European Edition 2009

• Cover Story: EM - A Pivotal Piece• Article: The Importance of EM in RF/Microwave Design• Success Story: Legrand• Success Story: Sennheiser• AXIEM Challenge Success Story: Mimix Broadband• Tricks & Tips

www.awrcorp.com | www.awr.tv

2

Cover StoryEM – A Pivotal Piece of the Design Flow Jigsaw Puzzle

Chris Paris, European Managing Director, AWR

When you were young did you ever tackle a

1,000+ piece jigsaw puzzle and spend hours

fi tting the pieces together? I know that I

did - I still remember the irritation when my

sister would instantly fi nd a piece I’d spent

ten minutes looking for! I used to start at the

edges, defi ning the framework and then by

clustering similar elements together. As the

major sections began to take shape, I would

then fi t them into the larger framework. It is

probably a familiar process to most readers

and seems a good plan but I well remember

spending hours searching the fl oor trying to

fi nd the last piece of the jigsaw. Does this

sound familiar? For many designers, and es-

pecially for RF/microwave engineers, missing

pieces of the design fl ow jigsaw puzzle are the

bane of our existence.

AWR was founded by RF/microwave engi-

neers who know the pain of trying to design

complicated, cutting-edge products. We’ve

built our design fl ow framework to easily

integrate and adopt new innovations - whether

they be third party solutions or our own

proprietary ones! Every time we develop and

bring to market a new tool or technology, we

add another piece to the puzzle by making the

designer’s job easier.

Today’s tough designs have changed the role

of EM in the design fl ow. EM simulation has

always been relatively slow and so has only

been used as a verifi cation tool; however,

with modern compact designs, EM needs to

be an integral piece of the design fl ow jigsaw

puzzle, used throughout the design fl ow and

not only at the end of the process. AWR’s

software has provided world leading perfor-

mance in circuit simulation, layout, and ease-

of-use for more than a decade now, and with

the addition of AXIEM™, we’ve risen to the

challenge and have produced the necessary

step change in speed and capacity of 3D

planar EM simulation to provide the missing

piece of the simulation puzzle.

With the AXIEM puzzle piece fi rmly in place,

we are now looking to provide a similar step

change in another area - arbitrary 3D EM.

The recent acquisition of STAAR gives AWR

access to a new product, Analyst™. The Ana-

lyst product, developed over a ten-year span

in collaboration with the U.S. Department

of Defense, offers outstanding 3D fi nite ele-

ment method (FEM) EM analytical capability

and scalability. We are now working hard on

shaping this piece of the puzzle to fi t seam-

lessly into the AWR Design Environment™ and

look forward to unveiling it in 2010.

In these troubled times several customers

have asked me how AWR is doing. I can say

that although every capital application is be-

ing examined more closely and justifi cations

to buy software need to be better than I can

ever remember, AWR had its 10th consecu-

tive year of growth last calendar year. Book-

ings in 2008 were around 22% up on 2007

and more than double the level of 2004 - to

put this in perspective, the EDA market has

grown less than 10% since 2004 so AWR

has dramatically increased its market share.

Of course 2009 is going to be a challeng-

ing year for everyone with hiring freezes and

probably redundancies in several market sec-

tors but I am happy to report that demand

for AWR products remains as strong as ever

and the last quarter ending in June was our

best ever fi rst quarter. Whilst we can’t make

the economic crisis disappear I can assure

you that at AWR we will be continuing to

work hard to try and make our customers’

design fl ows more effi cient so that they can

get their products to market quicker and gain

the competitive advantage.

3

Customer Success Story

Customer Background

Legrand is the world specialist in

products and systems for electrical

installations and data networks in

residential, commercial and industrial

buildings. With more than 33,000

employees worldwide, the Legrand group

has over 60 units worldwide and sells in

more than 160 countries, with a turnover

totaling over €3,7 billion. The RF design

group specializes in data distribution and

wireless control of domestic appliances.

