Software tool for the understanding of parametric oscillations

Parametric instabilities are a common phenomenon in nonlinear circuits such as power amplifiers, frequency multipliers, etc. In spite of this fact, the analysis of this phenomenon is not usually covered in the curricula of Telecommunication Engineering. In this paper we present a software tool for the understanding of the basics of parametric oscillations, which are due to the nonlinear behavior of capacitances in the models of solid-state devices. For completeness, examples of two circuits exhibiting parametric oscillations are given, a frequency selective limiter and an unstable power amplifier, respectively. The software tool has been successfully tested with students of the Higher Telecommunication Degree.