VISION 2.3

Strengthen, Accelerate and Secure your System Design Flow

VISION is an advanced RF circuit and system modeling solution for accurate RF & MW system design. Building RF systems that are designed to operate with wideband modulated signals, like 5G and RADAR, or with a large number of circuits, like active antennas, is challenging. Looking at the simulation accuracy, the limitation is always the quality of the model used by the simulator. Different memory effects can be observed in the behavior of circuits and yet the model does not include these characteristics.

New and enhanced features in VISION 2.3 release

New and enhanced features in VISION 2.1 release

Key features:

VISION is a unique comprehensive modeling platform that makes system simulation reliable enough to replace costly measurement tasks of large system architectures.

VISION offers a comprehensive methodology to extract complete and accurate RF & MW circuit behavioral models which take into account all observed phenomena.

VISION enables leveraging circuit models to design complex system architectures using its schematic editor to ensure a reliable bottom-up design flow process.

Turn-key circuit and system-level modeling environment.
Measurement Benches control for model extraction and validation.
Device modeler toolbox for active and passive circuits (LNAs, HPAs, Filters, Mixers…)
System-Level Macro-Modeling solutions and direct export functionalities to main commercial system simulators.

VISION 2.3 Modules

VISION BENCH CONTROL enables an easy measurement bench control compatible with standard instrumentation to extract different types of behavioral models. It offers an intuitive measurement interface to qualify these models under various test conditions.

VIS100B-1

Extraction Setup

VIS100B-1 is a test bench control module. Extraction setup uses a vector signal generator and 4 vector receivers of a VNA to measure a and b-waves at DUT reference plane. Generated Data will be later used in device modeler to extract the behavioral model of the circuit under test. This tool offers an intuitive user interface for advanced bench control and measurement automation.

Simple setup & calibration procedure for multiple model’s type extraction
Re-use of instruments and components already available in the Lab.
1-Tone measurements for in-band frequency memory effect
3-Tone measurements for High & Low frequency effects
Load Pull tuner control for bilateral models
Fully automated measurement bench

VIS100B-2

Validation Setup

VIS100B-2 is a bench control module dedicated to model validation. The Validation setup uses a signal generator and a spectrum analyzer to measure the DUT response when excited with different stimulus (CW, Pulsed, Modulated…). This data is then compared to the data obtained from the model simulation and allows a refinement and validation of the extracted model.

Circuit and system validation measurement using standard hardware
ACP; IMD; Pulsed; 50Ω & Load Pull
Validation on multiple signals: 2-Tones; Pulsed; LTE; 256 QAM; File based
Feedback to circuit and system modeler for model tuning
Possibility to optimize circuit models based on system measurement results

VISION DEVICE MODELER enables accurate behavioral model extractions for different RF and Microwave circuits, with minimum level of complexity for maximum system simulation efficiency !

VIS100C-1

Device Modeler

VIS100C-1 is a Device Modeler tool. After generating measurement data on the DUT, this module will extract a model that fit the circuit response with respect to the behavior observed for simulations perfomed in time domain. Depending on this DUT’s behavior, the modeling wizard drives the user to a well-balanced solution, where the fit versus frequency and power is optimized while lowering the model complexity to ensure a good simulation-speed and convergence. Thanks to a basic simulation, the model is then qualified through a “Test Plan” with other test signals, not used during the extraction work. These independent test signals are provided to check the physical behavior and the robustness of the model. As a function of the circuit behavior and simulation need, different models can be proposed. The following table presents some possible combinations.

Device Modeler:

	Nonlinear	Mismatch effect	In-band Memory	Low Freq. Memory	NF (noise)
Limiters	✓	N.A	✓	N.A	N.A
Mixers	✓	N.Av	✓	N.A	✓
Passive	N.A	✓	✓	N.A	✓
Low Noise Amplifier	✓	✓	✓	N.Av	✓
High Power Amplifier	✓	✓	✓	N.Av	N.A

N.A : Non applicable, N.Av: Non available

VIS100C-2

Device Modeler Add-On

The Device Modeler Add-On allows more advanced behavioral models extraction for different circuit types :

MFC MODELER (models of Multi-Function Chips, integrating digital commands defining the RF state of the component, such as step attenuators)
HPA-B-HF-T° MODELER (Bilateral and nonlinear model of High Power Amplifier with High-Frequency memory effects associated with Thermal effects)
HPA-U-HF-LF MODELER (Unilateral and nonlinear model of High Power Amplifier with both High and Low frequency memory effects)
ANTENNA MODELER (Using EM simulation inputs, an SnP block represents the antenna model to consider the mutual coupling between different unitary radiating elements of the array)

