AWR Announces Software for the Synthesis of Lumped-Element and Distributed Filters

AWR Corporation, which provides high-frequency electronic design automation or "EDA," has announced its new iFilter technology to streamline synthesis of lumped-element and distributed filters.

iFilter filter synthesis module runs seamlessly within AWR's Microwave Office high-frequency design software. It keeps designers' filter designs and their evolution a part of the entire, managed circuit design project.

Featuring an intuitive user interface, iFilter enables users to quickly and easily design filters, connect them directly to circuitry, and make optimization trade-offs that positively impact their designs, according to company officials.

For distributed filters, physical layouts are generated automatically. Lumped-element filters can be realized using an extensive library of manufacturers' components like inductors, capacitors, etc., the company said.

With iFilter software, designers can view representations of the filter before it is exported to Microwave Office software. Switching from an annotated schematic view to a physical view or netlists with parametric information provides insight into the filter's impedances and resonances.

The software also provides feedback on higher-order modes and line widths for common characteristic impedances, and warns the user if the desired characteristics of the filter are beyond the capabilities of a specific topology.

Another important feature of iFilter is the ability to perform accurate synthesis through electromagnetic verification with, for instance, AWR's AXIEM 3D planar EM simulator. Such a feature is important when designing distributed filters.

AWR is committed to helping engineering students gain valuable hands-on experience with software design tools in preparation for entering the work world, according to company officials.

The company recently announced  it will award free, fully-functional, one-year, personal term licenses for its Microwave Office and Visual System Simulator or "VSS" software suites--inclusive of AXIEM 3D planar EM software-to the winners of the 2010 International Microwave Symposium High Efficiency Power Amplifier Student Design Competition.