Overview

NOTE: Use the Project Report Template and  keep answers to questions on consecutive sheets of paper with all plots at the end.

IN NO CASE may code or files be exchanged between students, and each student must answer the questions themselves and do their own plots, NO COPYING of any sort! Nevertheless, students are encouraged to collaborate in the lab session.

Only turn in requested plots ( Pxx ) and requested answers to questions ( Qxx ).

Part 1

Start the software:

Download the following zip-file (you may need to hold down the shift key while you click on the link):
RFcourse2012_couplers_wrk.zip

Move the file into the apps/ads directory, and unzip it

Run ADS

Go down through the directory tree to wilkinson, and double click that design file schematic, and the following schematic should appear.

Save a snapshot of the schematic and paste it into your report.  This is the Wilkinson power divider in Appendix G of Ludwig and Bretchko. ( P1 )

Double-click the "gear" icon in the upper right of the window to simulate.

Plot the magnitude (in dB) and phase of S21, S31 from 0.1 to 2 GHz. ( P2 )

Plot Smith chart of S11 from 0.1 to 2 GHz. ( P3 )

What is the center frequency? (Hint: where the lines are quarter wave phase shift.) ( Q1 )

What are the magnitudes (in dB) and phases of S21 and S31 at the center frequency? ( Q2 )

What is the relative phase of S21 and S31? (i.e., how many degrees does the output phases of the two ports differ?) ( Q3 )

Go down through the directory tree to branchline,
and double click the schematic, and the following schematic should appear.

The design given in the schematic is wrong! 

Re-design the branch coupler for a center frequency of 1 GHz.

You may use MenuBar::Tools::LineCalc as an aid for designing the line sections.
This is the Branch Line coupler in Appendix G of Ludwig. Fix the transmission line widths so that the design corresponds to figure G4 of Ludwig and Bretchko. Ports 2 and 3 should have the largest output power (S21 and S31 should be -3 dB).
Hint: you will need to adjust the widths and lengths of the lines to an accuracy of about 1 percent.

Print the schematic after you correct the transmission line widths, and correct lengths, and turn it in.. ( P4)

Double-click the "gear" icon in the upper right of the window to simulate.

Plot the magnitude (in dB) and phase of S21, S31, S41 from 0.1 to 2 GHz in .05 GHz steps (with a y-axis from -20 to 0 dB).  ( P5 )

Plot Smith chart of S11 from 0.1 to 2 GHz. ( P6 )

What is the relative phase of the two output ports (S31 and S21)with the largest magnitudes? (i.e., how many degrees does the output phases of the two ports differ?) ( Q4 )

Place a 50 ohm resistor in parallel with the 50 ohm terms at ports 3 and 2. This creates a mismatch and reflections from these points. Re-plot the magnitude and phase of S21, S31, S41 from 0.1 to 2 GHz. ( P7 )

Re-plot Smith chart of S11 from 0.1 to 2 GHz. ( P8 )

Where did all the reflected power go?. ( Q5 )

Part 2

• Next, automatically layout your branch line coupler design.

It might prevent layout problems if you convert all of your dimensions to mils (1 mil = 1/1000 inch), or to meters, for the transmission lines.  The mixed use of mils for width and meters for length can cause difficulty in aligning the components in the layout.  This can result in "invisible gaps" and strange simulation results.

From the schematic menu bar, use the command Layout-->PlaceComponentsFromSchematic to place the 4 transmission lines individually in the layout. Ignore/iconify the designDifferences popup

Accept the defaults in the pop-up pane and click OK

From schematic window run Layout-->ShowUnplacedComponents, and place the 4 transmission lines as illustrated below.  Once you click each unplaced transmission line section in the schematic window, the corresponding device can be placed in the layout window.

make sure that only grounds remain highlighted on the schematic after placing the transmission lines.

In the layout window, run the command from the menu bar Schematic-->ShowEquivalentComponent to highlight the corresponding transmission line in the schematic.

Rearrange the transmission lines as illustrated below. as you move the transmission lines, delete the wires. Dashed lines will appear. In the final layout, overlap the blue dots/squares to once again establish connection between the transmission line segments. You may need to use Options-->GridSnap to turn gridsnap off if you have odd-sized lines (leave pin-snap on).

Run Tools::CheckDesign to make sure you have no unconnected pins (you should get 0 warnings).

Plot the Layout ( P9 )

Run MenuBar::EM::Substrate.   In the popup, it may notify that a substrate does not exist, so create a new substrate.  In the newSubstrate popup, use the twoLayerFR4 template.

