Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) Explorer

Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) is one of the most fundamental analyses in wireless communication systems. It helps to increase the efficiency of Power Amplifiers (PAs) by reducing the distortion created by running PAs in their non-linear regions. PathWave DPD Explorer captures amplifier nonlinearity and creates pre-distortion algorithms and settings for the linearization of cellular and WiFi systems.

The DPD Explorer user interface (UI) :

• Enables engineers to configure various signal formats and DPD algorithms quickly and conveniently
• Supports common communication signal formats, such as 5G NR, LTE, WLAN, and I/Q user definitions
• Supports a new Dynamic Gain algorithm for extracting the parameters of PAs with memory and trap effects
• Includes a Direct DPD method which shows the theoretical limit of DPD comparison between different PA models
• Supports classical DPD parameter identification methods, such as Memory Polynomial, Volterra Polynomial, and Look-Up Table

DPD Explorer 2024 Update 2.0

DPD Explorer 2024 Update 2.0 Compatibility

The following table lists DPD Explorer 2024 Update 2.0 compatible versions of ADS. 

DPD Explorer 2024 Update 2.0 Installation

DPD Explorer is a plugin for ADS that is installed during or after System Design installation.

Documentation

• DPD Explorer 2024 Update 2.0 Release Notes
• DPD Explorer Product Documentation

Install DPD Explorer

DPD Explorer is a plugin for ADS that is installed during or after System Design installation.

On Windows

DPD Explorer can be installed using the following methods:

• During the PathWave System Design installation.
  While installing System Design, select Add System Design tools to ADS.

• After PathWave System Design Installation.
  1. Open System Design and load a blank workspace.
  2. Click Tools > Install System Design Addon in ADS.
  3. If prompted, select the ADS version and click OK.

Upon successful installation, the DPD Explorer option is added to the Tools menu in the Schematic Window.

On Linux

Prerequisite:

• Install dotnet 8.0. For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/net/8.0 and make sure the dotnet path is set.
  $ export DOTNET_ROOT=<PATH to DOTNET  Installation>
  $ export PATH=$PATH:$DOTNET_ROOT:$DOTNET_ROOT/tools
  

Note: 
- DotNet 8 is required for DPD Explorer, hence RHEL 7 is not supported. 
- On Linux, the environment variable LANG should be set to en_US.UTF-8.
- On Linux, DPD Explorer has a dependency on libncurses5, make sure this library is installed and the installation location is part of LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
- If the legacy module libncurses5 is not available, you could create a softlink in the SystemVue lib directory:
  ln -s /lib64/libncurses.so.6 libncurses.so.5

• Download System Design Linux Installer, See PathWave System Design HPC.

1. After the download, unzip or untar the installer file using the command: 
      tar -xzf <tar.gz>
2. Copy the following two binary files from
      <SystemDesign_install_dir>/SystemDesignInADS/<ADS_release>/bin
   to the ADS bin directory.
      - SystemVueDpdIPCRouter
      - SystemVueDpdServer
   <SystemDesign_install_dir> is the System Design installation directory on Linux.
3. In ADS App Manager, click the Add User ADS Addon button and point to:
      SystemDesignInADS/ael/SystemDesignStartup.atf

Note: Do not move the SystemDesignStartup.atf file

Upon successful configuration, the DPD Explorer command is available in the Tools menu of the ADS schematic window.

DPD Explorer 2024

DPD Explorer 2024 is the first version to be supported on both the Windows and Linux platforms.

DPD Explorer 2024 Compatibility

The following table lists DPD Explorer 2024 compatible versions of ADS. 

DPD Explorer 2024 Installation

DPD Explorer is a plugin for ADS that is installed during or after System Design installation.

Documentation

• DPD Explorer 2024 Release Notes
• DPD Explorer Product Documentation

Install DPD Explorer

DPD Explorer is a plugin for ADS that is installed during or after System Design installation.

On Windows

DPD Explorer can be installed using the following methods:

• During the PathWave System Design installation.
  While installing System Design, select Add System Design tools to ADS.

• After PathWave System Design Installation.
  1. Open System Design and load a blank workspace.
  2. Click Tools > Install System Design Addon in ADS.
  3. If prompted, select the ADS version and click OK.

Upon successful installation, the DPD Explorer option is added to the Tools menu in the Schematic Window.

On Linux

Prerequisite:

• Install dotnet 6.0. For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/net/6.0.
• Download System Design Linux Installer, See PathWave System Design HPC.

1. After the download, unzip or untar the installer file using the command: 
      tar -xzf <tar.gz>
2. Copy the following two binary files from
      <SystemDesign_install_dir>/SystemDesignInADS/<ADS_release>/bin
   to the ADS bin directory.
      - SystemVueDpdIPCRouter
      - SystemVueDpdServer
   <SystemDesign_install_dir> is the System Design installation directory on Linux.
3. In ADS App Manager, click the Add User ADS Addon button and point to:
      SystemDesignInADS/ael/SystemDesignStartup.atf

Note: Do not move the SystemDesignStartup.atf file

Upon successful configuration, the DPD Explorer command is available in the Tools menu of the ADS schematic window.

DPD Explorer 2023

DPD Explorer 2023 Compatibility

The following table lists DPD Explorer 2023 compatible versions of ADS.

DPD Explorer 2023 Installation

Note: DPD Explorer is supported on Linux starting with DPD Explorer 2024.

Documentation

• DPD Explorer 2023 Release Notes
• DPD Explorer Product Documentation

Install DPD Explorer

DPD functionality is available as a separate add-on. You need to download the installation package and install it along with your ADS instance.

On Windows

After the download, run the DPD Explorer installer and follow the instructions.

Return to the Advanced Design System (ADS) Software downloads page.