Keysight Technologies announced a new add-on to PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) that enables designers to perform pre-compliance testing on virtual prototypes of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) designs. This new capability saves the time and cost of iterative build and test of physical prototypes.

Demand for SMPS is driven by the need for greater efficiency, increased power density and lower cost. Fast, low-loss switches made from silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) will power future applications due to the high performance and efficiency they enable. However, there are unwanted side effects from the high current slew rate, such as difficultly meeting the radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI) spec. Pre-compliance analysis of a “virtual prototype” is ideal for managing this challenge, but until now it required expertise with a complicated, general-purpose electromagnetic (EM) field solver.  

To address this growing need, Keysight has added a radiated EMI capability to the company’s Power Electronics Professional (PEPro) software, available as an add-on to PathWave ADS. This new capability includes automatic setup, eliminating the need for an expert, as well as pre-built test benches, frequency-domain far-field analyses that mimic real-world tests, and comparison with government-mandated masks.