RF Blockset™

Getting Started Guide

R2022a
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RF Blockset™ Getting Started Guide
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 Contents

Circuit Envelope

Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

1
RF Blockset Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

Circuit Envelope Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Use Circuit Envelope Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Open Circuit Envelope Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Understanding Circuit Envelope Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Circuit Envelope Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Assumptions for Circuit Envelope Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
What Is Circuit Envelope? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Time Domain Simulation and Frequency Domain Analysis . . . . . . . . . 1-8
How Circuit Envelope Simulation Works in RF Blockset . . . . . . . . . . 1-9

Using RF Measurement Testbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11

Device Under Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
RF Measurement Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
RF Measurement Unit Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

Simulate High Frequency Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18

Simulate a Passband Signal in Simulink Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Compare Passband and Baseband Signals in RF Blockset Software
................................................. 1-19
Simulate the Envelope of a Baseband Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-21

Using RF Blockset for the First Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24

Expected Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Circuit Envelope, Equivalent Baseband, and Idealized Baseband
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Understanding RF Blockset Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-25

Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27

iii
 Frequency Conversion
2
Model an RF Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Build RF System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Define Model Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Specify Block Parameters for RF Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Probe Circuit Envelopes Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Observe Downconverted Envelope Signal at Output Port . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Filter Mixing Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

Probe Multiple RF Carriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Model an RF Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Simulate Filtering of RF Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Improve Performance by Reducing Total Simulation Frequencies . . . 2-8

Equivalent Baseband

Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

3
RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Overview of RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Open RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Equivalent Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Idealized Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5

Equivalent Baseband Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

Overview of LC Bandpass Filter Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Select Blocks to Represent System Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Build the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Specify Model Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Validate Filter Components and Run the Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Analyze the Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15

Equivalent Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19

Use Equivalent Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Open Equivalent Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Understanding Equivalent Baseband Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21

iv Contents
 RF Simulation Basics
4
RF Simulation Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Terms and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

Introduction to Idealized Baseband Simulation

5
Idealized Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Use Idealized Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Open Idealized Baseband Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2

Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Amplifier Block . . . . . . . 5-4

Nonlinearity Models in Idealized Amplifier Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
Plot Power Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Application of Nonlinearities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Thermal Noise Simulations in Idealized Amplifier Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8

Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block . . . . . . . . . 5-10

Nonlinearities in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Phase Noise in Mixer Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Mixer (System) Noise Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13

v
Circuit Envelope

7
 1

Introduction to Circuit Envelope

Simulation

• “RF Blockset Product Description” on page 1-2

• “Circuit Envelope Library” on page 1-3
• “Circuit Envelope Basics” on page 1-6
• “Using RF Measurement Testbench” on page 1-11
• “Simulate High Frequency Components” on page 1-18
• “Using RF Blockset for the First Time” on page 1-24
• “Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope” on page 1-27
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

RF Blockset Product Description

Design and simulate RF systems

RF Blockset (formerly SimRF™) provides a Simulink® model library and simulation engine for
designing RF communications and radar systems.

RF Blockset lets you simulate RF transceivers and front-ends. You can model nonlinear RF amplifiers
to estimate gain, noise, even-order, and odd-order intermodulation distortion, including memory
effects. For RF mixers, you can predict image rejection, reciprocal mixing, local oscillator phase
noise, and DC offset. RF models can be characterized using data sheet specifications or measured
data such as multiport S-parameters. They can be used to accurately model adaptive architectures,
including automatic gain control (AGC), digital predistortion (DPD) algorithms, and beamforming.

The RF Budget Analyzer app lets you automatically generate transceiver models and measurement
test benches to validate performance and set up a circuit envelope multicarrier simulation.

With RF Blockset you can simulate RF systems at different levels of abstraction. Circuit envelope
simulation enables high-fidelity, multicarrier simulation of networks with arbitrary topologies. The
Equivalent Baseband library enables fast, discrete-time simulation of single-carrier cascaded systems.

1-2
 Circuit Envelope Library

Circuit Envelope Library

Use Circuit Envelope Library

The RF Blockset Circuit Envelope library provides components to model RF systems within the
Simulink environment. This library extends your Simulink modeling environment with a library of
blocks, including Amplifier, Mixer, Filter, and Antenna, to model RF systems. Use blocks from the
Circuit Envelope library to model electrical components by specifying RF properties or by importing
measured data.

The RF Blockset Circuit Envelope library enables simulation of arbitrary and cascaded RF networks
with multicarrier frequencies, noise, and nonlinearities. The Elements, Junctions, Sources, Systems,
Testbenches, and Utilities sublibraries enable you to model noise, nonlinear elements, and RF
architecture. You can import S-parameter data files directly into RF Blockset models to specify linear
networks, and you can visualize their frequency response using the S-Parameters block. Use the
Testbenches sublibrary to measure and verify gain, noise figure, and intercept point. Additionally,
using this library you can also author custom blocks using Simscape™ language.

Open Circuit Envelope Library

To open the main library window, type this at the MATLAB® Command Line:

rflib

Each yellow block in the window represents a library.

Double-click the Circuit Envelope block to open the library.

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1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

This table describes the sublibraries and the available models.

Sublibrary Use
Elements To model antenna, amplifier, filter, mixers, and
other RF elements.
Junctions and Switches To model ideal frequency-independent
circulators, couplers, and dividers and to use
switches and potentiometers.
Systems To model a modulator/demodulator and an IQ
modulator/demodulator.
Testbenches To measure and verify gain, noise figure,
intercept point, and S-parameters.
Sources To use current or voltage in noise, sinusoidal, and
continuous wave sources and power in sinusoidal
and continuous wave sources.
Utilities To define system simulation settings, convert
input signal to RF Blockset signal, convert RF
Blockset signal to Simulink output signal, and
connect ports.

Understanding Circuit Envelope Environment

The Circuit Envelope environment comprises of groups of interconnected Circuit Envelope library
blocks and algorithms that model an RF system. In the Circuit Envelope environment, all blocks fall
into one of the three following categories.

Blocks Operating Within Circuit Envelope Environment

These blocks contribute to the physical representation of an RF system. Most Circuit Envelope library
blocks fall into this category, including all blocks in the Elements and Sources sublibraries. For

1-4
 Circuit Envelope Library

example, a Resistor block can model a source impedance or part of a matching network, and an
Amplifier block can model a physical RF amplifier. Both of these blocks model physical components.

Blocks with variable properties, such as a Variable Resistor or a VGA block, operate within the Circuit
Envelope environment, although the control signals come directly from Simulink and you do not
require to use cross-domain blocks.

Blocks Operating Between Circuit Envelope and Simulink Environments

These blocks, also called cross-domain blocks, provide an interface from an RF system to a larger
design. The Inport and Outport blocks from the Circuit Envelope library fall in this category. For
example, you can construct a signal using blocks from Communications Toolbox™ or DSP System
Toolbox™ libraries, and you can input that signal into the RF Blockset environment using an RF
Blockset Inport block.

Environment Independent Block

The Configuration block manipulates the environment and determines the simulation configuration.
To use this block, connect it to any part of the RF system. Because the block is not a part of the
physical representation of the system, it has the same effect regardless of where you connect it.

To run models containing other Circuit Envelope blocks, you must connect a Configuration block to
the network.

See Also

More About
• “Circuit Envelope Basics” on page 1-6

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1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

Circuit Envelope Basics

In this section...
“Introduction” on page 1-6
“Assumptions for Circuit Envelope Simulation” on page 1-7
“What Is Circuit Envelope?” on page 1-7
“Time Domain Simulation and Frequency Domain Analysis” on page 1-8
“How Circuit Envelope Simulation Works in RF Blockset” on page 1-9

Introduction
The circuit envelope technique speeds up RF system simulation. In Simulink, simulating high-
frequency signals requires a time step proportional to the highest frequency present in the RF
system. However, the modulation frequency or envelope of the RF signals can be several orders of
magnitude smaller than the highest frequency. The circuit envelope technique takes advantage of this
condition to model RF signals accurately while reducing simulation time.

For example, the following figure shows the benefit of using circuit envelope with a signal x(t):

The signal consists of a time-varying modulating signal on a high-frequency carrier or center

frequency. In many RF applications, the frequency of the modulating signal, A(t), is smaller than the
frequency of the carrier, fc.

RF Blockset software handles the carrier cos(2πfct) analytically, so only simulates the modulating
signal. RF Blockset uses two methods to handle this simulation, equivalent baseband and circuit
envelope. In both methods, the simulation engine takes time steps on the scale of the modulating
signal instead of the carrier.

Compared to equivalent baseband simulation, circuit envelope allows including additional non-linear
effects beyond in-band spectral regrowth and is suitable for multicarrier simulation.

Using circuit envelope simulation, you can model:

• Even and odd order nonlinear effects, generating in-band, and out-of-band harmonics and spectral
regrowth
• Multiport and wideband filtering (frequency selective) effects, like the effects introduced by S-
parameters, including impedance mismatches

1-6
 Circuit Envelope Basics

• In-band and out-of-band interfering and spur signals, including mixing effects
• DC conversion and DC offsets
• Arbitrary local oscillator signals, including phase noise
• Thermal noise generation
• Tunable RF elements controlled by Simulink signals (VGA, switches, RLC, attenuator, phase
shifter, etc.)

Assumptions for Circuit Envelope Simulation

In circuit envelope simulation, you assume that the modulation envelope of the signal varies slowly
with respect to the carrier. This type of simulation assumes the signal envelopes to be constant over a
single cycle of the carrier (quasi-static assumption). You can assume that a signal envelope is
narrowband when it has a frequency at least one order of magnitude smaller than the carrier
frequency.

For real passband and wide-band modulated signals, circuit envelope provides correct results.
However, the simulation can be slower than traditional time-domain (transient) simulation
techniques, like the technique supported by Simulink. If your input is an ultra-wideband signal, or if
you deal with many modulated signals filling the simulation spectrum, use time-domain passband
simulation.

When considering the quasi-static assumption, you need to consider the effect of the nonlinearities
that increase the bandwidth of the signal envelope. Signal envelopes, including in-band spectral
regrowth, should be narrowband compared to the carrier frequency. Therefore, circuit envelope is
less suitable for simulating hard non-linearities, like nonlinearities resulting from clipping or
saturating effects.

In multicarrier signals, overlapping envelopes are not recommended. Overlapping envelopes occur
when carrier frequencies are spaced at a distance smaller than the envelope bandwidth. In this case,
you can reduce the simulation time step and accommodate the signal information within a single
envelope. For more information, see Configuration.

What Is Circuit Envelope?

Circuit envelope is a time domain (transient) simulation superimposed on a harmonic balance
analysis. The analysis is performed at discrete points in time.

Harmonic balance is a frequency-domain method for calculating the steady-state response of non-
linear circuits when excited with a finite number of harmonic tones. This analysis solves the system of
equations in the frequency domain and is suitable for simulating frequency-defined components such
as S-parameters or transmission lines.

Harmonic balance is used by circuit envelope to analyze the system response at every time step. The
simulation derives the analysis frequencies from the signal carriers. The harmonic tone coefficients
are time varying and processed using transient simulation. This process provides the time-varying
envelopes around the harmonic tones.

