Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the next release of its Antenna Modeling Design System (AMDS), now containing new capabilities to verify that handheld wireless devices are equipped with hearing-aid compatibility. This is the second release of AMDS, Agilent's newest EM simulation tool dedicated to modeling and verifying antennas and antenna systems. The software helps to meet performance specifications and reduce design risks in handheld wireless devices.
AMDS is a full wave, 3-D, dedicated design, modeling and verification tool for antenna systems and placement. The new release, version 2007.4, allows users to evaluate hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) between wireless communication devices and hearing aids, according to the IEEE American National Standard Methods of Measurement of Compatibility (ANSI C63.19-2006). The standard establishes categories of compatible hearing aids and wireless devices. "By February 2008, all wireless carriers in the US must ensure that 50 percent of their phones are hearing-aid compatible," said Erwin De Baetselier, product marketing manager with Agilent's EEsof EDA division. "Today, we are leading the industry by offering HAC compatibility tests in our EM simulation environment, ensuring that designers of wireless devices will be able to meet these important and rigorous specifications."
Development of the AMDS HAC functionality was accomplished through the joint efforts of Agilent's EEsof EDA R&D team and the development team at Remcom Inc.
AMDS imports, meshes and simulates an entire wireless device, together with its surrounding real-world environment, to analyze compliance standards such as HAC, SAR (Specific Absorption Rate), and antenna diversity and MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple Output). Simulating the device with AMDS can reduce design cycle time significantly, eliminating up to 75 percent of the typical modeling and setup time that is required by other types of EM simulators.