What's New in AWRDE 13

Transcription

1 v13.03 What's New in AWRDE 13 ni.com/awr

2 What's New in AWRDE 13 NI AWR Design Environment v13.03 Edition 1960 E. Grand Avenue, Suite 430 El Segundo, CA USA Phone: Fax: Website: U.S. Technical Support phone: LEGAL NOTICES 2017 National Instruments. All rights reserved. Trademarks Analog Office, APLAC, AWR, AWR Design Environment, AXIEM, Microwave Office, National Instruments, NI, ni.com and TX-Line are registered trademarks of National Instruments. Refer to the Trademarks section at ni.com/trademarks for other National Instruments trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. Patents For patents covering NI AWR software products/technology, refer to ni.com/patents. The information in this guide is believed to be accurate. However, no responsibility or liability is assumed by National Instruments for its use.

3 Table of Contents NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) 13 What's New What's New Organization Major Feature Overview NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) Microwave Office and Analog Office Visual System Simulator (VSS) Analyst 3D Editor NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) Features Knowledge Base Enhanced Graph Markers Minor Improvements API Data Files Data Sets Graphs Libraries Licensing Output Equations Project Archive User Interface Microwave Office (MWO) and Analog Office (AO) Features APLAC Time Domain Modeling APLAC Transient Analysis APLAC Transient Assisted Harmonic Balance APLAC Marching Waveforms Load Pull APLAC Circuit Envelope Simulation HSPICE Upgrade New Optimization Methods Updated Yield Optimization Dialog Box New Layout Editor Commands Shape Preprocessor Modifier Line Types Window Pane Multi-Technology Projects Simulation Window EM Ports on Subcircuits EM Clip Region AXIEM Advanced Frequency Sweep (AFS) AXIEM Iterative Solver Analyst Solver Analyst Frequency Sweep Type Analyst Port Analyst Antenna Analysis Analyst Options Approx Open Boundary Condition Spherical PML Boundary Condition Analyst Surface Roughness Model Analyst AMR Convergence Plot Analyst 3D Editor What's New in NI AWR Design Environment iii

4 Contents AWR Connected Partners PCB Import Wizard OpenAccess Import/Export Wizard Synthesis Wizards ifilter Wizard AWR RF Board Libraries Updates Minor Improvements New/Updated Examples New Circuit Models New 3D EM Parts New Circuit Measurements Nonlinear Power Measurements Nonlinear Envelope Measurements Linear Measurements Output File Measurements Load Pull Measurements Analyst Geometry Simplification Rules HSPICE Layout Layout - EM Load Pull Measurements Models Output Files Remote Computing Schematic Editor Scripts Shape Modifiers Simulation - Nonlinear Simulation - APLAC Simulation - Analyst Simulation - AXIEM Symbols Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization User Interface Wizard - IFF Wizard - Stability Analysis using STAN Visual System Simulator (VSS) Features VSS Output File RFI Spurs Output File TDMS File Support System Load Pull LTE-A Library Improvements Expanded Radar Library Improved Phased Array Models G Library Minor Improvements New/Updated Examples New System Blocks Coding-Mapping Blocks iv NI AWR Design Environment

5 Contents 5G Modulation Blocks TDMS File Blocks RF Blocks New System Output File Measurements Data Sets Measurements Simulation System Block Updates User Interface Analyst 3D Editor Features Environment Units Foreign Characters in Projects Structure and Annotation View Keyboard Camera Interaction Variables Auto-Complete Grouping Sorting Value Set Management Dialog Box New Functions Geometry Solid/Element Browser Organization Shaded Without Edges View Style Swept Solid Type Conversion Box Type Excluding Operations STL Export Face/Edge Extrusions Importing Multiple Files New Import File Formats Simplify Parameter for Extrusions and Revolutions Sketched-Based Solid Type Conversion Solid, Element and Operation Order Sketcher Improvements Polyline Blends Construction Elements Joining of Lines and Polylines Elliptical Tangent Arc Element Point Element Center-based Circle Element Calculations and Query Dialog Box Improvements Length Unit Vector Component Clipboard Copy Attributes Application Count Indicator Folder Visibility Attribute Propagation Through Booleans, Lofts, or Other Attribute and Material Order Version Updates New 3D EM Elements Updated Example Libraries What's New in NI AWR Design Environment v

6 Contents API Data Sets Graphs Job Scheduler Layout Layout - EM Load Pull Measurements - Circuit Measurements - Systems Models - Circuit Models - System Scripts Shape Modifiers and Geometry Simplification (SPP) Rules Simulation - Analyst Simulation - APLAC Simulation - AXIEM Simulation - Extraction Simulation - Systems User Interface Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization Wizards - IFF Import/Export Wizards - PCB Import Wizards - RF Budget Wizards - Symbol Generator Version Updates New 3D EM Elements New Knowledgebase Examples and Guides API Geometry Simplification (SPP) Rules Graphs Import/Export Job Scheduler Layout Layout - EM Layout - Shape Modifiers Libraries Load Pull Measurements - Circuit Measurements - Electromagnetic Models - Circuit Models - System Schematic Editor Scripts Simulation - APLAC Simulation - AXIEM Simulation - System Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization User Interface Wizards - Component Synthesis Wizards - IFF Import and Export Wizards - PCB Import vi NI AWR Design Environment

7 Contents Version Updates Security Risk in V13 Addressed New Examples API Connectivity Checker Geometry Simplification (SPP) Rules Import/Export Layout Layout - EM Load Pull Measurements - Circuit Measurements - Electromagnetic Models - System Scripts Shape Modifiers Simulation - Analyst Simulation - APLAC Simulation - AXIEM Simulation - Systems Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization User Interface Wizards - PCB Import Migration Issues NI AWRDE V13 Specific Migration Issues Licensing Remote Computing AXIEM Multiple RHS Solver Option AXIEM Advanced Frequency Sweep (AFS) Analyst Antenna Measurements Negation Elements HSPICE Upgrade Unit Type on Subcircuit Passed Parameters AWR RF Board Libraries Version Independent Migration Issues Files Automatically Migrated Files in Appdatacommon Files in Appdatauser Files NOT Automatically Migrated License File User-Defined XML Libraries Other Concerns Model Compatibility Multiple NI AWRDE Versions Redirection What's New in NI AWR Design Environment vii

8 Contents viii NI AWR Design Environment

9 NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) 13 What's New What's New Organization The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) 13 What's New document is organized into several sections including: NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) Features - Common improvements to all products. Microwave Office (MWO) and Analog Office (AO) Features - Microwave Office (MWO) and Analog Office (AO)-specific improvements. Visual System Simulator (VSS) Features - Visual System Simulator TM (VSS)-specific improvements. Analyst 3D Editor Features - Analyst 3D Editor-specific improvements. Migration Issues - Migration issues from previous versions to the current version. Features listed in this document may also include links to videos or reference examples included in the NI AWRDE installation. Examples are listed by file name, for example: filename.emp. To find an example in the NI AWRDE, choose File > Open Example and type the example name. The following are updates for minor versions: Version Updates - Updates for the minor version. Version Updates - Updates for the minor version. Version Updates - Updates for the minor version. Major Feature Overview A video or new example is available for many major new features in this release. A list of these features follows. Feature details are presented in the corresponding section of this document. Notes: New FLEX tools and vendor daemon are required for Floating licensing. See Licensing for details. NI AWRDE V13 is the last version that will support HASP4 hardware dongles. See the HASP4 No Longer Supported After V13 KB article for more details. NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) Knowledge Base : New interactive Knowledge Base. Enhanced Graph Markers : New auto-search markers, offset markers, and rich-text marker notes. Microwave Office and Analog Office APLAC Time Domain Modeling : Improved time domain extraction of S-parameters and models. APLAC Transient Analysis : Improved transient analysis. APLAC Transient Assisted Harmonic Balance : Improved TAHB analysis. APLAC Marching Waveforms : Real-time plotting of APLAC simulation results. Load Pull : Harmonic Load and Source Pull improvements. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 1 1

10 Major Feature Overview APLAC Circuit Envelope Simulation : New APLAC Circuit Envelope simulator. HSPICE Upgrade : Upgrade to 64-bit HSPICE. New Optimization Methods : Advanced Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm. Updated Yield Optimization Dialog Box : New Yield dialog box. New Layout Editor Commands : Commands to edit layout more efficiently. Shape Preprocessor Modifier : Layer modifier that allows geometry simplification rules to be applied to schematic layouts. Line Types Window Pane : New Line Types pane in the Layout Manager that allows selection of a line type for drawing line type shapes. Multi-Technology Projects : Ease-of-use improvements that facilitate working with multiple PDKs in the same project. Simulation Window : New job Pause button and additional remote computing job states. EM Ports on Subcircuits : Faster method to add ports in hierarchical EM structures. EM Clip Region : Trim layout to create EM structures. AXIEM Advanced Frequency Sweep (AFS) : Faster and more accurate simulations. AXIEM Iterative Solver : Simultaneous port solves. Analyst Solver : Faster simulations. Analyst Frequency Sweep Type : Improved "Automatic" sweep type. Analyst Port : Additional Analyst port definitions including custom sized wave ports. Analyst Antenna Analysis : Improved options and boundary conditions for antenna analysis. Analyst Surface Roughness Model : Modeling loss effects of surface roughness. Analyst AMR Convergence Plot : Real-time convergence plot. AWR Connected Partners : Ability to simulate EM structures with AWR Connected partner simulators. PCB Import Wizard : Expanded wizard for importing 3Di, IPC-2581, and ODB++ board files. OpenAccess Import/Export Wizard : Import and export individual schematics and project symbols from/to ADS and Virtuoso OpenAccess databases. Synthesis Wizards : Wizards that aid in designing passive components such as power dividers, and mixers and doublers. ifilter Wizard : Enhanced version of ifilter that allows manual placement, and distribution, of transmission zeros. AWR RF Board Libraries Updates : Improvements to the example AWR RF Board Library. Visual System Simulator (VSS) VSS Output File : Export VSS RF Link characteristics to text data file. RFI Spurs Output File : Export VSS RFI signal heritage information to an.xml file. TDMS File Support : Support for TDMS files. System Load Pull : Load Pull VSS measurements. LTE-A Library Improvements : Support for carrier aggregation, with intraband and interband component carriers. Expanded Radar Library : Support for multiple and variable PRF radar sources. 1 2 NI AWR Design Environment

11 Major Feature Overview Improved Phased Array Models : Modeling of RF link for each array element. 5G Library : Implemented a number of 5G candidate modulation waveforms. Analyst 3D Editor Variables : Enhanced Variable Control editing, grouping, sorting, and comparison operations. Geometry : Geometry improvements in Browser operations, with new options, views, conversions, parameters, file formats and more. Attributes : Improved attribute organization and views in the Browser. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 1 3