Device Modeler:

	Nonlinear	Mismatch	In-band Memory	Low frequency Memory	NF (noise)
Multi Function Chip Modeler	N.Av	✓	✓	N.Av	N.Av
HPA T° Modeler	✓	✓	✓	T°	N.A
HPA-HF-LF Modeler	✓	N.Av	✓	✓	N.A
Antenna Modeler	N.A	✓	✓	N.A	✓

N.A. : Non Applicable / N.Av. : Non available / T° : Thermal RC cells can be defined to model the thermal behavior

The SYSTEM ARCHITECT helps to build RF subsystem architecture and to simulate its overall performance through a time-domain simulation.

Probes are used to measure the performances of the system at various nodes in the architecture, using standard figure-of-merit (instantaneous power in the time domain, average power, efficiency, consumption, ACPR, …).

VIS100E

System Architect

VS100-E

In the System Architect, the designer can design its architecture using different blocks representing different circuit models, extracted from the DEVICE MODELER. A palette of control blocks (signal sources, probes, waveforms, spectrum, DC supplies, Simulation controls…) are available to run a time-domain simulation and assess the overall response.

For architectures with many circuits, as for active antennas, the schematic editor allows the description of the system at different hierarchical levels, making it possible to represent a set of circuits by a single element. For example, a block can represent several hundred amplifiers, simplifying the representation of the system greatly while offering the possibility of carrying out a fine and individual analysis of the behavior of each circuit.

Based on the time-domain simulation, several types of analysis are available:

SYSTEM SWEEP ANALYSIS
SYSTEM STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
SYSTEM NOISE ANALYSIS
SYSTEM ANTENNA SIMULATION

Behavioral modeling flow for accurate RF and microwave system simulation - 2017 IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Antennas, Communications and Electronic Systems

Wideband test bench dedicated to behavioral modeling of nonlinear RF blocks with frequency transposition and memory.- 91st ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG) 2018

VISION SYSTEM MODEL EXPORT LICENCE enables exporting system architecture as a macro-model with its internal equation solver to a third party system simulator.

VIS100-F

SYSTEM MODEL EXPORT

This option allows the export of the model of the entire system represented in the SYSTEM ARCHITECT schematic editor, to a 3rd party external system simulator, in the form of a macro-model. The macro-model embeds its equation solver, which allows keeping the same precision in the target system simulator, even if the latter is not natively equipped with an equation solver as powerful as Vision in 'data-flow' mode, for example, to take into account the phenomena of mismatches between circuits or memory effects.
In that matter, Vision is indeed a unique tool, which allows unifying a global design process, from measurement or simulation at the circuit level to system simulation. The number of exports is unlimited, but only available for licences under maintenance program.

Export the signals in magnitude and phase of each front-end circuit to display the true radiation pattern of the antenna from a 3rd party EM simulator.

VIS100D-1

EM Link

The "EM Link" module enables exporting to an external 3^rd party electromagnetic simulator such as HFSS, the magnitude and phase of the signal emitted by each front-end circuit at every port of the antenna array.
For a given beam steering, the electromagnetic simulator can then calculate the true radiation pattern taking into account all the interactions between the different RF front-end circuits and the multi-port antenna.

This Whiteboard module allows the user to create and customize as many graphics as necessary and position them into a user-defined template. It is possible to incorporate texts and images. An interactive display, including tables and graphics, can be generated using different filters or sliders.

WHIT-1

WHITEBOARD EDITOR BUNDLE

The Whiteboard tool allows the visualization of as much data as possible without compromising flexibility. Circuit or system designers generally wish to import measurement or simulation data into a suitable environment to verify their design and/or verify the agreement between simulated results, measured performances, and reference data. If they don't have dedicated tools, they use homemade ones, which are generally costly in development time, workforce, and maintenance.

The data can be analyzed in a raw format or be processed via an equation editor, allowing to customize the analysis. By customizing his analysis environment, with a few clicks, the user can reload new measurement or simulation data in a predefined analysis environment.

This tool is essential for the in-depth analysis of RF systems simulations results. The simulated quantities, the variables used, and the size of the data can be parameterized at any time.

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