EEC 132

ADS Momentum Tutorial

Huan Liao
Kelvin Yuk
Winter 2009

This is a brief tutorial on the use of ADS Momentum. Please refer to the ADS/Agilent site
http://eesof.tm.agilent.com/products/momentum_main.html for additional information.
Example:
Design a microstrip radial stub low pass filter, with 1 dB corner frequency at 3.2 GHz, and at least
25 dB of attenuation in the range :3.9-6.0 GHz. The lumped circuit design is shown in Figure 1.
Simulate this design and plot its S-parameters.
1. Lumped Circuit Design

Term
Term1
Num=1
Z=50 Ohm

L
L1
L=3.129 nH
R=

C
C1
C=1.728 pF

L
L2
L=3.343 nH
R=

C
C2
C=2.624 pF

L
L3
L=3.129 nH
R=

C
C3
C=2.624 pF

C
C4
C=1.728 pF

Term
Term2
Num=2
Z=50 Ohm

S-PARAMETERS
S_Param
SP1
Start=0.5 GHz
Stop=10.0 GHz
Step=0.01 GHz

Figure 1. Schematic of Lumped Circuit

2. Distributed Circuit Design, using radial stubs. The lumped design has been converted into
microstrip transmission line elements as shown in Figure 2. Transmission lines have been
used in place of the inductors and radial stubs have been used in place of the capacitors.
Fifty-ohm microstrip transmission lines and tapers have been added to each end of the filter.
Simulate this design and compare it with the lumped design.

MLIN
MT APER
MLIN
MLIN
MLIN
MTAPER
MLIN
T L1
T aper1
T L2
T L3
T L4
T aper2
T L5
Subst="MSub1"Subst="MSub1"MBST UB
Subst="MSub1"MBST UB
Subst="MSub1"MBST UB
Subst="MSub1"MBST UB
Subst="MSub1"Subst="MSub1"
Stub2
Stub3
Stub4
W1=115 mil Stub1
W1=115 mil W=115 mil
W=115 mil
W=40 mil
W=40 mil
W=40 mil
Subst="MSub1"L=215 mil
Subst="MSub1"L=225.7 mil
Subst="MSub1"L=215 mil
Subst="MSub1"W2=40 mil
L=300 mil
W2=40 mil
L=300 mil
W=40 mil
W=40.0 mil
W=40.0 mil
W=40 mil
Term
L=97.5 mil
L=97.5 mil
Ro=218.7 mil
Ro=276.6 mil
Ro=276.6 mil
Ro=218.7 mil
Term1
Angle=60
Angle=45
Angle=45
Angle=60
Num=1
D=15 mil
D=15 mil
D=15 mil
D=15 mil
Z=50 Ohm
MSub
MSUB
MSub1
H=59 mil
Er=4.3
Mur=1
Cond=1.0E+50
Hu=3.9e+034 mil
T =0.7 mil
T anD=0
Rough=0 mil

S-PARAMETERS
S_Param
SP1
Start=0.5 GHz
Stop=10.0 GHz
Step=0.01 GHz

Figure 2. Schematic of Distributed Circuit

3. Momentum
1) Generate the schematic for Momentum simulation

T erm
T erm2
Num=2
Z=50 Ohm

In order to set up the Momentum simulation, a schematic using microstrip components

must be converted into a layout and the appropriate ports need to be designed. Using the
schematic shown in Figure 2 above, delete the 50-ohm Term components and the
S-Parameter block..
Add two ports to the schematic as shown in Figure 3.

Port
P1
Num=1

MLIN
MT APER
MLIN
MLIN
MLIN
MT APER
MLIN
Port
TL1
Taper1
T L2
T L3
T L4
Taper2
TL5
P2
Subst="MSub1" Subst="MSub1" MBST UB
Subst="MSub1" MBSTUB
Subst="MSub1" MBST UB
Subst="MSub1" MBST UB
Subst="MSub1" Subst="MSub1" Num=2
Stub1
Stub2
Stub3
Stub4
W=115 mil
W1=115 mil
W=40 mil
W=40 mil
W=40 mil
W1=115 mil
W=115 mil
Subst="MSub1" L=215 mil
Subst="MSub1" L=225.7 mil
Subst="MSub1" L=215 mil
Subst="MSub1" W2=40 mil
L=300 mil
W2=40 mil
L=300 mil
W=40 mil
W=40.0 mil
W=40.0 mil
W=40 mil
L=97.5 mil
L=97.5 mil
Ro=218.7 mil
Ro=276.6 mil
Ro=276.6 mil
Ro=218.7 mil
Angle=60
Angle=45
Angle=45
Angle=60
D=15 mil
D=15 mil
D=15 mil
D=15 mil
MSub
MSUB
MSub1
H=59 mil
Er=4.3
Mur=1
Cond=1.0E+50
Hu=3.9e+034 mil
T =0.7 mil
T anD=0
Rough=0 mil

Figure.3. Schematic of Circuit for Momentum Simulation

2) Generate/Update Layout
The schematic is ready for conversion into a layout. Go to the Layout menu, select
Generate/Update Layout. Click OK in the dialog box. The layout shown in Figure 4. will
appear.

Figure 4. Layout of microstrip distributed filter

3) Define and Solve the Substrate

You must instruct Momentum as to how the different metal/slot layers in your drawing are
mapped to different layers of your substrate.
This is achieved by either (1) updating the substrate parameters defined in the MSUB
component (recommended) or (2) by defining the substrate parameters within the Momentum
controller.
(1) The first is accomplished by selecting Momentum->Substrate->Update from the menu
bar in the Layout window as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Updating the Momentum substrate information using information from the
MSUB component in your schematic.
(2) The other requires you to set information about the substrate in an additional dialog box
which can be activated by Momentum->Substrate->Create/Modify as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Manual creation of Momentum substrate parameters

In the Substrate Layers Tab shown in Figure 7, enter the Thickness and the Permittivity which are
the same as those in the schematic.