12 Major Feature Overview 1 4 NI AWR Design Environment

13 NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE) Features The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) version 13 software includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. These changes are common to the Microwave Office (MWO), Visual System Simulator TM (VSS), and Analog Office (AO) products. Knowledge Base The new NI AWR Knowledge Base is easier to navigate and contains interactive content. With the NI AWRDE open, you can directly open examples from the KB by clicking the Open Example button. You can also import test benches with a click and view a Tip of the Day on the KB. Enhanced Graph Markers Two new marker types, auto-search markers and offset markers, are now available. Auto-search markers automatically search for a user-specified feature such as trace maximum, and shift along the x-axis to stay aligned with the feature as the trace is updated due to tuning or optimization, or other. Offset markers maintain a specified x or y offset from another marker on the trace. In addition, rich-text notes can now be attached to markers. Additional Information: Documentation: Auto-search Markers. Example: Autosearch_Marker_Example.emp Watch Video Minor Improvements API Data Files Data Sets Graphs NI AWRDE V13 includes the following minor new features, enhancements, and user interface changes: New Project.Import method which imports the contents of a specified project into the current project. Added an API Update() method to the Equations collection. Also fixed API command InvokeCommand("SimulateUpdateEquations"), which performs the same action. Touchstone version 2.0 file format is now supported. Added support for port names in Touchstone data files. File format options for Raw Data files can now be specified at the document level. Data sets greater than 2 GB are now supported. Histogram graphs now support general markers and horizontal line markers. Auto-Search markers with "X Index" search type now functions for time domain graphs. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 2 1

14 Minor Improvements Libraries Licensing PDKs can now specify a set of toolbars that are loaded and unloaded along with the PDK itself. Partial device extraction is supported for libraries with compatible models. When available, PDK-specific wizards are loaded with the PDK and unloaded when the project is closed. Elements defined in XML can be aliased into the regular part of the Element Browser (not under "Libraries") using the new XML "<ALIAS>". When browsing for elements defined as "Libraries", you can now right-click on the "Models" or "Description" columns to access the Help for those parts. NI AWRDE license features are now served on a "first-come, first-served" basis. Output Equations When adding an output equation measurement, you can now search the available measurements. Project Archive Archived project (.emz) files can be renamed outside of, and re-opened directly in the NI AWRDE without manual navigation to the unzipped folder. User Interface Filtering on the Statistics columns in the Variable Browser now supports the common set of Boolean filter keys: you can now use "1" or "0", "c" or "u", or "t" or "f" to filter true/false. 2 2 NI AWR Design Environment

15 Microwave Office (MWO) and Analog Office (AO) Features Microwave Office and Analog Office version 13 includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) changes also apply to these specific products. APLAC Time Domain Modeling With time domain simulations such as transient and envelope simulations, it is necessary to extract a time domain model. Time domain extraction improvements include: Better speed-to-accuracy ratio in the extraction of S-parameter data, more robust handling of poor quality data, and more robust passivity enforcement. New method of handling aggregate models such that extraction is done on the lowest level possible instead of top level. Bug fixes on extraction of various models. APLAC Transient Analysis The new transient analysis algorithm includes: Improved time step algorithm and error control. Transient Preset option that can be set to Accurate, Moderate, or Fast. APLAC Transient Assisted Harmonic Balance The new TAHB algorithm includes: Transient Assisted HB option that can be set to Disabled, Convergence aid, or Initial guess. Separated time-domain and frequency domain netlists for the transient and harmonic balance simulations so that the harmonic balance analysis is not affected by netlist modifications required by the transient analysis. TAHB can now be used for oscillator analysis. APLAC Marching Waveforms For supported measurements, APLAC simulation results on graphs update in real-time as the simulation progresses. You no longer need to wait until the simulation is complete for results to display. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 1

16 Load Pull Additional Information: Example: QPSK_receiver.emp Load Pull Load Pull improvements include: Support for source pull. Improved align measurement accuracy. Significant speed improvement of Load_Pull script. Significant increase in the number of simulated load pull points that can be supported. Simulated load pull support for controlling impedances other than fundamental (for example, low frequency two-tone offset impedance). Ability to define simulated load pull points around impedances other than 50 ohms. Limited (expert mode) 4th and 5th harmonic load/source pull support. Support for SPL file load harmonic gamma sweeps. Support for CST power sweep only (no gamma sweep) files. APLAC Circuit Envelope Simulation APLAC now includes a Circuit Envelope simulator capable of simulating non-periodic signal sources, or modulated RF signals. The associated measurements allow measurement of the time-varying voltage or current of a particular carrier or viewing of the spectrum around a carrier. With the added capability of Circuit Envelope to simulate modulated waveforms, new sources are added for describing modulated waveforms, such as specifying the IQ data of a modulated signal. 3 2 NI AWR Design Environment

17 APLAC Circuit Envelope Simulation GHz BW Around 10 GHz Carrier -30 Power Spectrum(dBm) Power (dbm) Frequency (GHz) New Circuit Envelope sources: PORTMOD_ENV PORTIQ_ENV New Spectrum measurements: Ispectrum_ENV Pspectrum_ENV Vspectrum_ENV New Total Time Waveform measurements: Itime_ENV Ptime_ENV Vtime_ENV New Time Varying Complex Envelope around a Specific Carrier measurements: Itime_f_ENV Ptime_f_ENV Vtime_f_ENV New Output File measurement: What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 3

18 HSPICE Upgrade ENVELOPEF Additional Information: Documentation: Circuit Envelope Simulation Example: Circuit_Envelope_APLAC.emp HSPICE Upgrade The HSPICE simulator is upgraded to 64-bit HSPICE New Optimization Methods Two new optimization methods, Advanced Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm, are introduced. Both of these optimizers are suitable for optimization problems with a large number of variables and for problems in which the initial guess is unknown. They can also be combined with a local optimizer such as Simplex to efficiently solve large optimization problems. Additional Information: Documentation: Advanced Genetic Algorithm, Particle Swarm Updated Yield Optimization Dialog Box The Yield Analysis dialog box is updated in a similar manner to the Optimizer dialog box, including a Goals tab for quick editing of yield optimization goals. New Layout Editor Commands The following are new Edit menu commands: 3 4 NI AWR Design Environment

19 Shape Preprocessor Modifier Move: A two-point move command where the first mouse click establishes a reference point for the move, and the second mouse clicks determines distance of the move (dx and dy) relative to the first point. Copy with Reference: Two-point copy command similar to the Move command. Expanded the Rotate submenu to include: Rotate, Rotate Right, and Rotate Left. Auto Repeat: Automatically repeat a layout command. Press Esc to end the repeat mode. This command is also mapped to a toolbar button next to the Redo button: Additional Information: Documentation: Layout Shapes Editing Shape Preprocessor Modifier The Shape Preprocessor modifier uses a set of rules to specify the types of editing operations to perform on the shapes of each layer and on shapes between layers. The modifier extends the advantages of EM geometry simplification rules to schematic layout and provides a clean and flexible method to apply layer-based shape editing operations in layout. To use the modifier, choose Draw > Parameterized Modifiers > Shape Preprocessor to add the modifier to a schematic layout. To add or edit rules, select the modifier, right-click and choose Shape Properties, then click the Rules tab. Like all layer modifiers, the Shape Preprocessor modifier does not modify the schematic in which it is placed. Instead, the schematic must be placed as a subcircuit in a parent schematic, and the effects of the modifier are seen in the parent layout. For example, the corners on this rectangular inductor can be rounded using the Shape Preprocessor modifier. By applying the following rule: What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 5

20 Line Types Window Pane the corners are now rounded. Additional Information: Documentation: Properties Dialog Box: Shape Preprocessor (SPP) Modifier Example: SPP_Modifier_Manufacturing_View.emp Line Types Window Pane The Line Types pane is added to the Layout Manager. This pane offers a fast method to draw line type shapes, which draw with all the layers and layer offsets set in the Line Type definition in the LPF. To draw using a line type, simply select a line type in the pane and begin drawing. 3 6 NI AWR Design Environment

21 Multi-Technology Projects Additional Information: Watch Video Multi-Technology Projects Several improvements facilitate working in a multi-technology project: The Select Process Library dialog box now shows a list of installed PDKs for easier PDK addition. LPFs, Global Definitions documents, and Artwork Cell Libraries from newly added PDKs are now imported into the project. When creating a new schematic in a project with multiple LPFs, you are prompted to choose an LPF to associate with the schematic. If there is a Global Definitions document with the same name as the selected LPF, the Global Definitions document is now automatically set for the Equations option of the new schematic. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 7

22 Simulation Window When adding a new STACKUP in a schematic, the STACKUP now automatically uses the schematic's LPF. Simulation Window Simulation Window improvements include the addition of a Pause button and the addition of remote computing Sending and Receiving job states. 3 8 NI AWR Design Environment

23 EM Ports on Subcircuits Additional Information: Documentation: EM: Job Scheduler EM Ports on Subcircuits Ports can now be automatically added to EM subcircuits to greatly simplify creating EM layout with documents that have high port counts. Select the EM subcircuits, What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 9

24 EM Ports on Subcircuits then choose Draw > Create Ports from Subckt and ports are automatically added at all possible locations NI AWR Design Environment

25 EM Clip Region Additional Information: Watch Video EM Clip Region The EM Clip Region can be used to create an EM structure from a schematic layout. It can also be used to trim down complex EM layout, and reduce the simulation problem size. To access this feature, select layout shapes then choose Draw > Create EM Clip Region. In the Create EM Clip Region dialog box, select the Clip Region Style. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 11

26 AXIEM Advanced Frequency Sweep (AFS) To create an EM structure, select the EM clip region and choose Layout > Copy to EM Structure. For more information, see Trimming with EM Clip Region. AXIEM Advanced Frequency Sweep (AFS) The AXIEM AFS algorithm automatically selects a set of frequency points to simulate, then uses these simulated points to interpolate the S-parameter response for the whole band. AFS is now faster and more accurate, and generally converges on a solution with fewer frequency points. AXIEM Iterative Solver AXIEM simulations using the iterative matrix solver are faster due to simultaneous solution of multiple ports (right-hand sides), assuming there is enough memory for the parallel solves. Structures with large port counts benefit the most from this improvement. Analyst Solver Improvements to the Analyst solver result in up to a 50% reduction in simulation time compared with the V12 solver. Analyst Frequency Sweep Type When the Automatic sweep type is selected, the solver now uses either a Discrete sweep or a GAWE sweep depending on which is likely to be faster for the given frequency count, port count, and parallel configuration. Analyst Port Analyst port definitions are expanded to provide greater control over port specifications NI AWR Design Environment

27 Analyst Port The new Lumped As In Child port type is used when the lumped port strap is already defined in the child arbitrary 3D EM subcircuit (in the 3D editor). The new Wave Custom Size port type allows specification of the wave port extent. This port type may improve mode extraction when there are multiple conductors touching the enclosure side. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 13

28 Analyst Antenna Analysis Additional Information: Documentation: Adding Ports Analyst Antenna Analysis Analyst Options The solver option Field Output Frequency can now be set to "None" for antenna far field measurements. Setting "None" may decrease simulation time, and will decrease data set size. The only option required for antenna analysis is the Antenna Far Fields option Output Frequency. Approx Open Boundary Condition Approx Open can now be used as a radiating boundary condition for antenna far field calculations. Using Approx Open instead of a Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) boundary results in a faster simulation. Spherical PML Boundary Condition Specifying a spherical Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) boundary condition may result in a faster simulation than using PML on a rectangular boundary, because the extrusion usually adds fewer elements to the mesh than it would in the rectangular case NI AWR Design Environment