In the figure below, you see a schematic representation of a circuit envelope simulation. A modulated
sinusoidal signal centered around is input to a nonlinear system. The output of the system has
multiple harmonics, each with a time-varying envelope.

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1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

In circuit envelope, the time step should be small enough to capture the bandwidth of the envelope
and not the maximum frequency (carrier) of the signal. A smaller simulation time step corresponds to
a larger simulation (envelope) bandwidth, and thus a slower simulation.

The circuit envelope simulation time step is set in the Configuration block. The simulation time step
must be sufficiently small to capture the signal modulation (bandwidth) and the in-band spectral
regrowth caused by the system nonlinearity. At the same time, the simulation time step should be as
large as possible to increase simulation speed. You can find a tradeoff between accuracy and
simulation speed, by using a simulation time step within this range of values

• Use a simulation time step value less than 1/(2*bandwidth) to fulfill Nyquist criterion and correctly
sample your signal modulation.
• Use a simulation time step value greater than or equal to 1/(8*bandwidth) to have maximum
accuracy at the envelope edges. You can use these ranges of values when simulating S-parameters
blocks, filters, and frequency defined components. This time step value also captures the in-band
spectral regrowth caused by odd order nonlinearity.

Time Domain Simulation and Frequency Domain Analysis

Circuit envelope combines time-domain simulation with frequency-domain analysis, there are two
edge cases of particular interest.

• If the carrier frequency of all signal sources is 0, then the simulation is reduced to a purely
transient (real-passband) simulation with fixed time step. No harmonic balance is performed. This
configuration does not speed up the RF system simulation.
• If the simulation stop time is equal to 0, then the simulation is reduced to a purely static nonlinear
analysis (harmonic balance) of the system. No time-domain simulation is performed. This
configuration is beneficial for the steady-state analysis of the RF system, for example to
understand the resulting energy allocation from many signals, or for AC system analysis.

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 Circuit Envelope Basics

How Circuit Envelope Simulation Works in RF Blockset

Consider a RF Blockset circuit. You can divide this circuit into three sections: input signal generation,
RF subsystem, output signal visualization.

Input Signal Generation

You can use two kinds of input signal sources:

• Simulink signal source

• RF Blockset signal source

If you are using a Simulink signal source, you need a gateway into the RF subsystem (Inport block).
The Simulink input signal represents the modulation of your RF signal. The signal can be complex or
real based on the information it carries. To model a constant modulation on a carrier in the Circuit
Envelope simulation environment use Continuous Wave block. You can also model noise using current
or voltage noise source in RF systems using Noise block.

If the input signal is a vector, each element of the vector represents the envelope signal to be
modulated around a certain carrier frequency. You specify the carrier frequencies of the input signal
in the Inport block.

RF Subsystem

The RF subsystem (highlighted in blue) consists of three main blocks: Inport, Configuration, and
Outport. You can include as many Inport or Outport blocks as you need in your RF subsystem.

• Inport: The Inport block performs an ideal frequency shift of the input signal around the carrier
frequency by implementing a complex frequency multiplication. If your input signal is a vector
with each element representing a separate envelope, you can specify separate carrier frequencies
for each of them.

You can also specify a zero-carrier frequency corresponding to a real passband signal. In this case,
the imaginary part of the input signal is neglected.

For more information, see Inport.

• Configuration: You use the Configuration block to specify the following:

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1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

• The simulation time step, which determines the bandwidth of the envelope simulation. All
signal envelopes have the same bandwidth. To avoid resampling of the input signal and
aliasing, use the same time step as the signal inputs from Simulink for multiple inport systems.
For single inport systems, use slower input signals with interpolation filter checkbox.
• The harmonic order of simulation, which determines the total number of simulation
frequencies used to perform the harmonic balance analysis. The auto option gives a
conservative choice of harmonic frequencies. The simulation time is directly proportional to
the total number of simulation frequencies. If your circuit operates in mildly nonlinear
conditions, you can speed up the simulation by reducing the harmonic order.
• Normalization of the carrier power, used to scale the average signal power with respect to its
root mean squared value. Use this option to scale the average power of the signal envelope
with respect to the root mean square power of its real passband representation.
• The temperature and the seed used for generating thermal noise.

For more information, see Configuration.

• Outport: The Outport block is the return gateway from circuit envelope to the Simulink
environment. If you specify a carrier frequency other than zero, the block returns the complex
envelope of the signal around the specified carrier. Outport blocks are used to probe modulated
signals on the specified carriers for viewing using the Spectrum Analyzer or for further signal
processing.

For more information see, Outport.

Output Signal Visualization

You can use Simulink sinks to visualize the RF signals. To access circuit envelope signals in Simulink,
you need an outport block to act as a gateway out of the RF subsystem. The Outport block probes the
signal envelopes centered around the specified carrier frequencies.

By using a time scope, you can inspect the time-varying content of the modulated signals without
plotting the respective carrier frequency.

By using a spectrum analyzer, you can inspect the spectral content of the modulated signals, which
are implicitly centered around the different carrier frequencies.

See Also

More About
• “Circuit Envelope Library” on page 1-3
• “Simulate High Frequency Components” on page 1-18

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 Using RF Measurement Testbench

Using RF Measurement Testbench

In this section...
“Device Under Test” on page 1-12
“RF Measurement Unit” on page 1-12
“RF Measurement Unit Parameters” on page 1-14

Use the RF Measurement testbench to verify the cumulative gain, noise figure, and nonlinearity (IP3)
values of an RF-to-RF system. To use the testbench, create a system in the RF Budget Analyzer app
and click Export > Export to Measurement Testbench.

The testbench is made up of two subsystems:

• RF Measurement Unit
• Device Under Test

The testbench display shows the verified output values of gain, NF (noise figure), and IP3 (third-order
intercept).

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1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

Device Under Test

The Device Under Test subsystem contains the RF system exported from the app.

RF Measurement Unit

The RF Measurement Unit subsystem consists of a Simulink Controller and RF Blockset Circuit
Envelope interface. The RF Blockset interface is used as input and output from the DUT.

1-12
Using RF Measurement Testbench

1-13
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

RF Measurement Unit Parameters

Double-click the RF Measurement Unit subsystem block to open the parameters.

• Simulate noise (both stimulus and DUT internal) — Select this check box to enable noise
modeling in the stimulus signal entering the DUT and inside the DUT.
• Measured quantity — Choose the quantity you want to verify from:

• Gain – Measure the transducer gain of the converter, assuming a load of 50 ohm. If you choose
only I or only Q from Response branch, you see only half the value of the measured gain.
• NF – Measure the noise figure value at the output of the converter.
• IP3 – Measure the output or input third-order intercept (IP3).
• IP2 – Measure the output or input second-order intercept (IP2).
• DC Offset – Measure the DC level interference centered on the desired signal due to LO
leakage mixing with input signal.

1-14
 Using RF Measurement Testbench

The contents in the Instructions tab changes according to the Measured quantity.
• IP Type — Choose the type of intercept points (IP) to measure: Output referred or Input
referred.

By default, the testbench measures Output referred. This option is available when you set the
Measured quantity to IP2 or IP3.

Parameters Tab

• Input power amplitude (dBm) — Input power to the DUT. You can change the input power by
manually specifying or by turning the knob. When measuring DC Offset, this input field is Input
RMS voltage (dBmV), because the Offset is measured in voltage units. The specified voltage
represents the voltage falling on the input ports of the DUT.
• Input frequency (Hz) — Carrier frequency of the DUT.
• Output frequency (Hz) — Output frequency of the DUT.
• Baseband bandwidth (Hz) — Bandwidth of the input signal.
• Ratio of test tone frequency to baseband bandwidth — Position of the test tones used for IP3
measurements. By default, the value is 1/8.

This option is available when you set the Measured quantity to IP2, IP3, or DC Offset.

1-15
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

Instructions

Instructions for Gain Verification

• Clear Simulate noise (both stimulus and DUT) for accurate gain verification. Select the check
box for account for noise.
• Change the Input power amplitude (dBm) or turn the knob to reduce the input power
amplitude. For high input power, nonlinearities in the DUT can affect the gain measurements.

Instructions for NF Verification

• The testbench verifies the spot NF calculated. This calculation assumes a frequency-independent
system within a given bandwidth. To simulate a frequency-independent system and calculate the
correct NF value, reduce the baseband bandwidth until this condition is fulfilled. In common RF
systems, the bandwidth should be reduced below 1 kHz for NF testing.

1-16
 Using RF Measurement Testbench

• Change Input power amplitude (dBm) or turn the knob to reduce or increase the input power
amplitude. For high input power, nonlinearities in the DUT can affect the NF measurements. For
low input power, the signal is too close or below the noise floor of the system. As a result, the NF
fails to converge.

Instructions for OIP3 and IIP3 Verification

• Clear Simulate noise (both stimulus and DUT) for accurate OIP3 and IIP3 verification.
• Change Input power amplitude (dBm) or turn the knob to reduce the input power amplitude.
For high input power, higher-order nonlinearities in the DUT can affect the OIP3 and IIP3
measurements.

For all measurement verifications using the testbench, you cannot correct result discrepancies using
the RF Budget Analyzer app. The RF Blockset testbench provides true RF circuit simulation that
incorporates RF phenomena including saturation and interaction between multiple tones and
harmonics in nonlinear devices. These RF phenomena are not yet incorporated in RF Budget
Analyzer, leading to some differences in the values between the testbench and the app.

Instructions for DC Offset Measurement

• Clear Simulate noise (both stimulus and DUT) for accurate DC offset measurement.
• Correct calculation of the DC offset assumes a frequency-independent system in the frequencies
surrounding the test tones. Reduce the frequency separation between the test tones or reduce the
baseband bandwidth until this condition is fulfilled. In common RF systems, the bandwidth is
reduced below 1 KHz for DC offset testing.
• . Change Input RMS voltage amplitude (dBmV) or turn the knob to reduce the input RMS
voltage amplitude. For high input RMS voltage, higher-order nonlinearities in the DUT can affect
the DC offset measurements

See Also
IIP3 Testbench | Noise Figure Testbench | Transducer Gain Testbench | RF Budget Analyzer |
“Using RF Measurement Testbench for IQ-to-RF Converter” | “Use RF Measurement Testbench for
RF-to-IQ Converter”

1-17
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

Simulate High Frequency Components

In this section...
“Simulate a Passband Signal in Simulink Software” on page 1-18
“Compare Passband and Baseband Signals in RF Blockset Software” on page 1-19
“Simulate the Envelope of a Baseband Signal” on page 1-21

This example shows how to use RF Blockset circuit envelope simulation to simulate high frequency
components while reducing simulation time.

Simulate a Passband Signal in Simulink Software

The model, ex_simrf_tut_passband, shows how to modulate a real passband signal with in-phase
and quadrature components.

