New-Tech Europe | May 2017

Figure 3. Mesh of 3D planar 3 x 3 patch antenna array and radiation patterns in AXIEM.

products. In V13, AWR Connected for EM simulators, which includes ANSYS HFSS, CST, and Sonnet, is more robust and fully bi-directional. After the layout is created in the Microwave Office layout editor, third-party EM tools can readily be selected as the EM simulator of choice (Figure 4) and the resulting dataset is automatically imported back into Microwave Office to tune, optimize, perform yield analysis, and verify results. Circuit/System Simulation and Models/ Libraries Harmonic Balance Technology Harmonic balance simulation is an essential technology in analyzing RF/ microwave nonlinear circuits with

surface roughness impacts electrical behavior, such as insertion loss. In addition, Analyst V13 also introduces new 3D editor functionality and improvements targeting drawing (sketcher) functions and solid object controls, materials and attributes organization in the browser tree, auto-complete for parameter and variable expression, and variable grouping and sorting, to highlight a select few. Third-Party EM Technologies The AWR Connected™ family of solutions that link NI AWR software to third-party solutions is now enhanced to further automate the flow of layout data from NI AWR Design Environment into partner EM

active devices (transistors). APLAC, the trade name of NI AWR Design Environment’s high-frequency circuit simulation technology, is seamlessly integrated into both Microwave Office and Analog Office circuit design tools. It has been developed to minimize memory requirements and simulation run times while maintaining accuracy for RF/microwave designs. To address nonlinear devices for communication systems, APLAC now includes a time-variant HB (circuit envelope) simulator capable of addressing circuits excited by non-periodic signal sources such as modulated RF signals. The associated measurements provide the time-varying voltage or current of a particular carrier and the associated spectrum surrounding

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