29 Analyst Surface Roughness Model Analyst Surface Roughness Model Analyst now models the effects of surface roughness if a roughness parameter is specified. Additional Information: Documentation: Loss Model for Conductor Surface Roughness Analyst AMR Convergence Plot Real-time AMR convergence is now plotted in the Simulation window. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 15

30 Analyst 3D Editor Analyst 3D Editor See Analyst 3D Editor Features for details on new features specific to the 3D Editor. AWR Connected Partners The AWR Connected program enables the automated flow of layout data from NI AWR Design Environment (NI AWRDE)/Microwave Office (MWO) software into partner simulators. Supported partners include ANSYS HFSS, Sonnet, and CST. Additional Information: Documentation: EM: AWR Connected Partners PCB Import Wizard The 3Di Import Wizard is renamed to the PCB Import Wizard and now additionally supports importing IPC-2581 and ODB++ files without any reliance on third-party tools. This wizard allows you to import IPC-2581 (A and B) and ODB++ (V7 and V8) files that are produced by most enterprise board tools. Importing these files produces a schematic layout representing the board geometry along with a STACKUP element representing the board cross-section. This tool is intended for importing PCB designs and preparing them for EM simulation. In addition to the Import wizard, several 3 16 NI AWR Design Environment

31 OpenAccess Import/Export Wizard features are added to the MWO Layout Editor to ease the selection of pieces of the board to create an EM structure and set up EM ports. Additional Information: Documentation: PCB Import Wizard OpenAccess Import/Export Wizard This wizard allows importing and exporting individual schematics and project symbols from/to ADS and Virtuoso OpenAccess databases. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 17

32 Synthesis Wizards Additional Information: Documentation: OpenAccess Import/Export Wizard Synthesis Wizards The Component Synthesis Wizard and Mixer and Multiplier Synthesis Wizard are new in V13. The Component Synthesis wizard designs transformers, power dividers, and hybrids given a set of input specifications. Likewise, the Mixer and Multiplier Synthesis Wizard designs various mixers and doubles given a set of input specifications NI AWR Design Environment

33 Synthesis Wizards What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 19

34 ifilter Wizard ifilter Wizard ifilter now allows manual placement and distribution of transmission zeros. For a standard bandpass filter implementation, zeros can be weighted on the low side or the high side of the passband, allowing for extra emphasis on filter rejection for the selected side. In addition, transmission zeros can be added manually at any desired frequency. ifilter allows for automated extraction of zeros and automated implementation of producibility transforms, or these functions can be performed in full manual mode. As always, the completed filter may be implemented in Microwave Office with a single click for further refinement and optimization NI AWR Design Environment

35 AWR RF Board Libraries Updates Additional Information: Watch Video AWR RF Board Libraries Updates The AWR RF Board libraries AWR_RFBoard_2layer_FR4, AWR_RFBoard_2layer_RO4003, and AWR_RFBoard_2layer_RO4350 are replaced with the AWR_RFBoard_2layer library. See AWR RF Board Libraries for migration issues. This new library includes: Additional global variables for all substrate and solder mask parameters except for substrate conductivity. STACKUPs, VIAs, and MSUBs to point to these variables where applicable. Renamed MSUBs for Line Type for synchronization. Negative thickness definitions in STACKUPs. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 21

36 Minor Improvements Additional user attributes for resistors, inductors, and capacitors to indicate mounting layer and case size as well as layer attributes for vias and DC headers. Additional static EM cells for QFN and MMIC structures for use with Analyst simulations. An additional 3D EM Elements library, with end launch connectors for use with Analyst simulations. Minor Improvements MWO V13 includes the following minor new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. New/Updated Examples The following are new or updated NI AWRDE examples for V13. To find an example, choose File > Open Example and type the example name. Amplifier_Phase_Noise.emp Coax_Fed_Patch_Antenna.emp CoffeeCanRadar_SMT_Redesign.emp Inverted_F_Antenna.emp TESTBENCH_PA_Two_Tone_Sweep_Freq_and_Spacing.emp New Circuit Models The following new circuit models are included in MWO V13. N Port Negation Element (Closed Form): NEG Port with Modulated Signal (Data File-based): PORTIQ_ENV Port with Modulated Signal (Data File-based): PORTMOD_ENV New 3D EM Parts The following new 3D EM parts are included in MWO V13 for use with the Analyst 3D simulator. Copper Pillar Bump with Tin Cap: CU_PILLAR MMIC Substrate with Bond Pads: MMIC_3D Solder Trace: SOLDER_BLOB Solder Joint Fillet: SOLDER_FILLET 3 22 NI AWR Design Environment

37 Minor Improvements New Circuit Measurements Analyst The following new circuit measurements/annotations are included in MWO V13. Nonlinear Power Measurements Available Power: PAvail Nonlinear Envelope Measurements Envelope Current Spectrum at Specified Carrier: Ispectrum_ENV Time Domain Current: Itime_ENV Time Domain Current Envelope at Specified Carrier: Itime_f_ENV Envelope Voltage Spectrum at Specified Carrier: Vspectrum_ENV Time Domain Voltage: Vtime_ENV Time Domain Voltage Envelope at Specified Carrier: Vtime_f_ENV Envelope Power Spectrum at Specified Carrier: Pspectrum_ENV Time Domain Power: Ptime_ENV Time Domain Power Envelope at Specified Carrier: Ptime_f_ENV Linear Measurements Compute Network Terminated S-parameters: S_TERM Output File Measurements Write Envelope Data to File: ENVELOPEF Load Pull Measurements Minimum Value for Generalized Load Pull Data: G_LPCMMIN_EX Generalized Load Pull Contours Aligned to a Value Over Any Sweep: G_LPCM_EX_A Plot Load Pull Gamma Points from Aligned Measured Load Pull File: G_LPGPM_A Generalized Interpolated Load Pull Data Points (Reversed Data File Definition): G_LPINT2 Plot Dynamic Load Line for Load Pull Data: G_LP_IVDLL For ports-only simulation, set the new Solve Type option to Ports Only. Analyst arbitrary 3D parts now remain the same size when project units are changed. This change only applies to newly instantiated 3D parts. Various issues with foreign characters in project names and paths are resolved. Geometry Simplification Rules A new rule, SET_RESIZE_CORNER_STYLE <round sharp>, specifies how the RESIZE operation rounds acute corners. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 23

38 Minor Improvements HSPICE Layout Corrected the terminal current direction for IVCURVEI netlisted to HSPICE or Spectre. Corrected the current direction when using current annotations for some components netlisted to HSPICE or Spectre. The RLGC_TX model now works with the HSPICE transient simulator. You can now use Edit in Place with subcircuits containing parameterized layout. A new Draw > Modify Shapes > Modify Corners command performs the same operations as the Corner Modifier but on selected shapes. The Drawing Layer Options dialog box now supports multi-selection. The Layout Options dialog box has a new Boolean tab. New options include Cutout processing and Resize acute corners. 2D layout now supports translucency like the 3D layout view. Parameterized subcircuits used in multi-technology hierarchy now display on their own drawing layers. The GDS Compare command allows you to choose the export mapping to use when multiple mappings exist, and functions better under those conditions. Bondwires and other EM 3D pcells used in an Analyst EM structure that is placed as a subcircuit in a schematic now display in the schematic layout 3D view. Parameterized subcircuits where the parameter is passed up through hierarchy now display properly in the 3D view. Previously the subcircuit did not display. The Connectivity Highlighter now displays properly in a 3D view with multiple technologies. Updated the Slice command to function better when holding down the Ctrl key to access gravity snap points. Non-orthogonal inet routes now support rounded and chamfered end styles. Fixed schematic 3D layout so that EM subcircuits with parameterized STACKUP parameters now display with correct parameter values in the schematic 3D layout view. Layout - EM Load Pull When you change a "Material" name in an EM STACKUP, the name change now synchronizes with any "EM Mapping" entries that used that original name. Parameterized length variables for newly created arbitrary 3D EM subcircuits and 3D EM elements are now assigned length units, so that length values scale appropriately with project unit changes. Updated the Draw menu for EM layout to add the Add Shapes command for via fills and via fences. Improved the processing time of geometry simplification rules. Fixed bugs with Import_Loadpull_Files script. Fixed "No contours were found" Load Pull measurement error. PLoad_Total is now included as a calculated value for Load Pull measurements. The Load Pull Import script now supports source pull format for LPC and CST file types NI AWR Design Environment

39 Minor Improvements Measurements Models Two-port measurements NF, NFMin, GMN, YMN, ZMN, RN, TE, NMEAS, TN, GMax, GU, K, B1, MU1, MU2, MSG, GA, GP, GT, GM1, GM2, YM1, YM2, ZM1, ZM2,SCIR1, SCIR2, GACIR, GAC_MAX, GPCIR, GPC_MAX, NFCIR now function with n-port documents. Modified the Q_IN and Q_IN2 measurements to provide positive values for both inductive and capacitive networks. A new IsSubInf secondary parameter for CPWTAPER controls whether it is modeled with a closed form or quasi-static EM model. Improved accuracy for physical transmission line models TLINP, TLOCP, TLOCP2, TLSCP, TLSCP2, TLINP4, TLINP4T, TLINP4NL, and CLINP. A new LossModel secondary parameter can be set to "Full" to model multiple sources of loss including frequency-dependent dielectric parameters, which can improve time domain causality. VIAM Top_Cap and Bot_Cap parameters have additional options "Inside Antipad with Pad" and "Inside Board & Antipad with Pad". The PORTSIG_F, PORTSIGF_F, and PORTMOD_F models now support drop-down options to change the "Net" parameter for any text files loaded into the project. Improved the UCSD HBT model with ADS compatibility set. A secondary parameter, GAIN_BACKOFF, is added to the XDB block to control linear gain input power backoff from nominal input power. Output Files The AntPat_TPwrF and AntPat_EF output file measurements can now write to MATLAB files. The NPORTF Output File measurement has a new Write Noise for Active 2-Port Source option which allows you to omit noise data from the file. Also, the reference impedance setting can be made zero to have the normalizing impedance automatically set from the port 1 termination impedance. The NPORTF Output File measurement now generates a valid default file name extension based on the number of ports (for example, *.s4p) when clicking the browse button (...). Remote Computing Analyst and AXIEM documents that are set to simulate remotely now mesh locally. Remote simulation Status updates are now available over VPN. Schematic Editor Scripts The schematic symbols for elements with vector instance specifications are now drawn in bold, with the line weight matching that used for buses and bundles. The Generate_MDIF_Files script is updated to better handle files with > 10 ports. Efficiency improvements result in approximately 10x speed improvement (mostly evident on large port count files). What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 25

