Circuit Theory Laboratory Report Series

CT-35

A Two-Port S-Parameter Data Transformation Utility Implemented in APLAC Circuit Simulator

Otso Juntunen

Helsinki University of Technology Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering Circuit Theory Laboratory

Espoo 1998

Distribution: Helsinki University of Technology Circuit Theory Laboratory P.O. Box 3000 FIN-02015 HUT Tel. +358-9-451 5036 Fax. +358-9-451 4818 E-mail: Otso.Juntunen@hut.

ISBN 951-22-4038-6 ISSN 1239-8233

Pika-Jljenns a o Helsinki 1998

A Two-Port S-Parameter Data Transformation Utility Implemented in APLAC Circuit Simulator

Otso Juntunen CT-35 April 1998
Abstract Often three terminal devices such as bipolar transistors are measured with one of the terminals referenced to ground. The ground terminal is selected so as to minimize the eect of unwanted parasitics. However, this selection of the reference terminal is not always ideal for a circuit designer using circuit simulator. The utility transforms measured two-port data into another twoport network data format which has its ground referenced at a user selected terminal. Indexing terms: APLAC, 2-Port S-Parameter Transformation.

Contents
1 Introduction 2 Theory 2.1 Representation of the Network Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Indenite Admittance Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 How the Conversion Utility Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Usage 3.1 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Conclusions References 1 1 1 3 5 5 5 7 7

ii

Introduction

Many microwave measurements are conducted on three terminal devices with one of the terminals referenced to ground making these devices two-port networks rather than three-port networks. Often the ground reference terminal is selected so as to permit measurement that will minimize the addition of unwanted parasitics and not to the convenience of the end user of the measured data, thus the reason for this conversion utility. The utility that transforms data measured as a two port network into a three port network and then into another two-port network that is has its ground referenced at a user selected terminal. In this document we are going to discuss the theory behind the conversion utility and its usage. A conversion of measured S-parameters from common-emitter (CE) conguration to common-base (CB) conguration is presented as an example. Finally, the APLAC manual pages for the utility are presented.

2
2.1

Theory
Representation of the Network Measurements

The use of bipolar device terminology will be used throughout this document so as to eliminate two descriptions for each linear network. It will be assumed that a common-base conguration is analogous to a common gate conguration, commonemitter to common-source and common-collector to common-drain. Typical two-port measurements of three terminal devices are shown in Fig. 1. These measurements can be presented in two-port presentation if one terminal is referenced to ground, as shown in Fig. 2. If none of the terminals of a device is referenced to ground, a three-port network presentation results, see Fig. 3. Y-parameters can be used to describe the two and three-port networks that have been demonstrated. A diagram linking the connection scheme of the device to the Y-parameter measurements and their respective three-port matrix is shown in Eq. 1. The matrix rows and columns from 1 to 3 represent the device terminal base, collector and emitter respectively. y11 y12 y13 [Y3-port ] = y21 y22 y23 y31 y32 y33

(1)

Thus, the measurement conguration for common-emitter/common-source (CE/CS) can be represented as in Eq. 2. The second matrix is the measured two-port data 1

Figure 1: CE, CB, and CC conguration of three terminal devices.

CE

2-Port

Figure 2: CE measurement conguration can be representated as a two-port.

Three-port Three-port device

Figure 3: Linearized three-port representation of a three terminal device.

and the third matrix contains the same information converted to three-port representation. [YCE ] = y11 y12 y21 y22 y11 y12 = y21 y22

(2)

common-collector/common-drain (CC/CD) measurements can be represented as Eq. 3 [YCC ] = y11 y12 y21 y22 y11 y12 = y22 y22

(3)

And common-base/common gate (CB/CG) measurements can be changed to threeport representation as in Eq. 4 [YCB ] = y11 y12 y21 y22 = y11 y12 y21 y22

(4)

In the next section we are going to discuss the mathematical tool that makes the information transformation possible.

2.2

The Indenite Admittance Matrix

The indenite admittance matrix makes it possible to convert the measured data into other formats [2]. Kirchhos law says that the sum of currents coming to the circuit node is equal to zero. It can be shown that the sum of any Y-matrix row is zero (i.e. y11 +y12 +y13 = 0) and the sum of any Y-matrix column is zero (i.e. y11 + y21 + y31 = 0). This is the denition of the indenite admittance matrix which can be proved as follows: Consider the circuit Y-matrix presentation

I1 y11 y12 y13 V1 I2 = y21 y22 y23 V2 I3 y31 y32 y33 V3 Let V2 = V3 = 0, then I1 = y11 V1 I2 = y21 V2 I3 = y31 V3 3

(5)

(6)

and V1 (y11 + y21 + y31 ) = 0 (7)

The same way we can show the situations where V1 = V3 = 0 and V1 = V2 = 0. Finally, when V1 = V2 = V3 = V0 , then I1 = I2 = I3 = 0 and

V0 (y11 + y12 + y13 ) = 0 V0 (y21 + y22 + y23 ) = 0 V0 (y31 + y32 + y33 ) = 0

(8)

For example, with the knowledge of the indenite admittance matrix, a device measured in a common collector (CC) conguration can be transformed into a commonemitter (CE) conguration as well into a common-base (CB) conguration. Any transformation between the congurations CE, CC, and CB is possible. From Eq. 2 the indenite admittance matrix for the common-emitter two-port measurement can be calculated as: y11 y11 y12 y12 [YCE ] = y11 y21 y11 + y21 + y12 + y22 y12 y22 y21 y21 y22 y22

