10

Helpful
Hints
for using the

HP Advanced Design System

HINTS
CONTENTS

Learning to Drive Using the Keyboard..............................................................................3

Using Templates or Copying Examples for More Efficient Simulation Set-up and
Data Display ........................................................................................................................... 4
Saving Mouse Clicks when Opening Projects .................................................................... 5
Renaming Ports on Schematics before Generating Subcircuits .......................................6
Enabling Easy Display of Data ..............................................................................................7
Efficiently Calculate Circuit Envelope Simulation Data ......................................................8
Using Short Cuts when Generating Schematics ................................................................9
Replacing MDS Wire Labels and Series IV Test Points with Node Names......................10
Using New and Improved Data Display Capabilities .........................................................11
Managing Projects................................................................................................................12

Learning to Drive Using the Keyboard

When you first learn to drive

a software program, it is usually easiest to use the mouse.
As you become more of an
expert user, however, it can
often be faster to use the keyboard to execute commands.
Also, heavy software users who
rely too much on mouse operations run the risk of developing
repetitive strain injuries.

ctrl+o for View/ Push Into Hier-

archy
Use F7 to launch simulations,
and the escape key to terminate commands.
F5 moves component text.

After moving a component, it

remains selected. To deselect
it, just click on a blank spot in
the schematic.

The HP Advanced Design System has many built-in hot keys

(Alt+f, for example, opens the
File menu), and you can customize hot keys to perform
operations that you use frequently.
In the Options menu of the
Main window or of a design
window, the command
Menu/Toolbar Configuration

opens the Customization dialog box where you can customize both hot keys and the tool
bar configuration. In the Main
window, you can customize
Main window operations; in a
design window, you can customize hot keys for that type of
design (schematic and layout
are set independently).
Hot key suggestions for editing
schematics:
f for View All
d for Redraw View
z for Zoom Area
2 for Zoom Out x2
e for Edit Component Param.
t for Draw (insert) Text
w for Component Wire (draw-

ing wires between components)

m for Move & Disconnect (in

most cases, this is preferable to

the Move command, which
causes wires to remain connected)

Figure 1. Setting Schematic Hot Keys

3

HINT

HINT

Using Templates or Copying

Examples for More Efficient
Simulation Set-up and Data Display

2
When you set up a simulation, never
start from scratch if you can avoid it.
Often the fastest way to set up a simulation is to copy a schematic from an
example or from another project.
You can use any saved schematic or
data display window as a template,
including those in the programs
examples directory.
You can also open a separate schematic
window and display a schematic from
an example or a different project.

Viewing a Data Display

Use the following steps to view a data
display from an example file when you
already have a data display open:
1. In a Data Display window, choose
File > New and open a new data display window.
2. In the new data display window,
choose File > Open.

3. If you know the example

project path, you can type
it in and skip the remaining steps. If you do not, go
to the Main window and
choose File > Copy Project.
4. On the From Project: line,
click on the Examples button and then the Browse
button.
5. Traverse the examples
directory tree until the
project that contains the
data display that you want
is entered in the Selection
field of the Copy From File
Browse dialog box.
6. Clear the Filter field of the
Open data display dialog
box.
7. Highlight the example
selection in the Copy From
File Browse dialog box, and
paste it into the Filter field
of the Open data display
dialog box. Append the suffix *.dds in this field, and

File > Copy Project

1. Click the desired directory type.

6. Enter a name,
8. Copy the project.

5. To have the copy placed in a different

directory than the original, click the desired
directory type and Browse.

Unless you specify a different directory, the copy is placed

in the same directory as the project that was copied.
Figure 1. The Basics of Copying Files
4

Opening
an Example Schematic
from within a Project
1. In a schematic window,
choose Window > Schematic.
2. In the new Schematic window, choose File > Open.
3. In the Open Design dialog
box, click Browse.
4. Traverse the directory tree
to find the desired project
and design.

