Genesys Products - Spectrasys Simulation Module

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Genesys Spectrasys is an RF system simulator that provides an innovative use model to create better designs, lower project risk, and save time and prototyping costs by quickly diagnosing RF analog effects that are difficult or impossible to characterize with other methods.

Create superior RF system architectures

Genesys Spectrasys provides unique value in the early phases of RF system design, where critical commitments are made to architectures, frequencies, and component partitioning. It saves time by accounting for key analog effects while providing one-click graphical diagnosis of RF system performance. It overcomes key limitations of spreadsheets, math & DSP engines, and circuit simulators. Other simulation approaches have either limited model sets, miss analog effects entirely, or make analog problems very difficult to isolate and diagnose. Spectrasys allows RF system designers to identify and correct poor architecture choices early in the design, before commitments are made to the frequency plan, board area, layout, bill of materials, and performance. Spectrasys is used in fields as diverse as wireless applications, aerospace/defense, satellite communications, radars, base stations with complex PA configurations, medical, consumer, and many other industries.

See analog effects that other simulators ignore

Spectrasys operates over the continuous frequency range from DC to many GHz. It is not constrained to CW tones, or narrowly-defined assumptions about bandwidths, carrier frequencies, impedance, and signal correlation that are built into other approaches. Harmonics, intermods, spurs, and noise are free to propagate in every direction, even out of band, reinforce or cancel, and create harmonics themselves. Spectrasys also operates with RF linear-simulator accuracy, allowing impedances, mismatch, phase distortion, physical parasitics, leakage terms, coupling, and non-idealities. Very early in the design, Spectrasys gives you the power to see that a system architecture may not be practical, or that an expensive part has been over-specified. Other simulators ignore the analog effects that help you differentiate your RF system from your competition.

1-click diagnostic power

Spectrasys tracks the signal path of each unique spectral frequency component, even higher order terms that overlap on the same frequency, or below the noise floor. With a click of the mouse at any node, the user can plot the spectrum at that location, and use the mouse to explore the origin of the spur, its order, and the path it took thru the system to arrive at that location. This intuitive diagnostic capability is simply not possible with text-based systems. RF System Budget analysis is also 1 mouse-click, with no equations to write. Spectrasys is generations ahead of other approaches. Even if you own another system tool for other tasks (such as signal processing, or linearization), you should consider Spectrasys.

Built-in models and measurements to fit your design task

With > 100 pre-defined system measurements, and dozens of power and voltage-based behavioral models, designers do not need to spend time writing homegrown code, when they can use a dedicated, graphical tool designed for the RF system design task. High-quality designs can be produced quickly, saving prototyping cycles, costly troubleshooting, and project risk.

Most RF system designers are not aware that a new class of tool has been created specifically to meet this design requirement.

Regardless of the EDA environment used, or existing RF system design tools for verifying an already-completed RF System designs, designers will benefit from Spectrasys because they can eliminate poor RF architecture choices early, before such choices become costly adventures in troubleshooting.

Account for physical model imperfections

Spectrasys builds on top of Genesys Core, which provides essential RF circuit design tools like physical models, parts libraries that add a practical realism at the system level. Scripting, sweeps, interactive tuning, pre-defined plots, optimization, and other features also work at the system level. They allow system integrators to bring physical design imperfections up the RF architecture level in order to quickly gauge the robustness of the architecture.

Spectrasys is generations ahead of other tools

After more than 10 product releases, Genesys Spectrasys is reliable and accounts for far more analog hardware effects than other system tools. Here is a short list of effects that Spectrasys helps you characterize and overcome, along with other unique capabilities:

• Physical design degradations, leakages, couplings, parasitics that ruin image cancellation techniques and allow spurs to propagate. Co-simulation of board effects with full linear & EM simulators makes this possible.
• Harmonics, intermods, and spurs become real signals themselves Complex topologies with branches, feedback, subcircuit hierarchy, library parts, and multiple frequencies on the same path
• Definable, frequency-dependent "paths" with unique channel bandwidths
• Spectral folding due to A-D converters
• Voltages/Currents/Impedances and spectral densities of IC's, in addition to definitions and measurements based on 50-ohm power levels
• High order distortion terms: 5th,7th, 9th, up to 19th orders, as well as even orders at microwave frequencies
• Complex, frequency-dependent impedances throughout the system, even for harmonics and spurs
• Noise and interferers: SSB noise, phase noise, source coherency and multiple interferers in-band and out-of-band
• Lab-based measurement techniques that can be reproduced in the simulator, to allow direct comparison.

