Complex system approach to microwave circuit stability assessment

Available commercial CAD/EDA software tools implement small-signal tests to assess microwave circuit stability in any regime of operation. In particular, nonlinear circuits such as power amplifiers, mixers and frequency doublers operate in nonlinear conditions, often being driven into a periodic or quasi-periodic steady steady state. Therefore techniques for the nonlinear stability analysis, conceived as a study of the perturbation of the periodic or quasi-periodic working point, are an added value for the circuit designer. A viable alternative for such nonlinear stability analysis  is offered by the  application of the Floquet theory to the large-signal steady state and the explicit calculation of the Floquet exponents, directly implemented in the frequency domain. We have developed specialized algorithms, that make such determination rather efficient and implementable into circuit simulators with a comparatively reduced effort.

ERC Sector:

  • PE7_6 Communication technology, high-frequency technology

Keywords:

  • Circuit stability
  • Circuit simulation
  • Bifurcation
  • Floquet theory

Research groups