The Design Challenge

Legrand develops integrated systems

on printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the

consumer electronics market. Demand for

smaller gadgets with more features and

capabilities presents daunting challenges

for PCB designers, who must incorporate

those features and capabilities within

extremely strict size constraints, and

at the same time ensure that all the

elements within the system work properly

alone and in conjunction with each other.

Evaluation of AXIEM 3D EM

As a premier customer and early adopter

of AWR’s software and innovative

technologies, Legrand was eager to

put the new AXIEM simulator to the

test. In order to get an idea of how

the new tool would perform, Vincent

Grigis, RF engineer at Legrand, created

several test structures. All of the

structures were fabricated on FR4,

and were embedded in such a way as

to very closely match the structures

being simulated. According to Vincent,

the three main advantages of AXIEM

compared to existing EM simulators

are 1) open boundary, which provides

better accuracy, 2) conformal, hybrid

mesh, which enables faster simulation,

and 3) the ability to deliver accuracy and

speed even when taking thick metal into

account.

“The results of the AXIEM simulation

proved to be highly accurate when

compared to the measured results,” said

Vincent. “In addition, it was interesting

to observe the additional accuracy

benefi t when the actual copper thickness

was taken into account.” For one such

test structure, a microstrip circular

spiral, AXIEM simulated in seconds

when thickness was ignored and when

thickness was added, the simulation time

was a few minutes, signifi cantly faster

than Legrands’ existing EM solution.

In a second test, the designer simulated

a PCB with the inductor on both sides,

leveraging AXIEM’s unique meshing

ability. Again, AXIEM returned very good

results when the thickness of the copper

was taken into account. In comparison

Legrand Endorses AXIEM After Successful Evaluation

to Legrand’s regular EM tool, AXIEM was

more than 10x faster when simulating

the same structure and delivered

signifi cantly better accuracy as well.

Evaluation Summary

“AXIEM gives good results when

all factors are taken into account,”

commented Vincent. “Using machines

with 4Gb of memory, we believe it will be

possible to simulate very large structures

in a short amount of time with great

accuracy. We are very pleased with

AXIEM’s performance results in our

preliminary evaluation, and we are

already in the process of integrating the

new tool into our overall design fl ow. We

are excited about AXIEM’s potential to

cut our design time, streamline our fl ow,

and positively impact our bottom line.”

AXIEM simulation AXIEM simulation results were highly results were highly accurate compared accurate compared to measured data. to measured data. The results show The results show additional accuracy additional accuracy when the actual copper when the actual copper thickness was taken thickness was taken into account. into account.

“The results of the AXIEM

simulation proved to be

highly accurate when

compared to the measured

results. We were also

excited about AXIEM’s

potential to cut our design

time, streamline our fl ow,

and positively impact our

bottom line.”

Vincent Grigis RF Engineer

Legrand www.legrandelectric.com

The Importance of EM in RF/Microwave Design: What’s Happening to The Flow?

Innnnnnntrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrodooooooo ucucucucuuucuuccucctitititiitiiiionononononononnonoo

WhWhWhWhWhWhWhWWWhattataaatatata dddifififfeff rentttiaii tett s an enginii eeeeeeer rr r rr frff ommmmmm

a a aa a scsscscscsscscscscscsccieieieieieieeieentntntntntntntntnttntntisisisisisisssist ttttttt or technician, and why ddddo oo o oo

cococooocoooooommpmpmpmpmpmpmpmpmppanananannannanieieieieieieieieeees s sss tetet nd to hire a lot of our r

brrrretetettetetettee hrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrrhreneneneneneneneene ? ??????? Engineering methodology.y.y..

