Mentor Graphics and Agilent Technologies have announced a design tool to cut PCB design cycle times in half and improve the quality of mixed-technology designs of RF circuits on PCBs.
The product enables PCB mixed-signal designers to concurrently design a PCB using Mentor's Expedition Enterprise or Board Station XE flows and integrate it with Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) EDA software for RF design and simulation.
"Designing these mixed-technology systems requires tight integration of the physical layout environments and their respective simulation tools to insure optimised performance and short design cycle times," said Henry Potts, vice president and general manager of Mentor's systems design division.
"Customers tell us they face delays in product development due to a disconnect between RF design and simulation and PCB implementation," said Jim McGillivary, vice president and general manager with Agilent's EEsof EDA division. "We fully expect this new integration to cut our customers' typical product development cycle in half."
The RF design solution is now available as an option to Mentor's Expedition Enterprise and Board Station XE flows, with prices starting at approximately $9,000.