Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/15797-microwave-office

Microwave Office®

January 17, 2011


Microwave Office® design suite is the industry's fastest growing microwave design platform and has revolutionized the communications design world by providing users with a superior choice. Built on the famous AWR high-frequency design environment platform with its unique Unified Data Model™, Microwave Office software offers unparalleled intuitiveness, powerful and innovative technologies, and unprecedented openness and interoperability, enabling integration with best-in-class tools for each part of the design process.

Microwave Office design suite includes all the tools essential for high-frequency IC, PCB and module design:

* Linear circuit simulators
* Nonlinear circuit simulators
* Electromagnetic (EM) analysis tools
* Integrated schematic and layout
* Statistical design capabilities
* Parametric cell libraries with built-in design-rule check (DRC)

Key Features
* New user interface that dramatically increase designers' ability to customize the "look and feel" of the suite. This new flexibility streamlines design tasks to save time, maximize useable screen space, provide greater insight into the design, and allow bigger designs to be handled more quickly.
* APLAC® harmonic balance and time-domain simulators that improve the performance of highly nonlinear and complex designs.
* ACE™ - Automatic circuit extraction tool that provide automatic interconnect modeling of transmission lines and the ability to tune, optimize, and perform yield analysis.
* Visual System Simulator™ co-simulation: Integration with VSS RF Inspector™ enabling frequency-domain simulation.
* Intelligent Nets™ (iNets) technology: Automated interconnect construction for MMIC, module, and PCB designs.
* AXIEM™ planar 3D EM analysis for upfront design optimization and post-layout verification.
* Open EM Socket™ interface enables integration with the third party EM point tools and allows access to AWR's Proprietary Xmodels.
* Integration of Nuhertz Technologies filter synthesis software.
* Integration with ICED IC and Mentor Graphics' Calibre design and verification software tools.

Benefits
* Faster time to market: Reduces design cycle time associated with the design of high-frequency and microwave products
* Efficiency: Concurrent design flow that bridges circuit, system, and physical design considerations
* Accuracy: Accurate high-frequency and microwave analysis for high-performance designs
* Right the first time: Correct-by-design, error-free layout
* Quick learning curve: Expedited learning curve as a result of AWR's intuitive user interface