Thhhhhe rorororororooleeeeeeeeee o o o oooooooof f fffffff thththththththhththe engineer is to take

bobobb thththhhthhthththh fi fififififififi r rrrrrrrrstststststststtst p p p p p p ppppppriiiiiiiincncnciples science and hardddd------

wow n exexexexexexxxpepepeppepepepppepepp riririrriirir enenenenennennennne cececececececececec aaaaaaaand create solutions

tot prororoblbblblblb ememeemememmemmms s sss s s sssss whwhwhwhwhwhwhwhww ile quantifying cost,

beenefi t, aandnndndndndndndndnddndnd r rrrrisisissssk.kk.k.k. F FFororororor eeeeeeexaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxampmpmmpmpmpmmpmpmpleleleleleleleee, , ,,, ininnininiinn t tttt ttheheheheheehehehehe

deesign phaseseeeeeeeeee, , ,, wewewewewewewew dddddddddefiefiefiefiefiefiefiefififififin nnnnnnnne eeeeeeee thththththththththt e eeeeee papapapapapapapapap rarararararaarararara-

meeters iin n nnnn thththththtththhthhe e eeeeeee dededededededdeeded sisisisisisisss gngggggg that are under

our control lll ananananaaananananaaa d d dd dd d d d dd exexexexexeexexeexe plppppppppp ore how these

parameeeetetetteteeteetettersrsrsrsrsrsrsrsrssrsr c c cc c cc ccccananananananannananaanana bbbbbbbbbbbbbe eeeeee manipulated to

achieve eee ththththtththhtththt e ee e e dedededededededdedesisissisisis gngngngngngn goals, while at the

same time trrrrrrrrryiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyyyyiingngngnggggngnggg ttttto ooooooooooo ququququququququuquanananananananananantitittitititititititifyfffyffff costs

ana d risks. FFFFFFFororoooorrrrr a a aaaaaaaa t t t tt t ttypypypypypypypyypypypiciciciciciciciicicccalaaaa microwave

ded sign, some ooooooooooooof f ffffff ththththththththththhe e ee eeee papapapapapaapapaparararaarararaaararamememememememememeemm ters we

reegularly dedeedededeeeeed alalalalalalalalalalaa w w wwwww wwwwitititititititititititth hhhhhhhhhh arararaaaaaaraaa e line widths and

lengn ths, deseseseesesssssesesigggggggggggn n nnn gogogogogogogogoogoogoalaaaaaaaaaa s might be gain

anndd outputuuuu pppppppppowoowowowowowowwowwo ereerererererereeerr, an example of cost

wooulu d be the total area of the design,

and d a risk would be yield.

Chhhaallengn es

For RFR /micccccrowaveeee ddd desesesesigigigiggggggn nnn thththththerererererererre e ee e eeee aare

severaral roadddblblblblbbbbb ococococksksksks tttthahhahahatt tt complicate the

processs. Firrrststtttttst aandnd fforemost we musustt

recognniize thatatatatatat ttt t t thehehehehee ll l llayayayayayayaayououuut t t orrorrrrrrr i mpmpmpmpmpplelelelelelelemeeen-n-n

tation is s a keeey yy yy papapapapartrtrtrtrt oooo offfff tththhththe dddddesign. In

thththththththhhththtthisisisisisissi rrrrrrrreaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeae lmmmmmmmmmmmm oooooooof the frequency spectrum,

wewww cccccccananannnnononoooooon t tttttttt igigigigiggggignonononononorererere MMMMMM axaxaxaxaxwewewewewelllllllll ’s’s’s’s’s eee eequququququa-a-a-a-a-

tititittittt ononononononnononons.s.sss.sss TTTTTTTTTTThehehehehehehehehe aaaaaaaactctctctctctuauauauaauauauauaallll lll leleleleleleleleeeengngngngngnggngnggthththththhthththththhsss,s,s,sss,s bbbbbbenenenendsdsds, , , , ananaanddd

gegenen ral prp oximity yyy of each and every yyyyy

bibbb t t offff mm mm etetete alalaal c cccannn iiiinflnflnflnflnfl u uuenenenne cececeececc t tttthehehehehhhh o o oooooovevevvvveveverararararararararallllllll

deeeedededesiiiignnnnggg , ananananannananna ddd d dddd d sososososososo wwwwww wwwe eee cacacacac n nnnnn n nonnnnnonono lll lonnnnoooo gegegegeger rrrr fofofofooololololol

