Microwave

Office®
ACE™

Overview
ACE circuit extraction technology is the greatest advance in complex
interconnect modeling in recent years. As an integral part of Microwave Office
design environment, it reduces from hours to seconds the time it takes to
perform the initial modeling of complex interconnects. And it lets you do it at the
earliest stages of the design where problems can be identified and corrected
before costly and time-consuming redesigns are required. The result: a higher
degree of confidence in your design and far less time needed to create it.

Features at a glance
Automated
 Models all types of lines, from long traces to short coupled segments,
Circuit Extraction
multi-layer routes, and discontinuities
for Modeling of
 Builds on popular distributed, discontinuity, and coupled circuit models, High-Frequency
some with built-in, highly-optimized electromagnetic (EM) solvers
Interconnects
  Equally well suited to circuit board, LTCC, module, and MMIC design

how it works
ACE uses layout-based models for circuit extraction, automating identification
Using AWR’s ACE technology, Multitest is
of distributed, discontinuous, and coupled transmission lines from layout and
able to accurately and efficiently simulate
partitioning these structures into pre-existing models. The result is a significant
PCB interfaces prior to fabrication. This
reduction in interconnect extraction time (10-1000x typical) when compared
gives our customers the confidence
with conventional manual deconstruction of the layout into discrete schematic
they need before they even receive our
models/elements and greater insight into circuit performance.
hardware.

Ryan Satrom, Signal Integrity Engineer

Multitest

The revolutionary ACE circuit

extraction technology runs at a
push of a button within Microwave
Office design environment.
 Microwave
Microwave
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Offi
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ACE
ACE

Equally
Equallyimportant,
important,you
youcan
canactually
actuallypin-point
pin-pointthe
theinterconnects
interconnectsthat
that
are
aredegrading
degradingperformance
performancebybyvarying
varyingthe
therange
rangeover
overwhich
whichACE
ACE
looks
looksfor
forcoupled
coupledlines,
lines,and
andby
bytoggling
togglingon
onor
oroff
offlines
linesindividually
individuallywith
with
aasingle
singlemouse-click
mouse-clickfrom
fromaalarger
largerACE
ACEextraction.
extraction.
There’s
There’sno
noneed
needtotowait
waitfor
forcompletion,
completion,capture,
capture,and
andlayout
layoutofofthe
the
design since you can invoke ACE any time during the formation
design since you can invoke ACE any time during the formation of of
the
theschematic.
schematic.Small
Smallsections
sectionsofofthe
thedesign,
design,such
suchas
asbias
biascircuits
circuits
or
or control lines, can be analyzed individually and then combinedwith
control lines, can be analyzed individually and then combined with
larger
largerportions
portionsofofthe
thedesign
designasasititmatures.
matures.ACE
ACEstructures
structurescan
canalso
also
be re-analyzed instantly during final design verification with any EM
be re-analyzed instantly during final design verification with any EM
solver
solverusing
usingAWR’s
AWR’sEM EMSocket
Socket™, ,an
™
anopen
openinterface
interfacethat
thatenables
enablesyou
you
totodirectly integrate popular EM solvers into the Microwave Office
directly integrate popular EM solvers into the Microwave Office
design
designenvironment.
environment.

summary
SUMMARY
ACE
ACEtakes
takescomplex
complexinterconnect
interconnectmodeling
modelingbeyond
beyondthe
thereach
reachofof
tedious
tedious manual deconstruction techniques. ACE enablesyou
manual deconstruction techniques. ACE enables youtoto
parametrically
parametricallyinvestigate
investigatedesigns
designsby
bycombining
combiningthe
theproven
provenuse
use
method
method of circuit extraction with microwave models, giving youthe
of circuit extraction with microwave models, giving you the
insight
insightyou
youneed
needto
toidentify
identifycomplex
complexinterconnect
interconnectissues
issuesearly
earlyinin
the design process and preserving EM analysis for final verification
the design process and preserving EM analysis for final verification
ofofthe
thedesign.
design.
Visit www.awrcorp.com/ACE for product information and white papers. This
This336
336port
porttransmission
transmissionline
linenetwork
networkisisanalyzed
analyzed
ininless
lessthan
than30
30seconds
secondswith
withACE
ACEand
andencompasses
encompasses
more
morethan
than20
20frequency
frequencypoint
pointsimulations.
simulations.

AWR.TV
Visit AWR.TV™ for a comprehensive “one-stop” multimedia resource
for product information, tutorial presentations, and application-
specific discussions. The site contains many videos for designing
MICs, MMICs, and PCBs within Microwave Office software and
AWR high-frequency simulators.

www.awr.tv

ACE is fast and accurate and compares well to EM The ACE technology accurately models this 16 layer
analysis methods. PCB structure in a matter of seconds.

AWR, 1960 East Grand Avenue, Suite 430, El Segundo, CA 90245, USA
AWR, 1960 East Grand Avenue, Suite 430, El Segundo, CA 90245, USA
Tel: +1 (310) 726-3000 Fax: +1 (310) 726-3005 www.awrcorp.com
Tel: +1 (310) 726-3000 Fax: +1 (310) 726-3005 www.awrcorp.com
Copyright © 2010 AWR Corporation. All rights reserved. AWR, the AWR logo and Microwave Office are
Copyright trademarks
registered © 2009 AWRandCorporation.
ACE and EMAll rightsare
Socket reserved. AWRofand
trademarks AWRtheCorporation.
AWR logo and Microwave Office
are registered trademarks and ACE and EM Socket are trademarks of AWR Corporation.
DS-AC-2010.5.7