National Instruments acquires AWR Corporation

13 July 2011 – National Instruments announced the successful completion of its acquisition of AWR Corporation (AWR). Through the combination of AWR Design Tools and NI RF testing platforms NI wants to help engineers to decrease time-to-market for RF designs.

Effective July 1, AWR, a leading supplier of electronic design automation (EDA) software for designing RF and high-frequency components and systems for the semiconductor, aerospace and defense, communications and test equipment industries, will operate as a wholly owned NI subsidiary under the leadership of the existing management team.

The fast design cycles and increasing complexity of RF and wireless systems demand more integration between design and test. RF system designers need to validate their simulations with actual measurements, while RF test engineers need to increase test reuse and decrease test time through more design integration. By increasing the level of integration between AWR design tools and NI test software and hardware, NI and AWR can significantly improve customer productivity through increased connectivity between design, validation and production test functions.

“We are excited to welcome AWR into the National Instruments family,” said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. “The full suite of AWR design tools in combination with a complete RF testing platform from NI will give customers a solution to decrease the time to market of their RF designs.”

Through the acquisition NI wants to strengthen both core software brands – primarily NI LabVIEW and AWR Microwave Office – as it reinforces their breadth and credibility while positioning both as unique but complementary tools in the RF design flow. Additionally, the companies can better service key accounts that use both companies’ tools through a worldwide sales infrastructure that provides local support, a critical requirement for multinational customers.

Customers should continue to contact each company through their respective channels.