CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
16 September 2008
Product News
AWR® and Mentor Graphics® Unveil High-Frequency PCB Co-Design That Obsoletes File Translation
AWR and Mentor Graphics Corporation announced AWR Connected™ for Mentor Graphics. This new synergy of design flow between AWR and Mentor Graphics obsoletes file translation between Mentor Graphics' Expedition Enterprise design environment and AWR's Microwave Office® microwave and RF design environment. The resulting design and simulation solution is easy to learn and use and its operation is fully transparent to the user.
"The PCB and RF/microwave design worlds have been merging for some time, but the first-generation design flows built around file translation have proven not to be flows at all", according to Mike Heimlich, Microwave Office Product Marketing Director at AWR. "This solution truly creates a useful flow in which libraries are no longer an issue and co-design is a reality. We are committed to continuing this avenue of cooperation with Mentor Graphics as it delivers real benefits to the design community."
PCB designers are increasingly tasked with creating products that integrate analog, digital, and RF or microwave circuits on the same PCB. Until now, translating files between PCB and high-frequency EDA tools has consumed many minutes if not hours and impeded designers' ability to rapidly create mixed-technology products. AWR Connected for Mentor Graphics Expedition eliminates file translation and reduces the time to move from one tool/environment to another to nearly zero.
Library data for all design components is continuously synchronized between the Expedition Enterprise parts library and AWR Design Environment™ for microstrip, stripline, and copper components. Circuit and electromagnetic (EM) simulation is available on demand throughout the flow regardless of which tool is being used to view or manipulate the design. The combined tools transfer not just tool data but messages as well, so that EM analysis and circuit simulation can be performed in Microwave Office software from Mentor's tools either on the same computer or across a network or Internet. Multiple Microwave Office projects can also be simultaneously connected to the same Mentor PCB design, allowing design partitioning across the toolsets.
Extractions can be created for AWR's ACE™ circuit extraction tool or AXIEM™ EM simulator as well as any third-party EM solver integrated within AWR's open design environment. The extractions are performed while preserving the ability to perform circuit simulations with AWR's Microwave Office, APLAC® harmonic balance, or HSPICE® circuit simulators directly from Mentor circuits, or after transferring schematics and layouts from Mentor to AWR at any point in the design flow. This capability eliminates the need to create a duplicate library in AWR tools based on the Mentor library by dynamically generating the required AWR-specific parts library "on the fly", including symbols, part numbers, footprints, and even models.
Pricing & Availability
AWR Connected for Mentor Graphic's Expedition is available now. Readers should contact their local AWR or Mentor Graphics sales office for pricing. Visit http://www.awrcorp.com for more information and to view a video demonstration.
About Microwave Office Software
The Microwave Office design suite is a fast growing RF and microwave design platform that integrates the innovative tools to allow users to create designs in the shortest time with the greatest flexibility. From design capture and synthesis to simulation, optimization, layout, extraction, and verification, the Microwave Office design environment delivers high levels of accuracy and speed, along with the ability to integrate third-party tools. AWR recently introduced Version 2008 of the Microwave Office design suite, which incorporates more than 100 enhancements including sweeping changes to the user interface that increase its flexibility for the user.
About Expedition Enterprise
The Expedition Series offers advanced functionality with ease-of-use for the creation of complex PCB designs. It features a place-and-route environment, powered by AutoActive® technology and is ideal for high-speed, complex, and advanced technology boards. The scalable product configuration of the Expedition Series allows designers to choose the right level of automation for their design needs. Expedition's tightly integrated systems design environment features a common database and common user interfaces and rules to ensure data integrity is maintained from concept to manufacturing.
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