-------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sim4Life V5.0 Release Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Release Date: 20.06.2019 Sim4Life V5.0 with once again greater simulation power! An integrated novel electromagnetics unstructured finite element method (FEM) low frequency solver suite combined with mesher engines enable the meshing of highly complex TCAD objects embedded in detailed anatomical environments such as the latest functionalized ViP models. The solvers are HPC-enabled, leading to a substantial increase in both speed and accuracy. Special emphasis has been put on GUI performance boosts in V5.0, making simulations of complex neurostimulation applications an every-day task in Sim4Life. The new release further features enhancements of our 5G Toolkit, GUI/usability extensions, HPC/GPU boosts, data analysis/post-processing enhancements and new (neuro-)functionalized Virtual Population models for more complex and detailed simulations. Version 5.0 also includes all the benefits for efficient electromagnetic device design as described in the release of Sim4Life's sub-package, SEMCAD X Matterhorn V18.0. This document summarizes the features, modules, enhancements, known bugs, workarounds, and other important issues to be aware of in this release. -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Installation Requirements 2. Supported OS 3. New Features & Enhancements 3.1. Modeling 3.2. Simulation 3.3. Analysis 3.4. Modules 3.5. HPC Computing 3.6. Python 3.7. Interface 4. List of Main Bugs (Selection) Fixed Since Last Release 5. Known Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Installation Requirements -------------------------------------------------------------------- - Administrator rights are required during the installation process. - NVIDIA graphics card, with support for OpenGL versions higher than v3.0. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Supported OS -------------------------------------------------------------------- - Windows Server 2012 R2 - Windows 7 64 bit - Windows 8 64 bit - Windows 8.1 64 bit - Windows 10 64 bit Sim4Life V5.0 uses Acceleware's Tauranga library version 11.1.13. Please get the latest NVIDIA driver for your hardware from the Acceleware website: https://acceleware.com/fdtd-11.1.13. Please note that only NVIDIA GPUs with CUDA Compute Capability 1.3 or higher are supported by the Sim4Life CUDA solver (e.g., Tesla C10XX). The AXE solver supports only CUDA Compute Capability >= 2.0. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. New Features & Enhancements -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1. Modeling - New extensive meshing suite to support the EM unstructured FEM LF solvers. - Tetrahedral volume mesher based on VKI engine. - Mesh import tools for third-party meshes (e.g., VTK vtu, EXODUS, NASTRAN). - 2D mesher to create surface meshes of complex structures. - Local remeshing tool to adapt surface or volume meshes to improve mesh quality. - Mesh refinement tool to refine the overall mesh or a sub-volume. - Mesh extrusion tool to extrude 2D meshes along a trajectory into prismatic/hexahedral based elongated structures. - Thin layer insertion tool to insert thin layers at interfaces between meshed regions. - Robust mesh viewer. - Mesh quality inspector (wide range of metrics and rapid visualization of low-quality element locations requiring further processing). - Korean male Jeduk V3.1: new human anatomical ViP model. 3.2. Simulation - EM unstructured finite element method (FEM) low frequency solver suite (Electrostatic and Electro quasi-static, Magnetostatic and Magneto quasi-static). - MPI parallelization of low-frequency FEM solvers. - Support for semi-insulating thin layers and inhomogeneous, anisotropic electrical conductivity distributions. - Image-based assignment of inhomogeneous conductivity tensors, e.g., based on diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) data. - Unstructured Thermal solver. - Possibility to link T-NEURO simulations to post-processing analysis results (neurostimulation investigations based on arbitrary field distributions as electromagnetic sources). - Improved performance and speedup of simulation workflows involving a large number of neurons and complex scenarios. 3.3. Analysis - Cumulative Distribution algorithm for any dataset expressed in spherical coordinates, e.g., far-field quantities, which can be used to evaluate the coverage capability of an antenna array. - Two new figures of merit computed by the radiation evaluator for antenna simulations: the Front/Back ratio and the Side Lobe Level. - Maximum Intensity Projection viewer allowing to visualize a 3D field distribution projected onto a 2D plane. - Generic interpolation and conversion to cell and point data is now faster by at least a factor of 50. - Handling and visualization of unstructured result fields. 3.4. Modules 3.4.1 5G Toolkit - New Aggregate algorithm to gather figures of merit of phased-array antennas (e.g., gain or polarization) across a user-defined range of configurations. - CDF algorithm for any dataset expressed in spherical coordinates to evaluate the coverage capability of an antenna array. - Two additional far-field figures of merit: the front/back ratio and the side lobe level. 3.5. HPC Computing - NVIDIA Volta generation GPU architecture support, e.g., supporting GPUs like Titan V, Quadro GV100, Tesla V100, etc. - NVIDIA Turing generation GPU architecture support, e.g., supporting GPUs like RTX 2080 Ti. 3.6. Python - Several improvements on the Sim4Life Python API. - New API modules for the meshing suite and the unstructured low-frequency solvers. - The end of life (EOL) date for Python 2.7, which is currently included in Sim4Life, has been announced as for 2020. In addition, there is a growing demand from our users for the latest Python 3 framework. To accommodate this need, Python 3 will be made available with in Sim4Life by end of 2019. 3.7. Interface - Major improvements to increase the performance of the GUI (model and simulation trees) when handling hundreds of thousands of objects. - Improvement to the simulation outline view to show a secondary tree view in the explorer window. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. List of Main Bugs (Selection) Fixed Since V4.4 Release -------------------------------------------------------------------- - Case 117592: Fix the wrong default values of electrophysiological fiber parameters - Case 115436: Fix the bug causing freezes in the application when Redo clicked in Model tab - Case 115301: Fix the bug causing wrong SDP values in the maximum exposure algorithm - Case 114056: Restoring missing Python API functions in the IMSAFE module - Case 112913: Fix the bug in the Field Data Options of the Far Field Gain Spherical Field Viewer - Case 112839: Fix the bug preventing the change of color of the highlighted value in the colorbar - Case 112711: Fix the bug of mixing results from different neurons in Titration Table from Sweeper/Optimizer - Case 117335: Restoring missing dongle libraries in Linux distribution of iSolve - Case 111670: Fix the bug preventing SEMCAD X 14.x Batch Importer to work - Case 111449: Fix in MaxExposure: amplitudes/phases not shown for SDP in detailed report - Case 111423: Fix in IMAnalytics: inconsistent values of B1 limits (peak vs r.m.s) - Case 110876: Fix the bug causing occasional deletion of results in coupled simulations - Case 110118: Fix the bug preventing the selection of lines in 3D window when Rectangle selection tool used - Case 109977: Fix the bug in the results of the gradient coil designer - Case 101901: Fix GUI issues for Phased Array tool w/ Simulation Combiner (scrollbar in Properties window missing) - Case 99750: Fix the bug causing variables update in the Optimizer even the relevant checkbox was disabled -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Known Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------- - Case 32807: Instability for some rare dispersive material configurations - Case 40481: Python memory usage occasionally still occupied after resetting analysis - Case 47035: Random problems in visualization of Dispersive Viewer - Case 54000: Random element appearing in Gridder - Case 61881: Rare issue with distribution of the simulation job to the GPUs when using CUDA - Case 86865: Job priorities do not correspond to the job execution - Case 90292: Under-performance of CUDA solver compared to Sim4Life V3.4 - Case 98764: Potentially decreased accuracy in rare specific events for sensor combiner of Far-field sensor