A Novel Time-Domain CAD Technique Based on Automatic Time-Slot Division for the Numerical Simulation of Highly Nonlinear RF Circuits

摘要

This paper presents a new computer-aided design tool specifically developed for the efficient time-domain simulation of strongly nonlinear heterogeneous RF circuits whose stimuli are turned off for unknown periods of time, hence leaving the systems in a natural response state. The proposed technique is implemented in a completely different approach in comparison to the techniques previously published in the literature. It is based on a time-slot division strategy with automatic switching between different algorithms along the simulation process. Significant gains in computational speed over commercial simulation tools are reported without compromising the accuracy of the results, as this technique takes advantage of the unknown on–off state of the stimulus, while commercial tools would have to rely on classical SPICE-like simulation methods.