ECE 486/586

Agilent

Advanced Design System (ADS)

Software Tutorial
Created by
TC Chen
Lee Wells

Modified by Sungjong Yoo

Fall 2012
 Create New Workspace
1. On the main window of the ADS, click the icon Create A New Workspace and a window
should appear.
2. Name the new workspace ads_demo.
3. Choose mil as the length unit
4. After click OK, a schematic window will come up.
 Using LineCalc
What is LineCalc?
It is a tool used to quickly synthesize or analyze a structure that is commonly used (microstrip
transmission line, microstrip coupled line, coplanar waveguide, etc).

With LineCalc, you can

Analyze from physical dimensions -> Electrical properties

Synthesize from electrical properties -> Physical dimensions

How to use LineCalc?

The following procedure will present the work in synthesizing.
1. Start a new schematic or open an existing schematic. From the menu bar, choose
Tool>LineCalc>Start LineCalc. Then, a LineCalc window will appear.
2. Choose a component. For example,
MLIN for microstrip transmission line
MCLIN for microstrip coupled line
3. Edit the substrate parameter.
4. Edit the frequency.
5. Enter the electrical properties to synthesize.
6. Click on Synthesize to get the physical dimensions

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 2

6
3

5
4

The procedure for analyzing materials is similar for synthesizing.

In the midterm project, Rogers Duroid 5880 (ask Dr. Melde later) may be used as the substrate
for design.
The following lists are important Parameters in Duroid 5880 substrate.

Dielectric Constant= 2.2

Loss tangent tan= 0.0004
Substrate thickness = 31 mils (It may change in your project)
Copper thickness= 0.67 mil
Copper Conductivity = 5.813.5 10^7

Alert: the substrate you use in the project may change.

Example and Practice

1. Try to synthesize the microstrip line physical dimension with LineCalc, when the
characteristic impedance is given by 40 Ohm and electrical length is 180 degrees.
(Assume the center frequency is 3.5GHz and the substrate is Duroid 5880)
2. Try to analyze the electrical properties of microstrip line, when the width of line is 10 mils
and length is 100 mils. (Assume the center frequency is 3.5GHz and the substrate is
Duroid 5880)
 ADS Environment

Component
Palette List
Click to add Click to add Click to run
ground wire simulation

Component
List
 Transmission Line Simulation

For simulating transmission line, the following is the procedure

1. Scroll down the Component Palette List and choose TLines-Microstrip.
2. Click MSUB icon from the component list and place it on the schematic. Applied
Duroid 5880 parameters into substrate
3. Place 1 MLIN components in series on the schematic, and edit their widths and lengths
accordingly.

TL1: W = 10mils, L = 100mils.

3
 4. Scroll down the Component Palette List and choose Simulation-S_Param.
5. Click S P icon from the component list and place it on the schematic. Change the
starting frequency to 1 GHz, the stop frequency to 6 GHz, the frequency step to 0.1 GHz.
6. Add two Term components to both ends of the of the MLIN line, and apply a Ground
to each of them. Let their impedance be 50 Ohm. Make sure all the components are wire
connected in series.
7. Now, we are ready to simulate

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7

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 Plotting the Simulation Data

1. When the simulation is done, a display window will appear. Click the Rectangular Plot
icon on the left, and place the plot in the center.
2. A new window will appear asking you for the information which you want to plot.
Therefore, we will highlight S for all s-parameters and click Add.
3. Another window will show up. Select dB and then click OK.
4. A plot will be made with the values of the s-parameters in dB.

Zoom to Zoom to
view allDesignated area

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2 3

S11 S21
 3.5 GHz Wilkinson Power Divider Demo
Using Duroid 5880 to design Wilkinson Power Divider in 3.5 GHz

The structure of power divider is in the following figure.

You need to use LineCalc to generate physical dimensions first

Characteristic Impedance: 70.7

Electrical Length: 90

Characteristic Impedance: 50

Equal power divides in Port2 and Port3.

Isolation between Port2 and Port3
 Appendix A: Frequently Used Components in ADS
The following ADS components may be used in the project and homework
assignments. If you encounter the component-setting problems, you may check this
appendix

1. MTEE_ADS (Libra Microstrip T-Junction)

Symbol

Illustration

Available in ADS and RFDE

Parameters

Subst = microstrip substrate name

W1 = conductor width at pin 1, in specified units

W2 = conductor width at pin 2, in specified units

W3 = conductor width at pin 3, in specified units

Temp = physical temperature, in C

Range of Usage

W1 + W3 0.5
W2 + W3 0.5
0.10 H W1 10 H
0.10 H W2 10 H
0.10 H W3 10 H
Er 128
where
Er = dielectric constant (from associated Subst)
H = substrate thickness (from associated Subst)
= wavelength in the dielectric

Notes/Equations

1. The frequency-domain model is an empirically based, analytical model. The

model presented by Hammerstad is used to calculate the discontinuity model
at the location defined in the reference. A reference plan shift is then added
to each of the ports to make the reference planes consistent with the layout.
Dispersion is accounted for in both the reference plan shifts and the shunt
susceptance calculations using the formulas of Kirschning and Jansen.

2. The center lines of the strips connected to pins 1 and 2 are assumed to be
aligned.

3. For time-domain analysis, an impulse response obtained from the frequency-

domain analytical model is used.

4. The MTEE_ADS (Libra) component is the recommended model and in general

behaves better when compared to the MTEE (MDS) component model,
particularly with respect to passivity of the model. Alternatively, an EM
(Momentum) based model can be generated using the Model Composer tool.

5. The "Temp" parameter is only used in noise calculations.

6. For noise to be generated, the transmission line must be lossy (loss generates
thermal noise).
2. MSTEP (Microstrip Step in Width)

Symbol

Illustration

Available in ADS and RFDE

Parameters

Subst = microstrip substrate name

W1 = conductor width at pin 1, in specified units

W2 = conductor width at pin 2, in specified units

Temp = physical temperature, in C

Range of Usage

where
ER = dielectric constant (from associated Subst)
H = substrate thickness (from associated Subst)

Notes/Equations

1. Although the references listed here have validated the model for ER 10, it
does not mean that the model is inaccurate for ER > 10. A warning message
will be issued when ER > 13.1.

2. The frequency-domain analytical model is derived from a TEM (fundamental

mode) planar waveguide model of the discontinuity. In the derivation, the
planar waveguide model is transformed into a rectangular waveguide model,
and the expression for the series inductance, Ls, is formulated based on an
analysis of the current concentration at the discontinuity. This formula is
documented in Handbook of Microwave Integrated Circuits by R. Hoffman.
The reference plane shift, l, is calculated based on an analysis of the
 scattered electric fields at the front edge of the wider conductor. In addition,
dispersion is accounted for in the model.

3. The "Temp" parameter is only used in noise calculations.

4. For noise to be generated, the transmission line must be lossy (loss generates
thermal noise).

5. To turn off noise contribution, set Temp to 273.15C.

6. In layout, MSTEP aligns the centerlines of the strips.

3 MSUB (Microstrip Substrate)

Symbol

Illustration

Available in ADS and RFDE

Supported via model include file in RFDE

Parameters

H = substrate thickness, in specified units

Er = relative dielectric constant

Mur = relative permeability

Cond = conductor conductivity, in Siemens/meter

Hu = cover height

T = conductor thickness, in specified units

TanD = dielectric loss tangent

Rough = conductor surface roughness, in specified units; RMS value; refer to note 7
Cond1 = (ADS Layout option) layer on which the microstrip metallization will be
drawn in layout

Cond2 = (ADS Layout option) layer on which the air bridges will be drawn in layout

Diel1 = (ADS Layout option) layer on which the dielectric capacitive areas will be
drawn in layout

Diel2 = (ADS Layout option) layer on which the via between Cond and Cond2 masks
will be drawn in layout

Hole = (ADS Layout option) layer on which the via layer used for grounding will be
drawn in layout

