Noise analysis measures the noise generated by resistors and semiconductor devices in the circuit. Capacitors, inductors and controlled sources are treated as noise free.
The noise analysis produces two plots - one for the Noise Spectral Density curves and one for the total Integrated Noise over the specified frequency range. All noise voltages/currents are in squared units (V2/Hz and A2/Hz for spectral density, V2 and A2 for integrated noise).
The following noise measurements can be made:
Output Noise. The noise measured at a specified output node.
Input Noise. The amount of noise that, if injected at the input, would cause the calculated noise at the output.
Component Noise. The output noise contribution of each component in the circuit. The total output noise is the sum of individual noise contributions of resistors and semiconductor devices. Each of these components contributes a certain amount of noise, which is multiplied by the gain from that component's position to the circuit's output. Thus the same component can contribute different amounts of noise to the output, depending on its location in the circuit.
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To perform an Noise analysis, the circuit must contain at least one independent source that has defined the parameters for the amplitude and phase of the AC signal. These parameters must be specified in the SPICE attributes of the symbol. |
Description
Enter a brief description of the type of analysis. The text entered is the title of the document in which the simulation results will be stored.
Analysis Range
In this section, you must specify the frequency range for which the analysis is to be performed.
Sweep Type
Defines how test points are determined within the specified frequency range.
Linear sweep. The frequency is swept linearly from Start frequency to Stop frequency for the total number of values indicated in Number of points.
Sweep by decades. The frequency is swept logarithmically by decades between the Start Frequency and Stop Frequency. For each interval, the number of values specified by Number of points is taken. The extremes of the intervals are such that extreme2=10*extreme1. For example, if you specify 1K for the initial value, 1Meg for the final value and 10 for number of points. The analysis interval is divided into three sub-intervals and the values are taken, on a logarithmic scale, as ten for each interval.
Sweep by octaves. The frequency is swept logarithmically by octaves between Start frequency and End frequency. For each interval, the number of values specified by Number of points is taken. The extremes of the intervals are such that extreme2=2*extreme1. For example, if you specify 1K for the initial value, 1Meg for the final value and 4 for number of points. The analysis interval is divided into ten sub-intervals and the values are taken, on a logarithmic scale, as four for each interval.
Start Frequency
The initial frequency for the sine wave generator (in Hz).
Stop Frequency
The final frequency for the sine wave generator (in Hz).
Number of Points
Specifies the number of points to be analysed. If the frequency varies linearly, this parameter specifies the total number of points otherwise it indicates the number of points to be analysed for each decade or octave.
Points Per Summary
Determines the amount of data generated by the noise analysis. It is an integer number that indicates how many frequency values, in the frequency range specified for the analysis, a detailed report must be generated on the noise produced by each resistor and semiconductor device in the circuit. For example, if a decadic variation has been selected for analysis with numpoints per decade and numdec decades within the specified frequency range, numdec*numpoints/PointsPerSummary+1 values are reported for each noise generator. Setting this parameter to 0 will cause input and output noise to be measured only.
Noise Source
An independent voltage source in the circuit which is to be used as an input reference for the noise calculations.
Output Node
The node in the circuit at which the total output noise is to be measured.
Reference Node
The node in the circuit used as a reference for calculating the total output noise at the desired Output Node. By default, this parameter is set to GND. If set to any other node, the total output noise is calculated as: V(Output Node) - V(Reference Node).
Vectors
Specifying the simulation data to be collected. Click on the button to activate the Vectors dialog box in which to specify the names of the vectors.
Temperature
Specify the temperature at which the simulation will be performed.
Analysis Mode
Specify whether a single or multiple analysis should be performed. The multiple analysis performs several consecutive simulations, varying the value of some parameters at each step. When a multiple analysis is selected, the Setup button is activated. Click on the button to activate the dialog in which to set the specific parameters for the selected analysis mode.
The following analysis modes are supported, click a link to learn more about that analysis mode:
Options
Click on this button to activate the dialog box in which to set the options of the simulator. The options set are only valid for the current analysis and replace those defined in the general tab of the simulator options.
Plot
Click on this button to activate the dialog box in which to set the diagrams and the list of vectors to be included in the diagrams. See the Plot dialog box.