TestWave™ software integrates test and measurement (T&M) equipment with simulation software for communication systems and radio frequency (RF)/microwave circuits. Together with the Microwave Office® and Visual System Simulator™ (VSS), TestWave provides wireless system and RF/microwave circuit designers a complete integration of the design process, combining schematic simulation, test signal generation, and test and measurement verification.
This capability enables designers to perform computer trade-off studies with "hardware-in-the-loop". Accessing these two previously disjointed phases of the development process from the same environment saves time. AWR's TestWave software sends simulation-generated data to a real-world signal generator and brings the measured DUT data from a vector signal analyzer back into AWR's VSS simulation environment.
TestWave software integrates real-world hardware measurements and VSS computer simulation, beginning with either simulation or hardware. By starting with the simulation of digital communications formats such as 802.11a, global system for mobile communication (GSM), or wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), signals can be simulated and exported from VSS software to a signal generator, which drives the device-under-test (DUT). The measured data from this DUT hardware can be imported back into VSS software and compared with simulation results of the hardware's model. From this comparison, the design can be refined. Starting with hardware, vector signal analyzer measurements of real-world signals can be imported into the VSS software and used to drive simulation models with real-world signals generated from actual test equipment.
Designers can see the effects of the test signals before investing in hardware prototypes. AWR's TestWave software integrates test and measurement equipment with both VSS and Microwave Office simulators over RS-232, GPIB, or LAN. It is tightly integrated into the AWR Design Environment, including an icon in the project hierarchy. Its user interface allows for a simple, efficient means to import signals and manage data. In addition to the TestWave interface, add-in blocks that interface directly from VSS system diagrams display in the Element Browser like other VSS blocks. VSS can import signals from T&M or export signals to T&M directly from system diagrams using TestWave.
Tightly integrated VSS system design loops, starting with either simulation or hardware, increase the efficiency and accuracy of the design process. VSS software can share IQ simulation data with an IQ signal generator such as a Rohde & Schwarz AMIQ/SMIQ or Agilent ESG-D, with one mouse click. The TestWave tool integrates Microwave Office and VSS software with a wide variety of popular test equipment from manufacturers such as: Anritsu Wiltron, Rohde & Schwarz, Marconi Instruments, Fluke/Philips, Tektronix, Boonton, LeCroy, Yokogawa, IFR, Wandel & Goltermann, Advantest, Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies.
Equipment types supported by the TestWave product include network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, modulation analyzers, and oscilloscopes.
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