40 Minor Improvements Shape Modifiers Interactive shape modifier debugger: ( Debug Cell Instance Dialog Box ) Simulation - Nonlinear The simulation Status Window now displays Time Domain simulation updates. Simulation - APLAC Added support for nested frequency sweeps for tones 2 and higher. See example: TESTBENCH_PA_Two_Tone_Sweep_Freq_and_Spacing.emp. A new option permits storage of simulation results only for active measurements. APLAC linear simulation when optimizing is now significantly faster. APLAC simulators can now handle MDIF files with blocks that have different frequency ranges. APLAC simulation of MDIF files is now significantly faster. Simulation - Analyst Analyst can now simulate with wide characters in the project path. Wide characters are typical of non-english language settings on the operating system. The "Sphere X" and "Sphere Z" options for Antenna Far Fields are removed. You can make the Analyst structure as a subcircuit and rotate it to obtain the pattern at an appropriate coordinate system. Mesh connectivity annotation in Analyst now properly displays the mesh and connectivity of a swept geometry EM structure. Simulation - AXIEM Symbols The AFS convergence measure in the Simulation log now reports the maximum convergence error of the AFS sub-bands rather than the convergence measure of the entire band. This is a better measure since the simulation can complete when all of the sub-bands converge. The AXIEM direct solver now predicts memory requirements and stops with an informative error message if there is not enough available RAM, rather than crash or use the impractically slow virtual memory. The Symbol Editor now supports a smaller minimum text size and the ability to rotate text. Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization The Cost column on the Goals tab of the Optimizer window now updates in real-time during optimization. Fixed several issues with in-situ annotations EM_CKT_CURR and ANTENNA_CKT_3D. Annotations now update correctly in the 3D view when tuning. User Interface EM structures now support use of the Shift + F2 keys for editing the document name in the Project Browser NI AWR Design Environment

41 Minor Improvements Added support for the CTRL+A Select All shortcut to the Rules tab editor for the STACKUP and the Shape Preprocessor modifier. Wizard - IFF Added support for importing ADS XFERTAP, STATZ, and TERMG components. Equations are now automatically rearranged on the schematic, so that variables are defined before use. Added support in the IFF Import Wizard for the TanD, Mur, TanM, and Sigma parameters in ADS TLINP/TLINP4 components. Wizard - Stability Analysis using STAN STAN now supports power sweep. STAN now functions correctly with schematics that have Touchstone data file subcircuits. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 3 27

42 Minor Improvements 3 28 NI AWR Design Environment

43 Visual System Simulator (VSS) Features The NI AWR Visual System Simulator TM (VSS) version 13 software includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) changes also apply to these specific products. VSS Output File A new Output File measurement is added to export VSS RF link characteristics. The Write VSS RF Link Characteristics to Text Data File: RFA_TDF output file measurement writes a Nonlinear Behavioral Model (File-Based): NL_F compatible text file that included information on fundamental input, fundamental output, IM products (for 2-tone simulations), harmonics (for 1-tone simulations), S11, S22, characteristic input and output impedances, and noise figure. RFI Spurs Output File RFI signal heritage information can be exported to an.xml file. From the Signal Heritage dialog box, click on the Export button: What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 4 1

44 RFI Spurs Output File to open the Export Options dialog box. 4 2 NI AWR Design Environment

45 TDMS File Support TDMS File Support These new block are used to support TDMS files in VSS Time Domain simulations: TDMS File Source: TDMS_SRC provides direct access to channels for analog data and to channel groups for digital data. TDMS_SRC blocks may be configured with multiple output ports, with each port representing a different channel or channel group. TDMS File Independent Variable Source: TDMS_IVARSRC, which only works with analog waveforms, supports independent variables. Common properties of channels within a channel group are identified as independent variables. These variables then appear as parameters of the block and are used to select a channel at simulation time. An example-independent variable is the signal power level. TDMS File Sink: TDMS_SNK is used to create a TDMS file containing the samples from one or more input ports. Samples from real or complex input ports are written to channels, while samples from digital input ports are written as a group of channels within a channel group. System Load Pull System Load Pull for VSS measurements such as ACPR and EVM is now supported. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 4 3

46 LTE-A Library Improvements Additional Information: Example: System_Load_Pull.emp LTE-A Library Improvements Carrier aggregation, with intraband and interband component carriers are now supported. Throughput measurement of combined component carriers is now supported. Expanded Radar Library Multiple and variable RF radar sources are now supported. Improved Phased Array Models The new VSS Phased Array Assembly, Data-file based: PHARRAY_F block allows you to simulate phased arrays and model specific RF links and antenna patterns for individual elements in the array. In addition, the model can account for mutual coupling between elements, allowing further insight into the array performance. PHARRAY_F makes it easy to configure very large phased arrays, with standard or user-defined geometries or gain tapers, for example. The unique NI AWRDE capabilities allow you to measure the phased array response and investigate effects of RF link nonlinearities, gain and phase errors, element failure, and also perform yield analysis based on the tolerances of individual element parameters. 4 4 NI AWR Design Environment

47 Improved Phased Array Models What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 4 5

48 5G Library Yield Analysis Effect of random gain variation on phased array response GAIN(dB) THETA (deg) (Deg) Phased Array with Patch Antenna Elements Mag Max 30 db Failure Analysis Mag Max 30 db db Per Div Isotropic Elements Patch Antenna Elements Mag Min -50 db db Per Div Perfect Array Array with Failed Elements Mag Min -50 db Additional Information: Example: Phased_Array_PHARRAY_F.emp 5G Library Implemented a number of 5G candidate modulation waveforms, such as FBMC, GFDM, and filtered-ofdm. Added functionality includes signal generation and demodulation to allow for full system simulation and BER measurements. Additional Information: Examples: 5G_BER_Analysis_FBMC.emp, 5G_EVM_ACPR_Analysis_FBMC.emp, 5G_PA_Analysis_FBMC_GFDM_OFDM.emp 4 6 NI AWR Design Environment

49 Minor Improvements Minor Improvements AWR Visual System Simulator (VSS) V13 includes the following minor new features, enhancements, and user interface changes: New/Updated Examples The following are new or updated NI AWRDE examples for V13. To find an example, choose File > Open Example and type the example name. 16APSK_Modulation.emp demonstrates how to simulate 16APSK modulation. Circuit_Envelope_Cosimulation_with_VSS.emp demonstrates circuit envelope co-simulation with VSS. CoffeeCanRadar_SMT_Redesign.emp shows the design and simulation of a FMCW radar. LMS_Multipath.emp performs better in most configurations and is easier to integrate into other systems. LTE_NBIoT_UL_Coexistence_TestBench.emp demonstrates operation of NB-IoT in the guardband of an LTE signal. NBIoT_Guardband_UL_RX_TestBench.emp demonstrates performance of LTE UL coexisting with NB-IoT uplink signal. NBIoT_Inband_UL_RX_TestBench.emp demonstrates operation of NB-IoT inside an LTE signal band. NBIoT_UL_RX_TestBench.emp demonstrates NB-IoT uplink signal. NL_F_Freq_Dependent.emp shows how NL_F can be used to accommodate frequency-dependent AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics. Phased_Array_PHARRAY_F.emp shows how to use PHARRAY_F to simulate phased arrays and model specific RF links and antenna patterns for individual elements in the array. RFI_Spur_Identification_Script.emp contains a spur finder script that identifies all the spurs above a pre-defined level for specified ranges of RF and multiple LO frequencies. VSS_TI_TRF370417_Quadrature_Modulator.emp models TI's TRF Quadrature Modulator. New System Blocks The following new system blocks are included in VSS V13. Coding-Mapping Blocks Barker Code Generator: BARKER Zadoff-Chu Sequence Generator: ZADOFF_CHU 5G Modulation Blocks FBMC Modulation Block: FBMC_MOD FBMC Demodulation Block: FBMC_DMOD GFDM Modulation Block: GFDM_MOD GFDM Demodulation Block: GFDM_DMOD Subcarrier Mapper: SC_MAP Subcarrier Demapper: SC_DMAP What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 4 7

50 Minor Improvements TDMS File Blocks TDMS File Independent Variable Source: TDMS_IVARSRC TDMS File Sink: TDMS_SNK TDMS File Source: TDMS_SRC RF Blocks IQ Imbalance: IMBAL_IQ Lossless Tuner: LTUNER n Port S Parameter Block: SnP_BLK n Port Y Parameter Block: YnP_BLK n Port Z Parameter Block: ZnP_BLK Phased Array Assembly, Data-file based: PHARRAY_F New System Output File Measurements Data Sets The following new system Output File measurements are included in VSS V13. Write VSS RF Link Characteristics to Text Data File: RFA_TDF VSS data sets may now be pinned to the document. Measurements Added LTE RFmx measurements as a result of integration with NI RFmx/Toolkits. The RF Budget Analysis measurements C_SNR and SPWR_node now account for correlated signals at combiners, similar to P_node. Simulation VSS Time Domain simulations now support simulation filters. Eliminated NL_S redundant co-simulations when there are SWPVAR blocks in MWO schematics. Improved VSS memory performance with large sweeps. System Block Updates VSS ANTENNA and PHARRAY_ANT blocks now support specifying the signal direction using U/V coordinates as well as THETA/PHI angles. VSS blocks that support multiple data groups, such as NL_F with independent variable support, now support an INCLUDE property for including other text data files. FREQS_OUT and FREQS_LO parameters are added to the mixer blocks to simplify the specification of frequency-dependent output and LO related parameters. These parameters allow frequencies for those settings to be specified separately from the frequencies for the input settings. 4 8 NI AWR Design Environment

51 Minor Improvements The 2nd order and 4th order products generated by nonlinear amplifiers are adjusted to properly account for phase shifts due to impedance mismatch effects. Previously the phase shifts were ignored. The Mixer blocks now properly account for the signal delay introduced by internal filters when frequency-dependency is specified. MIXER_B and MIXER_B2 are updated so that when LOMULT is specified as something other than 1, the P1dB and IP3 settings apply to the final IF signal for RFB/RFI simulations (the settings were already applied to the final IF signal for TD simulations). You can still select the previous behavior (to apply the P1dB and IP3 settings to the 1,1 or 1,-1 output) via the new LOMULTMODE secondary parameter. When using NL_F with behavioral parameters such as P1dB or IP3, NL_F would use a measurement reference level (MEASREF) of the operating point if input levels were not specified. This did not match the behavior of AMP_B/AMP_B2. NL_F now does not set a measurement reference level in this case to more closely match the behavior of AMP_B/AMP_B2. NL_F now chooses "Data set closest to simulation frequency" for FRQDEP if FRQDEP is set to "Auto" and the data file contains two tone data. This allows modeling of differing lower and upper IM products. Previously "Frequency independent" was selected if there was only one set of two tone data. Added pre- and post-filters for AM/AM-AM/PM model to NL_F and NL_MDIF which include a new AMPMFRQDEP parameter for controlling how filtering is to be applied. Support for passing parameter values to the schematic via parameterized equations is added to NL_S_ENV. The RF dynamic switches RFSW_1nDYN and RFSW_n1DYN support for primitive blocks on their control signal inputs in RF Budget Analysis and RF Inspector simulations is improved. Improved frequency-dependent parameter calculations for AMP_B2 model. In the VSS behavioral amplifiers AMP_B, AMP_B2, etc., when the amp was configured with frequency-dependent settings and the center frequency to sampling frequency ratio was high (the amp decided it was narrowband), the results would be poor when ALIAS = "Auto" because the AM/AM-AM/PM implementation was chosen. This is changed so when AALIAS = "Auto" and the signal is narrowband, it is still treated as if it were broadband. The typical net result is that a polynomial implementation is chosen, which models frequency-dependencies better than the AM/AM-AM/PM implementation. NL_S now allows you to control whether RFB, RFI and TD simulations utilize the S11 from the co-simulation. This is done via the new S11USERFB, S11USERFI, and S11USETD parameters. Previously, the S11 from the co-simulation was used by RF Inspector simulations, but not RF Budget Analysis nor Time Domain simulations. Now by default RFI and RFB simulations use the S11, while TD simulations ignore the S11. User Interface The VSS Simulation Status dialog box now displays total sweep progress. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 4 9

