Background
A Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) is an electronic circuit designed to boost weak signals without introducing much additional noise. They are more complex, sophisticated, and expensive than regular amplifiers. LNAs are typically used in applications where very faint signals must be received and decoded. These tools are commonly used for satellite and radio communications.
Spectrum Control designed and prototyped a low-noise amplifier module, but needed to verify that it would work reliably in some very taxing conditions.
Challenges
Accurately evaluating the success of the LNA was a hurdle that needed to be overcome before testing could be established. The actual performance of a complex circuit can be difficult to verify because:
- The actual value of electronic components is variable. A tolerance of +/- 5% is common, so a 10 kOhm resistor might really be 9.5 or 10.5 kOhm.
- The values change with temperature. If it’s hot, a 10.5 kOhm resistor might become 11 kOhm.
- The components are also generating heat, which can contribute to changes in results.
In order to work with these variations, Porticos generated a complex, high-fidelity simulation of the circuit using a simulation tool called LTspice. Porticos then used that tool to test the LNA using the Monte Carlo Method, a series of repeated experiments that vary the values of the electronic components randomly, within statistical and temperature-influenced ranges. Hundreds of different combinations of input signals, component values, and temperatures revealed how the circuit would respond most of the time, and also predicted behavior at unlikely extremes.
Outcome
The simulation designed by the Porticos team allowed Spectrum Control to optimize the design of their LNA and launch the device with confidence.
Porticos is adept at many different types of computer simulation: electronics, structural, fluidic, thermal, vibration, etc. We’re eager to discuss your system and find ways to predict and optimize performance. Please get in touch to learn more.
