Working with RF System Budget Analysis Results

This section describes how to work with results from budget simulations:

• Viewing Results Using the ADS Data Display describes how to format and display results in the Data Display.
• Exporting and Post-Processing Results describes how to export simulation results to a text file using the Comma Separated Values (CSV) format.

Viewing Results Using the ADS Data Display

There are different ways to format and display budget simulation results in the Data Display:

• Enable the automatic formatting feature in the Budget controller.
• Use an existing Data Display page or template that is custom formatted the way you prefer.

Automatic Formatting

The results from a budget simulation can be formatted and displayed automatically in tables and plots preconfigured for the Budget controller. Enabling this feature causes the Budget controller to send a command to the Data Display window at the end of the budget simulation to format and display the results.

Caution Enabling the automatic formatting feature can overwrite an existing formatted Data Display page. Make sure valuable data is not overwritten and lost.

To enable automatic formatting:

• In the Budget controller's setup dialog box, select the option Auto format display with overwrite on the Setup tab in the Results section.
  or
• On the schematic, set the parameter AutoFormatDisplay=Yes.

In addition to enabling the automatic formatting feature, you must be sure to set up the simulation so a default Data Display window opens at the end of the simulation. In the Schematic window, choose Simulate > Simulation Setup, then select the option Open Data Display when simulation completes. For more information about setting up simulations, see Simulation Basics.

If you are not familiar with setting up formatting in the Data Display, enable the automatic formatting option the first time you run a budget simulation to help you learn how to display results. However, use this feature carefully to avoid accidently overwriting existing results. When you are comfortable with the Data Display and its formatting features, disable the automatic formatting.

Note If automatic formatting is disabled, the simulation results are still written to the dataset, but they are not automatically formatted and displayed in the Data Display. This can be useful when you have a custom formatted Data Display page or template that you prefer for displaying simulation results.

With the correct setup to display cascade and summary measurements, and after a successful simulation, a Data Display window will open at the end of the simulation containing three pages, which are discussed in the following sections:

• Summary tables which displays results for the default system summary measurements. See Summary Measurements Tables.
• Measurement tables which displays results for the selected system cascade measurements. See Cascade Measurements Tables.
• Measurement plots which displays plots for the selected system cascade measurements. See Cascade Measurements Plots.

Note If no measurements are selected for a budget simulation, the Measurement tables and Measurement plots pages are not created since no cascade measurement results are evaluated. The Summary tables page is displayed by default.

Summary Measurements Tables

The Summary tables page displays a table with the system summary measurements for the design being simulated. Summary measurements define overall system performance from input to output. The results are formatted as shown in the example in the following figure. All of the summary measurements are evaluated and written to the dataset for every budget simulation, so they are not available for individual selection on the Budget controller's Measurements tab. For information on the individual measurements, see RF Budget Summary Measurements.

Summary measurements tables for a Budget simulation

Cascade Measurements Tables

The Measurement tables page displays a table with the system cascade measurements that are selected on the Budget controller's Measurements tab. These measurements are evaluated for each component on the schematic except the source and the termination. For information on the individual measurements, see RF Budget Cascade Measurements.

There are two ways that these measurements can be displayed to be useful.

• Display the results for each component in columns as shown in the following figure.
  To select this format:
  • In the Budget controller's setup dialog box, select Components in - Columns on the Setup tab in the Results section.
    or
  • On the schematic, set the parameter TableComponentFormat=Columns.
    
    

    Cascade measurements tables with results for each component formatted in columns

• Display the results for each component in rows as shown in the following figure.
  To select this format:
  • In the Budget controller's setup dialog box, select Components in - Rows on the Setup tab in the Results section.
    or
  • On the schematic, set the parameter TableComponentFormat=Rows.
    
    

    Cascade measurements tables with results for each component formatted in rows

Cascade Measurements Plots

The Measurement plots page displays plots of the system cascade measurements that are selected on the Budget controller's Measurements tab. The plots display the same data as the Measurement tables page, but formatted in stacked plots instead of tables as shown in the following figure. These measurements are evaluated for each component on the schematic except the source and the termination. For information on the individual measurements, see RF Budget Cascade Measurements.

The plots are stacked in groups of three plots per column, and the X-axis in each plot is the component index. Component indexing starts at 0 starting with the first component after the source (the source is not included). For example, in a design where the fifth component after the source is AMP1, the index for this component is 4 in each plot.

Cascade measurements tables with results for each component formatted in rows

Custom Formatting

If you have an existing Data Display page or template that is formatted the way you prefer, then disable the automatic format display feature. When the simulation finishes, a default Data Display page or template is opened if selected.