52 Minor Improvements 4 10 NI AWR Design Environment

53 Analyst 3D Editor Features The Analyst TM 3D Editor version 13 software includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. Open Help from within the 3D Editor for more documentation specific to the 3D Editor. Environment Units Both "microns" and "micron" can be used as an alternative to "um" in expressions. Foreign Characters in Projects Analyst now supports the use of foreign characters in project file names and paths. Structure and Annotation View Keyboard Camera Interaction Variables These views now support using the keyboard for camera rotation, panning, and so on. See the Analyst User Guide for details. Auto-Complete When editing an expression in a property grid, or in the Variable Control or Value Set Management dialog box, a list of available variables, built-in constants, and functions is presented in a list box. This list is dynamically filtered as you type to show items that match the content being typed. Items from the list can be selected with the up/down arrow keys or by clicking on them. The selected item can be used to replace the word under the cursor by pressing the Tab or Enter keys or by double-clicking. As functions are selected in the list, a tooltip displays to the right of the item to provide an item description. For variables, the expression is shown, and for constants, the numeric value is shown. Grouping The Variable Control now includes a "Group" column that can be used to specify which group a variable belongs to. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 5 1

54 Environment You can type a new group name directly into the drop-down box and click the Edit Groups button to control group visibility and rename and delete groups. See the Analyst User Guide for details. Sorting The contents of the Variable Control can be sorted by variable name or group by clicking the table column header. Value Set Management Dialog Box The Value Set Management dialog box is redesigned to make it easier to observe differences between value sets. It also supports editing, duplication, and renaming of value sets. New Functions An overload of the cellvalue function is added in which the row and column are specified by header name instead of index. A round function is added to support rounding a number to the specified number of significant figures. 5 2 NI AWR Design Environment

55 Geometry Geometry Solid/Element Browser Organization Solids and elements can now be organized in several ways in the Browser, including in User folders. This functionality is accessed by right-clicking the Geometry node in the Browser and choosing Solid/Element Organization and an organization option. that allows you to perform various actions on all solids included in the folder. See the Analyst User Guide for details. Creation Order - Solids and elements are displayed in the order in which the solids or elements were created. User folders are visible. This is the default ordering. Alphabetical - Solids and elements are displayed in alphabetical order. User folders are visible. By Material - Solids are displayed within folders that represent used Materials. This has no impact on sketch elements. Shaded Without Edges View Style In addition to Shaded and Wireframe styles, you can now display faces without edges to help in face picking in geometries with large edge counts. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 5 3

56 Geometry Swept Solid Type Conversion Transitioning from 2D to 3D is now easier by switching between a sketched Sheet (2D), extrusion, and revolution by choosing Convert To XXX from the solid's Browser context menu. Box Type The box solid now includes a Type parameter that allows for a Start and End Corner definition as an alternative to the default Corner and Extent definition. This addition can make certain parameterizations easier. Excluding Operations All non-creation solid and element operations now expose an Include parameter that allows for the operation to be excluded from the regeneration process. This can be used to parametrically exclude an operation such as a rotation from a solid or element. STL Export Geometry can now be exported in STL format for use in 3D printing. Face/Edge Extrusions This command now supports extrusion of an edge into a face. The default direction of an edge extrusion is normally to the largest face that contains the edge. This has a variety of uses, but a primary use is to create patches for lumped ports as shown in the following figure. Importing Multiple Files The dialog box used to import SAT, IGES, STEP and other file types now supports multiple file selection so that several files can be imported in a single operation. New Import File Formats Import of binary ACIS (.SAB) files is now supported. 5 4 NI AWR Design Environment

57 Geometry Simplify Parameter for Extrusions and Revolutions Sketch-based and face/edge-based extrusions and revolutions now provide a Simplify parameter. If "True", adjacent colinear element/edges produce a single face; otherwise they produce adjacent coplanar faces. This is useful if you need to apply separate attributes to such adjacent faces. Sketched-Based Solid Type Conversion Sketch-based solids can now be converted from one type to another using Browser context menu options. For example, you can convert a Sketched Sheet (2D) to a Sketched Revolution. This conversion maintains the contents of the sketch, however, you must revisit attributes. Solid, Element and Operation Order Solids, elements, solid operations and element operations can be reordered in the Browser by dragging the node above/below another node. The order can also be changed by right-clicking a node and choosing Move Up or Move Down. Sketcher Improvements Polyline Blends Interior points of polylines can now be blended (fillet/chamfer). This feature is accessed on the Sketch ribbon in the Element Modification group by clicking Blend. See the Analyst User Guide for details. Construction Elements All sketch elements now include a Construction Only parameter. If this value is "True", the element is ignored during covering although it can be used for snapping, and related operations. Such element lines are rendered using a dashed line. Joining of Lines and Polylines Adjoining lines and polylines can be combined into a single polyline. This is particularly useful if you then need to apply blends to the resulting polyline. This feature is accessed on the Sketch ribbon in the Element Modification group by clicking Join. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 5 5

58 Geometry Elliptical Tangent Arc Element You can now draw an elliptical arc specified by 2 tangent lines and a start and end point. The axes orientation can additionally be chosen from a list of options. Point Element You can now draw a point element. By definition, this is a construction-only element and exists strictly for snapping, and other related operations. Center-based Circle Element You can now draw a circle defined by a center and radius. Calculations and Query Dialog Box Improvements Length Unit You can now override the working length unit in this dialog box. 5 6 NI AWR Design Environment

59 Attributes Vector Component Clipboard Copy You can now copy a specific component of a vector cell to the Clipboard. Attributes Application Count Indicator Browser nodes for attributes include a suffix that indicates how many bodies, faces, and edges the attribute is applied to, as shown in the following figure. To turn off this feature, on the Home tab in the Settings group, click Environment and choose Properties from the drop-down menu to display the Environment Properties dialog box. Under Browser set the Show Attribute Application Information (Structure Browser) property to "False". What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 5 7

60 Attributes Folder Visibility Like the Geometry folder in the Browser, the Materials and attribute folders now display a light bulb icon that can be toggled on/off to show or hide the contained items. This option is useful if, for example, you want to hide all faces with mesh constraints. Attribute Propagation Through Booleans, Lofts, or Other When creating a Boolean, loft, or other, attributes on the stocks and tools are now automatically propagated to the resulting solid whenever possible. In earlier versions, these attributes were removed automatically. Attribute and Material Order Attributes and materials can be reordered in the Browser by dragging the attribute/material node above/below another node. The order can also be changed by right-clicking a node and choosing Move Up or Move Down. 5 8 NI AWR Design Environment

61 Version Updates The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) version includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. New 3D EM Elements PCB Edge Wrap: EDGE_WRAP_3D Dielectric Cover/Air Pocket: GLOBTOP Updated Example Libraries API AWR_Module PDK scripts that hide/show flood and keepout regions are now functional. AWR_RFBoard_2layer PDK updates: Updated both flat and PCELL QFNs to better conform to RF industry standards Fixed library 1, 2, & 3 bondwires H2 and Beta to connect properly with default parameter Corrected DXF export mapping for +/- layers export Updated IC_GaAs library element HiK dielectric value to have more reasonable tand Configured global page so project units are more easily changed and relations are unaffected Added Air_h parameter to Stackups for easier scaling Added substrate Monte Carlo analysis tolerances to Globals which affect MSUBs and STACKUPs Added handy PDK toolbar with SimulateOpenGraphs, GerberFileExport, and ToggleBackground Color buttons The Tuner object has a new Visibility property that both checks and sets whether the Tuner window is visible or hidden. Fixed an issue with setting values for enumerated API options which do not take sequential values. Added API access to the Options collection for EM3DStructure objects. Schematics window-in-window embedded graphs now print the graphs with the same resolution whether the print operation is initiated by API methods or from the NI AWRDE. Added support for enabling and disabling state job queues in the Job Scheduler configuration via the API. Data Sets Graphs Fixed a data set lock issue that caused unnecessary EM resimulations. Yield Analysis results now display Antenna Plot graphs correctly. Graphs with RF Budget measurements from different system diagrams now have a correct x-axis while the VSS Time Domain simulator is running. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 6 1

62 Job Scheduler Job Scheduler Layout From the Scheduler node, you can now remotely install/uninstall the NI AWRDE on remote compute node servers running AWR_JobScheduler service version See Compute Node Remote Update for details. Several Job Scheduler crashes are now fixed. An intermittent deadlock no longer occurs during job cancellation. Jobs with Min Processors per Job set to "0" now run on machines with more than 8 logical processors. A new ReservedSystemMemory option in the jobschedulersettings.xml file limits how much memory a job can utilize by reserving an amount of memory from being allocated to a job. The default reserved value is the smaller of 20% of the system memory or 2 GB. An error is issued for the job if it reaches this limit. The Job Scheduler shut-down sequence is now faster. Remote connections between computers are now faster, and recover better from network drops. Increased connection wait timeout, which should help remote computing connection issues on degraded networks. Remote status is now returned to user computers for scheduled jobs that start up while the user computer is disconnected from the Scheduler node. Remote status resumes when the user reconnects to the Scheduler. The Simulation dialog box now displays the status of remote jobs on the remote machine, and matches the information on the Job Monitor that is pointing to the remote machine. MTRACE and MCTRACE layouts are now consistently correct after being stretched. Shapes drawn on multiple layers now consistently display when zoomed in on a small edge. Polygons drawn on a multi-layer line type with coincident points are now correctly drawn. Subtraction operations between shapes drawn on multi-layer line types now consistently produce correct results. Fixed a routing issue where using coordinate entry to just change layers would sometimes also add an additional segment. A warning message now displays in the Status Window when Lock Hierarchical Updates is enabled (choose Layout > Lock Hierarchical Updates). A Warning dialog box also displays when exporting a layout (choose Layout > Export Layout). Layout - EM Mirroring a bond-wire cell in EM layout no longer sometimes results in the cell being placed at a large offset instead of the correctly mirrored position. Zero-thickness impedance materials are now transferred correctly as thin metals in the Preview Geometry structure. EM ports no longer move to another shape when viewed in the Preview Geometry window. The outline of a copied pcell with dynamic parameters now consistently displays correctly while it is being dragged before placement. Fixed a regression in which the EM Layers pane became unresponsive if the Drawing Layer pane was not open. EM 3D Layout shapes no longer lose their fill and display in wireframe in certain situations. 6 2 NI AWR Design Environment