(9)

From Eq. 3 the common-collector indenite admittance matrix can be calculated as: y11 y12 y11 y12 y21 y22 y21 y22 [YCC ] = y11 y21 y12 y22 y11 + y21 + y12 + y22

(10)

And nally from Eq. 4 the indenite admittance matrix for common-base conguration: y11 + y12 + y21 + y22 y11 y21 y12 y22 y11 y12 y11 y12 [YCB ] = y21 y22 y21 y22

(11)

Once the suitable admittance matrix is constructed from the original parameters using Eq. 9, Eq. 10, or Eq. 11, it is easy to switch to other presentation of Yparameters by selecting suitable network parameters based on Eq. 2, Eq. 3, and Eq. 4. In the next section we explain the steps of the algorithm. 4

2.3

How the Conversion Utility Works

The utility uses the indenite admittance matrix to transform two-port data into two-port data referenced to another node of a three-terminal device with the following steps: 1. Read in the measured S-parameters from the user-specied le. 2. Convert the S-parameters into Y-parameters. 3. Construct an indenite admittance matrix from the input Y-parameters as shown by Eq. 9, Eq. 10, and Eq. 11. The indenite admittance matrix is constructed based on a user specication of the input le type. 4. The Y-parameters of the user-specied output le are extracted from the indenite admittance matrix based on user specication and Eq. 2, Eq. 3, and Eq. 4. 5. The output Y-parameters are then converted back into S-parameters and written into the output if the user species an output command, such as Print. The conversion of S-parameters to Y-parameters and back to S-parameters is done automatically by APLAC circuit simulator when using the conversion utility.

Usage

The S-parameter conversion utility is implemented in APLAC circuit simulator program. The feature extends the datale handling capabilities of the simulator. It is possible to use the utility with APLACs DataFile and NPort commands. With both commands the S-parameter conversion is excited by specifying argument [FORMAT String String]. The rst string denotes the original S-parameter format and the second denotes the new format, respectively. All conversions between CE, CB and CC are possible. Notice that APLAC has no way of knowing in what format the original parameters are, thats why the rst string is needed. The user should also note that if the strings are same no conversion is done. If the given FORMAT strings are dierent from CE, CC, or CB an error message results.

3.1

Example

Heres an example of the use of FORMAT with NPort: Vector XX 0.01G 0.10G 0.50G 1.00G 1.50G NPort Q1 2 1 0 5 0 LOAD="koe1.ce" FORMAT CE CB 5

DefNPort TwoPort 2 1 0 50 5 0 50 Sweep "S-parameter conversion" + Loop 5 FREQ TABLE XX + ND Print MA S(1,1) MA S(2,1) MA S(1,2) MA S(2,2) lf EndSweep First, the analysis frequencies are given. The frequencies are the same as the measurement frequencies of the S-parameters, these frequencies are also shown in the le koe1.ce as shown later. Next, component NPort is dened. LOAD means that the S-parameter le is loaded, and FORMAT CE CB results the conversion of the loaded S-parameters. The DefNport is needed for the S-parameter calculations. Sweep goes through the wanted frequencies and Print is for outputting the wanted Sparameters. Here is the le koe1.ce where are the S-parameters that are to be converted from CE to CC format. The frequencies are shown in the rst column. # GHz 0.01 0.10 0.50 1.00 1.50 S MA 0.95 0.92 0.78 0.63 0.60 R 50 -2 -11 -54 -98 -127

7.35 7.15 6.28 5.04 3.88

175 168 135 113 87

0.003 0.007 0.026 0.037 0.039

84 79 54 33 28

1.01 0.99 0.90 0.79 0.76

-1 -4 -10 -30 -35

The results from the conversion from CE to CB are presented below: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------APLAC 7.20 Tue Mar 10 1998 at 22:11:30 Copyright (c) Helsinki University of Technology, Circuit Theory Laboratory & Nokia Corporation, Research Center 1988-1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------( ( ( ( ( 583.094m 582.402m 605.912m 654.037m 681.473m 177.9 177.2 172.8 172.7 166.1 )( )( )( )( )( 1.573 1.568 1.602 1.631 1.767 -1.0 )( 2.624m 167.1 )( 1.002 -207.2m) -2.5 )( 7.759m 88.1 )( 999.843m-882.0m) -10.1 )( 14.630m 84.8 )( 999.614m-2.8 ) -16.8 )( 63.799m 83.2 )( 1.039 -9.0 ) -27.5 )( 87.966m 94.6 )( 1.129 -12.9 )

End of APLAC 7.20 Tue Mar 10 1998 at 22:11:31 (CPU-time = 130 ms) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

Using the utility with DataFile-command is as straightforward as in the presented example. However, the user must remenber that APLAC circuit simulator does not give any output if there is no output function called. The user has to use a proper function for obtaining the results, such as Print. The manual pages of DataFile are included at the end of this document.

Conclusions

An utility for S-parameter conversion has been implemented in APLAC circuit simulator. Now, the circuit designer has the possiblity of converting measured two-port data into forms that are more convenient for analysis purposes.

Acknowledgements
The writer would like to express his gratitude to Jarmo Virtanen for helping with the implementation of the utility to APLAC circuit simulator.

References
[1] Ralph S. Carson, High Frequency Ampliers, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2nd Edition, 1982. [2] W. K. Chen, Active Network Analysis, World Scientic Publishing Company, 2nd Edition, 1991.