AWR Introduces RFA -- an RF Architectural Planning Tool for Communication Design; New RF System Tool Helps Designers Determine Initial Specifications for Radio Design.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Applied Wave Research, Inc. (AWR(R)), a leading provider of high-frequency electronic design automation (EDA) tools, today announced RFA(TM), a system-level architectural planning tool, which provides an advanced radio frequency (RF) budget analysis feature and "frequency heritage inspection" capabilities for next-generation communication design. This new entry-level product is the latest addition to the company's Visual System Simulator(TM) (VSS) design suite.

"RFA is an advanced system-level planning and specification tool for RF communication system engineers who need to quickly create and verify the initial specifications of a radio design," said Joel Kirshman, VSS marketing segment manager. "The product helps find potential pitfalls early in the design process, at the system-level design phase, thus saving significant design cycle time and speeding products to market. RFA has been developed with the same overriding goal as all AWR software products -- to provide engineers with the ability to explore design options and gain further insight into their designs so that they can produce quality products efficiently."

RFA delivers several new technologies that enable communications designers to streamline their product development process. One key component of RFA is the RF Budget Analysis(TM) feature that provides the ability to make traditional RF cascaded measurements such as gain, noise figure, and third-order intercept, inclusive of image noise, along a communication link. The RF Inspector(TM) technology, another component of RFA, is a new frequency-domain simulation tool that helps determine the root cause or heritage of any inter-modulation product of an RF link and includes the effects of conversions, harmonics, inter-modulation, and noise. This enables users to isolate the sources of unwanted interferers and to better architect their RF systems.

RFA, complemented with the power of VSS, enables engineering teams to further analyze and simulate their designs and incorporate complex modulation sources and receivers with the same RF link created in RFA, and, at the same time, use the full suite of capabilities offered in VSS, including error vector magnitude (EVM), eye diagrams, and bit error rate (BER).

About VSS

AWR's Visual System Simulator product is a comprehensive software suite for the design of complete, end-to-end communications systems. The software helps designers reduce time-to-market by eliminating iterations and rework, and cuts system costs by ensuring that components are not over-specified and thus unnecessarily expensive. AWR's optional TestWave(TM) module integrates VSS seamlessly with instruments from leading test equipment vendors, providing a means for virtual hardware prototyping. VSS 2006 offers, for the RF integrated circuit (IC) design community, RF models in the voltage domain. The popular VSS RF budget analysis feature now includes measurements to provide greater insight into defining the right component specifications. Core VSS functions have been expanded with new measurements, additional models, and improved existing models. In addition, VSS 2006 addresses the needs of the baseband system designer by enabling bit accurate simulations and providing new signal models for the most current communications standards. VSS 2006 has been enhanced in many areas as part of AWR's ongoing commitment to provide engineers with the unique ability to design the right system architecture and formulate suitable specifications for each of the underlying components in today's complex communications designs.

Pricing and Availability

The RFA product will be available directly from AWR through its direct sales offices and worldwide distribution channels, starting at US $4,000 per year depending on configuration. A beta version of the RFA software will be available Q3 2006 and the full production release is scheduled for Q1 2007. The product will be demonstrated at the European Microwave Week 2006 Exhibition in Manchester UK, September 12-14, at AWR's booth #308.

About Applied Wave Research, Inc.

Applied Wave Research is a leading supplier of high-frequency electronic design automation (EDA) products for the design of wireless telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, high-speed computers, networking systems, automotive mobility systems, and a variety of other electronics-based products. AWR is a privately-held company and has global development offices, sales offices, training centers, and distribution channels. In September 2005, AWR acquired APLAC Solutions, an emerging leader in simulation and analysis software for analog and RF design. APLAC's RF design technology has been used in designing over 30 percent of all mobile phone RFICs worldwide. AWR today has over 700 companies deploying its software worldwide, including virtually every major high-frequency electronic component and system supplier. The company is headquartered at 1960 East Grand Avenue, Suite 430, El Segundo, California 90245. For more information about AWR and the company's products, please visit www.appwave.com or call 310-726-3000.

AWR, the AWR logo, Visual System Simulator, RFA, RF Budget Analysis, RF Inspector, and TestWave are registered trademarks or trademarks of Applied Wave Research, Inc. All other registered marks are the property of their respective holders.