To open this model, at MATLAB command line, enter:

addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_passband

The system specifies a real passband signal x(t) according to the formula

x(t) = I(t)cos 2πf ct − Q(t)sin 2πf ct

where:

• I(t) is the in-phase part of the modulating signal, equal to 3 in this example, modeled by the
Constant block labeled In-phase modulation.
• Q(t) is the quadrature part of the modulating, equal to 4 in this example, modeled by the Constant
block labeled Quadrature modulation.
• fc is the carrier frequency, equal to 1 GHz in this example.

Running the model produces the following output on the scope.

1-18
 Simulate High Frequency Components

The output signal at the Real Passband Scope has a magnitude of 5 and a phase shift of
atan2d(3,-4), or about 143°.

In the Configuration Parameters dialog box, the Fixed-step size (fundamental sample time)
parameter has been set to 1/16*1e-9. This value is on the order of the wavelength of the carrier.
The simulation takes a total of 81 samples — 16 per cycle.

Compare Passband and Baseband Signals in RF Blockset Software

The model, ex_simrf_tut_compare, shows how to compare passband and baseband signals. This
section builds on the results of the previous section, “Simulate a Passband Signal in Simulink
Software” on page 1-18.

To open this model, at MATLAB command line, enter:

addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_compare

The system simulates a real passband signal as the real part of a complex passband signal according
to the formula

1-19
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

x(t) = Re I(t) + jQ(t) exp j ⋅ 2πf ct = I(t)cos 2πf ct − Q(t)sin 2πf ct

where:

• I(t) + jQ(t) is the complex-valued modulation, equal to 3 + 4j.

• fc is the angular frequency, equal to 1 GHz.

Contrary to the Simulink passband implementation in the previous section, the complex baseband
signal driving the RF Blockset system does not include the carrier. Instead, the RF Blockset
environment handles the carrier analytically. The carrier appears in four different blocks in the RF
Blockset environment:

• In the Inport block, the Carrier frequencies parameter defines the carrier frequencies of the
modulations entering from outside the RF Blockset environment. In this example, there is only one
input signal, and only one carrier (1 GHz, specified as 1e9 Hz).
• In the Outport block, the Carrier frequencies parameter specifies the signal on the 1e9 Hz
carrier (1 GHz) as Simulink signals. These signals appear at the I and Q ports. The Output
parameter is set to Real Passband, so this signal represents a real passband signal on the 1-
GHz carrier.
• In the block labeled RF Blockset Outport1 block, also an Outport block, the Carrier frequencies
parameter specifies the signal outputted on the 1e9 Hz carrier (1 GHz) as Simulink signals. These
signals appear at the I and Q ports. The Output parameter is set to In-phase and Quadrature
Baseband, so these signals represent the in-phase and quadrature modulations of the signal on
the 1-GHz carrier.
• In the Configuration block, the Carrier frequencies parameter specifies all of the carriers to be
modeled in the RF Blockset circuit envelope simulation environment. In this example, only one
carrier is specified. For more options, refer to Configuration block.

Running the model produces the following output on the scopes.

1-20
 Simulate High Frequency Components

The Real Passband Scope displays the same output as the example in the previous section, “Simulate
a Passband Signal in Simulink Software” on page 1-18. The signal has a magnitude of 5 and a phase
shift consistent with the specified in-phase and quadrature amplitudes.

The 1-GHz carrier itself does not appear in the output. The results correspond to the real and
imaginary parts of the Complex modulation at the input of the system. They also correspond to the In-
phase modulation and Quadrature modulation blocks in “Simulate a Passband Signal in Simulink
Software” on page 1-18.

In the Configuration Parameters dialog box, the Fixed-step size (fundamental sample time)
parameter has been set to 1/16*1e-9. This value is on the order of the wavelength of the carrier.
The simulation takes a total of 81 samples — 16 per cycle.

Simulate the Envelope of a Baseband Signal

The model, ex_simrf_tut_envelope, shows how to simulate the envelope of a sine wave using RF
Blockset blocks. This section builds on the results of the previous section, “Compare Passband and
Baseband Signals in RF Blockset Software” on page 1-19.

To open this model, at MATLAB command line, enter:

addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_envelope

1-21
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

The system is almost identical to the system in the previous section, except:

• The model contains only one RF Blockset Outport block and only one scope. The RF Blockset
environment outputs in-phase and quadrature modulations of the 1-GHz signal. In the RF Blockset
Outport block, the Output parameter is set to In-phase and quadrature baseband. Since
the system is not configured to output a real passband signal, the carrier is not simulated.
• In the Configuration Parameters dialog box, the Fixed-step size (fundamental sample time)
parameter is greater. Its value is 5e-9 instead of 1/16*1e-9.

Running the model produces the following output at the scope.

The I/Q Scope displays the in-phase and quadrature baseband components of the 1-GHz signal. The 1-
GHz carrier itself does not appear in the output. The results correspond to the real and imaginary
parts of the Complex modulation at the input of the system.

In contrast to the models in the previous two sections, Simulink works differently in this model.
Because the modulating signals are constant in this example, only two sample points are needed. To
simulate a time-varying modulating signal, Simulink can use a fixed time step on the order of the
reciprocal of its bandwidth.

1-22
 Simulate High Frequency Components

The model uses a value of 5e-9 for the Fixed-step size (fundamental sample time) parameter.
This value equals the Stop time because, in this case, the modulating signals are constant.
Compared to the preceding examples, which use a sample time of 1/16*1e-9, this model simulates
accurately with a time step 80 times larger. This step size results in a reduction of total sample time
by a factor of 80, excluding the initial time step at time 0.

See Also
Inport | Outport | Configuration

More About
• “Model an RF Mixer” on page 2-2

1-23
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

Using RF Blockset for the First Time

In this section...
“Expected Background” on page 1-24
“Circuit Envelope, Equivalent Baseband, and Idealized Baseband Features” on page 1-24
“Understanding RF Blockset Environment” on page 1-25

Expected Background
Topics in the RF Blockset documentation assume that you are already familiar with:

• Using MATLAB to write and execute scripts and functions.

• Using Simulink to create and simulate block diagrams.

Circuit Envelope, Equivalent Baseband, and Idealized Baseband

Features
RF Blockset software offers Circuit Envelope, Equivalent Baseband, and Idealized Baseband libraries
to model RF networks. Each library represents a distinct simulation paradigm. For certain
applications, one library may offer an advantage over another.

• Use the “Circuit Envelope Library” on page 1-3 for multicarrier simulation of RF networks with
arbitrary topologies.
• Use the “Equivalent Baseband Library” on page 3-19 for single-carrier simulation of cascaded RF
networks.
• Use the “Idealized Baseband Library” on page 5-2 for discrete-time simulation of RF networks
without impedance mismatches.

All blocks from the Circuit Envelope and Equivalent Baseband libraries except Inport, Outport, Input
Port, and Output Port blocks do not connect to each other. Therefore, to avoid redesigning your model
later, choose which library to use based on your application. Consult this table for a summary of the
features of the three libraries.

1-24
 Using RF Blockset for the First Time

Summary of Features
Feature Circuit Envelope Equivalent Baseband Idealized Baseband
Library Library Library
Connect directly to No, except the cross- No, except the cross- Yes
Simulink blocks domain blocks domain blocks
Support single-carrier Yes Yes Yes
simulation
Support multicarrier Yes No No
simulation
Support nonlinear Yes Yes Yes
elements
Support simulation of Yes Yes Yes
cascaded networks
Support simulation of Yes No Yes
networks with arbitrary
topologies
Support signal probing Yes No Yes
between input and
output
Support noise Yes Yes Yes
simulation
Support custom Yes No Yes
authoring
Support specification Yes Yes No
using network
parameter data
Model input/output Yes Yes No
impedance mismatches
Generate C code with No Yes Yes
Simulink Coder™

Understanding RF Blockset Environment

The RF Blockset environment comprises of interconnected blocks and algorithms that model an RF
system. In the RF Blockset environment, all blocks fall into one of the three categories.

Blocks Operating Within RF Blockset Environment

These blocks contribute to the physical representation of an RF system. Most RF Blockset Circuit
Envelope, Equivalent Baseband and Idealized Baseband library blocks fall into this category,
including all blocks in the Elements and Sources sublibraries. For example, a Resistor block can
model a source impedance or part of a matching network, and an Amplifier block can model a
physical RF amplifier. Both these blocks model physical components.

Blocks Operating Between RF Blockset and Simulink Environments

These blocks, also called cross-domain blocks, provide an interface from an RF system to a larger
design. The Inport, Outport, Input Port, and Output Port blocks fall into this category. For example,

1-25
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

you can construct a signal using blocks from Communications Toolbox or DSP System Toolbox
libraries, and you can input that signal into the RF Blockset environment using a RF Blockset Inport
block. You can also input that signal into an RF chain using an RF Blockset Input Port block.

Environment Independent Block

The Configuration block manipulates the environment and determines the simulation configuration.
To use this block, connect it to any part of the RF system. Because this block is not a part of the
physical representation of the system, it has the same effect regardless of where you connect it.

To run models containing other RF Blockset blocks, you must connect a Configuration block to the RF
Blockset environment.

See Also

More About
• “Getting Started with RF Modeling”
• “Circuit Envelope Basics” on page 1-6

1-26
 Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope

Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope

This example shows how to model an RF filter using Circuit Envelope Library. In this example you
compare the input and output signal amplitudes to study the signal attenuation.

Model Overview

This example uses an LC bandpass filter designed to have a bandwidth of 200 MHz. The filter uses a
three tone input signal to demonstrate the filter attenuation property for in-band and out-band
frequencies. The input signal tones are:

• 700 MHz — Center frequency of the filter passband

• 600 MHz — Lower edge frequency of the filter passband
• 900 MHz — Frequency outside the filter passband

Define Model Variables and Settings

Define model variables for blocks that share parameter values using the InitFcn:

1 In Simulink editor, click Modeling. In the toolstrip, in SETUP> Model Settings, click Model
Properties.
2 In the Model Properties dialog box, on the Callbacks tab in Model callbacks pane, select
InitFcn.
3 In the Model initialization function pane, enter:

amp = ones(1,3)
freq = [600 700 900]*1e6
stepsize = 1/500e6
4 Click OK.
5 In the Simulink tool bar, change the Simulation stop time to 0.
6 In Simulink editor, click Simulation In the PREPARE, click Model Settings in Configuration
and Simulation In the Solver tab, in Solver options change the Solver to discrete (no
continuous states).

Required Blocks

The filter system consists of LC Ladder, Inport, Outport and Configuration blocks. The physical part of
the model uses bidirectional RF signals.

The blocks used in the system are:

Block Library Path Use Quantity

Constant Simulink > Sources To generate real and 1
complex constant value
Inport RF Blockset > Circuit Envelope > To convert Simulink input 1
Utilities signal to RF Blockset input
signal
Configuration RF Blockset > Circuit Envelope > To set the system wide 1
Utilities parameters for RF Blockset
simulation

1-27
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

Block Library Path Use Quantity

LC Ladder RF Blockset > Circuit Envelope > To models the signal 1
Elements attenuation
Outport RF Blockset > Circuit Envelope > To convert RF Blockset 1
Utilities signals to Simulink signals
db Conversion DSP System Toolbox > Math To convert magnitude data 2
Functions > Math Operations to decibels
Math Function Simulink > Math Operations To perform mathematical 2
functions
To workspace Simulink > Sinks To write data to a MATLAB 2
workspace for plotting
Terminator Simulink > Commonly Used Blocks To terminate the angle 1
> Terminator baseband output of the
Outport block

Connect the blocks as shown in the figure:

Configure Input Signal

Generate the three-tone input signal using these blocks:

• Constant block specifies the amplitude of the signal.