3. Define the directory, then click Filter to

display the projects in

2. Click Browse.

7. Keep hierarchy
in copy.

all of the *.dds files in the

example project are displayed.
8. Select the example.dds file
you want to display, and
open it.
9. Copy and paste desired
plots, equations, etc., from
the example.dds file into
your data display window.

4. Select a project,

HINT

Saving Mouse Clicks when

Opening Projects

You can have the program

reopen design windows for you
when you reopen a project:
1. In the Main Preferences
dialog box, select Save
Project Status on Exit

(default is unselected).
2. When you change projects
or exit the program, leave
the design window(s) open
that you want to see when
you reopen the project.
The next time you open the
project, the last designs that
where open will open automatically, saving you several
mouse clicks.

Select this Option

Figure 1. Saving Open Design Windows

HINT

Renaming Ports on Schematics

before Generating Subcircuits

Designers often use subcircuits

to keep simulation set-ups
easy to read. When you generate a symbol for a subcircuit,
you must place a port on the
schematic at any input or output point, and the program
provides the ports with default
names (P1, P2, and so on).

Figure 1. Schematic with Named Ports

Figure 2. Symbol
6

If you change the default

names (to something more
descriptive such as Input, Output, Vplus, Vminus, for example), the names you give the
ports appear on the subcircuit
symbol when it is created. You
may have to move the names
on the symbol view so they do
not overlap, but having the
names on the symbol make it
easier to correctly wire the subcircuit into a higher-level circuit.

Enabling Easy Display of Data

HINT

Using the shortest possible

variable names in a data display makes it easier to display
data when you want to change
datasets. For example, after a
harmonic balance simulation,
instead of entering the equation:
Spectrum=dBm(SmampHBtest.HB1.HB1.HB.Vout)

just enter the equation:

Spectrum=dBm(Vout)

This way, to display a spectrum

using a different dataset, all
you have to do is change the
dataset name in the default
dataset window. Using complete variable names (as in the
first equation above) is necessary when you want to display
the results of two different
simulations simultaneously.

Figure 1. Using Short Variable Names

HINT

Efficiently Calculate
Circuit Envelope Simulation Data

When doing calculations with

or displaying Circuit Envelope
data, calculations are much
faster if you define an intermediate variable. For example, if
you simulate an amplifier with
a digitally-modulated input
signal in order to calculate the
adjacent-channel power ratio
or plot a trajectory diagram,
you must extract the resulting
fundamental frequency
component, which is a function
of time. For example, to see
the resulting output spectrum
near the fundamental frequency,
use the following equations:
Voutfund=Vout[1]
Spectrum=dBm(0.5*fs(Voutfund,,,,,"Kaiser))
Trajectory=vs(imag(Voutfund),real(Voutfund))

This will lead to faster data

display calculations than using
Vout[1] directly in all of the
expressions.

Figure 1. Using an Intermediate Variable

8

HINT

Using Short Cuts when

Generating Schematics

When you create a schematic,

there are a couple techniques
that can help speed things up:
1. Copy components that you
have already placed on the
schematic, rather than
placing new ones (using
the menus or palettes)
each time.
2. Enter component names
in the Component History
window. For example, type
R for resistor, and press
Enter. Then place the component in the schematic.
You must type in the exact
name of the component you
want; remember that ADS
is case sensitive.
3. Because the Component
History window keeps a
list of the components you
place in the schematic
(after initially opening the
window), if you see that a
particular component is
already in the schematic,
you can click the
down-arrow next to the
Component History window, select the desired
component, and insert the
part in the schematic.

Click here to display the drop-down list

Figure 1. Component History Window with List of Placed Components

HINT

Replacing MDS Wire Labels and

Series IV Test Points with
Node Names
Where MDS uses wire labels to
identify node voltages that are
to be output to a dataset, and
Series IV uses test points to
identify node voltages to be
used in calculations, the
HP Advanced Design System
uses node names.

