Company Profile: AWR

In the beginning....

In 1994, while designing chipsets for radar systems using current high-frequency EDA tools, Dr. Joe Pekarek realized there had to be a better way. He believed the Windows operating system offered unique opportunities that could let RF and microwave designers do their work faster, with greater accuracy – and a lot easier. He felt new tools should address design from the device level through component and system levels seamlessly, from within a single environment. Armed with a vision, a little cash, and the commitment of two like-minded associates, Joe Pekarek founded Applied Wave Research (AWR®).

Four years later, the company introduced its first major product, Microwave Office® design environment, which gave high-frequency design the “look and feel” of office productivity tools, and the AWR Design Environment™ was born.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, verifying their belief that immense productivity gains could be achieved by building on a unified data model. In one platform, designers could now take an idea from concept through simulation to physical implementation, whether driving the design from the schematic, simulation, or layout. And unlike “closed” high-frequency software solutions that restricted access to third-party tools, the “open” AWR Design Environment embraced them by design. That commitment is stronger today than ever.

AWR Today

Thousands of users at hundreds of companies around the world rely on AWR’s high-frequency design solutions. Along the way, AWR scored impressive industry “firsts,” such as real-time tuning of component parameters, EM based models, “project tree” view of design, measurement-driven simulation, real-time layout viewing in 3D, and many more. The Microwave Office design environment has advanced by leaps and bounds in terms of accuracy, speed, and capabilities while remaining true to its creators’ vision of openness and ease of use. It is complemented by the Analog Office® suite for RFIC design, Visual System Simulator™ for system-level analysis and optimization, as well as ACE™ circuit extraction technology, APLAC® harmonic balance and time-domain transient analysis software, and AXIEM™ for 3D planar EM analysis.

With the recent release of the 2008 AWR Design Environment, AWR further increases the power of the platform with more than 100 enhancements encompassing every solution, tool, and technology. Equally impressive, the user interface, already more intuitive than any alternative product, now allows users far greater customization to satisfy personal preferences and improves productivity even further. Joe Pekarek knew there had to be a better way, and 14 years later, legions of customers would agree that he found it.