The software simulates the behavior of high-frequency components, PCBs, and multifunction subsystems. Selecting software simulation tools takes some time at Ansys, perhaps best known by RF/microwave designers for its High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) full-wave 3D EM simulation software. This helps facilitate the pursuit for the best models for a simulation. Building accurate models takes time to match simulated performance to measurements of the new component-CAD software suppliers can’t be expected to keep track of every new IC and component on the market.įortunately, CAD tools from many major suppliers are backed by companies specializing in software models compatible with individual circuit simulators and full CAD software suites. While suppliers of CAD design tools attempt to back their simulators with comprehensive model libraries, new RF/microwave components are introduced almost daily. The multiple models must work together so that the simulated performance of the combination tracks an amplitude-vs.-frequency plot of the measured performance of a VCO constructed from those same building blocks. Each of the VCO’s component parts is a separate model. When sorting through the large number of RF design tools on the market, model compatibility is essential if component models, such as filters and oscillators, will be part of a system-level simulation of a receiver using those filters and oscillators (along with many other component models).Įven at the component level, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCOs) may consist of several transistors and a varactor diode to change the component’s frequency as a function of tuning voltage. Models created by CAD design tools often consist of device parameters, such as scattering (S) parameters, or Spice parameters, so that they can be interchanged from one software design tool to the next. It helps define the requirements for other components within the system, such as power amplifiers (PAs) and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). The usefulness of an EM simulator that can accelerate the design of a compact antenna is extended even further when the files or models representing the antenna are compatible with a system-level CAD simulator. In addition, connectivity is an important capability between and among modern CAD software tools. However, it may lack the accuracy and resolution to simulate the EM fields generated by an antenna design meant for the smaller wavelengths at mmWave frequencies. A 3D EM simulator may enable precise visualization of the EM fields around different antenna structures within the RF/microwave frequency range. While they’re easy to operate and can speed the design of a specific component, they fall short for many simulation chores such as modeling PCBs and systems.Īnticipation of future needs also should be part of this sorting process. Some simulators are geared for only one type of component, such as antennas or filters. They can be used at component, circuit, or system level for simulations. Many CAD software programs are based on analysis of the electromagnetic (EM) fields around a conducting structure, such as a solder joint or transmission line, by solving Maxwell’s equations. Selecting a CAD software program from the many available choices requires some work to narrow the field. The latest high-frequency CAD tools support models well into the mmWave range (30 to 300 GHz), enabling simulation of a design’s performance whether at component, device, circuit, or even system level. Thus, more components and devices are needed to support mmWave applications.Ĭomputer-aided-design (CAD) software tools help create innovative designs at higher frequencies, modeling the behavior of components, devices, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and systems before expensive mistakes can be made. As electronic applications continue to consume frequency spectrum, use of millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies is becoming more common, as in advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) radars and 5G wireless communications systems. High-frequency design tools are evolving much like the computers that run them, growing in performance and versatility over time.
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