LC is simulation tool for the analysis of the electromagnetic
properties of electrical interconnects. The full three-dimensional
circuit is modeled, so all interactions are automatically included in
the solution. The model can be excited by numerous types of waveforms,
and the transient response measured using common values such as
voltage and current. Circuit parameters such as inductance,
capacitance, and impedance can be derived from the transient response,
and frequency-domain results such as S-parameters can also be
calculated. Far field radiation patterns can be obtained.

LC is primarily an electromagnetic simulation and uses the
Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FD-TD) technique. FD-TD is a full wave
explicit solution of Maxwell's equations in three dimensions. In FD-TD,
the rectangular volume enclosing the model is discretized into a large
number of small cells, which may be uniformly-sized, or may vary in size
within the simulation space. The dielectric, permeable, lossy, and
conducting material properties of each cell are incorporated into the
field updates, which are performed iteratively in small time steps.

An interface between the electromagnetic simulation and the circuit
simulation program SPICE is available within LC. This allows the user
to add arbitrary SPICE circuits, such as drivers and loads, into the
interconnect model. The interconnect performance is calculated using
FD-TD while the lumped-element circuits are evaluated by SPICE.