Qucs-S S-parameter Viewer & RF Synthesis Tools
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Qucs-S S-Parameter Viewer & RF Synthesis Tools

A S-parameter data viewer with tools to RF circuit design. This tool is part of the Qucs-S project.

Online documentation https://andresmmera.github.io/qucs-s-spar-viewer/

Release page https://github.com/andresmmera/qucs-s-spar-viewer/releases/

Qucs-S Project https://github.com/ra3xdh/qucs_s

Features

Data Import

  • Touchstone File Support: Read standard .snp files (S1P, S2P, S3P, etc.)
  • Qucs Dataset Support: Import data from both Qucsator and NGspice formats

Visualization

  • Multiple Plot Types:
    • Rectangular plots (Magnitude/Phase, Impedance, Stability, VSWR, Group Delay)
    • Smith Chart (Z and Y chart options)
    • Polar plots
  • Trace Management: Add, remove, and customize traces with color, width, and line style
  • Markers: Place frequency markers with automatic value readout
  • Limit Lines: Define pass/fail criteria with frequency-dependent limits

Session Management

  • Save/Load Sessions: Preserve complete workspace including:
    • All loaded datasets
    • Plot configurations
    • Trace properties
    • Markers and limits
    • Notes

Synthesis Tools

  • Filter Design: Canonical and Direct-Coupled LC filters. Transmission line filters
  • Matching Newtwork Design: L-section, Stub-matching, impedance transformers
  • Power Combining Design: Various power combiner and coupler topologies including Wilkinson, Bagley, Gysel, Lim-Eom, etc.
  • Attenuator Design: Pi, Tee, Bridged-Tee and tuned attenuators, including power dissipation calculations.
  • Netlist Scratchpad: Text-based tool to simulate the S-parameters of a netlist as you type
  • All the tools can export the synthesized circuits to Qucs-S via clipboard.

Building

Requirements

  • Qt 6.x
  • C++11 or later compiler
  • CMake

Dependencies

  • Qt Widgets
  • Qt XML

Compilation

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install

Usage

Loading Data

  1. File → Open to load Touchstone or Qucs dataset files
  2. Select parameters from the matrix-style parameter selector
  3. Choose display mode (Magnitude/Phase, Smith, Polar, etc.)
  4. Click Add Trace to visualize

Adding Markers

  1. Navigate to the Markers tab
  2. Enter frequency and scale
  3. Click Add Marker
  4. View values in the marker table

Setting Limits

  1. Go to Limits tab
  2. Define frequency range and value thresholds
  3. Limits appear as shaded regions on plots

Saving Work

  • File → Save Session to preserve entire workspace
  • Session files (.spar) store all data and settings
  • File → Recent Files for quick access

File Formats

Touchstone (.snp)

Standard format for N-port S-parameter data. Supports:

  • Frequency sweeps
  • MA (Magnitude-Angle), RI (Real-Imaginary), DB (dB-Angle) formats
  • Reference impedance specification

Qucs-S Dataset

Qucs-S format supporting:

  • Qucsator format: S[i,j] matrix notation
  • NGspice format: ac.v(s_j_i) voltage source notation
  • Multiple parameter types (S, Y, Z)

Session Files (.spar)

XML-based format storing complete application state.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 or later

Author

Andrés Martínez Mera - andre.nosp@m.smme.nosp@m.ra@pr.nosp@m.oton.nosp@m.mail..nosp@m.com

Copyright

Copyright (C) 2026 Andrés Martínez Mera