RF/Microwave Circuit Design

Cadence® Microwave Office® circuit design software is used by leading manufacturers to develop high-frequency electronics. RF-aware layout, high-frequency models, and a powerful harmonic balance (HB) simulator ensure accurate and fast simulation results for first-pass success. The intuitive interface, innovative design automation, and design-assist features promote optimum engineering productivity and accelerate the development of RF/microwave IP across monolithic microwave IC (MMIC), RF PCB, and module technologies as standalone components or integrated within complex multi-technology systems.

Key Benefits

Robust

The best-in-class HB engine provides fast and rigorous convergence of highly nonlinear networks to address RF/microwave circuits with large transistor counts and/or harmonic content

Powerful

Design automation, an intuitive interface, and scripting/customization supports all phases of product development in less time

Integrated

Co-simulation with system, electromagnetic (EM), and mutliphysics simulators provides in-situ parasitic extraction, design verification, thermal analysis, and standards-compliant communication testbenches

Features at a Glance

  • Cadence APLAC® HB Simulator – Proprietary multi-rate HB engine provides robust linear and nonlinear frequency-domain circuit simulation

  • Comprehensive Libraries – Simulation models for discrete and IC-based active and passive devices, and distributed transmission lines

  • EM Analysis – Fully integrated multiple planar and 3DEM analysis solvers for circuit/EM co-simulation, design verification, and in-situ S-parameter extraction

  • Load Pull – State-of-the-art load-pull analysis and design support

  • Stability – Linear and nonlinear stability analysis

  • Thermal – Electrothermal co-simulation technology for MMICs, IC packages, RF PCBs, modules, and RF/microwave systems

  • Synthesis – Impedance-matching and filter-synthesis wizards (options)

Applications

Amplifiers

Advanced design automation and robust HB simulation for fast and accurate nonlinear analysis of RF/microwave circuits help designers meet their amplifier bandwidth, efficiency, and linearity goals. Highly accurate semiconductor device/circuit element models and features such as load-pull analysis and impedance matching network synthesis (optional) allow designers to optimize performance and quickly bring products to market.

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Filters / Passives

Synthesis wizards (optional), including the iFilter™ filter design utility, address early filter development, from distributed filters to more complex multiplexed, high-power, and high-Q cavity filters. The comprehensive distributed transmission line models and vendor component libraries along with EM verification allow passive component designers to meet challenging size, cost, and time-to-market goals.

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Antennas

The software couples seamlessly with EM solvers to simulate antenna metrics such as gain, return loss, radiation efficiency, and currents, and to visualize 2D/3D far-field antenna patterns in support of antenna design, matching circuit development, and integration into RF front-end electronics.

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Mixers

Provides designers of mixers and frequency converters commonly found in superheterodyne receivers with efficient multi-tone, frequency-domain analysis. The superior HB circuit simulation engine offers fast, accurate, and robust convergence to account for the spurious output tones resulting from device non-linearities and leakage.

Resources

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