Res = (ADS Layout option) layer on which the resistive mask will be drawn in layout

Netlist Format

Substrate model statements for the ADS circuit simulator may be stored in an
external file.

model substratename MSUB [parm=value]*

The model statement starts with the required keyword model. It is followed by the
substratename that will be used by microstrip components to refer to the model. The
third parameter indicates the type of model; for this model it is MSUB. The rest of
the model contains pairs of substrate model parameters and values, separated by an
equal sign. The name of the model parameter must appear exactly as shown in the
parameters table-these names are case sensitive. Model parameters may appear in
any order in the model statement. For more information about the ADS circuit
simulator netlist format, including scale factors, subcircuits, variables and equations,
refer to "ADS Simulator Input Syntax" in the Circuit Simulation manual.

Example:

model Msub1 MSUB H=10 mil Er=9.6 Mur=1 Cond=1.0E50 \

Hu=3.9e+34 mil T=0 mil Tand=0 Rough=0 mil

Notes/Equations

For RFDE Users Information about this model must be provided in a model file;
refer to the Netlist Format section.

1. MSUB is required for all microstrip components except MRINDSBR and

MRINDELM.

2. Conductor losses are accounted for when Cond < 4.1 1017 S/m and T > 10-9.
Gold conductivity is 4.1 107 S/m. Rough modifies loss calculations.
Conductivity for copper is 5.8 107.
3. Parameters Cond1, Cond2, Diel1, Diel2, Hole, and Res control the layer on
which the Mask layers are drawn. These are layout-only parameters and are
not used by the simulator.

4. Microstrip cover height effect is defined in the Hu parameter. MCFIL, MCLIN,

MLEF, MLIN, MLOC, and MLSC components support microstrip cover effect
(MACLIN and MACLIN3 components do not support this cover effect).

5. If the Hu parameter of the substrate is less than 100 Thickness_of_substrate,

the parameters Wall1 and Wall2 must not be left blank in MLEF, MLIN, MLOC,
or MLSC when used with MSUB, or an improper impedance calculation will
occur.

6. The microstrip cover uses a perturbational technique based on the

assumption that a significant portion of energy is in the substrate between
the conductor and the lower ground. It assumes that a microstrip line is
beneath it. The microstrip cover Hu and the Er parameters were not intended
to be used in the limiting case where the configuration of the MLIN with sub
and cover converges to a stripline topology. Therefore, Hu must always be
taken much larger than H and T.

7. The Rough parameter is used in the following equation in MDS and ADS:

Loss_factor = 1 + (2/ ) atan ( We Rough2)

where atan is arctangent; We is the factor in the surface roughness formula,
which is some constant.
We= 0.7 U0 Ur
where
U0 = magnetic permeability constant
Ur = relative magnetic permeability
= conductivity constant (4.1e7 for gold)
So if
Rough factor = 0, then atan (0) = 0 and so Loss_factor = 1
If
Rough factor = large number, then atan (large number) =
close to /2 and so Loss_factor= 1+ 2/ ( /2) = 2
So
Loss_factor = between 1 to 2 for Rough = from 0 to infinity.
Loss ( for conductor with surface roughness) =
Loss ( for perfectly smooth conductor) Loss_factor
= Attenuation (nepers/m)
4. MCLIN (Microstrip Coupled Lines)

Symbol

Illustration

Available in ADS and RFDE

Parameters

Subst = microstrip substrate name

W = line width, in specified units

S = space between lines, in specified units

L = line length, in specified units

Temp = physical temperature, in C

W1 = (ADS Layout option) width of line that connects to pin 1

W2 = (ADS Layout option) width of line that connects to pin 2

W3 = (ADS Layout option) width of line that connects to pin 3

W4 = (ADS Layout option) width of line that connects to pin 4

Range of Usage

0.01 H W 100.0 H
0.1 H S 10.0 H
1 Er 18
T 0

Simulation frequency (GHz)

where

Er = dielectric constant (from associated Subst)