  Example: In-band and out-of-band 2-tone distortion definitions can differ between simulators and measurements, as well peak vs. RMS detection, video averaging, and more.

• Nonlinearities and compression

Additional user interface (UI) conveniences:

• Over 100 convenient, pre-defined measurements for less equation-writing
• Tuning, optimization, statistics, yield, and yield opt. at the System level
• Full Post-processing and documentation capabilities. This is extremely value for system architects doing project management, proposals, and team communications.
• Single-click graphical UI for common tasks, such as RF Budget analysis
• Local language UI support in 6 languages

Genesys Spectrasys interacts with other modules

Genesys filter synthesis and EM simulation modules interoperate with Spectrasys through the linear co-simulation function. For example, a behavioral filter can be synthesized in-place, or replaced with S-parameters from an EM co-simulation or a measurement of the filter, to provide more realistic interference rejection, insertion loss and noise performance, ripple, and spur-free dynamic range.

Suggested supporting modules:

• Filter, M/Filter, and A/Filter Synthesis
• Momentum GX and Empower Planar 3D EM Simulators

How is Genesys Spectrasys made available?

Genesys Spectrasys can be added a module to any Genesys environment. It is also included with the following Genesys bundles:

• Genesys Comms Pro, Genesys Integrated (as well as several older bundles from the Eagleware-Elanix company that are still supported)
• For users of Agilent ADS, Agilent recommends the RF Architect for ADS bundle
• For users of non-Agilent RF EDA platforms, the Genesys Comms Pro bundle is extremely cost effective.

Seminars and Webcasts

"Webcast: New RF Architect Design Tools for ADS 2006A"

New RF Architect Design Tools for ADS 2006A (16 November 2006)

Explore the advantages of integrating WhatIF, Spectrasys, and Synthesis into your current design flow using new releases of ADS and Genesys.

"Spectrasys for RF System Design: Obsolete Your Spreadsheet"

Spectrasys for RF System Design (14 March 2006)

Rob Lefebvre, formerly Chief Technical Officer of Eagleware-Elanix presents RF system design with the Genesys tools Spectrasys, WhatIF, and Synthesis, followed by detailed demonstrations of each.

"System Architecture Design with Spectrasys"

System Architecture Design with Spectrasys (16 November 2005)

Rulon Vandyke, the lead developer of Spectrasys, demonstrates how Spectrasys and WhatIF are the best places to start your RF system designs.

Online Demos and Tutorials

Note: These demos can only be viewed on Internet Explorer

• Spectrasys Tutorial - June 2003
• Eliminate Costly Design Turns Using Good RF Architecture Tools - June 2003
• Optimizing Intermod Performance with Spectrasys - March 2003
• Image Noise Calculation with Spectrasys - March 2003
• VSWR Power Tester with Spectrasys - March 2003
• Spectrasys Feed Forward Amplifier Example - March 2003

Technical Publications

Application Notes

• Practical Intercept Measurements and Cascaded Intermod Equations, May 2007. (PDF, 248 KB)
• Using CAD for RF Architecture Engineering and Optimization, Eagleware Application Note, January 2003. (PDF, 215 KB)

Articles

• Rulon VanDyke, Effective Cascaded Intermodulation Analysis, RF Design, September 2004. (PDF, 82 KB)
• Rulon VanDyke, Simulation Approach Aids RF Design Debugging, Microwaves & RF, August 2003. (PDF, 94 KB)
• Rulon VanDyke, Relating Cascading Noise Figures to Real-World Performance, RF Design, January 2003. (PDF, 812 KB)
• Rulon VanDyke, Spectral Domain System Simulation Identifies RF/Microwave Design Problems Early, Applied Microwave & Wireless, June 2002. (PDF, 484 KB)

Related Publications

• High IP3 Mixers for Cellular Applications, Hittite Microwave Corporation Product Application Note 16. (PDF, 300 KB)

Product Literature

• Spectrasys Brochure. (PDF, 800 KB)