In the next substrate popup, try MenuBar::File::Import::SubstrateFromSchematic.   If you cannot access this menu item, first select the FR4 substrate, then in the popup again try  MenuBar::File::Import::SubstrateFromSchematic to load the substrate from your schematic.  The imported substrate should reflect the values on your schematic, as shown below:

Momentum is a 2.5D planar electromagnetic (EM) simulator for passive circuit analysis of arbitrary design geometries. It accurately simulates complex electromagnetic effects including coupling and parasitics.

Click the MenuBar::InsertPin button (red arrow below), and add a port to each of the blue square pins in the layout, making sure the ports are numbered the same as in the schematic.  Each port should appear as indicated below (yellow arrow below)

Use MenuBar::EM::SimulationSetup to setup a frequencyPlan adaptive sweep from 0.01-2 GHz (blue arrows below) as follows

Click to save your setup (yellow arrow below)

Click simulate (red arrow above) or run MenuBar::EM::Simulate 

The default output should appear as illustrated below:

Add a new rectangular plot (red arrow above) and plot the s-parameters in dB for S21, S31, S41 (with a y-axis from -20 to 0 dB).  ( P10 )

Plot the Smith Chart S11( P11 )

How do the results of the simulation of the layout compare to the results from the schematic? ( Q6 )

Part 3

• Download the p7_radio12.zip cadence files, and use the p7_radio12 file password given by the instructor.
  
• Extract the file and the sub-directory zip file until you recover the rfproj7 directory, and copy this into your ~/cadence6/NCSU16 directory
• Add this new library to your cds.lib file as before
• Run Cadence6 software
  
• Open the schematic of rfproj7_crossCoupPair as below:

• Plot the schematic ( P12 )

• The theory for the circuit is approximated from:

• Open the rfproj7_negCap10pF_testSparams schematic, as illustrated below:

• Launch ADE XL using MenuBar::Launch::ADEXL and open the existing view
• As before, run the simulation (blue arrow below)
• If you get an error regarding the model libraries such as:
• Unable to open input file `/afs/uncc.edu/usr/r/tpweldon/linux/cadence6/ncsu_cdk_160_beta/models/spectre/nom/ami06N.m'
• Then,
  
• you must right-click the test (yellow arrow below) and "OpenTestEditor"
  
• in the TestEditor  run MenuBar::Setup::ModelLibraries
• Delete the offending libraries
• As before, link to your own libraries ~/cadence6/ncsu_cdk_160_beta/models/spectre/nom/ami06N.m and ami06P.m

• Run the ResultsBrowser (red arrow above) to plot the results
• As shown below, plot the smith chart as before (blue arrows below)

• Notice that the impedance is outside the normal region of the Smith chart (red arrow above), indicating a negative resistance in addition to any negative capacitance
  
• Plot the Smith chart ( P13 ) 

• Next, use the ResultsBrowser  MenuBar::Tools::Calculator (yellow arrow above) to create a plot of the real and imaginary part of the impedance Z
  
• Enter the formula (blue arrow below) real(50*(1+aaSP(1 1))/(1-aaSP(1 1))) and click the Evaluate/Plot button (red arrow below) :
• Enter the formula (blue arrow below) imag(50*(1+aaSP(1 1))/(1-aaSP(1 1))) and clicking the Evaluate/Plot button (red arrow below) to append the new plot
• The final plot should appear as shown below (yellow arrow):

• Plot the real and imaginary part of the impedance (Change the plot to a white background, and thick lines, one dashed and one solid)  ( P14 )
• Is the imaginary part of the impedance indicative of a negative capacitance? ( Q7 )
• Is the real  part of the impedance a negative resistance at low frequency (~50 MHz)? ( Q8 )

• Next, use the ResultsBrowser  MenuBar::Tools::Calculator to create a plot of the capacitance associated with impedance Z
• Enter the formula (blue arrow below) -1/(6.28*xval(aaSP(1 1))*imag(50*(1+aaSP(1 1))/(1-aaSP(1 1)))) and click the Evaluate/Plot button (red arrow below)
• The final plot, after resetting the scale from -40 pF to 10 pF, should appear as shown below (yellow arrow):

• Plot the capacitance as above (Change the plot to a white background, and thick lines)  ( P15 )
• What is the frequency range where the capacitance remains within 10 percent of its value at the lowest frequency? ( Q9 )

• Finally, use a transient simulation to make sure that the circuit is stable and does not oscillate
  
• Typically, the stable regions are roughly where both R and C are negative, such that the poles remain in the stable Laplace half-plane and the impulse response exp(-t/RC) remains well-behaved.
  