• Inport block configures the frequencies of the three tones.
• Configuration block specifies the step size.

1 In the Constant block dialog box set the Constant value to amp, as defined in the InitFcn.
2 In the Inport block:

• Set Source type to Power.

• Set Carrier frequencies to freq, as defined in InitFcn. The freq variable sets the
frequency of the three tones to 600 MHz, 700 MHz, and 900 MHz respectively.

Click OK.
3 In the Configuration block dialog box:

• Set Step size to step size, as defined in InitFcn.

• Clear Simulate noise.

1-28
 Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope

Click OK.

The fundamental tones and harmonics are updated automatically when you run the model.

Configure RF Filter
1 In the LC Ladder block dialogue box:

• Set Ladder topology to LC Bandpass Pi.

Click Apply and then click OK.

Configure Output Settings

1 In the Outport block :

• Set Sensor type to Power.

• Set Output to Magnitude and Angle Baseband.
• Set Carrier frequencies to freq, as defined in InitFcn.

Click OK.
2 In the Simulink editor, connect the Ang port of the Outport block to Terminator block to
terminate the angle baseband output.
3 In Math Function and Math Function 1 block dialog boxes, set Function to magnitude^2
and click OK. The block squares the magnitude of the input and output signal.
4 In dB Conversion and dB Conversion 1 block dialog boxes, set Input Signal to Power and
click OK. The block converts the input and output signals to dB.
5 In To Workspace, change the Variable name to In. In To Workspace 1, change the Variable
name to Out. In both the block dialog boxes, change the set Save format to Array and click
OK.
6 Use Simulation > Run to run the model.

Plot and Analyze Attenuated Output Signals

Display the input and output signals using semilogx function, in dB.
1 Transfer the input and output dB values to the MATLAB workspace using To Workspace block.
2 To view the input signal, plot In array from the MATLAB workspace :
figure
h = semilogx(freq, In,'-gs','LineWidth',1,...
'MarkerSize',3,'MarkerFaceColor','r');
xlim([5.5e8,9.5e8])
xlabel('Frequency[Hz]')
ylabel('Amplitude[dB]')
title('Input Signal')
3 To view the output signal, plot Out array from the MATLAB workspace :
figure
h = semilogx(freq, Out,'-gs','LineWidth',1,...
'MarkerSize',3,'MarkerFaceColor','r');
xlim([5.5e8,9.5e8])
ylim([-25,1])
xlabel('Frequency[Hz]')

1-29
1 Introduction to Circuit Envelope Simulation

ylabel('Amplitude[dB]')
title('Attenuated Output Signal')
4 Compare the input and output signal plots to verify the attenuation caused by the filter.

Input Signal to RF Filter

5 The following plot shows the filtered attenuated signal.

Attenuated Output Signal

Notice that the RF filter does not attenuate the signal at the center frequency of 700 MHz.

Analyze LC Bandpass Filter Response

1 Plot more points to better understand the response of the LC bandpass filter. Change the defined
variables in Model Properties to :

amp = ones(1,201)
freq = logspace (8,10,201)
stepsize = 1/500e6

1-30
 Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope

2 Run the model. Notice that the signal is not attenuated within the 200 MHz range of the LC
bandpass filter.
3 Plot the attenuated output:

figure
h = semilogx(freq, Out,'-gs','LineWidth',1,...
'MarkerSize',3,'MarkerFaceColor','r');
xlim([5.5e8,9.5e8])
ylim([-25,1])
xlabel('Frequency[Hz]')
ylabel('Amplitude[dB]')
title('LC Bandpass Filter Frequency Response')

See Also
Filter

More About
• “Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband” on page 3-7

1-31
 2

Frequency Conversion

• “Model an RF Mixer” on page 2-2

• “Filter Mixing Products” on page 2-6
2 Frequency Conversion

Model an RF Mixer
In this section...
“Build RF System” on page 2-2
“Define Model Variables” on page 2-3
“Specify Block Parameters for RF Simulation” on page 2-4
“Probe Circuit Envelopes Waveforms” on page 2-4
“Observe Downconverted Envelope Signal at Output Port” on page 2-5

This example shows how to:

• Use a Sinusoid block to model the envelope of an amplitude-modulated (AM) waveform.

• Use a Continuous Wave block to model the constant envelope of an ideal local oscillator (LO).
• Use a Mixer block to downconvert the AM waveform to an intermediate frequency (IF).

The preceding figure illustrates frequency conversion. A signal modulated on the carrier fRF mixes
with a local oscillator at fLO. The operation downconverts fRF to fIF = fRF – fLO. The upper mixing
product fRF + fLO is not modeled.

Build RF System
This example shows how to build the following RF Blockset model from a blank canvas.

To skip this section and start with the completed model, at MATLAB command line, enter:
addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_mixer

2-2
 Model an RF Mixer

This model specifies an AM waveform at the input port of the mixer, an LO at the LO port of the
mixer, and a 50-Ω termination at the output of a mixer. To build this model, open the RF Blockset
library by typing simrfV2libs in the MATLAB Command Window.

Double-click the block labeled Circuit Envelope to open the Circuit Envelope library.

From the Elements, Sources, and Utilities sublibraries, add the following blocks to your model.

• From the Elements library, add a Resistor block.

• From the Elements library, add a Mixer block.
• From the Elements library, add a Ground block.
• From the Sources library, add a Continuous Wave block.
• From the Sources library, add a Sinusoid block.
• From the Utilities library, add a Configuration block.

Connect the blocks in the same configuration as the ex_simrf_tut_mixer model.

Define Model Variables

For models with blocks that share parameter values, specifying parameters values using variables
saves time and effort. Most models in the RF Blockset User's Guide use the InitFcn to define model
variables.

Simulink models run MATLAB code stored in the initialization function (InitFcn) each time the
model starts. The MATLAB code runs in the base workspace. If the initialization function stores
variables in the MATLAB workspace, the variables are overwritten every time the model executes the
initialization function.

1 In Simulink editor, click Modeling. In the toolstrip, in SETUP> Model Settings, click Model
Properties.
2 In the Callbacks tab, within the Model callbacks pane, select the InitFcn node.

2-3
2 Frequency Conversion

3 In the Model initialization function pane, enter the following MATLAB code:
modulationAmplitude = 1;
modulationFrequency = 5e5;
LOAmplitude = 1;
LOFrequency = .95e9;
RFCarrier = 1e9;

Note Define ex_simrf_tut_mixer model variables in the model workspace. If you use an InitFcn
function in your model, the workspace variables will override the callback.

Specify Block Parameters for RF Simulation

In this section:

• Configure the RF Blockset environment for multi-frequency circuit envelope simulation by

specifying the Simulation frequencies parameter in the Configuration block dialog box.
• Specify the attributes of the waveforms
• Configure global simulation settings.

Using block dialog boxes to specify the parameters for simulation:

1 In Simulink editor, click Simulation In the PREPARE, click Model Settings in Configuration
and Simulation.

Specify the following parameters:

• Set Stop time to 1e-5. You can also set the stop time directly on the Simulink canvas.
• Set Solver to ode23t (mod. stiff/Trapezoidal). The RF Blockset environment does
not use the ode23t solver. However, since oscillating signals can be stiff, the solver is a good
choice for the Simulink environment when using RF Blockset blocks.
2 Double-click the Sinusoid block to open the Sinusoid Block Parameters dialog box. Specify the
following parameters:

• Set Sinusoidal amplitude in-phase to modulationAmplitude.

• Set Sinusoidal modulation frequency to modulationFrequency.
• Set Carrier frequencies to RFCarrier.
3 Double-click the Continuous Wave block to open the block dialog box. Specify the following
parameters:

• Set Constant in-phase value to LOAmplitude.

• Set Carrier frequencies to LOFrequency.
4 Double-click the Configuration block to open the block dialog box. Set Step size to 1e-7.

Probe Circuit Envelopes Waveforms

At the output of the mixer:

• From the RF Blockset Utilities library, drag and drop an Outport block onto your model. In the
block dialog:

2-4
 Model an RF Mixer

• Set Output to In-phase and quadrature.

• Set Carrier frequencies to RFCarrier - LOFrequency.
• From the Simulink Commonly Used Blocks library, drag and drop a Scope block and a
Terminator block onto your model.

This configuration uses a RF Blockset Outport block as a voltage sensor at the output port of the
mixer. The Simulink signal at the outport is the envelope of the carrier or carriers specified in the
block. A scope attached to the outport plots the envelope. The Output parameter controls how
signals are presented at the output ports. To change the appearance of the block, follow one of the
workflows in the “Specify Block Parameters for RF Simulation” on page 2-4 section of this tutorial.

Observe Downconverted Envelope Signal at Output Port

Click Run to run the model.

To view the results of the simulation, double-click the scope, and click the Autoscale button.

The Sinusoid specifies a 1-V amplitude for the modulation on fRF, which the mixer downconverts to fIF.
The RF Blockset Outport block probes the intermediate frequency and recovers the 1-V modulation
amplitude. This value agrees with a specified conversion gain of 0 dB in the mixer.

See Also
Mixer

More About
• “Simulate High Frequency Components” on page 1-18

2-5
2 Frequency Conversion

Filter Mixing Products

In this section...
“Probe Multiple RF Carriers” on page 2-6
“Model an RF Filter” on page 2-7
“Simulate Filtering of RF Signals” on page 2-8
“Improve Performance by Reducing Total Simulation Frequencies” on page 2-8

This section of the tutorial shows you how to:

• Configure a RF Blockset Outport block to probe multiple carrier frequencies simultaneously.

• Model an analog filter in the RF Blockset environment using RF Blockset Capacitor and Inductor
blocks.

The preceding figure illustrates low-pass filtering of a low-side injection system. Mixing fRF and fLO
produces signals on the carriers fIF = fRF – fLO and fRF + fLO. Adding a low-pass filter to the model
reduces the power present in the high-frequency signal.

To begin, open the model that you created in the “Model an RF Mixer” on page 2-2 section, or at
MATLAB command line, enter:

addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_mixer

at the Command Window prompt.

Probe Multiple RF Carriers

The RF Blockset environment specifies the carriers fRF – fLO, fRF, fLO, and fRF + fLO, but the RF Blockset
Outport block probes only the carrier fRF – fLO. Examine the carriers fRF – fLO and fRF + fLO by changing
the model according to the following workflow:

1 From the Simulink Commonly Used Blocks library, add a Demux block to your model.
2 In the Scope block dialog box, click the Parameters button, then set Number of Axes to 2.
3 In the Outport block dialog box, set Carrier frequencies to [RFCarrier -
LOFrequency, RFCarrier + LOFrequency]
4 Connect the blocks as shown in the following figure.