ouououuoursrsrsrsrrrsrrsrr elelelelelelee vevevevevev s sss intototooooo tttthihihihihihihinknknknknknknkkinnng ggggg ththththththhthththatatatataatataata aaa aaa a aaaa c ccc c ccc cirirrirrrcucuuuitittttitit

sccscscscscscsccschehehemammm tititit c ccc alalaalononnnnoneee eeee ccaccacacaacaaacaan nn nnnnnn nnn susususususususususuccccccccccc esss fsfsfsffffuluullylylyyyyy

cacacacac ptptptptp urruuure ee thththhhhhhe eee enenenenennntittittit rerererereee d d d ddd dddesesesesessesesigigigiggggggnnnnn.nnnn

ThThThThThThe eeeee “E“E“E“EEEEEEM MMMMMM ititititititittt” ””””” FFlFlFlFlllFlFFFF ow

ToToToToT dadadd y,y,yy EE EEEM M MMM sosooossoosolvvvllll ererereers s sss rereeeerr prrprrprprp eeeseeee ent a sig-

nininin fi fifififififificacacacacacacacacacaantntntnt p p ppieiececcc of f ththhhhhhe eeeee afafafafafafororororro ememmmemmememmeneeeeeeeeee tttitttttionoooo ededddeddedded

mememmmememmm thhhhhthhthhodddodododolololooogo y. EEE EMMMMM MMM not onlyy pplaysyy aa k keyeyy

rorolele i in n a a fi nal “all up” simulation of thee

dedededesiisisigngngn bb bby y y momomodededelilil ngngng m m mososost t t ororor a a allll o o of f f thththe e e

dededesisisigngngn i i itststselelelf,f,f, i it t t alalalsososo p pprororovivividededes s s a a a vavavaliliidadada---

tittiononon o o of f f ananany yy asasassususuumpmpmpmptitititions mamamam dedede b bby y y thththe e e

dededesisisigngngnererer u uup p p unununtititil this point wwititititi h h h rereregagagardrdrd

tototo t tthehehe m mmetetetalalal. . ThTTT is shift in n “tttthehehehe fl flfl fl o o o ow”w”w”w

frfrfrf omoommmmmm cccccciririririririri cucucucuitititit d d ddesesesesigigign n n asasas a aa aa m m m metetetethohohoh dodododolololologygygygy, , ,

inininni clclclusususivivve e e ofofof m m meaeaeasssuss rement and fifififi r r rstststs

prpprprrinininciciciplplpleseses o oof f f enenengigigiggineneneeree ing, to enenene cococom-m-

papapapaassssss E E EM M M sisisimumumulalalatititiononn f f fforororor b bb bototototh h hh prprpre-e-e- a a andndd

poooostststs -l-l-layayayououout t t dededesisisigngngn, , hahahas ss bebebeb enen aan ever-

iniiincrcrcrcreaee sisingngng y y yyetetet g gg ggrarararaadududududualalalalal tttttrarararansnsnsnsitittitioiiion.

HoHowewevever,r mmoore and more ddesesigignsns n nowow

teteeteter oon nn ovooooovere -rele iaiaiaiaiaiaiaiiancncn e e offof E EEM M anand d lelellelelelleet-t-ttt

tititititingnngngng i iiiittttt “cccccrurururururuncncncnn hhh h away” endlessly y raaththerer

ththanan t thehe cconontitinunueed uusese a andn evovolulutitiono

Dr. Mike Heimlich, Microwave & RF Marketing, AWR

of engineering best practices.

