Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced an agreement to provide Agilent EDA software, support and training, totaling $13 million, to a new hub of the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) in Atlanta. The new Agilent EDA Simulation Center will facilitate RF and microwave-system and circuit-design instruction and research for students, and serve as a catalyst for start-up companies involved in wireless communications design. The venture, sponsored by the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), is expected to be fully operational by year's end.

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"Agilent's EDA tools help us continue to advance wireless technology and support our students, as well as to encourage and support start-up companies," said Joy Laskar, director of GEDC. "We also want to contribute to the success of other academic and non-profit institutions through sharing our experience in this partnership. We are making plans to release large portions of work using the Agilent EEsof EDA platforms for academic use."

The agreement demonstrates a significant expansion of the long-standing relationship between Georgia Tech and Agilent. This agreement is part of the newly created Agilent EEsof EDA University Alliance program, which includes a tailored, three-year custom license program to provide access to the complete line of Agilent EEsof EDA tools to start-up companies. Agilent also plans to offer customer training at the GEDC's Agilent EDA Simulation Center.

"This is one of the largest academic donations of Agilent EEsof products to a single institution," said Jim McGillivary, vice president and general manager with Agilent's EEsof EDA division. "We realize that universities and start-up incubator programs play a crucial role in pushing the limits of EDA tools."

Academic uses of the Agilent EEsof Simulation Center at GEDC will focus on Agilent EEsof's Advanced Design System (ADS), the 3-D Electromagnetic Design System (EMDS) 3-D EM simulator and the AMDS simulator that incorporates antenna EM simulation technology recently acquired by Agilent. The center will also be the world's largest academic installation of Agilent's Golden Gate simulator in a parallel processor environment. Golden Gate offers the ability to simulate complex CMOS RFIC designs, including complete network parasitic elements, in production scale SoC implementations.