MathWorks highlights RF digital twin workflows for radar and satellite communications at IMS 2026

MathWorks, the leading developer of mathematical computing software for designing engineered systems, will highlight a digital twin capability at the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2026. The capability integrates validated RF hardware models from global semiconductor leader Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) into system- and mission-level simulation, enabling earlier design and verification of complex radar and satellite communication systems.

"For RF digital twins to be trusted, the underlying models must be grounded in real hardware behaviour and validated across multiple levels of abstraction," said James Wolstencroft, Lead Systems Engineer, Leonardo UK.

ADI's RF and phased-array product portfolios support system-level design and verification of complex radar and satellite communication systems. Building on longstanding technical work together, integration with ADI products enables engineers to assess architectural trade-offs and performance earlier in the design cycle, before the hardware configuration is finalised.

Radar and satellite communication platforms increasingly rely on reconfigurable, wideband phased array architectures that must support multiple missions on shared hardware. These systems tightly couple RF, digital signal processing, and system design. As a result, component-level analysis alone is no longer sufficient to predict system behaviour. Through their joint efforts, MathWorks and ADI enable RF digital twins that combine hardware models with system-level simulation, allowing engineers to analyse end-to-end behaviour and understand how RF impairments affect higher-level outcomes, such as detection performance or link reliability.

"Accurately modelling RF hardware behaviour at the system level is essential for modern radar and satellite communications," said Dan Mantoni, Director of Simulation and Modelling at ADI. "By connecting validated ADI RF component models directly into system-level design environments from MathWorks, RF digital twins help engineers explore architectural options earlier, understand performance tradeoffs, and reduce risk as designs move toward implementation."

Leonardo, a global aerospace and defence company, is an early user of ADI digital twins and MathWorks workflow to support model-based RF system design for advanced radar programmes. Engineers can bring validated RF hardware behaviour into system- and mission-level simulations, enabling detailed analysis of architecture choices, signal processing configurations, and performance tradeoffs early in development. This approach allows engineering teams to concentrate testing on specific scenarios that most directly affect system performance and assess design options before hardware is available.

"For RF digital twins to be trusted, the underlying models must be grounded in real hardware behaviour and validated across multiple levels of abstraction," said James Wolstencroft, Lead Systems Engineer, Leonardo UK. "ADI digital twins reflect a disciplined approach to model development and correlation that allows our engineers to reuse consistent representations of RF components as designs mature, from early concepts through system integration and test."

MathWorks will highlight its collaboration with ADI during a technical workshop and a joint RF Systems Pavilion demonstration with Leonardo. The workshop, "Reconfigurable Wideband Phased Arrays for mmWave: System Design and Verification Across Radar and Wireless Domains," takes place Tuesday, June 9. The workshop will demonstrate how measurement and behavioural modelling techniques connect hardware prototypes with digital twins to evaluate architectural trade-offs and performance-optimisation strategies for 5G/6G links and active electronically scanned array radar systems. Attendees can also visit the RF Systems Pavilion, to see "Modelling the Future: RF Systems Powered by Simulation" running throughout the exhibition with continuously looping simulation content and daily live sessions—an opportunity to engage directly with experts from MathWorks, ADI, and Leonardo as well as learn how digital twins enable earlier system- and mission-level verification before committing to hardware.

MathWorks Technical Marketing Manager, RF & Mixed Signal, Giorgia Zucchelli will deliver a technical keynote on Tuesday, June 9, "RF Digital Twins: Trading-off Fidelity and Performance Across Models, Simulation Tools, and Hardware Measurements." The presentation will discuss methodologies for characterising beamformers, front-end modules, and other RF components through both measurement and simulation. Zucchelli will demonstrate techniques for validating model accuracy in system-level design contexts, using a highly programmable wideband mmWave beamformer as a practical example, with a focus on end-to-end design and simulation for radar applications.

"IMS brings together the engineers who are pushing the limits of radar and satellite communications, which makes it the right setting to introduce this RF digital twin capability," said Zucchelli. "These joint efforts with ADI demonstrate the value of bringing validated hardware models into a single, system-level workflow that connects algorithms, RF behaviour, and performance analysis. It represents an important first step in our longer-term strategy to provide digital twin models for more mainstream components, helping establish this approach as a practical foundation for designing, verifying, and evolving complex RF systems."