en.Wedoany.com Reported - MathWorks plans to demonstrate a digital twin capability at the 2026 International Microwave Symposium (IMS) that integrates Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) verified RF hardware models into system and mission-level simulations, enabling engineers to design and verify complex radar and satellite communication systems early in the design process.
ADI's RF and phased array portfolio supports system-level design verification for these systems. Building on a long-standing technical collaboration, the integration with ADI products allows engineers to evaluate architectural trade-offs and performance early in the design phase, before hardware configurations are finalized.
Radar and satellite communication platforms increasingly rely on reconfigurable, wideband phased array architectures that must support multiple missions on shared hardware, with RF, digital signal processing, and system design tightly coupled. Component-level analysis alone is no longer sufficient to predict system behavior. MathWorks and ADI have jointly realized an RF digital twin that combines hardware models with system-level simulation, enabling engineers to analyze end-to-end behavior and understand the impact of RF impairments on high-level outcomes such as detection performance or link reliability.
Dan Mantoni, Director of Simulation and Modeling at ADI, noted that accurately modeling RF hardware behavior at the system level is critical for modern radar and satellite communications. By integrating verified ADI RF component models directly into the MathWorks system-level design environment, the RF digital twin helps engineers explore architectural options earlier, understand performance trade-offs, and reduce risk as the design progresses.
Leonardo, a global aerospace and defense company, is an early adopter of the ADI digital twin and MathWorks workflow to support model-based RF system design for advanced radar programs. Engineers can bring verified RF hardware behavior into system and mission-level simulations, enabling detailed analysis of architectural choices, signal processing configurations, and performance trade-offs early in development. This approach allows engineering teams to focus testing on specific scenarios that directly impact system performance and evaluate design options before hardware is available.
James Wolstencroft, Chief Systems Engineer at Leonardo UK, stated that for an RF digital twin to be trustworthy, the underlying models must be based on real hardware behavior and validated at multiple levels of abstraction. The ADI digital twin reflects a rigorous approach to model development and correlation validation, allowing engineers to reuse consistent representations of RF components as the design matures, from early concept through system integration and testing.
MathWorks will highlight the collaboration results in a technical workshop and an RF Systems Pavilion demonstration co-hosted with Leonardo. The workshop, "Reconfigurable Wideband Phased Arrays for Millimeter-Wave: System Design and Verification Across Radar and Wireless Domains," will be held on Tuesday, June 9, from 1:30 PM to 3:10 PM in Room 154, demonstrating how to connect hardware prototypes with digital twins through measurement and behavioral modeling techniques to evaluate architectural trade-offs and performance optimization strategies for 5G/6G links and active electronically scanned array radar systems. Attendees can also visit the RF Systems Pavilion (Booth 20088) to view the "Modeling the Future: Simulation-Driven RF Systems" demonstration, which loops simulation content and features daily live streams, offering direct interaction with experts from MathWorks, ADI, and Leonardo to learn how this technology enables earlier system-level and mission-level verification before hardware investment.
Giorgia Zucchelli, RF and Mixed-Signal Technology Marketing Manager at MathWorks, will deliver a technical keynote titled "RF Digital Twins: Trading Off Fidelity and Performance Across Models, Simulation Tools, and Hardware Measurements" on Tuesday, June 9. The talk will discuss methods for characterizing beamformers, front-end modules, and other RF components through measurements and simulations. Using a highly programmable wideband millimeter-wave beamformer as an example, Zucchelli will demonstrate techniques for validating model accuracy in a system-level design environment, focusing on end-to-end design and simulation for radar applications.
Zucchelli noted that IMS brings together engineers pushing the limits of radar and satellite communications, making it the right venue to introduce the RF digital twin capability. The joint work between MathWorks and ADI showcases the value of incorporating verified hardware models into a system-level workflow that connects algorithms, RF behavior, and performance analysis, representing an important step toward providing digital twin models for more mainstream components and establishing such approaches as a practical foundation for designing, verifying, and evolving complex RF systems.
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