ThThe e shshifift t totowawardrdddddd “EMing” everyyyyyththing did

nononot ttt hahahhappppppenenen o ovevernrnigiiighthththt, anandddd ththththereere e e e are

seeesesesesesevevvevevevveraarararararall l l ll goggogog dododododoo r rreaeaeaasosooonsnsnsnsns w w w wwhhyhyhhyhyh ttt t ttthhheee dddd ddddddeseseseee ign

fl fl fl fl flowowowwws s s ss ofooo manannny yyy teteamammmms s sss ananaand d cocccc mpmpmmmppaaanna iei s

hahahahahahahhhh vevevevev a a aaadododdod ptppp ededede tttthihihih ss ss apapapapprprprp oaooo chcccc .. OnOOOO eee eeeee isisiss the

accucucucucucuuucucuuurararrararararar cycycycyccycyccy o ooo oooof fff momommmmm dedededelslslsls. .. SoSoS memmmm titimemmm s s mmoommmomod-

els areeeeee ee e eee nononononoonnn t tt t ttttt asasasas aaaccccccccururururuurate asaaaa wwe eee neneneneeeeddeee

them tttttttttoo oooo bebebeebebebeebee b bbbececececauauauauseseses , , asaaa engnnnnginii eeeeeeeee rsrsrsrs,, , wew

are bebebebebebebebeeiininininnng g g g ggg asassssa kekekekeked ddd totoototo mmm mmmododddoddddel tthihihiiinggnggs ss s wiwwwiwitthtttt

leeeeessssssssssssss aaaa aaaannddndndndnddd l llll l lleseseseess s s s mmammmm rgrrrgggininn—ddd——ddesee iggiiiggn nnnnn mamammmammm rgrgrgrgginnn,

mamamammmmannunnnufafaffffafafactctctctcctccttururururuuuu inininng g g gg mamaammam rgrgrgrgrggginnnn, anananand ddd dedddddedeeesisisissss gngngngn

cy llcle iiiitime margig n. WWitith h lelessssss b b bufufuffefeferr,r w wwee e

pupupupupupup t t t t momomomomoomom rerererererre p ressure on the iininitititialalal dd desesesesesese igigigggigggnnn nnn

tot nnaiaiaaia l ll itititit, ,,, eveveve enenenenen t tttthohohohoougugugugugggh h h h h wewewewewee aa a aarerereree g g g ggivivivivveenenen

lelelelessssss tttttololololoo erererrranananancececeece t t tttto oo vavav riririiiabababililililitititity.y.y.y.y. O O OOurururu n n nnnnnatatatataa urururu lall

ininininnnststststtinininnnctctctctctct a a aaaas ss s ss enenenenngigigigigg neneneneneererererererrs s s sss isisisisii t ttttoo oo trannsfsfsfsffererererereer t t ttthhihihis s s

rerereeeququququqqq iriririremememmmmeeeent t t t dodododododownwnwnwwnwwn i i i iintntnttnto oo oo ththththt eee rest oooof f f f f thththththe e e e

dededededesisisissss gngngnggngnn b b b bby y yy y rerererer quqqq irinnng g g g gg ththththat the indddivivivivididididduauauauauaual l l l

mmomomomommmom dedededededelslslsls nail thhhhe ee dedeeesisisissigngngnggn p p p perererrere fofooformrmrmrmr anananncececececee. . .

4

ACE uses layout-based models for circuit extraction, auand coupled transmission lines from layout. As a resultcompared to conventional EM analysis.

Visit AWR TV™! for a comprehensive “one-stop”

multimedia resource for product information,

tutorial presentations, and application-specifi c

discussions. The site contains many videos

for designing MICs, MMICs, and PCBs within

Microwave Offi ce® software. AWR TV is also

included on the AWR CD, see page 7.

www.awr.tv

AWR TV

As for another, we have become

more and more dependent upon EM

as the layout is just too darn compli-

cated. And also, there is the rea-

soned response that “the models are

bad, the layout is complicated; ergo,

the only thing I can do with the design

is EM it because that is directly solv-

ing Maxwell’s equations, which I know

will give me the right answer.”

The Solution

A better approach is to strike a

balance between the EMing it all the

fi rst time through and about under-

standing the parameter space; ex-

tracting enough information about the

design so trade-offs can be made that

lead to the lowest risk approach going

into manufacturing; about providing

the right tool, specifi c to this design,

to evaluate these risks.

So where are we to search for a

solution? How about AWR’s Micro-

wave Offi ce® design environment

which boasts both ACE™ and AXIEM™

technology?

