AWR 2011 enhancements offer design sharing

At IMS2011, AWR® Corporation showcased AWR 2011, the latest release of its popular software design suite. AWR 2011 adds new features and productivity enhancements to every product in the suite, including Microwave Office™ high-frequency design software, AXIEM® 3D planar electromagnetic (EM) analysis software, Visual System Simulator™ (VSS) communication system design and optimization software, and Analog Office® RFIC design software.

I met with AWR's Sherry Hess at the show. The first thing that impressed me about these software enhancements was the ability to do group design through the "Design Sharing" feature. This feature allows users to manage data (schematics, layouts EM analysis, and measurements) across multiple sites and users and resolve conflicts. Also noteworthy is the asynchronous EM simulation, which allows EM analyses to run transparently across multiple CPUs. The key here is transparently, as users can run new simulations and keep working with the software while these analyses are running.

Here are some  highlights:
Microwave Office and Analog Office

• Design sharing (group design) – Makes it simple to manage data (schematics, layouts, EM analysis, and measurements) and resolve conflicts as subdesigns are combined and merged into a module or subsystem.
• Simulation state management (SSM) –Allows large amounts of simulation results from optimization runs, swept simulations, or Monte Carlo analyses to be efficiently managed in Microwave Office and Analog Office as well as in AXIEM software at all stages of the design process.
• Yield analysis: Allows parameterized, graphical geometry manipulation directly in AWR’s unified data model (UDM) architecture ensuring that the entire design remains synchronized with respect to parameterized geometry.
• RF Aware short/open checker: Makes it possible to detect and eliminate errors in wiring and layout early in the design flow
• AWR Connected for CapeSym SYMMIC: Lets MMIC designers capture and view the interdependencies between thermal and electrical properties and address them throughout the design process.
• Floating windows: Any window (layout, 3D views, measurements, etc.) can be pulled outside the run-time window for analysis.

AXIEM

• Asynchronous EM simulation: Allows users to keep working while EM analysis is being performed transparently in the background on multi-CPU computers.
• User-defined parameterized models: Both parameterized cells (pCells) or “static” shapes can be accessed and manipulated to define an EM parameterized model that can be defined by the user and simulated on demand, allowing the designers to use the actual shape in a highly accurate EM analysis.
• EM yield, sweeps, and optimization: Automatically integrates yield analysis, sweeps, optimization, and DFM seamlessly into the design flow.

Visual System Simulator

• Envelope simulator: Lets designers simulate circuit-level, time-variant phenomena such as memory effect in digital predistortion (DPD) configurations so they can focus on final performance metrics such as EVM and ACPR earlier in the design.
• System-level RF subcircuit parameters: Allows nonlinear circuits in Microwave Office software to share the same hierarchical parameter-passing as blocks within VSS software.
• RF Budget Analysis spreadsheet wizard: Brings the power of VSS RF Budget Analysis to spreadsheet enthusiasts. (Features a Microsoft Excel-like interface.)

More Information:
Product Web Page