Sept. 9, 1999
SystemView by Elanix Extends Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Westlake Village, California, September 7, 1999 -- Elanix Incorporated announced today that it has donated several licenses of SystemView by Elanix to help the SETI Institute develop next-generation signal processing system to seek out evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. The donated licenses have a value of approximately $163,000.
SystemView by Elanix is a leading Windows design, simulation and analysis software for communications, digital signal processing (DSP), and RF/Analog applications. SystemView enables software designers to determine the optimal design parameters and shortens development time by enabling thorough debugging and testing early in the software design cycle.
The SETI Institute's Project Phoenix searches the microwave spectrum for pulsed and narrowband CW signals that might be evidence of extraterrestrial communication technology, focusing on the regions around individual stars similar to our Sun. The system looks for extremely weak signals in a radio environment rich with strong RFI, so system artifacts must be kept to an absolute minimum. SETI engineers are designing a new generation of receivers and signal detectors to replace the current Phoenix system, which was built nearly a decade ago. The new system, which has been in development since late last fall, is expected to be operational in the fall of 2000.
Dr. Kent Cullers, developer of the SETI signal processing algorithms, said three qualities of SystemView are of particular value to the SETI system designers: the ability to simulate both analog and digital subsystems; the ability within digital subsystems to do bit accurate simulations with full control of register size, and to easily examine frequency response and easily detect error conditions; and the ability to translate a digital design directly to a Xilinx FPGA.
"SystemView was already our top contender for this work on our new SETI system, and the fact that Elanix has generously contributed these licenses for SystemView makes this a particularly positive situation for us," said Dr. Cullers, whose work with SETI was portrayed through the character Kent Clark in the popular movie "Contact".
"The SETI Institute's design challenges are similar to those that many companies are facing as they attempt to design next generation DSP and comm systems in less time," said Geoffrey Chatfield, Vice President of marketing for Elanix. "SystemView is uniquely qualified to address these challenges with its unique combination of bit-true simulation tools, hardware/software development flow support, and broad applications support."
Dr. Patrick J. Ready, President and CEO of Elanix said "We are proud to support such an outstanding institution as the SETI Institute. The research conducted at the Institute is not only developing state-of-the-art signal processing techniques and hardware, but is also enriching our understanding of the universe."
About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a private, non-profit organization whose primary mission is to conduct research into the possibility of life beyond Earth, particularly intelligent life. The Institute currently conducts more than 30 research projects, the best known of which is Project Phoenix, the world's most powerful and technologically sensitive search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, and the type of SETI search featured in the 1997 Jodie Foster film "Contact". The SETI Institute is based in Mountain View, California.
About Elanix , Inc.
Elanix, Inc. develops SystemView by Elanix, a sophisticated software tool used by leading electronics manufacturers worldwide to design, simulate and test Communications, DSP, Signal Processing and RF/Analog systems. Featuring powerful system-level design, simulation, and analysis in a user-friendly visual design environment, SystemView by Elanix provides design modeling and simulation performance that are orders of magnitude faster than conventional design tools. SystemView by Elanix reduces final product cost by enabling designers to determine the optimal design blocks and parameters and shortens time-to-market by enabling thorough debugging and testing early in the design cycle, when problems are easier to fix. Elanix is located at 5655 Lindero Canyon Rd., Suite 721, Westlake Village, CA., USA, 91362, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Telephone: (818) 597-1414, FAX: (818) 597-1427, E-mail: elanix@elanix.com, World Wide Web: www.elanix.com.
SystemView by Elanix is a registered trademark of Elanix, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
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