New circuit extraction tools on the

market today, for example AWR’s

ACE technology, do this. By using the

tool early in the design fl ow, and by

selectively changing its coupled-line

search radius and the nets included

in the analysis, the designer can ex-

plore which are the key couplings in

the design. Since simulation speed is

about 10,000x faster than EMing it,

this is very useful and effi cient early

in the fl ow.

Additionally, and as we progress

through the fl ow, we want to switch

from circuit models to EM analysis

without losing parametric control of

the design. We want fast EM simula-

tions to which we can incrementally

add complexity and accuracy. A use-

ful new technology for this is AWR’s

AXIEM solver that delivers both

speed and accuracy for even the

most complplexex o of f dedesisiggns.

Conclusion

Rather than viewing EM as the fl ow in

and of itself, an EM-empowered design

fl ow with the recognition of EM as a

key element enables us to refl ect,

create, and then utilize tools that

restore the proper engineering disci-

pline to the process. AWR’s ACE and

AXIEM technology have been de-

veloped to meet the challenge for

greater accuracy under more com-

plex situations early in the fl ow, while

maintaining parametric abstractions.

The advantage is that EMing it all is

no longer a pre-requisite so early in

the fl ow when the design space is

still being explored. Additionally, these

tools enable the designer to selectively,

continuously, and seamlessly transition

the design across simulation speed to

analysis accuracy and/or a complete

solve of Maxwell’s equations without

changing the design methodology or

tool-use model. These same tools can

also be used during the fi nal steps of

the fl ow as part of the electrical verifi -

cation of the design.

Understanding the parameter space,

providing enough information about the

design so trade-offs can be made that

lead to the lowest risk approach going

into manufacturing, and providing the

right tool, specifi c to the design is

what’s needed in today’s microwave/

RF design fl ow. And, all of this is pos-

sible now with an EM-empowered fl ow

and available today in AWR’s Micro-

wave Offi ce software.

5

utomating identifi cation of distributed, discontinuous, t the simulation speed is about 10,000x faster when

A common design

methodology fl ow.

Read a more in-depth version

of this article in RF Globlalnet’s

Solutions Update magazine.

www.rfglobalnet.com

“AWR’s solution is unique

because the company’s tool

development is driven by

customer demand. It offers

all the features that are

absolutely necessary for an

effective product design. The

AWR design fl ow, along with

excellent customer support,

is a winning combination.”

Mathias Kleinsorge RF Engineer, Project Leader

Sennheiser electronic GmBH & Co.KGwww.sennheiser.com

Customer Success Story

Customer Background

The Sennheiser Group, established

in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, is

the acknowledged world leader in

microphone technology, RF-wireless and

infrared sound transmission, headphone

transducer technology, and in the

development of active noise-cancellation.

The Design Challenge

The RF spectrum in music halls and

concert venues is becoming more

and more crowded with multiple,

simultaneous

frequencies

and channels.

Sennheiser

audio equipment

is used by

many famous

recording artists

worldwide,

and they rely

on Sennheiser

to help

them deliver

high quality

performances.

Therefore, our

concert audio

receivers must be able to function in

this environment and produce excellent

sound with no interference.

The Solution

In order to ensure that our EM 3732

audio receiver would function without

interference and deliver the quality of

sound required, we designed a varactor-

tuned bandpass fi lter thats contained

within the preselector of the receiver.

The intermodulation behavior of this fi lter

plays a key role in the receiver design,

and with Microwave Offi ce® software we

were able to achieve +20dBm IP3, thus

meeting the strict system requirements

necessary for the desired

performance.

We were able to use

the AWR design fl ow

exclusively for the entire

design cycle, from the

system design, through

the circuit design (DC,

time-domain, audio,

RF noise, and layout),

all tasks during the

design cycle (verifi cation

by measurement,

controlling

measurement

equipment, extracting

measurement-based

sub circuits, centering of circuits), and,

fi nally, production aspects such as yield

optimization. For all the simulations we

used the Microwave Offi ce APLAC® RF

simulator. No other simulator on the

market provides such a comprehensive

and fl exible set of features as APLAC.

