Keysight Technologies is looking to speed up semiconductor device design with some additions to its flagship Pathwave design suite. The company announced this week that it has bolstered automation in a new model generator environment aimed at semiconductor device modeling engineers, who put together simulation models and process design kits for baseband and RF integrated circuit designs.
Ma Long, manager of device modeling and characterization at Keysight Technologies, said that the new software suite meets the needs of customers who have to generate high-quality models based on the SPICE computer simulation and modeling program, and that it “represents a significant advancement toward delivering a flexible and open environment that integrates all Keysight modeling technologies.”
Keysight has added features to the 2023 device modeling software suite that include one-click imports of measured data and creation of trend plots, a link to Synopsys’ PrimeSim HSPICE for circuit simulation, and new template examples, among others.
In other news from Keysight this week, the company said that Flexible Printed Circuit Board) and LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer) module vendor Flexium is using Keysight solutions to address some of the measurement challenges related to millimeter-wave modules and material testing accuracy and efficiency. “High frequency and material characterization are critical to enabling low latency transmission and improving signal/power integrity. However, there remain challenges in measuring dielectric properties, which provide critical design parameters for many electronics applications in various frequencies, fixtures and methodologies,” Keysight said, adding that Flexium will use Keysight test offerings to precisely characterize sample mmWave circuits, measure directional antenna patterns and measure dilectric constant and dissipation factor at different frequencies.
Ming-Chi Cheng, president of Flexium, said that the joint effort between the two companies “will accelerate advanced designs in high-frequency, thinning and multi-layer LCP antenna modules, as well as future opportunities of [beyond] 5G/6G, [low-Earth orbit] and autonomous vehicles.”
In other test news:
–Viavi Solutions continues to rack up wins in Open RAN-related testing, with news this week that the company’s solutions are being used in the only O-RAN Alliance-approved Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) in the Americas region.
That lab belongs to CableLabs subsidiary Kyrio and is located in Colorado. Viavi says that it is now the only test and measurement company that has a presence in all seven of the O-RAN Alliance-approved OTICs around the world. There are four other OTICs in Europe and two in the Asia-Pacific region.
Kyrio will be supporting O-RAN testing by vendors and operators with an emulated 5G test system from Viavi, two 5G Standalone cores and two virtualized RANs, with the ability to emulate up to 128 devices and 128 connections across a 10 Gbps interface. O-RAN radio unit (O-RU) conformance testing in the lab is supported by an integrated solution from Viavi and fellow test vendor Rohde & Schwarz, a company release noted.
-A July report from analyst firm Frost & Sullivan estimates that the market for big data analytics related to test and measurement will see a compound annual growth rate of nearly 8% through 2026.
Frost pegged the market size at $70.8 million in revenue during 2021, with growth of around 5% that year. The report says that growth is being driven by the adoption of Industry 4.0 and “advanced technologies for improved operational performance”, and that the market is “set to grow further once the global semiconductor chip shortage is resolved and the adoption of advanced vehicles (electric, connected, autonomous) accelerates.”
-Test house TÜV Rheinland says that it has granted the world’s first certification for a drone that complies with new European Union regulations for civil unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). According to TÜV Rheinland, DJI’s Mavic 3 system has officially met the drone Class C1 rules, which included testing of the drone’s mechanical strength, controllability under various conditions, compliance with sound levels, a “reliable data link” and a data interface for “geo-awareness” to comply with airspace limitations on the UAS. The company noted that Class C1 drones have to weigh less than 900 grams (about two pounds) and are popular for professional photography and filming.
