Software innovations span design through manufacturing

Recent software innovations have yielded products that run the gamut from design through manufacturing. Intusoft addresses design and test with a new build of its ICAP/4 Spice simulator and Test Designer automated fault isolation tool, CadSoft has revealed improved simulation and modeling capabilities for its EAGLE PCB board-design software, and Averna announced Release 6.2 of its Proligent Test and Quality Management software. Hardware and systems manufacturers have been active as well, highlighting RF, MEMS, and power test capabilities.

Intusoft 's scalable ICAP/4 and Test Designer have been updated for compatibility with Microsoft Windows 8. They are also compatible with legacy operating systems back to Windows XP. Intusoft’s second generation DSP Designer software, hardware, and firmware option, plus the Magnetics Designer Transformer/Inductor design and Spice model synthesizer option were also upgraded to Windows 8. Click here for more.

EAGLE PCB software additions include an LTSpice connection, allowing engineers to import and simulate LTSpice schematics into EAGLE and vice versa. Drawings from P-CAD, Protel, and Altium can also now be imported via the intermediate format ACCEL ASCII to enhance interoperability and flexibility. Click here for more.

The new Proligent release features a personalized environment that incorporates new and improved reports, a landing page for quick user help, customizable dashboards for user-based report summaries, and report-sharing tools. The software gives product designers and quality managers the ability to quickly and easily mine manufacturing data, uncovering opportunities to accelerate time-to-quality, streamline supply-chain activities, and reduce costs. Click here for more.

In related news, Aegis Software announced that Analytic Systems has recently purchased an Aegis Software package comprising iView, iTrack, iQ, and iMonitor. Click here for more. EPIX Inc., manufacturer of frame grabbers, machine-vision cameras, and complete imaging systems, has released V3.8 of its software products for Windows 8 and Linux with 3.x kernels. Click here for more. And ANSYS Inc., a maker of simulation software, and EVEN-Evolutionary Engineering AG, a provider of composite analysis and optimization technology relying on cloud computing, announced that ANSYS has acquired EVEN, which will become ANSYS Switzerland. Click here for more.

As for hardware and systems manufacturers, Anritsu has announced the availability of LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation (CA) Measurement Software for its MT8820C RF Tester, enabling analysis of leading-edge mobile devices incorporating the new ultra-fast technology evolution. Click here for more. In addition, SPEA, a maker of automated test equipment for semiconductors and printed-circuit boards, and ISE Labs, a Silicon Valley IC test facility, have announced that ISE has selected the SPEA MEMS Test Cell as its turnkey solution for MEMS testing. Click here for more.

And finally, Tektronix is delivering its PA4000 Power Analyzer, which gives power electronics engineers stable, precise current measurements even on highly distorted power waveforms common in many applications. Click here for more.