Creating Digital Twins of RF Systems
Solution Briefs
Span the “accuracy gap” with MBSE and PathWave System Design
Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is a systems engineering methodology that focuses on creating and exploiting domain models as the primary means of information exchange. Most model-based approaches address four system engineering domains: requirements, architecture (or structure), behavior, and verification/validation. MBSE tools tie these domains together virtually using a digital modeling language, leaving document-centric approaches behind.
The “digital twin” concept hopes to convert most if not all physical system engineering activities into virtual ones. Digital twins have high value where staging physical testing is hard, and real-world effects are difficult to reproduce – like in 5G, radar, satellite, and other RF system scenarios. A digital twin extends MBSE, which has engineering benefits even if math-based models only approximate behavior of physical prototypes. To reduce costs and risks, a digital twin must bring engineers into a virtual space that accurately reflects a physical system’s behavior over its life cycle.