Software gets boost; products tackle communications, EMC test
Recent software innovations from Dell, ProPlus Design Solutions, and Keithley Instruments are boosting engineering workstation performance, speeding circuit simulation, and enhancing high-power-semiconductor characterization. Meanwhile, Agilent has reported on a MMIC simulation application.
In addition, vendors including Aeroflex, Anritsu, ADLINK, and Select Fabricators Inc. have introduced products addressing communications test, modular instrument architectures, and EMC test, while IPC has released its 2013 International Technology Roadmap for Electronic Interconnections.
Software
Dell has announced Dell Precision Performance Optimizer (DPPO), the industry’s first software that automatically configures Dell Precision workstation settings to maximize the performance of engineering, design, and digital content creation applications. DPPO is preloaded with profiles for popular applications such as Autodesk Maya, PTC Creo, and Dassault SolidWorks. Click here for more.
ProPlus Design Solutions Inc., a technology provider of design-for-yield (DFY) applications, has launched NanoSpice, a high-capacity, high-performance parallel Spice simulator for gigascale circuit simulation. Click here for more.
Keithley Instruments Inc. has announced enhancements to its Automated Characterization Suite (ACS) software that support its expanding family of high-power semiconductor characterization systems. The ACS package is optimized for automated wafer-level parameter test applications, including automated characterization, reliability analysis, and known-good-die testing. Click here for more.
Agilent Technologies announced that Plextek RF Integration, a UK-based company that designs and develops RFICs, MMICs, and microwave/millimeter-wave modules, has selected Agilent software to simulate its new high-frequency circuit and MMIC designs. Click here for more.
Communications Test
Anritsu has introduced the MA2700A InterferenceHunter handheld direction finding system that enhances interference mapping and simplifies locating interference sources in wireless networks. Designed for use with Anritsu’s BTS Master, Cell Master, Site Master, and Spectrum Master handheld analyzers, the MA2700A InterferenceHunter can be used by field engineers and technicians during deployment, installation, and maintenance of wireless networks. Click here for more.
Aeroflex has announced its GPSG-1000 Portable GPS Simulator can now simulate WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance). The FAA created the WAAS program in 1992 to provide the necessary integrity to utilize GPS signals for precision approaches. Click here for more.
Modular Instruments
ADLINK Technology has announced a new PXI Express (PXIe) chassis for applications requiring enhanced bandwidth and higher density and capacity. ADLINK’s PXES-2780, an 18-slot PXI Express chassis with 10 hybrid peripheral slots, provides a configurable PCI Express (PCIe) switch fabric that enables configuration with 2-link x8 and 4-link x4 PXI Express deployments. Click here for more.
EMC Test
Select Fabricators Inc. has developed a vestibule for its Select-A-Shield walk-in enclosures. Like most enclosures any walk-in enclosure, opening the door can degrade immediate shielding effectiveness, resulting in possible data-capture compromise or data corruption. With the addition of the Select-A-Shield vestibule, the shielding environment is kept intact for consistent shielding performance. Click here for more.
Technology Roadmap
In other news, IPC has released the 2013 IPC International Technology Roadmap for Electronic Interconnections. Published biennially in CD format, the nearly 600-page guide to interconnect technology trends was developed with input from subject-matter experts around the globe. Click here for more.