2-6
 Filter Mixing Products

5 Click Run to run the model.

To view the results of the simulation, double-click the scope.

The first set of axes displays the modulation of specified carrier fIF = fRF – fLO. This carrier appears on
the first set of axes because the Carrier frequencies parameter of the outport specifies it first. The
second set of axes displays the modulation at fRF + fLO. The modulation of the upper mixing product
has the same amplitude as the modulation of the downconverted signal.

Model an RF Filter
To begin, open the model that you created in the “Probe Multiple RF Carriers” on page 2-6 section, or
at MATLAB command line, enter:

addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_probe

at the MATLAB Command Window prompt.

1 From the Elements library, drag and drop one Capacitor and two Inductor blocks onto your
model
2 Set the Capacitance parameter of the capacitor to 40e-12 F.
3 Set the Inductance parameter of both inductors to 50e-9 H.
4 Connect the blocks as shown in the following figure.

2-7
2 Frequency Conversion

This configuration models a third-order low-pass Butterworth filter with a cutoff frequency of
1 rad/ns, or about 0.159 GHz. The high-frequency mixing product is in the stopband of the filter.
The low-frequency product is in the passband.

You can also use an LC Ladder block to model this filter.

Simulate Filtering of RF Signals

To begin, open the model that you created in the previous section, “Model an RF Filter” on page 2-7,
or at MATLAB command line, enter:
addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_filter

at the MATLAB Command Window prompt. Click Run to run the model.

To view the results of the simulation, double-click the scope.

The filter attenuates the high-frequency signal at fRF + fLO and transmits the signal at fRF – fLO with
minimal loss.

Improve Performance by Reducing Total Simulation Frequencies

The models in the preceding examples use the Automatically select fundamental tones and
harmonic order setting in the Configuration block. This setting sacrifices performance for
compatibility by guaranteeing that every specified Carrier Frequency parameter appears in the set
of RF Blockset simulation frequencies. The performance of the ex_simrf_tut_filter can be

2-8
 Filter Mixing Products

improved by reducing the size of the set of simulation frequencies, as measured by the Total
simulation frequencies value displayed in the Configuration block dialog.

To enhance performance of the ex_simrf_tut_filter model, follow the procedure below.

1 Open and simulate the ex_simrf_tut_filter model.

At the MATLAB command line, enter:

addpath(fullfile(docroot,'toolbox','simrf','examples'))
ex_simrf_tut_filter
2 Double-click the Configuration block to open the block dialog box. Note that the block dialog
displays a Total simulation frequencies value of 121. This value indicates that the environment
is running 121 separate simulations.
3 Clear the Automatically select fundamental tones and harmonic order check box.
4 Set Fundamental tones to [RFCarrier, LOFrequency]. This step is not strictly necessary,
but setting these values clarifies the meaning of the parameters. Because the mixer has fRF and
fLO at its input ports, all signals at the output of the mixer have carrier frequencies that are linear
combinations of these fundamental tones.
5 Set Harmonic order to 1. The frequencies fRF + fLO and fRF – fLO are the only output carriers of
interest. Modeling signals at a higher harmonic order than one is not necessary for this system.
6 Click Apply. Note that the block dialog displays a Total simulation frequencies value of 9.
7 Simulate the model.

The result of the simulation has not changed because every frequency of importance appears in the
new set of simulation frequencies. However, this procedure reduces overall compatibility. If you make
modifications to the model, such as adding nonlinear amplification, the resulting signals of interest
may not appear in the set of simulation frequencies. You can restore compatibility by restoring the
Automatically select fundamental tones and harmonic order check box to its default.

2-9
Equivalent Baseband

11
 3

Introduction to Equivalent Baseband

Simulation

• “RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries” on page 3-2

• “Equivalent Baseband Workflow” on page 3-6
• “Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband” on page 3-7
• “Equivalent Baseband Library” on page 3-19
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries

In this section...
“Overview of RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries” on page 3-2
“Open RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries” on page 3-2
“Equivalent Baseband Library” on page 3-3
“Idealized Baseband Library” on page 3-5

Overview of RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries

The RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband libraries consist of the Equivalent Baseband (physical) and
Idealized Baseband (mathematical) libraries of components for modeling RF systems within the
Simulink environment. An RF model can contain blocks from both the physical and mathematical
libraries. It can also include Simulink blocks and blocks from other blocksets.

RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband software extends your Simulink modeling environment with a
library of blocks for modeling RF systems that include RF filters, transmission lines, amplifiers, and
mixers.

You use RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband library blocks to represent the components of your RF
system in a Simulink model. The blockset provides several types of component representations using
network parameters (S, Y, Z, ABCD, H, and T format), mathematical descriptions, and physical
properties.

In the Simulink model, you cascade the components to represent your RF architecture and run the
simulation. During the simulation, the model computes a time-domain, complex-baseband
representation. This method results in fast simulation of the quadrature modeling schemes used in
modern communication systems and enables compatibility with other Simulink blocks.

The blocks let you visualize their specified network parameters using plots and Smith® Charts.

A validated Simulink model of an RF system can provide an executable specification for RF circuit
design for wireless communication systems.

You can also use the blockset with Simulink Coder™ software to generate embeddable C code for
real-time execution.

Open RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries

To open the main library window, type the following at the MATLAB prompt:

rflib

Each yellow icon in the window represents a library. Double-click an icon to open the corresponding
library.

3-2
 RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries

For a discussion of the Equivalent and Idealized Baseband libraries, see the following sections.

Note The blue icons take you to the MATLAB Help browser.

• Double-click the Demos icon to open the RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband examples.
• Double-click the Info icon to open the RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband documentation.

Equivalent Baseband Library

Use blocks from the Equivalent Baseband library to model physical and electrical components by
specifying physical properties or by importing measured data. This library includes several
sublibraries, as shown in the following figure.

3-3
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

The following table describes the sublibraries and how to use them.

Sublibrary Description
Amplifiers RF amplifiers, specified using network
parameters, noise data, and nonlinearity data, or
a data file containing these parameters.
Ladder Filters RF filters, specified using LC parameters. The
software calculates the network parameters and
noise data of the blocks from the topology of the
filter and the LC values.
Series/Shunt RLC Series and shunt RLC components for designing
lumped element cascades, specified using RLC
parameters. The software calculates the network
parameters and noise data of the blocks from the
topology of the components and the RLC values.
Mixers RF mixers that contain local oscillators, specified
using network parameters, noise data, and
nonlinearity data, or a data file containing these
parameters.
Transmission Lines RF filters, specified using physical dimensions
and electrical characteristics. The software
calculates the network parameters and noise data
of the blocks from the specified data.

3-4
 RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband Libraries

Sublibrary Description
Black Box Passive RF components, specified using network
parameters, or a data file containing these
parameters. The software calculates the network
parameters and noise data of the blocks from the
specified data.
Input/Output Ports Blocks for specifying simulation information that
pertains to all blocks in a physical subsystem,
such as center frequency and sample time. A
physical subsystem is a collection of one or more
physical blocks bracketed by an Input Port block
and an Output Port block that bridge the physical
and mathematical parts of the model.

For more information on defining components, see “Specify or Import Component Data”.

Idealized Baseband Library

The Idealized Baseband library contains mathematical representations of the amplifier, mixer, and
filter blocks. Use a block from this library to model an RF component in terms of mathematical
equations that describe how the block operates on an input signal.

Idealized Baseband blocks assume perfect impedance matching and a nominal impedance of 1 ohm.
This means there is no loading and the power flow is unidirectional. As such, they are similar to
standard Simulink blocks. In contrast, the Equivalent Baseband blocks do not assume perfect
matching—these blocks model the reflections that occur between blocks. Physical blocks model
bidirectional power flow, and include loading effects. For these blocks, you can specify the source and
load impedances using the Input Port and Output Port blocks.

The mathematical library is shown in the following figure.

3-5
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

Equivalent Baseband Workflow

When you analyze an RF system using RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband software, your workflow
might include the following tasks:

1 Create a Simulink model that includes RF components.

For more information , see “Model RF Components”.

2 Define component data by

• Specifying network parameters, mathematical relationships, or physical properties

• Importing data from an industry-standard Touchstone file, a MathWorks AMP file, an Agilent®
P2D or S2D file, or the MATLAB workspace

The product lets you access component data in Touchstone SnP, YnP, ZnP, HnP, and GnP
formats. You can also import amplifier network parameters and power data from a MathWorks
AMP file.

For more information, see “Specify or Import Component Data”.

3 Where applicable, add the following information to the component definition:

• Operating condition values (see “Specify Operating Conditions”).

• Nonlinearity data (see “Model Nonlinearity”).
• Noise data (see “Model Noise”).
4 Validate the behavior of individual blocks by plotting component data.

Note You can plot data for individual blocks from the Equivalent Baseband library that model
physical components either before or after you run a simulation.

For more information, see “Create Plots”.

5 Run the simulation.

For more information on how the product performs time-domain simulation of an RF system, see
“Simulate an RF Model”.
6 Generate plots to gain insight into system behavior.

For more information, see “Create and Modify Subsystem Plots”.

The following plots and charts are available:

• Rectangular plots
• Polar plots
• Smith Charts
• Composite plots
• Budget plots

3-6
 Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

In this section...
“Overview of LC Bandpass Filter Example” on page 3-7
“Select Blocks to Represent System Components” on page 3-7
“Build the Model” on page 3-8
“Specify Model Parameters” on page 3-8
“Validate Filter Components and Run the Simulation” on page 3-14
“Analyze the Simulation Results” on page 3-15

Overview of LC Bandpass Filter Example

In this example, you model the signal attenuation caused by an RF filter by comparing the signals at
the input and output of the filter.

The RF filter you use in this example is an LC bandpass filter with a bandwidth of 200 MHz, centered
at 700 MHz. You use a three-tone input signal to stimulate a range of in-band and out-of-band
frequencies of the filter. The input signal has the following tones:

• 700 MHz — Center of the filter

• 600 MHz — Lower edge of the filter passband
• 900 MHz — Outside the filter passband

You simulate the effects of the filter over a bandwidth of 500 MHz.

Select Blocks to Represent System Components

In this part of the example, you select the blocks to represent the input signal, the RF filter, and the
signal displays.

You model the RF filter using a physical subsystem, which is a collection of one or more physical
blocks bracketed by an Input Port block and an Output Port block. The RF filter subsystem consists of
an LC Bandpass Pi block, and the Input Port and Output Port blocks. The function of the Input Port
and Output Port blocks is to bridge the physical part of the model, which uses bidirectional RF
signals, and the rest of the model, which uses unidirectional Simulink signals.

The following table lists the blocks that represent the system components and a description of the
role of each block.

Block Description
Sine Wave Generates a three-channel signal.
Matrix Sum Combines the three channel signal into a single three-tone source
signal.
Input Port Establishes parameters that are common to all blocks in the RF filter
subsystem, including the source impedance of the subsystem that is
used to convert Simulink signals to the RF Blockset Equivalent
Baseband physical modeling environment.