Tricks & Tips

Did you know that you can assign an

arbitrary metal shape in your EXTRACT

group? Just right-click the shape in

layout, choose Shape Properties and tick

Enable for the EM Extraction Options.

Is it sometimes diffi cult to remember

where to fi nd MMCONV or HBTUNER in

the element tree? AWR provides a very

convenient element browsing tool, that

you can fi nd in the toolbar (ELE). Why

not assigning a hotkey for that? Go to

Tools > Hotkeys, select category “Insert”

and command “InsertElement”. Highlight

“Press the new hotkeys” and hit ‘e’ and

click Assign. Now you can insert new

elements by just hitting ‘e’ and typing in a

few letters of the element name.

For technical report writing, and other

summaries of work undertaken in AWR,

one can simply use Copy and Paste.

Electrical schematics come directly with

CTRL-C and CTRL-V, where as 2D and

3D layout are exported via the “edit\

View to clipboard” menu and pasted into

the target application (word, powerpoint

or similar).

Visit AWR Knowledge Base for

application notes, tutorials, examples

and videos.

www.awrcorp.com/download/kb.aspx

Sennheiser Sets New Standards for High-End Audio Receivers Using AWR Software

Sennheiser EM 3732 twin receiver features a wide switching bandwith of 90 MHz and Sennheiser EM 3732 twin receiver features a wide switching bandwith of 90 MHz and many connection options that makes it the most fl exible receiver on the market. The many connection options that makes it the most fl exible receiver on the market. The EM 3732 EM 3732 is trusted by world famous recording artists like Céline Dion and Alicia Keys.

6

Software Update

Microwave Offi ce® 2009 carries on the AWR

tradition of advancing the wireless revolution with

powerful new features that enable developers

to improve productivity and shorten design cycle

time. MRHB™, a groundbreaking new multi-

rate harmonic balance technology, dramatically

increases the speed and reduces the computer

memory required to perform steady-state analy-

sis of complex nonlinear systems with multiple

signal sources. A founding member of the In-

teroperable PDK Library (IPL) alliance, AWR has

expanded support for Open Access (OA) process

design kits (PDKs).

A new constant output power simulation capabil-

ity eliminates manual post-processing steps and

reduces simulation iterations. Enhanced load-pull

analysis includes dramatic speed improvements as well as the ability to add or remove load-pull data points

directly on the Smith Chart. Behavioral model support for Mesuro’s active load-pull system enables the

replication of S-parameter concepts within the nonlinear domain, enabling modeling and design engineers

to fully characterize their devices or power-amplifi ers for any signal and impedance environment.

Microwave Offi ce 2009

Mimix Broadband Solves an Entire MMIC Chip Using AXIEM 3D Planar EM Software

The Design Challenge

Mimix is designing a mm-wave con-

verter using an innovative design in

the passive circuitry. If the design

technique works the way Mimix be-

lieves, they can achieve very aggres-

sive specs for system performance

without having to use larger, conven-

tional mm-wave structures resulting

in larger die size and thus greater

cost.Only by solving the entire struc-

ture can Mimix designers verify their

design ideas.

The Solution

Mimix was unable to electromagneti-

cally (EM) simulate the entire monolithic

microwave integrated circuit (MMIC)

circuit, which includes more than 100

ports and 100K unknowns, using other

EM solvers and turned to AWR to take

the AXIEM challenge. The result: AXIEM

solved the entire structure on a desktop

PC. With an electromagnetic solution to

the full chip, Mimix can begin to explore

a deeper understanding of the circuit’s

physics and open up new

vistas in

mm-

wave

design.

The MMIC mm-wave converter circuit has more than 100 ports and 100K unknowns. AXIEM was able to electromagnetically solve the entire chip.

7

AXIEM Challenge Success Story

“We were unable to EM

this entire structure

using any other EM

solver and turned to

AWR to give it a try.

