August 2006, page 62

Graphing and data analysis package

Systat Software has developed SigmaPlot 10R, the latest version of its scientific graphing and data analysis software. Version 10 contains many new features to simplify the graph creation process, from importing data to publishing research results, and enhancements to SigmaPlot's curve-fitting engine. It includes real-time feedback of graph coordinates that requires simply running a cursor over the graph, the ability to import graphics files directly to a SigmaPlot graph page, and the use of existing documents as templates for new work. The company's Submission Assistant stores an extensible list of publication specifications for 22 leading journals. New data analysis capabilities include the dynamic fit wizard and a new ROC curve analysis module. Systat Software Inc, 501 Canal Boulevard, Suite E, Point Richmond, CA 94804-2028, http://www.systat.com

Web View exporting feature

The MathWorks has announced the Simulink Report Generator 3 with new features for simplifying information exchange and sharing design models throughout an organization. The package includes a Web View exporting feature, which creates interactive renditions of the company's Simulink and Stateflow models that can be viewed in a Web browser. The new capability fills a need to access and share models even across geographic locations. The Simulink report generator ensures model consistency of web views and reports, and eliminates the costly practice of developing documents that detail different model levels. Users can now view models royalty free in a web browser and no longer have to manually create, print out, and review hard-copy documents containing possibly hundreds of pages. The MathWorks Inc, 3 Apple Hill Drive, Natick, MA 01760-2098, http://www.mathworks.com

PC-based measurement software

Microstar Laboratories has introduced DAPstudio 2.5, a new release of the DAP (data acquisition processor) Studio application. The new package displays live data in several formats, including bar graph, line graph, and waterfall. Each format has an optional 3D view that makes it convenient to see different shapes on different channels. The waterfall implementation gives a quick overview of millions of data points through a moving window and lets users look at spectra of both frequency and time simultaneously. Optional rotating colors for the waveforms in a waterfall graph allow a specific spectrum to move back in time with the same color. Two or more DAP boards in the same PC or on a network can work together as a single synchronized system using DAP-to-DAP communications. Microstar Laboratories Inc, 2265 116th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004, http://www.mstarlabs.com

Data visualization and analysis

ITT Visual Information Solutions has released the Research Systems Inc IDL 6.3 and the Export Bridge Assistant module that enable users to integrate IDL functionality into other development platforms and provide new visualization features and enhancements. IDL 6.3 introduces IDL-connector objects for accessing IDL's visualization and analysis capabilities from Java and COM. The software also adds support for Motion JPEG 2000 and for multiple monitors, and it includes additions to the IDL image- and signal-processing libraries, such as the Canny Edge detector, and Butterworth and impulse response filters. The bridge module can run multiple, concurrent sessions of IDL, which allows users to delegate computationally intensive tasks to a background process so they can continue to work in the main IDL session. ITT Visual Information Solutions, 4990 Pearl East Circle, Boulder, CO 80301, http://www.ittvis.com

Linux programming platform

Mercury Computer Systems now provides LNXexec for a Linux programming and network environment to be used with its MCOE system. The multicomputer operating environment is designed for signal- and image-processing applications and supports a single-system image model. From a high level, the application appears to be running on a single multitasking computer, yet multiple processes can run concurrently, thus increasing the system's effective performance. MCOE with LNXexec is installed on top of Mercury's release 6.4.0 or higher software distribution. LNXexec supports the standard Linux network features and the complete Mercury middleware programming environment, including drivers, services, and libraries, and it has fully configurable TCP/IP support. Mercury Computer Systems Inc, 199 Riverneck Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824-2820, http://www.mc.com

LIMS multinationalization

LabVantage Solutions' Sapphire LIMS with M18N capabilities allows deployment of one solution that supports international languages, time zones, number formats, and date converters across multiple locales. The package eliminates the need for multiple servers or web-enabled solutions. M18N solutions use Unicode to support multiple languages. This means that various character sets are available for offices worldwide, and the screens and data are properly localized so that users can work in their native language, regardless of the server location. M18N offers flexibility in displaying data and numeric formats so that users can select between time and date on a per-user basis on a single server. For example, March 10, 2005 is the standard convention in the US but is written as 10 March 2005 in Poland. LabVantage Solutions Inc, 1160 Route 22 East, Bridgewater, NJ 08807, http://www.labvantage.com

Bibliographic software

EndNote X from Thomson ResearchSoft is a major upgrade to the company's EndNote package. The new software can organize PDF files easily by dragging and dropping them to an EndNote record for automatic linking and storage. Existing PDF links in an EndNote library can be converted to the new management system in one step. The new compressed library option creates a single-file backup to easily transport an EndNote library between computers. Users can view up to eight fields in the reference list display and can click-sort column heads to locate records quickly. The software offers many more ways to connect EndNote with bibliographic databases and publishing styles, with more than 800 connections to online sources, more than 540 import filters, and more than 2300 journal styles. Thomson ResearchSoft, 2141 Palomar Airport Road, Suite 350, Carlsbad, CA 92009, http://www.researchsoft.com

Timing analysis

Incentia Design Systems is offering a new release of its TimeCraft software with an advanced on-chip-variation (OCV) capability for improving timing accuracy and efficiency for 90-nm and 65-nm designs. TimeCraft is a gate-level, static timing analyzer for timing signoff. Its features include comprehensive timing checks and reports, a built-in delay calculator, multiple supply-voltage analysis, and phase-locked loop handling. The new package provides both level- and location-based OCV analysis to address the effects of on-chip statistical process variation. The company says that it also effectively eliminates excessive guard banding. The advanced OCV uses variable derating factors based on logic level and physical location to select the optimal derating factor for each timing path; this results in fewer timing violations. Incentia Design Systems Inc, 2465 Augustine Drive, Suite 101, Santa Clara, CA 95054, http://www.incentia.com

