Cadence Virtuoso mixer simulation setup

Hi,

I am quite new simulating a mixer in Cadence Virtuoso and would like to know the best way to configure my simulation setup in order to obtain proper typical plots for the mixer performance like

- Conversion Gain vs LO Power
- Conversion Gain vs RF Frequency
- Noise Figure vs RF Frequency
- Input P1 dB

I am trying to get plots like these ones



For the conversion gain plot what I currently do is to define the LO frequency in terms of the RF frequency so they are always 1 GHz apart (F_LO = F_RF + 1 GHz) and then I perform a PSS simulation (300 harmonics) with a sweep of the RF frequency so I can look at the Direct Plot results ( I usually look at the power at the IF port @ 1st harmonic i.e. 1 GHz) and then I substract the input power so I get the Power Conversion Gain over frequency. For the noise figure setup I don't know exactly how to proceed. Plus, I am aware that this setup might not be optimal because PSS simulates every frequency component at the harmonics which takes much more time than using hb analysis for example.

Sorry for the long description. I would appreciate if someone could provide a nice explanation how to setup my simulation so I can improve my simulation times and plots.

Thanks in advance,
MK

Hi,
try something like that
or just google "cadence mixer simulation tutorial" and you could fing a lot of tutorials