Touchstone File

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A Touchstone file was originally a proprietary file format for the eponymous frequency-domain linear circuit simulator [1] from EEsof, launched in 1984. The simulator itself has long since been superseded[2], but its file format lives on. A Touchstone file (also known as an SnP file) is an ASCII text file used for documenting the n-port network parameter data and noise data of linear active devices, passive filters, passive devices, or interconnect networks. An example of the S-parameter section is here. Touchstone file format later became a de facto industry-standard file format not only for circuit simulators but also for measurement equipment (e.g. vector network analyzers, or VNAs), then later still an EIA standard (part of the IBIS (I/O Buffer Information Specification) project). Version 1.1 [3] is current and an enhanced version (2.0) [4] is under review. Several enhancements to the file format, which allow additional description of the non-linearity of the component, have been proposed[5] under the P2D and S2D nomenclature.

[edit] Reference

  1. ^ History of EEsof and Touchstone at Microwaves 101
  2. ^ It was replaced by E8881 ADS Linear Simulator
  3. ^ EIA IBIS Touchstone Spec 1.1
  4. ^ Folder with EIA IBIS Touchstone Spec 2 Drafts
  5. ^ E8854A RF System Models from Agilent EEsof EDA

[edit] Trademark Notice

Touchstone is a registered trademark of Agilent Technologies, Inc.