Deleting

To insert a node name:

Renaming

1. Either select the node

name icon, which looks
like a resistor with a rectangle below it, or choose
the command,
Component > Node Name.
2. Type in the name you
would like to attach to a
particular node.
3. Select a component pin.
When placing a node
name, you must select a
component pin. In the
HP Advanced Design System 1.0, you cannot place
node names on a wire,
although this is an
enhancement under consideration for a future
release.

Once you place a node name,

you cannot edit its name. To
change the name, simply insert
a new node name with the
desired name to the same
node.

Figure 1. IF Output Schematic with Node Names

10

You do not delete a node name

the same way you delete other
components. Use the menu
command:
Edit > Component > Remove
Node Name

HINT

Using New and Improved

Data Display Capabilities

Data display has been

improved over MDS and Series
IV, although not all capabilities
in MDS and Series IV are
available in the first release of
the HP Advanced Design System. Some nice features
include:

You can use marker

read-outs in equations.
For example, filter bandwidth or third-order intercept point of a mixer can be
calculated from marker
readouts.
You can view matrices of
data in tabular format,
two-dimensions at a time.
To facilitate viewing
results, you can scroll
through long lists of data
and plots.
Refer to the examples file
/Tutorial/express_meas_prj

for many interesting and

useful ways to manipulate
simulation results.
When you run a swept simulation, such as Circuit
Envelope, the node voltages and other variables
output to the dataset are
multi-dimensional. Use the
what function to see the
independent variables and
their dimensionality.

Figure 1. Plots from ConstEVM.dds

in
/examples/RF_Board/NADC_PA_prj

Figure 2. Using the what Function

11

HINT

Managing Projects

10
HP Advanced Design System projects
are organized as shown in this example (CDMAsrc_prj):
DataSrcTest.dds
RevLinkSrc.dds
data
DataSrcTest.ds
RevLinkSrc.ds
mom_dsn
networks
DataSrcTest.ael, etc.
RevLinkSrc.ael, etc.
synthesis
verification
There are other files as well, and they
are documented in the program manuals.

Current
project directory

Use Model

Categorizing Designs

A basic HP Advanced Design

System use model is as follows:

What do you do if you decide

that the numerous schematics
in a particular project need to
be categorized into subdirectories for better organization?
The program does not allow
subdirectories in the networks
directory, so something else
must be done. Here are two
solutions:

1. You create a schematic and

then run a simulation,
which generates a dataset.
The dataset is written into
the data directory with a
.ds suffix.
2. You open a data display
window to view the results
of the simulation.
3. After viewing the simulation results, you may save
the data display window as
a .dds file.
Some users find it easiest
to keep schematic,
dataset, and data display
names identical. This way,
it is easy to determine
which simulation set-up
was used to generate a particular data display.

This area displays any

hierarchy in the current project.

Simulation
data
Momentum
data
Designs
DSP
synthesis
DRC
data

The Main
window displays the directories
that are created for a new projecf

Current directory path

Figure 1. A Typical Directory

12

In the Main window, copy

the project (File > Copy
Project), and delete
unwanted designs from the
new project (File > Delete
Design).
To delete unwanted
datasets, use the Data Display window command
File > Delete Dataset.
If you have subcircuits that
you want to be able to
access from two projects,
but you do not want to
keep two copies, select
File > Open then File
Include > Remove Projects
to enable you to access
designs in project B from
project A.
Alternatively, you can create a new project and just
copy designs from the original project into the new
one (Copy Design in the
Main window).
You will have to use an
operating system file manager to move or copy
datasets and data display
files.

The Competitive Advantage

HP EEsofs EDA tools are developed for
todays designers building tomorrows
communications products. From DSP and
RFIC design to device modeling and
consulting services, HP EEsof offers a full
array of design tools to streamline your
product development process.
For more information, call the local HP
sales office below or the nearest listing in
your telephone directory.
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Data subject to change.
1998 Hewlett-Packard Company
Printed in USA 4/98