"SuperMix" is a software library written to aid in the calculation and optimization of the signal and noise performance of high-frequency circuits, especially those including superconductors and superconducting tunnel junctions. Using this library, C++ programs can be written to simulate circuits of arbitrary size, complexity, and topology. The library includes an optimizer which can minimize an arbitrary error function by varying chosen circuit parameters. Using SuperMix, it is now possible to directly optimize an SIS receiver design to minimize the average noise temperature across the desired RF frequency band, including a full harmonic balance analysis at every frequency point together with a full analysis of the IF amplifier circuit and its noise contribution.
SuperMix is designed to run under Unix or Linux. At this point it time, it does not compile on DOS or Windows. To compile and run programs using the SuperMix class library, you must have:
The current version of SuperMix has been tested on the following systems:
We have begun documenting the SuperMix library with a program called doxygen. This html reference documentation is generated automatically from the source code. At this time, it is only partially complete. For the new user, we recommend that you:
We expect to release a getting started guide late this summer.
The current release is Version 1.3, which provides Redhat 7.1 compatibility, bug fixes, and improved comments and documentation. Due to a bug in previous versions involving some typecasts from double to complex_parameter, it is recommended that you upgrade to this release regardless of the release you currently use.
We have made some documentation available for download. The man
pages can be unzipped in a convenient place. You will need to set
your man path appropriately. To read the man pages for class device,
just type: man classdevice. The library reference is
cross-referenced html. It is also availabled on-line under the
documentation section, above.
Installing the library from supermix.tar.gz will create a subdirectory named 'supermix' which contains the files for the library. To install, download supermix.tar.gz into the directory of your choice and then execute the following commands:
gunzip supermix.tar.gz
tar -xvf supermix.tar
cd supermix and read the
README file contained therein for further information.
For information about the SuperMix library, see the following two papers from the 1999 Proceedings, Tenth International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology. Note that some details described in these papers are now outdated.
The SuperMix development team can be contacted by sending email to supermix@submm.caltech.edu.
The following links are for those of us actively maintaining the source code: