Agilent touts design and simulation at IMS
Montréal, Québec. Agilent Technologies chose the International Microwave Symposium to tout its alignment of business units to support design simulation and measurement automation. The company also introduced a new USB power sensor and highlighted several products introduced over the past few months.
Speaking at a June 19 press conference, Mark Pierpoint said the company has merged its modular instrument and software units into what's now called the Software & Modular Solutions Division, for which he serves as vice president and general manager. The combination, he said, is a natural one—PXI, AXIe, and PCIe instruments lack front panels and knobs, making software a key component of modular-instrument-based systems.
Pierpoint said one of Agilent's goals is to help its customers get products such as tablets to market quickly despite the challenges they face. Permutations of different modes in such products create a validation nightmare, he said, and standards are barely ratified before deployment. Traditionally, he added, design and validation involves separate teams using different tools, resulting in multiple, expensive iterations. Connecting design to validation—thereby linking the EDA and measurement worlds, ameliorates such problems, he said.
Pierpoint cited several technologies involved in the EDA-to-measurement link, including the NeuroFET model, an artificial neural-network measurement-base FET model that supports simulation in IC-CAP and simulation in ADS. NeuroFET, he said, accurately models 2nd, 3rd, and Nth order effects while supporting robust RF and DC convergence. It applies to GaAs switches, mixers, and amplifiers.
In addition, Pierpoint highlighted X-parameters, which enable nonlinear circuit system simulation and measurement and are supported by Agilent instruments as well as software tools including ADS, Genesys, GoldenGate, and SystemVue.
A particular challenge faced by engineers, Pierpoint said, stems from digital predistortion (DPD), which applies to 4G wideband systems with wider bandwidths and higher crest factors. Agilent, he said, offers simulation-based DPD tools as well as measurement-based instruments capable of investigating DPD issues.
Pierpoint noted that although Agilent's software and modular-instrument divisions have merged, the software remains hardware-agnostic and continues to work with bench-top and rack-mounted instruments.
Agilent highlighted a variety of solutions ranging from circuit-level modeling through system verification for general RF, microwave, 4G communications, and aerospace/defense applications on the exhibit floor.
Topping the list is of breakthroughs for RF power amplifier design is the next major release of ADS, featuring side-by-side finite-element-method EM simulation of different technologies, model support for NeuroFET, and enhancements to both the ADS Load Pull and the ADS Amplifier DesignGuide. The company also highlighted its latest version of EMPro 2012 Electromagnetic Professional software, which supports the creation of 3-D models and the analysis of the electrical performance of packages, connectors, antennas, and other RF and high-speed components. The new ADS version offers improved integration with EMPro.
Agilent also introduced the U2020 X-series USB power sensors, which provide at least 3,500 readings/s, include built-in trigger functions, and offer the capability to operate without a power meter or external power supply. The U2020 X-series USB peak and average power sensor family includes the U2021XA (50 MHz to 18 GHz) and U2022XA (50 MHz to 40 GHz); they are priced at $6,700 and $7,100, respectively.
Also on display were five new PNA-L vector network analyzer models, offering design and manufacturing engineers frequency ranges up to 50 GHz. The new N523xA PNA-L vector network analyzers replace existing N5230C models. The models feature both increased measurement range (5 dBm more output power and 20 dB more dynamic range) and speed (the result of a new synthesizer with faster frequency switching). They also offer an improved user interface with a 24% bigger display. Because the models are 100% compatible with the N5230C PNA-L, no changes to the user’s current test setup are required.
Agilent also highlighted GoldenGate 2012, the latest release of its RFIC simulation, verification, and analysis software, with enhancements for accelerated design verification, extended design-for-manufacturing solutions, and improved links to system design. In addition, the company demonstrated SystemVue 2012.06, which provides deeper design-flow integration of baseband signal-processing tools with intellectual property reference libraries, RF electronic design automation tools, and test equipment. The software enables system architects to predict and cross-verify baseband and RF physical-layer performance at earlier phases of the design process, enabling faster deployment of 4G, WLAN and aerospace/defense systems.
Agilent also exhibited a variety of recently introduced products, including a MIMO PXI vector signal analyzer, signal generators, and FieldFox RF analyzers with options for time-domain and channel-power measurements. And finally, the company demonstrated its EXA signal analyzer, which it calls the industry's most cost-effective millimeter-wave signal analyzer. It covers frequencies to 44 GHz or, with external mixing, to 325 GHz.