Software Update

CST STUDIO SUITE™ 2006B is a significant software upgrade that will allow research and development engineers involved in the design of high frequency components, wireless communications, EMC and signal integrity to benefit from the augmented functionality and interoperability of this latest release. Solver technology has again been a key focus of CST STUDIO SUITE™’s development. Users of CST MWS’ Time Domain solver can now take advantage of the new Fast PBA mesher for higher performance and robustness, and a more flexible subgridding scheme with drastically reduced memory requirements. The transient solver engine is the first module to run with Linux operating systems. The Frequency Domain solver features plane wave incidents and slanted ports and the performance of mesher and solver has been increased.

CST GmbH,
Darmstadt, Germany +49 (0) 6151/7303-0,
www.cst.com.

Parametric Product Search Tool

The parametric product search tool is designed for the RF engineer to specify important product parameters and view the company’s products that match a specific requirement in a specification-compliance format. Unlike conventional search engines which eliminate products that narrowly fall outside of specification, the parametric product search tool can show these products allowing the engineer to make intelligent design trade-off decisions to “fine tune” the requirement to specific needs. View this and other product software support tools including Product Cross Reference, PLL Phase Noise and Mixer Spur Chart Calculators on the company’s site.

Hittite Microwave Corp.,
Chelmsford, MA (978) 250-3343,
www.hittite.com.

Filter Synthesis and Selection Tool

The Filter Wizard™ service enables engineers to shorten RF and microwave filter design cycles. It is a Web-based solution that helps design engineers effectively select and confirm the feasibility of RF and microwave filter products for applications, from defense, telecommunications and aerospace. Filter Wizard is utilized for front-end design efforts as well as re-designs or general testing purposes. The on-line application provides companies with a significant competitive advantage by eliminating specification errors and freeing up valuable engineering resources.

K&L Microwave Inc.,
Salisbury, MD (410) 749-2424,
www.klfilterwizard.com.

Automated Tuner System

The Automated Tuner System (ATS) software version 4.00.05 has recently been released. The ATS provides extensive device characterization with any common stimulus. This includes load/source pull, VSWR circles, various types of swept measurements and the new Advanced Sweep Plan. The Advanced Sweep Plan provides a multi-dimensional characterization with up to seven independent variables including power, bias and frequency. Custom or proprietary measurements may be added in the open drivers or user functions. Also, the software is a dynamic link library (DLL), and sample programs in C++, Visual Basic, Agilent VEE, or Labview show how to extend the functionality to meet additional requirements.

Maury Microwave Corp.,
Ontario, CA (909) 987-4715,
www.maurymw.com.

EM-software Tool

Version 6.0 is the recent release of the company’s EM-software tool mWave Wizard.™ This release provides the seamless integration of 3D FEM simulation technology into the existing mode-matching and 2D FEM framework. This includes optimization, full 3D visualization of the electromagnetic fields, calculation of material and finite wall conductivity losses. The consideration of draft angles for die-casting technology and the modeling of arbitrarily shaped probes in cavities will be possible with new, flexible library elements. User-defined geometries can now be imported as STL files. The mesh generation process is fully automated.

Mician GmbH,
Bremen, Germany +49 (421) 168 993 51,
www.mician.com.

Nonlinear Transistor and Diode Libraries

The powerful and feature-rich Nonlinear Transistor (NLT) and Diode (NLD) model libraries for Applied Wave Research Microwave Office have been released. These NLT and NLD libraries comprise high accuracy nonlinear, high frequency and noise models for BJT, HBT, MESFET, HEMT and LDMOS transistors as well as Schottky, varactor and PIN diode models representing leading semiconductor manufacturers. Unique features in these libraries include substrate scaling, bias and temperature dependence.

Modelithics Inc.,
Tampa, FL (888) 359-6359,
www.modelithics.com.

Communications Toolkit

Many emerging wireless standards including 4G and 802.11n are based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), a bandwidth-efficient technique that increases communications system noise immunity. The latest release of the company’s Modulation Toolkit for LabVIEW, which builds on a comprehensive set of signal generation, analysis, visualization and processing functions, includes downloadable OFDM examples. Version 3.1 of the toolkit provides ASK, FSK, MSK, PSK, PAM, QAM, AM, FM, PM and many of their derivatives – even generation and analysis of custom modulation formats. The NI Modulation Toolkit also comes standard with channel-coding algorithms such as Reed-Solomon and filtering algorithms such as Gaussian that improve transmission efficiency and noise immunity to serve countless communications applications.

National Instruments Corp.,
Austin, TX (800) 813-3693,
www.ni.com.

Human Body Analysis Tool

The release of VariPose v1.2 provides many new features and enhancements. Users will immediately notice that it has the head of the skeleton figure. Used for model manipulation, it now offers additional features such as ears and nose. Also, CAD objects may be imported into the skeleton model space for accurate positioning of the body. Other enhancements include: auto-selection of skeleton joints, improved mouse control of 3D mesh view, improved project creation and file handling, improved cropping of mesh model, improved Zoom and Pan, and updated icon set and background.

Remcom Inc.,
State College, PA (814) 861-1299,
www.remcom.com.

Isopro 2.6 Software

Isopro 2.6 is the company’s latest version of software and introduces a new range of features. The company’s powerful DXF system is cutting edge and can handle the latest AutoCAD 2006 files. The addition of the new DXF system in combination with updated OrCAD and other format upgrades makes the Auto Import feature stronger than before. The company added functionality to drive new machine hardware and a new set of reorder functions. This software remains a leading DFX and Gerber Editor.

T-Tech Inc.,
Norcross, GA (770) 455-0676,
www.t-tech.com.

RF/microwave Simulation Software

Concerto v6, the new version of its integrated software for RF and microwave design, has just been released. The suite includes Conforming FDTD analysis, Moment Method analysis and Finite Element analysis modules, all running within a single environment. The optimization module has been enhanced and a 64-bit Linux version included. “Concerto Essential” is also available as a low cost entry-level option. Concerto is now integrated into AWR’s Microwave Office® circuit design platform. The link allows users of Microwave Office to obtain accurate FDTD calculations of component S-parameters and radiation patterns, simply by calling Concerto from within the Office environment.

Vector Fields Inc.,
Aurora, IL (630) 851-1734,
www.vectorfields.com.