Commsonic opens its SocDrawer

Cambridge(UK), Friday 13th December, 2002 - Cambridge (UK) company Commsonic has announced the first in a range of free and low-cost simulation and verification tools aimed at developers of System-on-chip (SoC) and broadband communications systems.

TestiPHY(802.16) is a Matlab program that generates COFDM modulation waveforms according to the new IEEE Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Standard 802.16a. The current release of the tool is compliant with revision D6 of the Standard but it will be updated to track changes to the protocol as they emerge.

TestiPHY(802.16) allows developers to explore the impact of transmission path impairments on the integrity of the modulated signal but is primarly intended as a pattern source for verifying the compliance of Matlab, SystemC, C++ or HDL simulation models of 802.16a receivers.

Commsonic's 802.16 Product Manager, Neil Shipp said that the company was making the TestiPHY tool available free-of-charge to encourage developers to use a common reference for compliance testing and to start the verification testing as soon as possible in the design flow.

"We're keen to see that 802.16, and future communications Standards, are not afflicted by the kind of interworking headaches that have hampered the progress of Bluetooth" said Paul Rudkin, the company's General Manager. "Bluetooth demonstrated the value of the Unplugfest as a forum for ensuring that different solutions interwork, and for fostering a technology community. We'd like to see the same benefits from Virtual Unplugfests that occur before designs are realised", he added.

Commsonic is keeping the product roadmap for its, humourously named, "SocDrawer" tool range under wraps but aims to expand TestiPHY with versions for other recent and emerging broadband communications Standards including 802.11, 802.15 and Bluetooth 2 and, otherwise, has plans to reduce the costs associated with software/hardware co-development.

Founded in 2000 as a spin out from hi-tech consultancy Symbionics, Commsonic provides technology, IP and specialist design services in the area of broadband communications. TestiPHY(802.16) is available for immediate download from the company's website www.commsonic.com.