Wireless Communications & Radar System Design
AWR Visual System Simulator (VSS)
VSWR-aware modelling of RF and DSP blocks with time-domain, frequency-domain, and circuit-envelope analyses. Develop and optimise Tx / Rx architectures, determine component specifications, and simulate BER, EVM, and ACPR with pre-configured and user-defined virtual test benches.
Overview
Top-Down RF System Architecture, Done Right
Visual System Simulator (VSS) is for the system architect — the designer who has to decide what each component must achieve before the circuit team builds it. Develop and optimise system architectures, determine component specifications for best overall performance, and simulate system metrics like BER and EVM with pre-configured and user-defined virtual test benches.
Identify the source of spurious products and system impairments early — before they show up in hardware and trigger a redesign.
Key Features
What VSS Brings to System Design
Behavioral Models
VSWR-aware behavioural models that incorporate the impact of component impedance mismatch on overall system performance — not just isolated block specs.
Circuit Envelope
Analysis of digitally-modulated RF circuits — EVM, BER, and adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) simulations on real waveforms.
Planning & Analysis Tools
Cascaded RF measurements, frequency planner (optional), and spurious analysis — answer "where does this spur come from?" instantly.
MWO Co-Simulation
Co-simulate with Microwave Office — circuit-level designs participate directly in the system-level simulation, no impedance mismatches at the tool boundary.
Wireless Test Benches
Pre-built test benches for the standards you actually ship — 5G, LTE, NB-IoT, and more. Plus custom test benches for your in-house waveforms.
Radar & 5G Libraries
Radar and 5G signal / waveform libraries — including ready-to-use test benches that get you to first results faster.
Supported Standards
Test Benches for Standards You Actually Ship
5G NR
LTE
NB-IoT
Radar
Phased Arrays
Custom Waveforms
Analyses
What You Can Measure in VSS
Time Domain
Time-domain analyses for transient behaviour and signal integrity at the system level.
Frequency Domain
Frequency-domain analyses for spectrum, noise figure, gain compression, and cascaded RF analysis.
Circuit Envelope
Circuit-envelope simulation — the right tool for digitally-modulated RF systems and ACPR / EVM questions.
Spurious / Impairment
Identify the source of spurious products and other system impairments — root-cause before lab debug.
Who VSS Is For
Built for the System Architect Conversation
VSS isn't for the analog or RF designer who's tuning a single block — that's Microwave Office. VSS is for the engineer who has to set the spec for what each block must do, and prove that the system as a whole hits its EVM, BER, and ACPR targets before any silicon gets fabbed or any PCB gets laid out.
Best fit when…
- Allocating gain / noise budget across a chain
- Specifying components before they're designed
- Predicting EVM / BER / ACPR end-to-end
- Investigating spur sources and impairments
- Comparing architecture alternatives early
- Validating against a standard test bench
Related
Works Well With
Microwave Office
Circuit-level companion — schematic-level circuit designs participate directly in VSS system simulations.
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AXIEM
Planar EM solver — passive structures characterised in AXIEM feed both VSS and Microwave Office for system-level fidelity.
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AWR Design Environment
The parent platform — VSS is one of three core AWR tools you can license individually or together.
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Get Started
Spec the System Right the First Time
Talk to Craftronics about Visual System Simulator — set component specs, run standard test benches, ship hardware that works.