63 Load Pull Load Pull Added input return loss (IRL) contours/values for various Load Pull measurements. Measurements - Circuit Markers now remain associated with a measurement when the measurement changes. Measurements - Systems Using a PWR_SPEC measurement in an output equation no longer causes a crash. Models - Circuit The EEHEMT model and large signal APLAC simulations now support PDK models that do not use the LShunt parameter. The PORT_PS2 model Fdelt parameter is now tunable. The PORTIQ_ENV model PWR parameter can now be swept. Fixed Singular Y Matrix simulation errors with compiled models. Models - System Scripts The PHARRAY_RXSIG block has a new MEASBHV parameter which controls whether or not measurements that support PHARRAY_RXSIG adjust results for the number of channels. The AMP_B model with its FRQINTRP (frequency interpolation for frequency dependency) parameter set to "Cubic Spline" no longer causes floating point overflow errors. A warning is now issued if the NL_F block DFTYP parameter is not set to "Auto". The LTE library is updated to reflect the latest improvements in VSS modulation/demodulation capabilities. The VSS XML Generation script now allows you to add custom descriptions to parts in the library. Shape Modifiers and Geometry Simplification (SPP) Rules Shapes can no longer be lost when using the Boolean engine in SPP rules. Fixed a small cutline gap created by LAYSPPMOD using the Clipper Boolean engine. Simulation - Analyst Analyst Boundary Condition annotation now immediately updates when layout is edited. Simulation - APLAC Fixed XPARAM simulations with data files that are tabulated as a function of GP_2_1 and 2-tone data files that are tabulated as a function of AM, and both AP and AN are defined outside the block. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 6 3

64 Simulation - AXIEM N-tone frequency or power sweep simulation now works with XPARAM files that contain only one gamma value for each frequency or power-level data block. APLAC simulation results are no longer missing when pass-down variables are swept. SDiode tunneling current is no longer set to zero if the sidewall tunneling current is zero. Improved PINDRC model ADS compatibility. Improved UCSD_HBT model ADS compatibility. Simulation - AXIEM Improved AXIEM modeling of floating ports, which fixes the issue of significant voltage or current on open nodes in DC analysis of AXIEM subcircuits. Simulation - Extraction HFSS no longer resimulates Extracted EM structures which have current data sets. Simulation - Systems When an RF Budget Analysis measurement is connected to an M_PROBE, and the M_PROBE is connected to a port of a subcircuit, the port of the subcircuit is now used as the display point in the graph. Previously, the port of the block inside the subcircuit that was connected to the subcircuit port was used as the display point in the graph. In RF Inspector simulations if the LO of a mixer is generated from a pair of image reject mixers, the output of the main mixer is no longer too high. An RFI simulation crash no longer occurs when impedance mismatch is enabled. Fixed a VSS floating point error. Using a CHANGE_FS block with its FSOUT parameter left empty with either certain blocks downstream (for example, FIR_IMP) or no blocks downstream that specified a sampling frequency, no longer results in a "Node properties not propagated" error reported for the downstream block. NL_S_ENV no longer generates an error if there are more ports in the circuit than defined in the NL_S_ENV block, and the maximum port number in the NL_S_ENV block is less than the maximum port number in the circuit. User Interface Window-in-Window now works with 3D layout of arbitrary 3D EM structures. The Tools > Create New Process command now finishes without extraneous "Missing LPF" messages to dismiss, and now creates a simpler sample design. Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization Circuit envelope simulations no longer generate errors when tuning, optimizing, or running yield analysis. Optimizing goals that include nonlinear stability analysis results from the STAN wizard no longer causes a crash. Tuning an NPORT_F parameter no longer causes an error with APLAC simulators. 6 4 NI AWR Design Environment

65 Wizards - IFF Import/Export Wizards - IFF Import/Export Enhanced the component parameter mapping in the IFF Import Wizard to allow mapping of enumerated parameter values using strings for the MWO values. The IFF Import Wizard now inserts a '0' at the beginning of NCONN names that start with an underscore character in order to make the name compatible with NI AWRDE name restrictions. Wizards - PCB Import Importing a 3DI file when there are no global definition documents named "Global Definitions" now works. Implemented the possible per file units overrides per the ODB++ standard. Wizards - RF Budget Cascaded headroom (C_HDRM) measurements now properly display in the RF Budget Wizard. Wizards - Symbol Generator The Symbol Generator Preview function now works with system diagrams. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 6 5

66 Wizards - Symbol Generator 6 6 NI AWR Design Environment

67 Version Updates The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) version includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. New 3D EM Elements IC Conductive Pedestal: PEDESTAL New Knowledgebase Examples and Guides API Time_Freq_Compare.emp Temperature_with_the_AWRDE.emp: The Use of Temperature in Simulations Querying an API measurement object for a trace with an out-of-range index no longer causes a crash. Attempting to add a marker via the API to a measurement that is in error no longer causes a crash. Using the API to get the count of the number of items in an empty TreeNodes collection now functions correctly. Using the API to import a process library with a reference to an LPF file with the same name as the default LPF now replaces the default LPF, and no longer results in merged values when the project is later saved and reopened. Adding an EM port through the API no longer ignores the specified port number and uses the next available. Using the API to add an EM port to an Analyst structure no longer places an invalid port type. Geometry Simplification (SPP) Rules Graphs In SPP rules, operations which accept layer lists now process correctly if the specified list has no shapes. Previously, the operation would be run on all shapes in the layout rather than no shapes. Using an auto-search marker to find peaks/valleys on a graph of data from VSS no longer causes a crash. Import/Export Import Project now correctly imports EM structures containing parameterized arbitrary 3D EM subcircuits. Previously, parameters on the arbitrary 3D EM subcircuit were reset to default values upon import. Job Scheduler Remote computing file transfer protocol is switched from using pipe IPC to OS command file copy. The result is significant speed improvements in transferring simulation files from the user computer to the scheduler node, and in transferring data sets from the remote computers back to the user. Analyst mesh jobs now run in parallel with local and remote simulation jobs. Improved the detection of circular remote host connections, in which a remote computer lists itself as remote host. Previously this resulted in the remote computer crashing. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 7 1

68 Layout Layout Improved the reliability of remote simulation Status returning to the user computer in cases of network drop or server restart. Subcircuits implemented as artwork cells are now consistently selectable in layout. Modified drag handle selectability to be consistent with layer visibility. This allows easier editing of multi-level structures by turning off upper layers to access edit handles of the deeper layers. The layout dimension line and layout ruler objects are no longer erroneously selected by Select All when the dimension line layer is not visible. Copying to the Clipboard a design that uses multiple process technologies no longer results in layers mapped to the top-level technology when the design is pasted into other applications or printed. Layout display is corrected and no longer appears slightly shifted from the origin markers instead of lining up. Parameterized subcircuit instances which contains a complex polygon with overlapping cutouts no longer draw the overlapped cutout incorrectly in the instance placement. The cursor now snaps to gravity points along the closing edge of generalized polygons with cutouts. Generalized polygons with cutouts no longer sometimes show line artifacts in polygon fill. When an instance is flipped, text no longer sometimes rotates when descending into a subcircuit layout or cell instance using "Edit in Place". Cells besides the edit-in-place cell are no longer sometimes drawn with full intensity instead of dimmed. Non-orthogonal route segments are no longer sometimes pulled to a different angle by gravity when aligning with a pin. Multi-layer routes with overlapping matching segments and vias no longer lose curve bend style when Minimal Vias 2 mode or Manual Via mode is used. Highlights on a sub-object (such as a route via) of a standalone route now consistently display when selected without requiring a window refresh. The 3D layout view rendering of positive and negative layers in different levels of hierarchy now functions correctly. Drawing layers display in the schematic 3D Layout View now match V12 behavior. Layer thickness and position in the 3D view is now dependent only on LPF settings. GMCLIN now draws with correct width when N=1. Layout - EM Fixed regression with displaying polygons in the 3D EM Layout View when cut planes are in use. Editing multiple points of a path simultaneously in EM layout no longer causes the EM port to sometimes move to an incorrect location. The Copy To Arbitrary 3D EM Structure command no longer issues an error when the original EM structure contains no ports. Layout - Shape Modifiers Eliminated a false warning issued for possible point stretch modifier conflict when modifiers were stretching in orthogonal directions and were not in conflict. 7 2 NI AWR Design Environment

69 Libraries LAYSPPMOD can now perform Boolean operations on complex polygons. Libraries Added a Replace default LPF check box to the Select Process Library dialog box which displays when clicking the Add button in the Add/Remove Process Library dialog box. Load Pull A new Edit Load Pull Measurements script improves the handling of projects with large numbers of load pull measurements. The Generate Gamma Points File script now exports a file in a format supported by the LPGPT measurement. The Create Load Pull Template and Create System Load Pull Template scripts now work correctly when project options are set to use Schematic dependent parameters use base units. Improved the import of *.cst swept load pull files. Measurements - Circuit Linear Gain and Noise measurements are now correct when Port 2 is the "from" port, and Port 1 is the "to" port (ex: GP(1,2)). The PlotVs measurement no longer crashes when plotting Output Equations on VSS measurements. Measurements - Electromagnetic Antenna and In-situ antenna radiation pattern measurements now function correctly when swept variables (SWPVAR) are used. Models - Circuit Added IBVL and NBVL parameters to support modeling of reverse leakage current. IFF import of SDIODE model now maps IBVL, NBVL, NR, and ISR parameters properly. Models - System The RFATTEN block now includes a secondary parameter for specifying phase shift. The default value for the T_ANT parameter of the ANTENNA, PHARRAY_ANT, PHARRAY_F, and RX_ANTENNA blocks is now 290 K, previously it was empty. Schematic Editor Scripts Schematic wire editing that overlaps multiple segments no longer sometimes leaves disconnected segments on undo/redo The Export_PCB_Drill_Gerber script no longer causes a blank project pane after canceling the script. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 7 3

