Here are the steps to obtain a phase noise plot from transient noise analysis:

1.  Set up your oscillator testbench circuit for a transient noise analysis (See sourcelink for the Transient Noise appNote - it doesn't discuss the phase noise measurement, but describes how to properly set up the simulation analysis

2.  Add the block freq_meter from the pllMMLib library ($CDSHOME/tools//dfII/samples/artist/pllMMLib) to the testbench circuit. Important: The instance name for this block must be 'vco_freq'.

If the oscillator output is differential, connect it to the vin_p and vin_n pins on the freq_meter block. If the oscillator output is single ended, connect it to the vin_p pin and connect the vin_n pin to ground. Connect a noConn cell from the basic library to the out_freq pin.

The parameters for this block are (set Tools Filter to veriloga in the CDF parameter form.:

• Vthup: Threshold voltage to determine the rise edge of the input waveform. The input waveform. period is determined by two adjacent rise edges. Default is 0.

• ttol: The tolerance of the time where the rise edge is determined. Default is 1p.

• outStart: The time-dependent period of the input waveform. is output to the file when the time is greater than outStart. Default is 0. To get accurate phase noise measurements, set this to past the time when the oscillator is fully powered up and oscillating at the design frequency.

• outfile: The name of a file to contain time-dependent periods for use in later psd calculations. Specify just the file name, not a path. If outfile is left blank, the default name is periods.txt.

3.  Before starting the simulation, in the ADE window, Select Tools->RF->PLL. In the PLL Macro Model Wizard window, enable PLL Macro Model and select PLL Bench as the Bench Type. Then OK this form.

4.  Run the simulation. The simulation must run successfully to completion in order to get to the phase noise results.

5.  In the Direct Plot form. for transient noise there should be a PLL PSD Noise option. This will allow you to plot the phase noise results. If a message appears saying that the PLL Noise PSD data is not available, check steps 3) and 4). If you make any corrections, you will need to re-run the simulation.

The phase noise plot will extend from fmin = 4/tstop to fmax = fosc/2, where tstop is the transient noise simulation stop time and fosc is the oscillation frequency of the circuit.