Add Frequency Type dialog box

The Add Frequency Type dialog box is opened when you click on the Add button in the Frequencies dialog box and allows you to add a new frequency sweep. For details about the control, see below.

Analysis Control: This number represents this frequency range’s position in the list in the Frequencies dialog box. You may not edit this directly.

Enabled: Select this checkbox is you wish to include the frequency range in the Sonnet analysis. When the frequency range is enabled, the simulation includes the frequency points defined here. If the range is disabled, then the range still appears in the list but is not used as an analysis control for the Sonnet simulation. The enabled column in the list of frequency ranges in the Frequencies dialog box indicates if a particular range is enabled or not.

Sweep Type drop list: Select the type of frequency sweep you desire from this drop list. The choices include Adaptive Sweep (ABS), DC Point, Linear Sweep, Single Frequency, Frequency List, Exponential Sweep, and Linear Sweep (# points). The entry boxes below the drop list are updated to correspond to whichever type of sweep is selected. The sweep types and their parameters are explained below.

• Adaptive Sweep (ABS): Please refer to the explanation in the Frequencies Section.
• DCPoint: The DC Point sweep analyzes your circuit at a low, non-zero frequency to supply response data at a DC point. This type of response data is necessary for some circuit analysis tools. You can choose to have the DC analysis frequency calculated automatically by the solver (default) or enter a frequency manually.

The low, non-zero frequency must be chosen carefully. If the frequency is too high, then the analysis is done at a point where the response of the circuit is already changing. If the frequency is too low, then precision errors occur which produce faulty data. An algorithm is provided with your software to automatically calculate this frequency which has a 95% success rate.

The low, non-zero frequency must be chosen carefully. See Choosing the DC Point Frequency for more information.

If you wish to enter your own frequency, click on the Manual radio button and enter the desired value in the text entry box to the right. If you wish the software to automatically calculate the DC point, select the Automatic radio button. This is the default setting.

• Linear Sweep: A Linear Sweep is used to execute an analysis using only one or multiple frequencies evenly spaced in an ascending order.

Enter the Start, Stop and Step values in the appropriate text entry boxes.

If you wish to analyze at only one frequency, enter that frequency in the Start text entry box. Otherwise, Start provides the beginning frequency, Stop the ending frequency and Step the spacing. For instance if the Frequency Units were set to GHz, then the values of 2, 10, 2 would start an analysis at 2 GHz and end at 10 GHz with steps of 2 GHz (e.g., 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 GHz).

• Single Frequency: Single Frequency analyzes your circuit at only one frequency entered in the Start text entry box.
• Frequency List:  See the description in the Frequencies Section.
• Exponential Sweep:  An Exponential Sweep specifies an exponential frequency sweep from the starting frequency to the end frequency with a common ratio between the desired number of frequency points. The text entry boxes are Start, Stop and # of Points. The # of Points is the number of frequency points used for the analysis.
• Linear Sweep (# points): A Linear Sweep (# points) uses only one or multiple frequencies evenly spaced in an ascending order. You specify the starting frequency and the ending frequency by editing the Start, and Stop text entry boxes, respectively. The frequency range is divided by the number of points to provide a constant interval between analysis frequencies.

When you have completed entering the parameters for the type of sweep you have chosen, click on the OK button to apply the changes and close the dialog box. The frequency range you just specified will appear in the list in the Frequencies dialog box.