3D data-visualization software

Golden Software has developed Voxler, a new 3D data-visualization software program with a user interface that is intuitive and easy to use, even for the novice user. The program enables data to be displayed in various 3D images, including volume rendering, isosurfaces, contours, 3D slices, orthographic and oblique image stream lines, and scatter and vector plots. Voxler supports importing data from a multitude of sources, making it possible for users to display data without being limited by format capability; the software incorporates 18 export formats. Other features include the ability to rotate displays, adjust transparency, add axes to images and a bounding box to show data limits, filter data to eliminate anomalies or duplicate points, and perform data calculations. Golden Software Inc, 809 14th Street, Golden, CO 80401-1866, http://www.goldensoftware.com

New architecture for LIMS

Laboratory information management systems is the application targeted for PerkinElmer's new Labworks LIMS v5.9, the company's first release built on an entirely new computing platform. The v5.9 architecture has a toolkit to customize site-specific data structure and presentation used by LIMS modules. The new package virtually eliminates the need for users to write their own custom interfaces and thus reduces implementation time and costs. A new Data Class Designer tool enables users to easily add and integrate customized data fields. The new Template Designer layout tool allows users to control how information is presented and organized, with a query mechanism that significantly streamlines data searches. PerkinElmer Inc, 45 William Street, Wellesley, MA 02481-4078, http://www.labworks.com

Optical design software

Wolfram Research's LensLab and Rayica 2, developed and supported by Optica Software, are third-party Mathematica add-ons that enhance the design and analysis of sophisticated 3D optical systems. Key features of the new packages include sequential and nonsequential ray tracing in 3D space; built-in optical components such as predefined lenses, mirrors, prisms, and light sources; and energy calculations with models of gain and absorption. Rayica provides fine granularity and enhanced control for modeling innovative optical instruments, and features more than 6800 predefined commercial optical parts. Lenslab offers similar design capabilities in an entry-level ray-tracing package and enables the evaluation and optimization of alternative system designs. Wolfram Research Inc, 100 Trade Center Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7237, http://www.wolfram.com

Advanced quantitative analysis

Insightful Corp has announced that the company's S-PLUS 7 software platform for statistical data analysis and predictive analytics will integrate with the FAME (forecasting, analysis, and modeling environment) data management solution from SunGard (http://www.sungard.com), which manages high-volume time-series data. A linking module called FAME S+Connector will help financial institutions improve the speed and ease of optimizing portfolios, assessing risk exposure, and identifying market opportunities. FAME S+Connector's library of functions helps to reduce the time required by quantitative analysts to create powerful predictive models for financial data. S-PLUS 7 is designed with open architecture and flexible interfaces and provides the scalability to handle gigabyte-size data sets. Insightful Corporation, 1700 Westlake Avenue North, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98109-3044, http://www.insightful.com

Software for large-volume scanning

FARO Scene 3.0 from FARO Technologies has been developed for the company's Laser Scanner LS product, which enables users to digitize massive spaces into 3D action-ready data and to scan 120 000 points/s with 3-mm accuracy. With FARO Scene 3.0, users can measure the distance between points in an image, move in 3D space, and create CAD models. Other features in the new package include noise reduction and simultaneous volume compression, edge recognition, automatic object fit, and visual assessment of registration quality. The triangulation in FARO Scene 3.0 creates a mesh of triangulated surfaces from individual points that can then be exported into other CAD systems. An option for the package allows automatic color overlay. FARO Technologies Inc, 125 Technology Park, Lake Mary, FL 32746, http://www.faro.com

Material property data

ANSYS has announced that it has partnered with MatWeb (http://www.matweb.com) to provide access to MatWeb's technical material data sheet—a growing collection of more than 55 000 items, including hundreds of various metals, plastics, and ceramics—from within the ANSYS Workbench system. The company says that increased material property data should allow ANSYS users to more accurately simulate material behavior early in the design process, ultimately saving on material costs of physical prototypes. From the MatWeb source, users can create and export libraries of up to 20 materials at a time in ANSYS library format (XML). The appropriate property values in the correct units are automatically added to the XML file. MatWeb also provides tools such as a unit converter, weight and inertia calculator, and hardness converter. ANSYS Inc, Southpointe, 275 Technology Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317, http://www.ansys.com

Updated software

Harmonic Software has introduced O-Matrix version 6. The update expands the statistics capabilities and greatly enhances the execution performance of O-Matrix, a matrix-oriented language and integrated environment for analyzing data, creating simulations, and visualizing results. O-Matrix contains a broad range of mathematical, statistical, engineering, plotting, and user-interface-building functions. Version 6 incorporates many new features that have been added for descriptive statistics, random number generators, and probability density and cumulative distribution functions. Most O-Matrix operators, functions, and language constructs were updated to provide performance said to rival applications implemented in traditional compiled languages such as FORTRAN and C++. Harmonic Software Inc, P.O. Box 7365, Breckenridge, CO 80424, http://www.omatrix.com

On the Web

Keithley Instruments has co-developed and sponsored the first Nano Test Blog designed for workers dealing with electrical testing issues in the field of nanotechnology and MEMS. The weblog is coordinated by Nanotech Briefs magazine and can be accessed at http://www.nanotestblog.com. Keithley Instruments Inc, 28775 Aurora Road, Cleveland, OH 44139, http://www.keithley.com