70 Simulation - APLAC Simulation - APLAC Creating an APLAC operating-point measurement with switch lists is no longer a problem. APLAC no longer issues an error with simulation sweeps of elements using multiplicity, where "M" is defined as an expression, such as "2*5". An "Unknown object or incorrect object type (powdb)" simulation error with the CONSTPOUT block is no longer generated. Corrected APLAC multiplicity (MULT) scaling for the collector, base and emitter inductors (LPC, LPB, LPE) of the UCSD_HBT model. Fixed APLAC simulation of NPORT_F when the file is located on a network drive. The network path is now resolved correctly. APLAC now accounts for the FORCEPASSIVE parameter on the NPORT_F element. Previously that parameter was ignored. APLAC simulations no longer sometimes fail if an element has long vector parameters which exceed the netlist line length. XDB - Gain compression from the linear gain point works more reliably when the device has a lot of gain expansion. XDB and CONSTPOUT no longer report answers if the simulation fails to find the specified solution. BSIM3 no longer has compatibility issues. MTL is now more accurate in envelope analysis. FDD element evaluation during multi-threaded simulation now functions correctly. Swept variables with Pass Down Mode set to Strong now simulate correctly with Switch Views. Simulation - AXIEM Corrected a v13 regression in AXIEM which improved accuracy, but significantly reduced speed and memory. The improvement in accuracy is retained while recovering v12 speed and memory. Significantly improved the speed when using the Multiple RHS solver when the number of iterations required to converge is significantly different between ports. Improved AXIEM DC convergence of the Multiple RHS solver. An error message is now issued instead of crashing when overlapping ports sharing the same ground are detected. Simulation - System VSS transient co-simulation with the terminals of a voltage or current source shorted together no longer causes a crash. Fixed an issue with IMBAL_IQ that would cause a spectral flip, which was visible when partial-band signals are used. When operating at DC for ZIF configurations, the operating point used to compute the noise gain in nonlinear amps in RF Budget Analysis simulations now treats the noise level as rms. Prior to this treatment, there was a somewhat lower than expected noise when operating near the compression level. The VSS mixers now properly compute RF Budget Analysis noise when there is a phase shift on the LO. Prior to the fix the LSB gain computed for the noise calculations was not conjugated correctly. In RF Budget Analysis simulations, when a VSS nonlinear amp is connected upstream of a mixer, the mixer's MODE is set to 'DIFF', and the signal frequency at the amp is less than the frequency of the LO. The noise generated by this amp is now correctly output-referred noise rather than the previous input-referred noise. 7 4 NI AWR Design Environment

71 Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization The algorithm used to identify the LO signal for RF Inspector simulations when there are multiple tones on the LO input is adjusted. It now looks for the frequency components whose heritage contains the most levels of being marked as a signal, and if there is more than one, the strongest one is chosen. Previously it only looked at the categorization of the frequency component at the LO input, not at the heritage of the components. Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization Optimization is corrected where the goals are APLAC-based simulations that also use EM extraction which depends on an optimization variable. Correct costs are now reported during optimization, and the final cost is now correct and does not change with subsequent simulations. User Interface In the Project Browser you can now right-click the Optimizer Goals node and choose Edit All Goals to open the Optimizer window Goals tab. You can also right-click the Yield Goals node and choose Edit All Goals to open the Yield Analysis window Goals tab. Enabled multi-row editing in the Optimizer window Goals tab. Fixed a regression when directly editing cell values of a table in a dialog box. The next cell is correctly selected for editing when the cursor focus is moved using arrow keys. Different multi-selected cells are no longer erroneously selected after sorting a table by clicking on a column name in a dialog box. Table redraws are corrected when scrolling a dialog box while editing a cell. Wizards - Component Synthesis In the Component Synthesis Wizard, rat lines now correctly display in the layout of the synthesized circuit. Wizards - IFF Import and Export The IFF Export Wizard no longer omits the last character in symbol names when exporting to Mentor. When the IFF Export Wizard is used to export to Mentor, it now takes advantage of relevant User Attributes on the elements. Added support to the IFF Import Wizard for using the element map file to convert the values of enumerated parameters. Updated the IFF Import Wizard to take advantage of new parameters in the SDIODE model. Importing ADS INDQ components from IFF files now functions correctly. The IFF Import Wizard is updated to map the Rg, Rd, and Rs parameters of the ADS Statz model to the corresponding parameters of the AWRDE Statz model. Previously the RG, RD, and RS parameters were always set to 0. The map file for the IFF Import Wizard can now indicate that the component identifier from the IFF file should be ignored for specific component types. Wizards - PCB Import Importing IPC-2581 files which use CONTOURs as a standard dictionary shape for pads now honors any transformation (for example, rotation) that is present. Fixed rendering of overlapping path outlines that can occur in imported PCB files that have paths defined with segments that track back upon itself. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 7 5

72 Wizards - PCB Import Fixed PCB import of overlapping holes with offset centers that are defined as arcs with different centers and segments that track back upon itself. Fixed ODB++ import when dielectric layers are defined with multiple materials. Each layer is now assigned the correct material. 7 6 NI AWR Design Environment

73 Version Updates The NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) version includes the following new features, enhancements, and user interface changes. Security Risk in V13 Addressed The Guided Help feature added in V13 runs automatically in the background. Guided Help assists users of the NI AWR Knowledge Base to seamlessly download projects and run AWRDE scripts. It s conceivable that a user could be given a URL to visit that contains malicious script code that would be executed by the AWRDE. To mitigate this possibility, Guided Help no longer runs by default. Instead, you must now enable it by choosing Help > Enable Guided Help. New Examples API Analyst_Custom_Port_Size.emp Added API support for issuing an object properties command for objects selected in the project view tree. Added API support for passing arguments to a Wizard when starting it programmatically from the AWR Development Environment. Added Close() method to the API Windows collection to close all the top level windows. Added check for missing file extension when importing LPF files through the API, and added code to try importing with the extension added. Connectivity Checker Highlight Connectivity Probe now works with multi-technology projects that contain multiple LPFs. Connectivity Checker now supports polygons with holes. Highlight Connectivity now renders polygons with holes correctly. Geometry Simplification (SPP) Rules The Shape Pre-Processor no longer generates an error when working with shapes a large distance (for instance, half a meter or more) from the origin. The SPP engine no longer occasionally crashes when running the PRE_MERGE_VIA_ARRAYS rule. Results of the RESIZE rule are now identical to the BOOLEAN_OPS RESIZE rule. The SPP Region Statement now works correctly with layers that have a space in the name (for example, "Metal 1"). Import/Export Layout Fixed DXF import of arc segments defined by LWPOLYLINE. Copying shapes from one instance of NI AWRDE to another instance no longer loses net names associated with pasted shapes. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 8 1

74 Layout - EM Improved net name handling when reading older projects that do not have net names registered in the project. inet associated shapes now export correctly when a design does not use the default LPF file. The Merge Shapes command no longer loses cutout shapes in complex polygons when merging shapes with +/- layers. Added alignment guides between cutout center points when dragging holes on a complex polygon. Improved Via Fence functionality with negative offset. The program no longer hangs when saving projects that contain layout polygons with overlapping holes as V12. Improved 2D Layout View of translucent shapes with holes. Changing the database units on a design which contains generalized polygons with many arc segments no longer results in rendering problems for some of the arc segments. Selecting and deleting a cutout in a network associated polygon now deletes the cutout rather than the polygon. Modified the Edit Arc Segments command to ensure that an edited object is taken out of standard segment edit mode before entering arc segment edit mode. Editing the arc segments of a generalized polygon and then undoing the edits now correctly restores the shape to its pre-edited shape and bounding box size. Drawing generalized polygons with cutouts on a linetype with multiple translucent layers no longer results in a crash. Fixed some rendering issues for paths with rounded bends and rounded ends with very short segments. Very short orthogonal path segments with curved ends can no longer cause malformed path shapes to be drawn in layout. Descending into Edit in Place from a document on one LPF to a subcircuit with a master document on a different LPF no longer displays the incorrect layers for the top-level context document. Deleting the primary port element on a subcircuit master no longer causes movement in the subcircuit placements. Create EM Clip Region now works with a zero resize offset. Layout - EM A default Global STACKUP can now be designated by adding a user attribute named "Default" to the STACKUP. The default STACKUP is selected by default when creating a new EM document. New EM structures created with Initialization Options set as Default are now correctly created with the Enclosure options defined in the "Default" LPF. Load Pull Load pull contour markers now display parameter values in the case when there is only a single contour. Load pull contours are now more robust for cases where the sampled data is concentrated in a very small area. Measurements - Circuit Fixed incorrect Harmonic Index frequency in the Add/Modify Measurement dialog box when using _FREQH1 for tone spacing. 8 2 NI AWR Design Environment

75 Measurements - Electromagnetic Measurements - Electromagnetic The in-situ antenna measurement, SF_TPwr_CKT, is improved for cases including resistive or reflection/coupling losses, and the driving circuit has multiple termination ports (for example, for power sampling). Models - System Scripts The ZRAD statement in PHARRAY_F data files is now properly implemented. Added support for MIMO operation to PHARRAY_ANT. Fixed STACKUP element file parse errors with the Archive Project and Clean Project scripts. Fixed Load Pull scripts to work with non-english Windows regional settings. In order to prevent memory issues, the Generate_MDIF_Files script now only supports files with a maximum of 20 ports. Shape Modifiers Fixed issue where modifiers with Boolean operations that resulted in blank subcircuit instance would remain blank when edited until the project was reopened. Boolean modifiers now update to reflect new settings when the project layout Boolean options for handling polygon holes are changed. Creating a parameterized instance of a design with a Boolean layer modifier no longer causes a snap-together to occur in the parent design. Temporary layers created by the Shape Preprocessor (SPP) Modifier are now automatically deleted. A spacing modifier associated with the cutouts of a complex polygon now tracks with the polygon when the polygon is rotated or flipped. There is no longer a selection issue for subcircuits that contain both a complex polygon and a Boolean layer modifier. The A-Touches-B Layer Boolean modifier now correctly retains holes in complex polygons. Fixed inconsistent results when using the SMALL_CORRECTIONS_SNAP rule with the Shape Preprocessor (SPP) modifier. Simulation - Analyst Analyst mesher no longer crashes, and the EM3D_SURF_CONCERNS annotation can be used to visually locate the problem geometry. Simulation - APLAC APLAC simulator options now display with a linear license. APLAC simulation results now update correctly when editing a subcircuit. Using a function of _FREQ as the value of the "Freq" parameter of a tone source like PORTF, which is invalid, now prompts an error message rather than a crash. Improved model compatibility for BSIM3, Hicum and Sdiode models. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 8 3

76 Simulation - AXIEM Simulation - AXIEM Meshing is now faster for AXIEM structures with a large number of bad facets. Fixed a potential math error in the AXIEM Low Frequency Iterative solver. Fixed a mesh error where the top mesh is missing. Switching from EM document frequency to "Use project defaults" no longer results in a bad mesh. The mesher no longer wrongly assigns a small edge from a nearby shape as part of a port on a different shape. Improved AXIEM iterative solver passivity. Simulation - Systems In RF Inspector simulations with mixers or frequency multipliers, feedthrough terms that are near DC are now consistently passed through when the RF frequency is less than 2 LO. RF Inspector simulations now always limit generated spectral components to the minimum floor levels specified on the System Simulator Options dialog box RFI/RFB Settings tab, especially when the signal is a modulated signal. Fixed RFI Spur File Export crash. When running multiple VSS Time Domain simulations, if one simulation finishes, and you pause the system simulators, continuing the simulations no longer restarts the finished simulation. When RF_CNTRLR or RF_PID blocks have impedance mismatches at their input port and impedance mismatch modeling is enabled, the Time Domain simulation output now properly accounts for the impedance mismatch, as RF Inspector and RF Budget Analysis simulations do. The PWR_MTR block can now be used in AGC style control loops in RF Budget Analysis and RF Inspector simulations, similar to RF_CNTRLR and RF_PID. Multiple FMULT_B2 elements on separate LOs no longer share the same frequency vectors, resulting in erroneous noise results. Tuning, Yield Analysis and Optimization Fixed tuning with APLAC simulations when the schematic contains a PORT2 element. User Interface The EM Port Properties dialog box now supports multi-select editing, filtering and sorting. Wizards - PCB Import ODB++ import now handles surfaces with multiple islands. Fixed ODB++ import of user-defined shapes that do not have numeric characters in the name. IPC-2581 import of non-orthogonal rotated circles or ellipses now displays correctly in the resulting layout. 8 4 NI AWR Design Environment