• Open rfproj7_negCap10pF_testTrans schematic
• Launch ADE XL using MenuBar::Launch::ADEXL and open the existing view
• As before, run the simulation (blue arrow below)
• Click PlotAllWaveforms button (red arrow below)
• The final plot should appear as shown below (yellow arrow):

• Plot the transient response as above (Change the plot to a white background, and thick lines)  ( P16 )
• Change the simulation duration to 2000 ns and re-plot the transient response as above (Change the plot to a white background, and thick lines)  ( P17 )
• Is there any sign of instability or oscillation? ( Q10 )

Part 4

• Create a very simple layout, including padframe and ground pin
• Note: Pin 30 MUST ALWAYS BE GROUNDED as described below
  
• In the rfproj7 directory, create a new cell schematic named rfproj7_top
• This represents the "top" or highest level in your design hierarchy
• Only use the word "top" in one cell view in any future projects, so it can easily be found
  
• Place the following instances (blue arrow below) on the schematic
  
• a probe_gss_all from Library rfproj7,
  
• a padframe_1500 from from Library rfproj7,
  
• a wp100  from from Library rfproj7,
  
•  and a "gnd" from Library analogLib/Sources/Globals
• probe_gss_all is a calibration circuit for s-parameter measurement on chip, and must be added to all designs
  
• Wire it as shown below, check and save the design (35 warnings for unused pins)
  

• Plot your schematic  ( P18 )

•  As shown below, launch the Layout XL tool (red arrow below)
• In the popup window, select create new (blue arrow below)

• In the Layout XL window, create a new layout using MenuBar::Connectivity::Generate::AllFromSource as below
• In the popup options windows, check the tabs for the options (blue arrow below) and make sure PR boundary (place and route boundary) is turned off as below (red arrow below)
• Make sure that the create label option is turned on (yellow arrow below)
  
• Note that the "gnd!" pin from your schematic will be created as metal1 0.9x0.9 micron pin
  

• As before in Layout XL, use MenuBar::Options::Display to set the "Display Levels" to 0 to 30, and to set the check buttons "on" for "Pin Names" and "Instance Pins."

• Before doing anything else, select the padframe, type "q" on the keyboard, and set the padframe at coordinates 0,0 (blue arrows below)
• Rearrange your layout as shown below
• Note: the very tiny "gnd!" pin will be hard to locate near the 0,0 coordinate
• Place your probe_gss_all and wp100 as shown below (yellow arrows below)
• Selecting a pin or device in the layout highlights the corresponding item in the schematic 
• Activate the annotation bowser pane using MenuBar::Window::Assistants::AnnotationBrowser
• Then, use MenuBar::Connectivity::Nets::ShowAllIncompleteNets to see the nets that must be connected
  
• You can move devices by typing "m" in the layout area
  
• Then, move your pins and devices into positions approximately as below, where the nets will be easy to connect and wire
  
• The cell for probe_gss_all must be placed in an area where the probe will not bump into wirebonds (top yellow arrow below)
  

• Place your "gnd!" pin as below on pin 30
  
• Connect the gnd! pin to the substrate using metal1 (select metal 1 in the palette and type "r" on the keyboard to draw a metal1 rectangle) 
  
• Then, add 7 "ptap" instances (yellow arrow below) in the metal1 rectangle area as shown below, using the addInstance button (blue arrows below)  
• The ptaps connect the ground pin to the substrate, thereby grounding the p-type substrate of the integrated circuit chip
  
• Always use pin 30 for ground, since it has the shortest wirebonds with the lowest inductance
  
• The Pin 30 ground pin layout should appear as illustrated  below.
  

• Plot your Pin 30 layout as above  ( P19 )

• Next, wire the transistor
• Select metal1 on the LayersPalette in the left side of the Layout XL window, then type "p" on the keyboard when your mouse is in the layout area to create a metal1 path.   (Alternatively use MenuBar::Create::Shape::Path)
• Connect your wp100 circuit as illustrated below using metal1 and/or metal 2 paths
• Experiment with typing "r" in the layout area to draw a metal1 or metal2 rectangle

• Plot your wp100 layout as above  ( P20 )
• Your final layout should appear as below:

• Plot your overall layout as above  ( P21 )
• Finally, perform DRC, Extraction, and LVS as before
• Run DRC as illustrated below

• Run Extraction as illustrated below

• Run LVS as illustrated below
• The netlists must match! (red arrow below)
  

• Inspect the LVS output by pressing the output button (blue arrow above)
• The output should appear as below

• Print your output as above and make sure to include your home directory (blue arrow above) and netlists match (red arrow above)  ( P22 )

Do not add extraneous pages or put explanations on separate pages unless specifically directed to do so. The instructor will not read extraneous pages!

Only turn in requested plots ( Pxx ) and requested answers to questions ( Qxx ). All plots must be labeled P1, P2, etc. and all questions must be numbered Q1, Q2, etc.  YOU MUST ADD CAPTIONS AND FIGURE NUMBERS TO ALL FIGURES!!