The insights gained as

unveiled by AXIEM opens

up new vistas in mm-wave

design for Mimix.”

Dr. Simon MahonDirector of MMIC Design

Mimix Broadband, Inc.www.mimixbroadband.com

AWR European Sales Representatives

USACorporate Headquarters

AWR Corporation

1960 E. Grand Avenue, Suite 430

El Segundo, CA 90245

+1 310 726 3000

+1 310 726 3005 (fax)

AWR DIRECT SALES OFFICES IN EUROPE

UKAndrew Wallace

2 Hunting Gate

Hitchin, Herts

SG4 0TJ, UK

+44 (0) 1462 428 428

andrew.wallace@awrcorp.com

FinlandHeikki Rekonen

Lars Sonckin kaari 16

FI-02600 Espoo, Finland

+358 10 834 5900

heikki.rekonen@awrcorp.com

FranceEdgard Palle

140 Avenue Champs Elysees

75008 Paris, France

+33 1 70 36 19 63

edgard.palle@awrcorp.com

SwedenLars van Der Klooster

Lars Sonckin kaari 16

FI-02600 Espoo, Finland

+46 70 660 07 45

lars.klooster@awrcorp.com

www.awrcorp.comwww.awr.tv

Copyright © 2009 AWR Corporation. All rights reserved. AWR and the AWR logo, Microwave Offi ce and APLAC are registered trademarks and Visual System Simulator, AXIEM, ACE, AWR Design Environment, Analyst, Unifi ed Data Model, EMSight, and Intelligent Net are trademarks of AWR Corporation. All others are the property of their respective holders.

Austria/Germany eVision Systems GmbHWerner SchoeppnerJahnstrasse 12bei Muenchen, Forstinning D-85661, GermanyTel: +49(0)8121-2208.12http://www.evision-systems.de

Benelux Hi-Tech Electronic Components BV.Jim CreedHarmonieplein 1Maarssen 3603 B, NetherlandsTel: +31 (0) 346 566 024http://www.hitechbv.nl

Czech Republic Rohde & Schwarz - Praha, s.r.o.David KubalEvropská 33c,160 00 Praha 6, Czech RepublicTel: 00420 224 322 014http://www.rohde-schwarz.cz

Eastern Europe/Central Asia EuroInTech, LtdIgor Kudryashov6 Letnyaya str.Moscow 109387, RussiaTel: +7-(495)-749-45-78http://www.eurointech.ru/awr

Rodnik SPE, Inc.Yuri Kirillov1 Nakhimovsky Ave.Building 1Moscow, 117556, RussiaTel: +7 (499) 613-7001http://www.rodnik.ru

Hungary Rohde & Schwarz Österreich SP.z o.o - HUKároly KirályVáci út 169.Budapest H-1138, Hungaryhttp://www.rohde-schwarz.hu

Israel RDT GroupEdan Ram5 Ha’Arad St.Tel Aviv 69710, IsraelTel: +972-3-6450796http://www.rdt.co.il

Italy/Greece Medeos S.r.l.Luigi Scopellitivia Volta 22Corsico, MI 20094, ItalyTel: +390245862160http://www.medeos.it/

Poland Rohde & Schwarz Österreich SP.z o.o - PLJarek KwiatkowskiPrzedstawicielstwo w Polsceul. Stawki 2, Pietro 28Warszawa PL-00-193, PolandTel: +48 (22) 860 64 97http://www.rohde-schwarz.com.pl

Spain/Portugal Rohde & Schwarz Espana S.A.Miguel FernandezSalcedo, 11Madrid 28034, SpainTel: +34 (91) 334 10 62http://www.rohde-schwarz.es

Switzerland Gigacomp AGNicole BrechbuehlerDorfstrasse 7Bangerten CH-3256, SwitzerlandTel: +41 31 8684455http://www.gigacomp.ch

Turkey Aktif Neser ElektronikNeslihan Yasav33 Ada, Yakut 19 / 4Atasehir 34758 ISTANBUL, TurkeyTel: 90 216 456 20 72http://www.aktif-neser.com