To disable automatic formatting:

• In the Budget controller's setup dialog box, deselect (uncheck) the option Auto format display with overwrite on the Setup tab in the Results section.
  or
• On the schematic, set the parameter AutoFormatDisplay=No.
  If needed, make sure that the Simulation Setup is configured such that a default Data Display window is opened at the end of the simulation (in the Schematic window, choose Simulate > Simulation Setup).

Exporting and Post-Processing Results

The results from a budget simulation can be exported to a text file, in the Comma Separated Values (CSV) format. This can be useful if you are familiar with using spreadsheet applications for budget analysis such as Microsoft Excel.

To enable exporting results to a CSV file:

• In the Budget controller's setup dialog box, enable the option Output results as comma separated values (CSV) to file on the Setup tab in the Results section.
  or
• On the schematic, set the parameter OutputCSVFile=Yes.

When this feature is enabled, the simulation results are written to the data directory of the current ADS project. The results are written into a text file named < design_name >. csv, where < design_name > is the name of the ADS schematic design being simulated. You cannot specify an alternate directory or file name. The results written to the CSV file include:

• Summary measurements data
• Cascade measurements data

The Budget controller also provides a facility for post-processing the CSV file at the end of the simulation. It enables you to run a command to reformat the CSV file into a format that's easier to use.

To enable the post-processing facility:

• In the Budget controller's setup dialog box, enable the option Run command after analysis on the Setup tab in the Results section. Then, enter the command that post-processes the CSV file in the entry field for System command. Here is an example of a command that you can enter:
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe
  or
• On the schematic, set the parameter RunCommand=Yes, and enter the command that post-processes the CSV file for the SystemCommand parameter. Here is an example of a command you can enter (including quotation marks):
  "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe"

The following figure shows an example of how the setup dialog is prepared to output a CSV file and post-process the file.

Setup tab set for post-processing CSV file

Note The Budget controller parameters, RunCommand and SystemCommand are supported on Windows platforms only. On UNIX/Linux platforms, these parameters do not execute a command; instead, the simulator reports a warning stating that these parameters are not supported and proceeds with the simulation.

Here are additional details about using the post-processing command:

• You can define a command on any supported platform. When specifying an executable or shell script, use either its full path or a path relative to the data directory of the currently open ADS project.
• A typical use on a Windows PC is to run Excel at the end of the simulation to open the CSV file. A typical use on UNIX or Linux platforms is to run a script written in a scripting language to reformat the CSV file into a format that's easier to use.
• The system command specified in the Budget controller is executed at the end of the simulation.
• The CSV file will be overwritten after each simulation.
• The Budget controller automatically appends the name of the CSV file to the command string. For example, if the command string is
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe
  then the actual command executed is
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe <design_name>.csv

Example Excel Spreadsheet

ADS includes an example of a user-defined Excel spreadsheet. It contains a macro that you can use to post-process an exported CSV file. This Excel macro will process the CSV file into formatted tables and plots for each measurement. The spreadsheet is named SetUp_Budget_Sheets.xls and it is located in
$HPEESOF_DIR/examples/Tutorial/RF_Budget_Examples_prj
The following figure shows SetUp_Budget_Sheets.xls opened to the Icons worksheet.

Important Technical support is not provided for this spreadsheet. This Excel spreadsheet is included only to demonstrate how to use a user-defined macro to post-process exported results from a budget simulation. This sample spreadsheet has been tested only with Microsoft Excel 2000, version 9.0.7616 SP3. It has been found that the system command and/or spreadsheet macro fail to execute with earlier versions of Microsoft Excel.

To use the sample spreadsheet:

1. Copy the file SetUp_Budget_Sheets.xls from the folder $HPEESOF_DIR/examples/Tutorial/RF_Budget_Examples_prj.
2. Paste the .xls file into the Office\XLStart folder. For example, if the Excel.exe executable's location is
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe
   then the XLStart folder is at
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\XLStart.

   Note Any Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in the Office\XLStart folder will be opened any time Microsoft Excel is launched, even independent of ADS. To avoid this, delete the file SetUp_Budget_Sheets.xls from the Office\XLStart folder after your requirement to use it for budget analysis is complete.

3. When the Budget controller launches Excel at the end of the simulation, it opens the CSV file containing the simulation data. When the CSV file opens in Excel, the macro is available in the background.
   Run the macro using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-R. The following figure shows the CSV file after running the macro, opened to the Cascade_Meas worksheet. Additional worksheets are available named after each measurement, and containing a plot of the data for that measurement.
   
4. Customize the Excel spreadsheet SetUp_Budget_Sheets.xls and the macro it contains for your own needs.