3-7
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

Block Description
LC Bandpass Pi Models the signal attenuation caused by the RF filter which, in this
example, is the LC Bandpass Pi filter.
Output Port Establishes parameters that are common to all blocks in the RF filter
subsystem. These parameters include the load impedance of the
subsystem, which is used to convert RF signals to Simulink signals.
Spectrum Analyzer Displays signals at the input to and output of the filter.

Build the Model

In this part of the example, you create a Simulink model, add blocks to the model, and connect the
blocks.

1 Create a model with the blocks shown in the following table. The Library column of the table
specifies the hierarchical path to each block.

Block Library Path Quantity

Sine Wave DSP System Toolbox > Sources 1
Matrix Sum DSP System Toolbox > Math Functions > Matrices 1
and Linear Algebra > Matrix Operations
Spectrum Analyzer DSP System Toolbox > Sinks 2
Input Port RF Blockset > Equivalent Baseband > Equivalent 1
Baseband > Input/Output Ports
LC Bandpass Pi RF Blockset > Equivalent Baseband > Ladder Filters 1
Output Port RF Blockset > Equivalent Baseband > Input/Output 1
Ports
2 Connect the blocks as shown in the following figure.

For more information on connecting physical and mathematical blocks, see “Connect Model
Blocks”.

Now you are ready to specify block parameters.

Specify Model Parameters

In this part of the example, you specify the following parameters to represent the behavior of the
system components:

3-8
 Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

• “Input Signal Parameters” on page 3-9

• “Filter Subsystem Parameters” on page 3-11
• “Signal Display Parameters” on page 3-13

Input Signal Parameters

You generate the three-tone source signal using two blocks. You use the Sine Wave block to generate
a complex three-channel signal, where each channel corresponds to a different frequency. Then, you
use the Matrix Sum block to combine the channels into a single three-tone source signal. Without this
block, the signal in all subsequent blocks would have three independent channels.

The RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband simulation algorithm requires you to shift the frequencies of
the input signal. The software simulates the filter subsystem using a complex-baseband modeling
technique, which automatically shifts the filter response and centers it at zero. You must shift the
frequencies of the signals outside the physical subsystem by the same amount.

For more information on complex-baseband modeling, see “Create Complex Baseband-Equivalent

Model”.

Note All signals in the RF model must be complex to match the signals in the physical subsystem, so
you create a complex input signal.

The center frequency of the LC bandpass filter is 700 MHz, so you use a three-tone source signal with
tones that are 700 MHz below the actual tones, at -100 MHz, 0 MHz, and 200 MHz, respectively.

1 In Sine Wave block dialog box:

• Set the Amplitude parameter to 1e-6.

• Set the Frequency (Hz) parameter to [-100 0 200]*1e6.
• Set the Output complexity parameter to Complex.
• Set the Sample time parameter to 1/500e6.
• Set the Samples per frame parameter to 128 .

3-9
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

2 In the Matrix Sum block dialog box:

• Set the Sum over parameter to Specified dimension.

• Set the Dimension parameter to 2.

3-10
 Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

Filter Subsystem Parameters

In this part of the example, you configure the blocks that model the RF filter subsystem—the Input
Port, LC Bandpass Pi, and Output Port blocks.

1 Set the Input Port block parameters as follows:

• Treat input Simulink signal as = Incident power wave

This option tells the blockset to interpret the input signal as the incident power wave to the
RF subsystem, and not the source voltage of the RF subsystem.

Note If you use the default value for this parameter, the software interprets the input
Simulink signal as the source voltage. As a result, the source and the load that model the
Input Port and Output Port blocks, respectively, introduce 6 dB of loss into the physical system
at all frequencies. For more information on why this loss occurs, see the note in “Convert to
and from Simulink Signals”.
• Center frequency = 700e6
• Sample time (s) = 1/500e6
• Input Processing = Columns as channels (frame based)
• Clear the Add noise check box so the software does not include noise in the simulation. To
learn how to model noise, see “Model Noise”.

3-11
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

Note You must enter the Sample time (s) because the Input Port block does not inherit a
sample time from the input signal. The specified sample time must match the sample time of the
input signal. The Sample time (s) of 1/500e6 second used in this example is equivalent to a
bandwidth of 500 MHz.
2 Accept default parameters for inductance and capacitance in the LC Bandpass Pi block. These
parameters create a filter with the desired bandwidth of 200 MHz, centered at 700 MHz.

3-12
 Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

3 Accept the default parameters for the Output Port block to use a load impedance of 50 ohms.

Signal Display Parameters

In this part of the example, you specify:

1 Set the Spectrum Analyzer parameters as follows:

• In the View tab check Spectrum Settings. In Trace options set the Units parameter to
dBm.
• In the View tab open Configuration Properties. Set the Minimum Y-limit parameter to
-291 and the Maximum Y-limit parameter to -67. Also, set the Y-axis label parameter to
dBm.

3-13
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

2 Set the Spectrum Analyzer 1 parameters as follows:

• In the View tab check Spectrum Settings. In Trace options set the Units parameter to
dBm.
• In the View tab open Configuration Properties. Set the Minimum Y-limit parameter to
-291 and the Maximum Y-limit parameter to -67. Also, set the Y-axis label parameter to
dBm.

Validate Filter Components and Run the Simulation

In this part of the example, you validate the behavior of the LC Bandpass Pi filter block by plotting its
frequency response and then run the simulation.

Note When you plot information about a physical block, the plot displays the actual frequency
response of the block at the selected passband (i.e., the response at the unshifted frequencies), not
the response at the shifted frequencies. For more information on this shift, see “Input Signal
Parameters” on page 3-9.

1 Double-click the LC Bandpass Pi block to open the block dialog box.

2 Select the Visualization tab and click Plot to plot the frequency response of the filter. This plots
the magnitude of S21 as a function of frequency, which represents the gain of the filter.

Filter Gain

3-14
 Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

Note The physical blocks only model a band of frequencies around the center frequency of the
physical subsystem. You must choose the sample time and center frequency such that all
important frequency characteristics of your physical subsystem fall in this band of frequencies.
The plot shows the frequency response of the filter for the portion of the RF spectrum that the
physical blocks model. In this example, the physical blocks model a 500-MHz band centered at
700 MHz, as defined by the Input Port block.
3 In the model window, click Run to run the simulation.

Analyze the Simulation Results

In this part of the example, you analyze the results of the simulation. This section contains the
following topics:

• “Compare the Input and Output Signals of the RF Filter” on page 3-15
• “Plot Model Parameters of the Filter Subsystem” on page 3-17

Compare the Input and Output Signals of the RF Filter

You can view the source signal and the filtered signal in the Spectrum Analyzer windows while the
model is running. These windows appear automatically when you start the simulation.

The Spectrum Analyzer blocks display the signals at the shifted (baseband-equivalent)
frequencies, not at the selected passband frequencies. You can relabel the x-axes of the Spectrum
Analyzer windows to display the passband signal by entering the Center frequency parameter
value of 700e6 (from the Input Port block) for the Frequency display offset (Hz) parameter in the
Axis Properties tab of the Spectrum Analyzer block dialog boxes. For more information on
complex-baseband modeling, see “Create Complex Baseband-Equivalent Model”.

The Spectrum Analyzer blocks display power spectral density normalized to unit sampling
frequency. To display power per channel, insert a Gain block with the Gain parameter set to 1/
sqrt(N) before each Spectrum Analyzer block. N is the number of channels. The Gain block is in
the Simulink > Commonly Used Blocks library.

In this example, N is 128 (the value of the Samples per frame parameter of the Sine Wave block,
128).

Note RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband signals represent amplitudes, not voltages. This means that
in the product, power is defined as:
2
Power (in watts) = Amplitude (in volts/sqrt(ohm))

The following plot shows the RF filter input signal you specified in the Sine Wave block.

3-15
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

Input to RF Filter

The next plot shows the filtered signal. Notice the RF filter does not attenuate the signal at the center
frequency.

3-16
 Model RF Filter Using Equivalent Baseband

Attenuated Output of RF Filter

Plot Model Parameters of the Filter Subsystem

After you simulate an RF model, you can evaluate the behavior of the physical subsystem by plotting
the network parameters of the Output Port block.

Note When you plot information about a physical subsystem, the plot displays the actual frequency
response of the subsystem at the selected passband (i.e. the response at the unshifted frequencies),
not the response at the shifted frequencies.

To understand the frequency response of the filter, examine the S-parameters as a function of
frequency for the RF filter subsystem on a composite plot.

1 Open the dialog box of the Output Port block by double-clicking the block.
2 Select the Visualization tab, and click Plot.

The composite plot, shown in the following figure, contains four separate plots in one figure. For the
Output Port block, the composite plot shows the following as a function of frequency
(counterclockwise from the upper-left plot):

• An X-Y plane plot of the magnitude of the filter gain, S21, in decibels.
• An X-Y plane plot of the phase of the filter gain, S21, in degrees.
• A Z Smith chart showing the real and imaginary parts of the filter reflection coefficient, S11.
• A Polar plane plot showing the magnitude and phase of the filter reflection coefficient, S11.

3-17
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

Note In this example, the response of the filter subsystem is the same as the response of the filter
block because the subsystem contains only a filter block.

See Also
LC Bandpass Pi

More About
• “Model RF Filter Using Circuit Envelope” on page 1-27

3-18
 Equivalent Baseband Library

Equivalent Baseband Library

Use Equivalent Baseband Library

The RF Blockset Equivalent Baseband library provides components to model RF systems within the
Simulink environment. This library extends your Simulink modeling environment with a library of
blocks that can be used to model RF systems that include RF filters, transmission lines, amplifiers,
and mixers. The blocks from this library model physical and electrical components when you specify
physical properties or import measured data.

The Equivalent Baseband library blocks represents the components of your RF system in a Simulink
model. The blockset provides several types of component representations using network parameters
(S, Y, Z, ABCD, H, and T format), mathematical descriptions, and physical properties. In the Simulink
model, components are cascaded to represent an RF architecture and the model is simulated. During
simulation, the model computes a time-domain complex-baseband representation. This method
results in fast simulation of the quadrature modeling schemes used in communication systems and
enables compatibility with other Simulink blocks.

A validated Simulink model of an RF system can provide an executable specification for RF circuit
design of wireless communication systems. The blocks from this library let you visualize their
specified network parameters using plots and Smith® charts or noise and power budget curves.
Additionally, using this library you can generate embeddable C code for real-time execution using
Simulink Coder™.

Open Equivalent Baseband Library

To open the main library window, type this MATLAB Command Window.

rflib

Each yellow block in the window represents a library.

Double-click the Equivalent Baseband block to open the library.

3-19
3 Introduction to Equivalent Baseband Simulation

This table describes the sublibraries and the types of available models.

