Microwave Office: PCB antenna simulation 868MHz

In part one of this application note we had discussed basic design concepts and simulation methods for “printed” PCB antennas. Now in this second part, we will discuss advanced topics:

  • Co-simulation of antenna and SMD matching components for electrically small antennas
  • Using the Analyst 3D FEM solver to include the effect of finite PCB size, or possible PCB cutouts.

For design and simulation, Microwave Office v11 with the Axiem and Analyst EM simulators is used.

Microwave Office: PCB antenna simulation 868MHz

Momentum port: global ground or differential?

There are some good uses for ports with an explicit (-) ground reference. Using them for SMD elements, where a device is included as 1-port with (+) on one pad and (-) on the other pad, is not a good idea in most cases. Used in the wrong context, you can get totally unexpected results from  differential ports. You really need to understand what these ports physically mean for your model.

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Automated Inductor Synthesis for IHP technologies

Semiconductor foundry IHP has licensed Inductor Toolkit for ADS, and now provides this automated inductor synthesis solution to their foundry customers at no cost. Based on target inductance and target frequency, the software will find the inductor geometry with best performance (highest Q factor).

Available layouts include IHP’s octagon shaped with/without center tap. Additional inductor layouts (different shapes, stacked metal, ground shield, localized backside etching) are available as a payed upgrade.

https://muehlhaus.com/products/rfic-inductor-toolkit-for-ads

IHP customers can download Inductor Toolkit PDK for SG25H, SGB25 and SG13 from the IHP designkit server. ADS2012.08 or later is required (not included).

Retrofit via array merging to an ADS designkit

Automating the cumbersome initial setup for via merging …

Last July, we published an application note on automated via merging in ADS. The only downside if this approach is the initial setup work, to configure via merging once for a library or PDK. This is no rocket science, but it must be done with care and takes some time. Could we possibly automate this?

YES! The new Retrofit Viamerge tool does the work for you, and automaticaly creates a new substrate version for automatic viamerging. This makes it very easy to add via merging with derived layers to an existing library or PDK, without manual setup work.

Read more …