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Previous article: ADS Tutorial (IV) Data Display

In this section, we will learn about the Real Time Tuning in ADS. This function allows users to adjust circuit parameters in real time during simulation and immediately see the adjusted simulation results. This interactive tuning method can significantly improve the efficiency of circuit design and optimization.

In the previous section, we obtained the following simulation results:

It can be seen that under the current design, the filtering performance of the filter is not very good, indicating that there is room for further optimization. We can adjust the performance of the filter by changing the values ​​of components (capacitors, inductors).

When changing component parameter values, we can manually modify them in the original schematic, set a specific set of values ​​each time, then simulate and observe the trace to judge the performance:

However, this is not only troublesome, but also takes a lot of time if the initial value is far from the value we need. Moreover, when the circuit is more complicated, it is difficult for us to realize the circuit we need by setting it up bit by bit.

So we recommend using another method – Real Time Tuning. In the next section, we will share Optimization.

To perform Real Time Tuning, we first need a Simulation Bench, and then we need to have some drawn result images (we have already done these steps before). We can go back to the top-level design, and then click Start Tuning in the toolbar, and the following window will appear:

As you can see, we now need to select a parameter in the schematic for tuning. Since we are currently in the top-level design and cannot directly select parameters, we need to use the toolbar to enter the subnetwork first. Then we can directly click on the parameter to be optimized, or click on the component icon and select the parameter to be tuned. In this experiment, we import the parameters of all five components:

We can then open the previous Data Display window to observe the changes in simulation results in real time during the tuning process:

As you can see, in the Tuning window, you can set the maximum, minimum, and step size of each parameter. We can expand the range to optimize better. Then we can slide the slider to adjust the parameter, or use the button or to adjust the parameter value. When the button is adjusted, the parameter changes according to the step size, and when it is checked, the slider changes according to the step size, and when it is unchecked, it changes according to the minimum value (here 0.1).

At this point, if we adjust the parameter value, we will find that the value in the Data Display is also changing synchronously:

After continuous attempts, we can get a set of parameters whose corresponding filters have better performance:

In order to prevent our hard work from going to waste, we need to click to save the current parameter values ​​when the performance reaches a certain level of optimization :

As you can see, the Comment to be saved will be automatically filled in. We can use the default naming method or customize a new name. We can store multiple sets of parameter values.

Try again. If we find that no matter how we adjust it, the result is not as good as before, we can restore the previous parameters.

After finding the best parameter combination, we can click to update the modified parameters to the schematic (the parameter values ​​of the components in the original schematic remain unchanged during Tuning). Then we can close the Tuning window.

At this point, we return to the schematic and can see that the parameter values ​​of the component have changed to the modified parameter values:

We can then go back to the main design and click Simulate again to make sure the changes we made were effective:

The performance of the filter may not be optimal yet, but it is much improved compared to before.

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Next article: ADS Tutorial (VI) Optimization in ADS