H = substrate thickness (from associated Subst)
T = conductor thickness (from associated Subst)
W 0, S 0, L 0 for layout
W1 0, W2 0, W3 0, W4 0

Notes/Equations

1. The frequency-domain analytical model is a distributed, coupled-line model.

The per-unit-length coupling capacitances are calculated using the formula
developed by Kirschning and Jansen for parallel coupled microstrip lines, and
the formula developed by Hammerstad and Jensen for single microstrip line.
Dispersion and conductor loss are included. The even- and odd-mode line
impedances are calculated based on the coupling capacitances and conductor
losses. The result is used to calculate the network parameters of the
distributed, coupled-line model.

2. For time-domain analysis, an impulse response obtained from the frequency-

domain analytical model is used.

3. The "Temp" parameter is only used in noise calculations.

4. For noise to be generated, the transmission line must be lossy (loss generates
thermal noise).

5. To turn off noise contribution, set Temp to 273.15C.

6. In generating a layout, adjacent transmission lines will be lined up with the

inner edges of the conductor strips. If the connecting transmission lines are
narrower than the coupled lines, they will be centered on the conductor strips.
5 MCURVE (Microstrip Curved Bend)

Symbol

Illustration

Available in ADS and RFDE

Parameters

Subst = microstrip substrate name

W = conductor width, in specified units

Angle = angle subtended by the bend, in degrees

Radius = radius (measured to strip centerline), in specified units

Temp = physical temperature, in C

Range of Usage

0.01 H W 100 H
180 Angle 180
Radius W/2

where
 H = substrate thickness (from associated Subst)

Notes/Equations

1. The microstrip curved bend is modeled in the frequency domain as an

equivalent piece of straight microstrip line. The microstrip line is modeled
using the MLIN component, including conductor loss, dielectric loss and
dispersion. A correction for finite line thickness is applied to the line width.

The length of the equivalent straight microstrip section is equal to the product
of the centerline radius and the angle in radians.

2. For time-domain analysis, an impulse response obtained from the frequency-

domain analytical model is used.

3. The "Temp" parameter is only used in noise calculations.

4. For noise to be generated, the transmission line must be lossy (loss generates
thermal noise).

5. To turn off noise contribution, set Temp to 273.15C.

6. In layout, a positive value for Angle specifies a counterclockwise curvature; a

negative value specifies a clockwise curvature.
6. MSOBND_MDS (Optimally Chamfered
Bend (90-degree))

Symbol

Available in ADS

Parameters

Subst = Name of Substrate

W = Conductor Width

H = Substrate Height

Design Limits

2.5 r 25 ( r = substrate dielectric constant)

Frequency (GHz) H (mm) 24

Notes

This component is a 90-degree angle bend that is chamfered according to this

formula:

In this formula, miter (M) is defined as .

Therefore, in the Physical Layout drawing on the next page, L = W*(M/50 1)

A substrate must be named in the SUBST field and a microstrip substrate definition
that corresponds to this name must appear on the circuit page.
7.MSABND_MDS (Arbitrary
Angled/Chamfer Bend)

Symbol

Available in ADS

Parameters

Subst = Name of Substrate

W = Conductor Width

H = Substrate Height

M = Miter = X/D

For M less than sin2(ANG/2), the reference plane is at the interior corner of the bend.

For M greater than sin2(ANG/2), the reference plane is removed by a distance L from
the interior corner of the bend, where:

Figure 2-1. Physical Layout

Design Limits

1 r 50 ( r = substrate dielectric constant)

If M is 0.5 and ANG is 90 degrees, instead use the model for the chamfered 90
degree bend MSBEND.

If M is 0.0 and ANG is 90 degrees, instead use the model for the square corner
MSCRNR.

Notes

A substrate must be named in the SUBST field and a microstrip substrate definition
that corresponds to this name must appear on the circuit page.
 Appendix B: ADS Help

Like Matlab or other programming languages, you may look up the help for further information.
Take previous MLIN for instance.

1. Double Click MLIN

2. Click Help

Then, the windows for Help will appear.