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Speeding up transient simulation of power detector with PRBS input using PSS

SamLM929
SamLM929 1 hour ago

I have an RF power detector used for an AGC loop. The output of this power detector is put through a low-pass filter, while the data is coming in at 112Gbps PAM4. I'd like to test that the power detector has the expected response to changes in amplitude that are lower than the low-pass cutoff, but not sensitive to the data. This means I would have to simulate for 10+ microseconds, which is not practical to do when simulating across corners and temperatures.

My original thinking was that I could use PSS simulation as a starting point, and just use Pnoise or PAC to get the transfer function, and assume that changes in the data translate to phase noise and amplitudes, and from there calculate the maximum ripple in my filtered output based on that. I don't think this works though because the signal is large enough that these are not small amplitude changes, so it breaks the PSS operating point assumption.

My next thought is to use ENVLP analysis. Documentation shows that it's good for situations like an AGC loop with binary data. However it doesn't allow PRBS inputs at all, even here I have to use a pre-determined bitstream. If I generate a PRBS9 sequence and manually enter it into a vbit source, that works but it does not provide any speed improvement at all.

To summarize the problem so far the input, it is (a) 224GHz clock (b) 112Gbps PRBS data modulation and (c) low frequency ~100kHz amplitude modulation. The intention is for the output to track only the 100kHz amplitude modulation, meaning my simulation time has to be much larger than the clock.

What's the best way to speed up this simulation? Is there a clever way I can use data from a PSS simulation to speed up the transient? Or am I misunderstanding the ENVLP analysis entirely?

Working in Virtuoso IC23.1, using ADE Assembler. Any pointers or directions either in simulation or how I'm mathematically thinking about it would be very helpful, thank you in advance!

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