77 Migration Issues The following are issues you need to address when migrating from an NI AWR Design Environment TM (NI AWRDE) V12 release to an NI AWRDE V13 release. Not all topics apply to every user. If you are not familiar with a topic or program feature included here, it probably does not apply to your use of the software. You should read about all of the issues before developing your migration strategy. You can contact <awr.support@ni.com> with any questions. The path to the <Appdatauser> files referenced in this document is operating system dependent. To view the directory path to your <Appdatauser> files, choose Help > Show Files/Directories to display the Directories dialog box, then double-click the Appdatauser folder. NI AWRDE V13 Specific Migration Issues Licensing NI AWRDE V13 requires FLEXlm version or later for floating licensing. New FLEX tools and the vendor daemon are available from the Downloads page at Remote Computing In order to submit NI AWRDE V13 remote jobs from a user computer, the scheduler and compute nodes must be upgraded to a V13 service. See Manual Upgrade for details. AXIEM Multiple RHS Solver Option A new AXIEM secondary Iterative Solver option, Multiple RHS Solver, is introduced in V13. By default, this option is enabled. Older projects will also have this option enabled when opened in V13. This option potentially speeds up simulation time, at the expense of memory. AXIEM detects how much memory is available to prevent the simulation from running out of memory and resorting to disk swapping. In the unlikely case that AXIEM does run out of memory on a very large design, clear the Multiple RHS Solver option to reduce memory requirement. AXIEM Advanced Frequency Sweep (AFS) Due to an improved algorithm, AXIEM simulations using AFS may converge with fewer simulated frequencies when compared to previous versions. EM annotations in older projects may need to be deleted and re-added if the annotation does not display, because the number of frequency points (FSAMP) stored in the newly simulated data set is different from what the old annotation was saved with. Analyst Antenna Measurements In NI AWRDE V13, if only antenna patterns are desired (not field patterns), in the EM Options dialog box (or Options dialog box for specific projects) on the Analyst tab, set the Field Output Frequency to "None" to decrease data set size and improve simulation time. Negation Elements In V13, a new general N-port negation element, NEG, is added as a replacement for NEG2, NEG4, and NEG4_DEMB. NEG2 and NEG4 models are now obsolete, but may continue to be used. The NEG4_DEMB model is eliminated, and any NEG4_DEM models in projects are converted to the obsolete NEG4 model. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 9 1

78 NI AWRDE V13 Specific Migration Issues HSPICE Upgrade In V13, HSPICE simulation of the EEHEMT model is no longer supported. Unit Type on Subcircuit Passed Parameters Subcircuit passed parameters (i.e. equations defined with syntax "VariableName << DefaultValue") are by default unitless, but can be assigned units by setting the Unit Type option. Also by default, the subcircuit schematic option Dependent parameters use base units is not enabled. A double scaling issue occurs when both Unit Type is used, and Dependent parameters use base units is not enabled. The work-around in previous versions of NI AWRDE was to enter parameters values on subcircuit instances that canceled double scaling. In the following example, a project is set up with length units set to microns (um). In a subcircuit, the passed parameter L << 100 has Unit Type set to Length. In the parent document, in order to correctly set L = 100um on the subcircuit instance, you need to enter 100e6 (which is then scaled by 1e-6 from the um unit so that the value 100 is passed down) to work around the double scaling. In V13, a new schematic option is introduced that eliminates the double scaling issue. For new schematics, the new schematic option Scale exported parameters with units to user unit values is selected by default. With this option enabled, you do not need to account for double scaling when entering values on subcircuit parameters that have Unit Type set. In the previous example, if this new option is selected, you no longer needed to multiple subcircuit parameter values by 1e6. In migrating older projects to V13, if Unit Type was previously set on a schematic, this new option will not be enabled when the project is opened in V13 in order to retain the double scaling behavior since parameter values were previously adjusted to account for double scaling. AWR RF Board Libraries AWR Example Libraries AWR_RFBoard_2layer_FR4, AWR_RFBoard_2layer_RO4003, and AWR_RFBoard_2layer_RO4350 are replaced with the AWR_RFBoard_2layer library. You should remove links to the old libraries by choosing File > New With Library > Purge. Opening older projects that use the older libraries causes this message to display: Click Yes and browse to the AWR_RFboard_2layer.ini file and click Open. The default location for this file is C:\Program Files (x86)\awr\awrde\13\library\example_pdks\rfboard_2layer\awr_rfboard_2layer.ini. Click Yes in the next window to continue to use 'AWR_RFBoard_2layer'. Save the project to retain the new library. Likewise, when opening projects using the new AWR_RFBoard_2_layer library, if a AWR - Library Load Error message displays to indicate that Library 'AWR_RFBoard_2_layer' was not found, follow the previous steps to browse to and select the new library. 9 2 NI AWR Design Environment

79 Version Independent Migration Issues Version Independent Migration Issues The items in this section address moving files and settings from one software version to another. Beginning in NI AWRDE V11, some of these files and settings are automatically migrated from a previous version of the software to the current version. If the previous software version is not found, up to three major versions back are searched. For example, if migrating to NI AWRDE V13, NI AWRDE 12, NI AWRDE V11, and NI AWRDE V10 are searched. NOTE: Ensure that your Windows Explorer program is set to show hidden and system files. Files Automatically Migrated If the Appdatauser or Appdatacommon folders are redirected to non-default locations, no files or directories are automatically migrated. This is not common; you would have to create a redirect.ini file in the program directory to accomplish this. Files in Appdatacommon The migration of Appdatacommon is triggered based on the existence of the mwoffice.ini file in the Appdatacommon folder for the newly installed version. If there is an existing mwoffice.ini file, no files or folders are migrated. If the mwoffice.ini file does not exist, it is copied from the previous location if found. If the mwoffice.ini file does not exist and an older version is not found, a new file is created. The path to each PDK is stored in the mwoffice.ini file and is available for any user of that computer. The installation location of foundry libraries is typically version-independent; the default installation locations are not dependent on the NI AWRDE version. These paths are used when opening a project using a PDK or by choosing File > New with Library. All additional files and directories at this location are not copied since they should not be used with the new version of the software. Files in Appdatauser The migration of Appdatauser is triggered based on the existence of the user.ini file in the Appdatauser folder for the newly installed version. If there is an existing user.ini file, no files/folder are migrated. No existing files or folders are overwritten. The following files/folders are migrated: All.ini files located at the top level directory of Appdatauser, including user.ini. The user.ini file contains environment settings, custom layout modes, and other environment defaults. All XML files located at the top level directory of Appdatauser. This includes: customizations.xml - contains your hotkey settings. UICustomizations.xml - contains your menu settings. You can always reset the menus to the NI AWRDE V13 defaults. UIDockingLayout.xml - contains settings for how different windows are docked in the NI AWRDE. UIToolBarLayout.xml - contains your toolbar settings. You can always reset the toolbars to the NI AWRDE V13 defaults. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 9 3

80 Version Independent Migration Issues materialdefs.xml - There are several preset materials such as FR4, alumina, and GaAs available in the EM interface. If you modify these settings, the changes are stored in materialdefs.xml. These directories: scripts - Global (available in any project) Visual Basic scripts. models/model64 - Custom models used in the NI AWRDE. cells/cells64 - Custom cells used in the NI AWRDE. symbols - Custom symbol files created in the NI AWRDE. em_models - User-filled X-Model tables. XML - XML libraries installed in the default location. All additional files and directories in this location are not copied since they should not be used with the new version of the software. Files NOT Automatically Migrated License File TARGET: License Administrators NI AWRDE V13 requires a new license file. You can request an updated license file by sending an to <awr.license@ni.com> with your company name and a copy of your current license file. Your NI AWRDE V13 license file is also backwards-compatible to AWR If you use a floating license server, your lmgrd.exe must be version or later. User-Defined XML Libraries TARGET: Users who have local XML libraries (anything outside of the NI AWR web library) Many users either choose to install a local copy of the XML libraries or add to the default installation with other vendor-specific XML libraries. The default location is the <Appdatauser> folder. If your XML is in this location it can be migrated automatically (see Files Automatically Migrated ). Starting in V11, the correct location for these libraries is :\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\AWR\Design Environment\V11.0\XML. There are top level folders for 3D EM Elements, Circuit Elements and System Blocks. Any XML file located in these top level directories is automatically used in the NI AWRDE WITHOUT the need to edit files in the installation folders. The best way to migrate these libraries is to open your current lib.xml and sys_lib.xml files in the Library folder of your old installation and search for any paths you added to this library (perhaps compare with v12). Find those libraries and move the top level XML file to the directory listed above to break the cycle of needing to edit these install XML files. Other Concerns Model Compatibility TARGET: Designers When model changes are identified, the project can use a model compatibility flag. When you open an old project in a newer version of the NI AWRDE, the simulation results from the previous version do not change. You can change 9 4 NI AWR Design Environment

81 Version Independent Migration Issues the model compatibility setting to see simulation results with the old and new model implementation. A dialog box similar to the following displays when you open your design in a newer version if there are models with a compatibility setting in your design. You can switch between model versions in the Circuit Options dialog box by choosing Options > Default Circuit Options, then clicking the AWR Sim tab, clicking the Show Secondary button, and then selecting the desired modeling version from Model compatibility version. Multiple NI AWRDE Versions TARGET: NI AWR software installers Most users keep NI AWRDE V12 installed when upgrading to NI AWRDE V13 to ensure their designs upgrade properly before converting permanently to NI AWRDE V13. When you install NI AWRDE V13, both versions will run. Uninstalling any version may result in registry problems; therefore, when you uninstall, NI AWR recommends that you also repair your active installation. One way to repair your installation is to open the Control Panel and double-click Add or Remove Programs. In the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, find your NI AWRDE installation and click on the Click here for support information link to open the Support Info dialog box, then click the Repair button. Redirection TARGET: Users of any type of file redirection (changing the default locations for any of the folders used by the NI AWRDE) In networked environments, some users may choose to change the default location for certain files. Complete information on redirection is available in the Installation Guide under "Configuring Program File Locations". If you use this capability, ensure that you make the same changes in NI AWRDE V13 that you set up for NI AWRDE V12. What's New in NI AWR Design Environment 9 5