain, multidisciplinary
simulations from ANSYS can reduce costs, especially when applied early and
throughout the development cycle. Together ANSYS HFSS, ANSYS RF Option
and EMIT can analyze and mitigate radio desense and interference problems
of 5G smartphones. Adopting a “Design-By-Desense” simulation workflow will
Figure 6. A 5G help utilize the tools effectively and combine SI, EM, RF and circuit/system
smartphone model
analyses in a single simulation paradigm. Implementing this workflow with
ANSYS tools boosts reliability and performance of wireless devices that are
prone to encounter EMI and RFI problems.

5G equipped mobile user equipment (UE) will provide unheard of real-time

Figure 7. EMI effects induced
on a beamforming antenna array by
a DDR4 bus of a 5G smartphone
broadband data access to customers on the go. At 28 GHz, UE’s can leverage
advanced phased-array beamsteering technologies to provide superior
service in congested environments. With multiple miniaturized radios and
components crammed together in a small area, these devices are susceptible
to desense and electromagnetic interference problems. For example, Figure 6
shows a 5G smartphone model consisting of a phased array antenna, a DDR4
module and a controller among other electronic components packed together
into a small area, which could lead to potential co-existence interference
problems. Using the Design-By-Desense workflow, engineers can simulate the
interference between a wireless array assembly in a 5G capable-smartphone
and the DDR4 memory module. Figure 6 shows the beamforming EMI effects
on the 5G smartphone in conjunction with the eye-diagram. 5G radios and
handheld devices will be prime candidates for possible interference and
desense problems. Using ANSYS tools, these potential causes of interference
and desensitization in 5G capable smartphones and user equipment can be
evaluated and mitigated early in the design cycle.

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 5G Mobile / UE Solutions

Simulation of Hand-Held Devices

When a smartphone is held in the hand, the position
of the fingers and palm can have an effect on the
antenna’s performance. Different phone positions
in the hand can be simulated in ANSYS HFSS using
human body models. Additionally, CAD files of
different hand grips and finger positions can be used
to study the impact on the antenna performance.
These simulations help to obtain a good understanding
of how different positions of the fingers influence the
efficiency of the phone's antenna. These solutions
incorporate the effects of various grips of the hand of Figure 8. Far field radiation patterns at different finger positions
different human body models.

Figure 8 shows the impact on the far field radiation

patterns of the antenna of a 5G-capable smartphone
when held in a hand model with different positions of
the index finger.

Figure 9 shows the magnitude of the current density

on the hand at varying positions of the index finger
when holding a 5G smartphone solved at 28 GHz in
ANSYS HFSS.

These simulations predict the antenna performance for

various phone orientations and hand positions.

Conclusion
ANSYS® 5G provides a compelling set of design solutions
from Mobile UE to the networks and beyond.
Figure 9. Current density on the hand while holding a smartphone
These solutions for mobile user equipment are built on
this set of trusted ANSYS products and capabilities:
• ANSYS HFSS and EMIT – to design and simulate antenna systems, environmental effects on signal propagation and
interference between systems.
• ANSYS Icepak – for maintaining thermal integrity applications on antenna systems and data processing hardware.
• ANSYS Mechanical – for structural reliability of 5G systems upon coupling with Icepak to incorporate electrothermal effects.

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