Sublibrary Use
Ladder Filters To design RF filters specified using LC
parameters. The software calculates the network
parameters and noise data of the blocks from the
topology of the filter and the LC values.
Series/Shunt RLC To model series and shunt RLC components for
designing the lumped element cascades specified
using RLC parameters.
Transmission Lines To design various types of transmission lines
specified using physical dimensions and electrical
characteristics.
Black Box To design passive RF components specified using
network parameters, or a data file containing
these parameters.
Amplifiers To design RF amplifiers specified using network
parameters, noise data, and nonlinearity data or
a data file containing these parameters.
Mixers To design RF mixers that contain local oscillators
specified using network parameters, noise data,
and nonlinearity data or a data file containing
these parameters.

3-20
 Equivalent Baseband Library

Sublibrary Use
Input/Output Ports To specify simulation information pertaining to all
blocks in a physical subsystem, such as center
frequency and sample time. A physical subsystem
is a collection of one or more physical blocks
bracketed by an Input Port block and an Output
Port block that bridge the physical and
mathematical parts of the model.

For more information on defining components, see “Specify or Import Component Data”.

Understanding Equivalent Baseband Environment

The Equivalent Baseband environment comprises of groups of interconnected Equivalent Baseband
library blocks and algorithms that model an RF system. In the Equivalent Baseband environment, all
blocks fall into one of the two categories.

Blocks Operating Within Equivalent Baseband Environment

These blocks contribute to the physical representation of an RF system. Most Equivalent Baseband
library blocks fall into this category. For example, a RLC network can model a source impedance or
part of a matching network, and a General Amplifier block can model a physical RF amplifier. Both
blocks model physical components. Each of these blocks have two ports and can be exclusively
connected to model a chain configuration.

Blocks Operating Between Equivalent Baseband and Simulink Environments

These blocks, also called cross-domain blocks, provide an interface from an RF system to a larger
design. The Input Port and the Output Port blocks fall into this category. For example, you can
construct a signal using blocks from Communications Toolbox or DSP System Toolbox libraries, and
you can input that signal into an RF chain using the Input Port block. The Input Port block also
controls the simulation parameters as described in the “Create Complex Baseband-Equivalent Model”
section.

See Also

More About
• “Create Complex Baseband-Equivalent Model”

3-21
 4

RF Simulation Basics
4 RF Simulation Basics

RF Simulation Glossary

In this section...
“Introduction” on page 4-2
“Terms and Definitions” on page 4-2

Introduction
Using RF Blockset you can model and simulate radar and wireless communications systems with
different architectures and used in multiple applications. RF or Radio Frequency deals with signals
that work at very high frequency. RF signals change very rapidly and the simulation of such signals
require very small time steps and long simulation runs. This combination allows you to capture data
in milliseconds or seconds. RF Blockset provides you with two kinds of simulation libraries:

• Circuit Envelope
• Equivalent Baseband

Terms and Definitions

Equivalent Baseband

Equivalent Baseband simulation approach is for 2-port single carrier cascaded networks. This is a
discrete time simulation and support frame-based processing of superheterodyne systems You can
model filters, S-parameters, and in-band spectral regrowth caused by odd order nonlinearity.

Circuit Envelope

Circuit Envelope simulation approach is for multicarrier simulation of arbitrary network topologies.
You can model filters, S-parameters, and in-band spectral regrowth caused by odd order nonlinearity.
You can also model interferers, spurs, arbitrary LO signals, DC offset and even order nonlinearity.

Modulation

The process of superimposing a low frequency signal on to a high frequency signal also known as
carrier (ωc). The modulation signal can be complex, and described in terms of in-phase (I) and
quadrature-phase (Q) components. The modulation process is equivalent to the complex
multiplication:

j2πωct
Modulated Signal = (I(t) + jQ(t)) * e

Baseband Signals

Signals that are at or near DC frequencies. This is the original frequency range of the transmitted
signal before it is modulated. Baseband signals are limited mainly to wired communications.

Passband Signals

Signals that are at a higher frequency range after modulation. Passband signals are used for wireless
transmissions.

4-2
 RF Simulation Glossary

Linear Circuits

In linear circuits, amplitude of the output signal is proportional to the input signal amplitude. The
basic assumption is that passive devices described by lumped elements such as resistor, capacitor,
inductor, or distributed elements such as transmission lines are linear. S-parameter blocks are also
linear.

Simulation Time Step

Simulation time step in RF Blockset determines the bandwidth of the envelope signals for both
Equivalent Baseband (single carrier envelope) and Circuit Envelope (multicarrier envelope) signals.
In order to avoid aliasing, it is recommended that you use the same time step used to define the
signal inputs in Simulink.

Mixers

Mixers translate signals from one frequency range to another. They have two inputs and one output.
One input is information signal and other is the timing signal also known as Local Oscillator
frequency or LO frequency input. Mixers are used for up conversion and down conversion of signals
from baseband to RF and vice versa.

Local Oscillators

Local oscillators (LO) generate the timing or reference signals for the mixers.

4-3
 5

Introduction to Idealized Baseband

Simulation
5 Introduction to Idealized Baseband Simulation

Idealized Baseband Library

Use Idealized Baseband Library

The RF Blockset Idealized Baseband library extends your Simulink environment with a library of
blocks that model single-carrier complex-baseband systems with discrete-time signals. You can
directly couple blocks from this library with DSP System Toolbox blocks or other Simulink blocks to
estimate the impact of RF phenomena on overall system performance.

The RF Blockset Idealized Baseband library includes RF amplifiers, filters, and mixers. In the
Simulink environment, you connect these Idealized Baseband library blocks to other Simulink blocks
to represent a higher abstract level for your RF architecture.

Additionally, you can use this library with Simulink Coder™ software to generate embeddable C code
for real-time execution.

Open Idealized Baseband Library

To open the top-level RF Blockset library window, type this at the MATLAB command line:

rflib

Each yellow block in the window represents a time-domain complex-baseband library with different
capabilities. Double-click the Idealized Baseband icon to open the library or type this at the
MATLAB command line.

rfmathmodels2

5-2
 Idealized Baseband Library

Idealized Baseband library blocks assume perfect impedance matching. This implies no loading
effects and that the signal and power flows are unidirectional. The blocks in this library perform as
standard Simulink blocks. In contrast, the Equivalent Baseband and Circuit Envelope blocks do not
assume perfect matching. These blocks are physical, model bidirectional power flow, and include
loading effects and reflections at each block boundary. The Equivalent Baseband or Circuit Envelope
blocks can connect only to blocks from their respective libraries. To interface these two libraries with
Simulink blocks, the Input Port and Output Port blocks are required.

See Also

Related Examples
• “Idealized Baseband Amplifier with Nonlinearity and Noise”

5-3
5 Introduction to Idealized Baseband Simulation

Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Amplifier Block

Use the Idealized Baseband Amplifier block to simulate nonlinearities and noise in your RF system
design. The Amplifier block provides four nonlinearity models and three options to represent noise.

Nonlinearity Models in Idealized Amplifier Block

Cubic Polynomial

The Cubic polynomial model uses linear power gain to determine the linear coefficient of a third-
order polynomial and either IP3, P1dB, or Psat to determine the third - order coefficient of the
polynomial. The general form of cubic nonlinearity models the AM/AM characteristics as

3 3
FAM/AM(|u|)=c1×|u|+ c3×|u|
4

where FAM/AM(|u|) is the magnitude of the output signal, |u| is the magnitude of the input signal, c1 is
the coefficient of the linear gain term, and c3 is the coefficient of the cubic gain term. The results for
IIP3, OIP3, IP1dB, OP1dB, IPsat and OPsat are taken from [1]. The coefficient c3 are given in this
table.

Nonlinearity Type Equations

Input third-order intercept point, “IIP3 (dBm)” 4c1
c3 = − [(IIP3 − 30)/10]
3 × 10

IIP3 is given in dBm.

Output third-order intercept point,“OIP3 (dBm)” 4c13
c3 = − [(OIP3 − 30)/10]
3 × 10

OIP3 is given in dBm.

Input 1 dB gain compression power,“IP1dB 19 20
2c1(10 − 10)
(dBm)” c3 = − [(IP1dB − 30)/10]
15 × 10

IP1dB is given in dBm.

Output 1 dB gain compression power, “OP1dB 19 20
2c13(10 − 10)
(dBm)” c3 = − [(OP1dB − 30 − LGdB + 1)/10]
15 × 10

OP1dB is given in dBm, and LGdB is the linear

gain in dB.
Input saturation power, “IPsat (dBm)” 4c1
c3 = − [(IPsat − 30)/10]
9 × 10

IPsat is given in dBm.

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 Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Amplifier Block

Nonlinearity Type Equations

Output saturation power, “OPsat (dBm)” 16c13
c3 = − [(OPsat − 30)/10]
81 × 10

OPsat is given in dBm.

AM/AM-AM/PM

The AM/AM-AM/PM model uses a lookup table to specify the amplifier power characteristics. The table
returns interpolated or extrapolated values using linear interpolation. Each row in the table
expresses the relationship between output power or phase change as a function of input power.
((Table AM/PM(u) + ∠u) × i)
uout = TableAM/ AM(u) × e

where uout is the output signal and u is the magnitude of input signal.

Saleh

The Saleh model is based on normalized transfer function. Use the input / output scaling parameters
to adjust signal levels from their normalized values. For Saleh, the AM/AM parameters alphaAM/AM
and betaAM/AM are used to compute the amplitude gain for an input signal using the following
equation:

alphaAM/ AM × u
F AM/ AM(u) = 2
1 + betaAM/ AM × u

where |u| is the magnitude of the scaled signal and u is calculated as:

u = InputScale × uin

For Saleh, the AM/PM parameters alphaAM/PM and betaAM/PM are used to compute the phase change
for an input signal using the following equation:
2
alphaAM/PM × u
F AM/PM(u) = 2
+ angle(u)
1 + betaAM/PM × u

where |u| is the magnitude of the scaled signal and angle is a MATLAB function that returns the
phase angle of u.

The scaled output signal, uout is calculated as:

(F AM/PM × i)
uout = F AM/ AM × e × OutputScale

Modified Rapp

The Modified Rapp model is based on normalized transfer functions. Use the input and output
scaling parameters to adjust the signal levels from their normalized values. The AM/AM
characteristics for Modified Rapp are given by:

glin × u
F AM/ AM(u) = 1
glin × u 2p 2p
(1 + V sat
)

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where |u| is the magnitude of input signal, glin is 10(Linear Gain (dB)/20), and is the amplitude gain of the
amplifier, Vsat is “Output saturation level (V)”, and p is “Magnitude smoothness factor”.

The AM/PM characteristics for Modified Rapp is given by

q
Α× u
F AM/PM(u) = q
+ angle(u)
u
[1 + ( B
)]

where u is the input signal, A is the Phase gain (rad), B is Phase saturation, q is Phase
smoothness factor and angle is a MATLAB function which returns phase angle of u.

The output signal uout is calculated as:

(F (u) × i)
uout = F AM/ AM(u) × e AM/PM

Plot Power Characteristics

To visualize the functionality of Plot power characteristics button, you can set the parameters of
the Amplifier block as listed in the table.