Figure 7. Create/Modify Substrate: Substrate Layers

Click the Layout Layers tab as shown in Figure 8. Highlight and enter the Thickness and
Conductivity of the metal layer which agree with those in the schematic.

Figure 8. Create/Modify Substrate: Layout Layers

In most cases, you can first perform an Update from schematic substrate definition,
followed by a check using Create/modify option. In this case, the Substrate Layers have been
loaded already; you just need to edit the Metallization Layers.
Click on the Momentum pull-down menu and select Substrate -> Precompute Substrate as
shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Precompute Substrate

In this step, Momentum will perform a series of computations that are specific to the
substrate definition only, not the shapes of the objects in the layout. This is useful since you may
be able to use the same substrate for different shapes of microstrip circuits, but you will not have
to re-compute these preliminary functions. A pop-up window appear asking for the minimum
frequency and maximum frequency of substrate computations. Enter a minimum frequency of
0.5 GHz and a maximum frequency of 10 GHz as shown in Figure 10. A status window
displaying details of the computation will appear as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 10. Specifying the frequency range of the substrate computation.

Figure 11.

Status window displaying details of the substrate computation

When the substrate calculations are complete, save the substrate computation by clicking on
Momentum -> Substrate -> Save as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Saving the substrate computation results.

4) Mesh Setup
Before the simulation can proceed, we need to define the mesh by opening the mesh
setup dialog box. Click Momemtum->Mesh->Setup as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Setup the Mesh

A Mesh Setup Controls window will appear as shown in Figure 14. The important
parameter is the mesh frequency which is the highest frequency you want to analyze the
circuit for. In our case, 10 GHz will be good. (the higher the frequency, the finer the mesh will
be and the longer the simulation time.) Enter 10GHz as the Mesh Frequency and click OK
as shown in Figure 14.

Figure. 14. Mesh Setup Controls Dialog Box

Now preview the mesh on your circuit layout by clicking on Momentum -> Mesh ->
Preview as shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15. Preview the Mesh on your circuit layout.

A Preview Mesh window will pop up as shown in Figure 16.. Enter a Mesh Frequency of 10
GHz and click OK. A status window as shown in Figure 17 will appear.

Figure 16. Mesh Preview pop up window

Figure 17. Status window for Mesh Preview

Your layout should now resemble Figure 18.

Fig. 18. Layout after Mesh Precompute

5) Simulation
In this step, Momentum uses the substrate, mesh information and the method of
moments to characterize the circuit.
In the layout view, select Momentum->Simulation->S-parameters as shown in Figure
19.

Figure 19. Momentum S-parameter simulation

A Simulation Control window will appear as shown in Figure 20. We now have to
specify the S-parameter sweep parameters.
PLEASE NOTE:
DUE TO THE
COMPLEXITY OF THIS OPERATION IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU CHOOSE
Adaptive SWEEP AND THAT THE SAMPLE POINTS LIMIT IS SET TO THE
MINIMUM THAT IS NECESSARY. THIS OPERATION CAN TAKE UP TO SEVERAL
HOURS OR DAYS IF TOO MANY POINTS ARE SPECIFIED.
In the Simulation Control menu, choose the Adaptive Sweep Type. Enter a Start of
0.5GHz and Stop of 10GHz. Enter a Sample Points Limit of 30. Then, click Add to
Frequency Plan List or Update.

Figure 20. Simulation Control Dialog Box

After the frequency sweep plan has been entered. Click the Simulate button to perform a
simulation on the layout. PLEASE NOTE: THIS SIMULATION MAY TAKE SEVERAL
HOURS TO COMPLETE. A status window as shown in Figure 21 will appear and display
the simulation progress.

Figure 21. Status window for Momentum S-parameter simulation

6) Viewing the Results
When the simulation is complete, a data display window should open automatically and
include separate plots of all four S-parameters. The name of the data set that is created will be
the same as the layout filename, with an _a extension. This file will automatically be saved
to the Data subdirectory of your project as a dataset file (.ds file). The automatically
generated plot for S21 is shown in Figure 22.

S21
0
-10
Mag. [dB]

-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
0

10

Frequency
Figure 22. Simulation Results Comparison, S21
The responses of the Lumped, Distributed and Momentum simulations can be compared
on the same plot as shown in Figure 23 and Figure 24.
m2
m1
m3

dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum_mom_a..S(2,1))
dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum0..S(2,1))
dB(LPF_lumped..S(2,1))

-10

-20

-30

Momentum

-40

-50
m1
f req=3.300GHz
dB(LPF_lumped..S(2,1))=-3.137

-60

Lumped

m2
f req=3.380GHz
dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum0..S(2,1))=-3.000

-70

-80

m3
f req=3.386GHz
dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum_mom_a..S(2,1))=-3.492

-90

Distributed

-100

-110
0

freq, GHz

Figure 23. Simulation Results Comparison, S21

10

dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum_mom_a..S(1,1))
dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum0..S(1,1))
dB(LPF_lumped..S(1,1))

m6
m4
m5

m4
freq=3.300GHz
dB(LPF_lumped..S(1,1))=-2.887

Lumped

m5
freq=3.380GHz
dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum0..S(1,1))=-7.179

-10

Distributed

m6
freq=3.386GHz
dB(LPF_Radial_Stubs_Momentum_mom_a..S(1,1))=-2.627

Momentum

-20

-30

-40
0

freq, GHz

Figure 24. Simulation Results Comparison, S11

10