News
ASAP 2009 V1R1 Now Available
Apr 27, 2009
BRO is pleased to announce ASAP® 2009 Version 1, Release 1 (V2R1). New features in the ASAP 2009 V1R1 release include conformal radiometry; the BRO Digitizer; new polarization devices, modes, and visualization tools; enhanced distributed processing; and enhanced optimization tools for optical engineers and designers -- the most feature-rich ASAP release ever.
ASAP 2009 V1R1 Highlights
- Conformal Radiometry - Visualize distributions of light and perform radiometric calculations on any number of planar or non-planar system objects involved in a single ray trace, and use transparent detectors as non-invasive probes to monitor light at multiple locations in a system.
- BRO Digitizer - Import data from images in .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .png, and .wmf format, and use a flexible toolset for extracting numerical data from various curve types with context-sensitive output for select ASAP commands, including those for defining media, coatings, and apodizations. No longer will you need to pull out your ruler and calculator to take data points from paper graphs.
- Liquid Crystal Cell - Characterize liquid crystal materials using the new Liquid Crystal Cell (LCC) command. This highly flexible command, in its simplest form, can describe a linearly varying orientation. For more complex systems, use tables or mathematical expressions to describe director orientation and model a wide range of commercially important LC systems.
- General Uniaxial Medium - Use the new General Uniaxial Medium (GUM) to define uniaxial materials by physical thickness rather than optical thickness, and with optional reflectance specified using plane-of-incidence polarization states rather than device eigenmodes - useful for film modeling where optical thickness is not strictly controlled or where fractional-wave retardance variations are not of concern.
- Stokes-Vector Mode for Polarization - Simulate many new system types with the ability to track polarization in Stokes-vector mode. Explore partial polarization without the need for ensemble averaging to represent partially polarized states. Use the Poincaré Sphere Visualization Tool to analyze polarization characteristics, including the degree of polarization.
- Mueller Matrix Element - In concert with the capability to represent polarization using a Stokes-vector formalism, use the Mueller polarization device to describe elements that alter the polarization state and degree of polarization. This provides a path from polarized to unpolarized light that makes modeling depolarizing elements easier than ever.
- Optimization - Define contiguous blocks of variables, objectives, and constraints with quick multi-row selections in the ASAP Script editor, and use text-based Optimization State Files (.osf) to save, review, and later resume optimizations in progress. Quickly return to the last optimization cycle completed by importing settings and run data from a saved .osf file.
- REMOTE - For the first time ever in the optical software industry, perform true distributed processing using the full computing power of dozens or possibly hundreds of available machines. Initialize and perform distributed processing tasks on networked computers by licensing REMOTE sessions in a variety of bundles ranging from 1 to 100 sessions. Use the enhanced REMOTE user interface to control tasking of available computers, processors, and cores, and retrieve data from REMOTE sessions.
We appreciate your continued business and look forward to providing you with enhancements to your optical design environment. Customers must have a current Maintenance Agreement and an existing hardware key to install the updated release.
Visit BRO's Software Downloads page for the updated release.