Model Parameters Power Characteristics Plot

Cubic Polynomial Main tab:

• Linear power gain (dB): 7

• Type of Non-linearity: IIP3
• IIP3 (dBm): 33
• Simulate using: Code generation

Noise tab:

• Specify noise type: Noise

temperature
• Noise temperature: 290
• Seed source: Auto

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 Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Amplifier Block

Model Parameters Power Characteristics Plot

AM/AM - AM/PM Main tab:

• Lookup table (Pin(dBm), Pout(dBm),

deg): [-25, 5, -1; -10, 20, -2;
0, 27, 5; 5, 28, 12]
• Simulate using: Code generation

Noise tab:

• Specify noise type: Noise

temperature
• Noise temperature: 290
• Seed source: User specified
• Seed : 67987
Modified Rapp Main tab:

• Linear power gain (dB): 7

• Output saturation level (V): 1
• Magnitude smoothness factor: 2
• Phase gain (rad): -.45
• Phase saturation: 0.88
• Phase smoothness factor: 3.43
• Simulate using: Code generation

Noise tab:

• Specify noise type: Noise

temperature
• Noise temperature: 290
• Seed source: User specified
• Seed : 67987

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Model Parameters Power Characteristics Plot

Saleh Main tab:

• Input scaling (dB): 0

• AM/AM parameters [alpha beta]:
[ 2.1587, 1.1517 ]
• AM/PM parameters [alpha beta]:
[ 4.0033, 9.1040 ]
• Output scaling (dB): 0
• Simulate using: Interpreted
execution

Noise tab:

• Specify noise type: Noise figure

• Noise figure: 10 * log10( 2 )
• Seed source: Auto

Application of Nonlinearities
All four subsystems for the amplifier nonlinearity models apply a memoryless nonlinearity to the
complex baseband input signal. Each model
1 Multiplies the signal by a gain factor.
2 Splits the complex signal into its magnitude and angle components.
3 Applies an AM/AM conversion to the magnitude of the signal, according to the selected
nonlinearity model, to produce the magnitude of the output signal.
4 Applies an AM/PM conversion to the phase of the signal, according to the selected nonlinearity
model, and adds the result to the angle of the signal to produce the angle of the output signal.

Thermal Noise Simulations in Idealized Amplifier Block

According to the Specify noise type parameter, you can specify the amount of thermal noise in three
ways,

• Noise temperature — Specifies the noise in kelvin.

• Noise factor — Specifies the noise by using the equation:

Noise temperature
Noise factor = 1 + 
290
• Noise figure — Specifies the noise in decibels relative to a noise temperature of 290 kelvin. In
terms of noise factor

Noise figure = 10×log(Noise factor)

Note Some RF Blockset blocks require the sample time to perform baseband modeling
calculations. To ensure accuracy in these calculations, the Input Port block, as well as the
mathematical RF blocks compare the input sample time to the sample time you provide in the

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 Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Amplifier Block

mask. If these times do not match, or if the input sample time is missing because the blocks are
not connected, an error message appears.

To learn how to use the idealized baseband library Amplifier block to amplify a signal with
nonlinearity and noise, see “Idealized Baseband Amplifier with Nonlinearity and Noise”.

References
[1] Kundert, Ken.“ Accurate and Rapid Measurement of IP2 and IP3,“ The Designer Guide Community,
May 22, 2002.

See Also
Amplifier | Mixer

Related Examples
• “Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block” on page 5-10

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Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block

Use the Idealized Baseband Mixer block to simulate nonlinearities and noise in your RF system
design. The block uses a cubic polynomial model to simulate nonlinearities. You can plot power
characteristics, Pout (dBm) vs. Pin (dBm) using Plot power characteristics button. For more
information, see “Plot Power Characteristics” on page 5-11.

The Mixer block supports both phase and system noise. Frequency dependent LO phase noise vs.
frequency offset is modeled in this block. This block allows you to plot phase noise magnitude
response (dBc/Hz vs. Frequency) using Plot phase characteristics button. For more information,
see “Phase Noise in Mixer Block” on page 5-11 and “Plot Phase Noise Characteristics” on page 5-
12.

“Noise temperature (K)”, “Noise figure (dB)”, and “Noise factor” parameters allows you to set the
amount of system noise added to the input signal. For more information, see “Mixer (System) Noise
Simulations” on page 5-13.

Nonlinearities in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block

The Mixer block uses third-order cubic polynomials to simulate nonlinearities. The model uses a
linear power gain to determine the linear coefficient of a third-order polynomial and IP3, P1dB, or
Psat to determine the third-order coefficient of the polynomial. The general form of cubic nonlinearity
models the AM/AM characteristics as

3 3
FAM/AM(|u|)=c1×|u|+ c3×|u|
4

FAM/AM(|u|) is the magnitude of the output signal, |u| is the magnitude of the input signal, c1 is the
coefficient of the linear gain term, and c3 is the coefficient of the cubic gain term. The equations for
IIP3, OIP3, IP1dB, OP1dB, IPsat, and OPsat are taken from [1]. The c3 coefficient is determined as
follows.

Type of Nonlinearity Equations

Input third-order intercept point, “IIP3 (dBm)” 4c1
c3 = − [(IIP3 − 30)/10]
3 × 10

IIP3 is given in dBm.

Output third-order intercept point, “OIP3 (dBm)” 4c13
c3 = − [(OIP3 − 30)/10]
3 × 10

OIP3 is given in dBm.

Input 1 dB gain compression power, “IP1dB 19 20
2c1(10 − 10)
(dBm)” c3 = − [(IP1dB − 30)/10]
15 × 10

IP1dB is given in dBm.

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 Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block

Type of Nonlinearity Equations

Output 1 dB gain compression power, “OP1dB 19 20
2c13(10 − 10)
(dBm)” c3 = − [(OP1dB − 30 − LGdB + 1)/10]
15 × 10

OP1dB is given in dBm and LGdB is the linear

gain in dB.
Input saturation power, “IPsat (dBm)” 4c1
c3 = − [(IPsat − 30)/10]
9 × 10

IPsat is given in dBm.

Output saturation power, “OPsat (dBm)” 16c13
c3 = − [(OPsat − 30)/10]
81 × 10

OPsat is given in dBm.

Plot Power Characteristics

Visualize the power characteristics of your system design by using the Mixer block to plot the Pout vs.
Pin curves. For example, plot the power characteristics for a system with a conversion gain of 10 dB
and IIP3 nonlinearity. On the Main tab, set Conversion gain (dB) to 10. On the Impairments tab,
set Type of non-linearity to IIP3 and set IIP3 (dBm) to 33. Click Plot power characteristics on
the Impairments tab.

While plotting the power characteristics in this example, set all other parameters on the Impairments
tab to default values.

Phase Noise in Mixer Block

Frequency dependent LO phase noise vs. frequency offset is modeled in this block using the MATLAB
digital filter function where the white noise input is generated from the MATLAB random number

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generator randn with the specified generator twister. The numerator and denominator filter
coefficients are derived using two methods to model the phase noise. You can set the LO phase noise
and frequency offset using the “Phase noise level (dBc/Hz)” and “Frequency offset (Hz)” parameters,
respectively.

Method one is employed for a scalar Phase noise level (dBc/Hz) parameter and has an initial -10
dBm change in phase noise level per frequency decade for frequencies greater than the specified
Frequency offset (Hz) [2]. Using this method, an IIR digital filter is constructed. This is because the
rational transfer function is defined with a constant numerator coefficient and N denominator
coefficients. The number of denominator coefficients, N, is proportional to the block sample rate /
Frequency offset.

Method two is employed for vector Phase noise level (dBc/Hz) parameter values. For modeling
purposes, when the frequency is less than the smallest specified Frequency offset (Hz) parameter
value, extrapolated phase noise values have a 1/f3 dependence. If the frequency is greater than the
largest Frequency offset (Hz) parameter value, the extrapolated phase noise values are set equal to
the final Phase noise level (dBc/Hz) vector value. Using this method, an FIR digital filter is
constructed. FIR digital filter is constructed because the rational transfer function is defined with a
constant denominator coefficient and N numerator coefficients. The number of numerator
coefficients, N, is proportional to block sample rate / Frequency offset. To reduce spectral leakage
when simulating, an additional step is performed using an Hanning filter while deriving the filter
coefficients.

When the LO phase noise parameter, “Automatic frequency resolution”, is enabled, the block sample
rate and frequency resolution are derived from the Frequency offset (Hz) parameter and they are
used to determine the required number of filter coefficients. The number of filter coefficients can be
determined using the equation

1 Bandwidth
N =   = 
δf ×δt δf
where,
δf  is the frequency resolution
δt is the block sample time

The frequency resolution is chosen to ensure that a minimum of two modeling points exist between
any two specified phase noise level points in the design. This choice for modeling points often leads to
many filter coefficients with an adverse effect on the simulation speed. The model automatically limits
the number of filter coefficients in the range [2^5,2^16].

To improve the simulation speed, either increase the minimum distance between the Frequency
offset (Hz) parameter values or disable Automatic frequency resolution and specify the “Number
of signal samples”.

Plot Phase Noise Characteristics

Plot the phase noise magnitude response by clicking the Plot phase characteristics button. The plot
displays the phase noise specification, the design specification, and the filter response of the last
simulation.

If a simulation has not been performed, the sample rate is estimated from the Frequency offset (Hz)
parameter. For the plot shown in the table, the number of frequency bins is 4096. The number of bins
can be calculated using this equation

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 Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Mixer Block

Sample Rate (Hz)
Number of Frequency Bins = 
Resolution (Hz)

For example, plot the phase noise characteristics of a Mixer block. On the “Noise Tab” tab, set the
following parameters and click Plot phase characteristics button.

• Include phase noise: On

• Phase noise level (dBc/Hz): -150
• Frequency offset (Hz): 1024
• Automatic frequency resolution: On
• Seed source: Auto

While plotting the power characteristics in this example, set all other parameters on the Impairments
tab to default values.

Mixer (System) Noise Simulations

Specify the amount of system noise added to the input signal by setting the Mixer noise type. Set
one of the following:

• Noise temperature — Specify the noise in kelvin. The noise added to the system is proportional
to the square root of Noise temperature. The Noise temperature is calculated using this
equation
(Noisefigure/10)
Noise temperature = 290×(10 ‐1)
• Noise factor — Specify the noise by using the equation:

Noise temperature
Noise factor = 1 + 
290

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• Noise figure — Specify the noise in decibels relative to a noise temperature of 290 kelvin. In
terms of noise factor,

Noise figure = 10×log(Noise factor)

References
[1] Kundert, Ken. Accurate and Rapid Measurement of IP2 and IP3. The Designer Guide Community,
May 22, 2002.

[2] Kasdin, N.J. Discrete Simulation of Colored Noise and Stochastic Processes and 1/f/Sup α/ Power
Law Noise Generation. Proceedings of the IEEE 83, no. 5 (May 1995): 802–27. https://doi.org/
10.1109/5.381848.

See Also
Amplifier | Mixer

Related Examples
• “Nonlinearities and Noise in Idealized Baseband Amplifier Block” on page 5-4

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