ARES

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The Automated Radio Evaluation Suite (ARES) is an open-source MATLAB-based platform for performing automated RF measurements on power amplifiers and antennas. It interfaces seamlessly with existing laboratory equipment via VISA (LAN, GPIB, USB), supporting streamlined data collection, visualization, and export, all within a comprehensive and user-friendly graphical user interface. Unlike commercial software, this app is open-source, customizable, and free. Download the latest release and follow the Getting Started guide to learn how to use it. Tutorials for Instrument Database, Antenna Measurement, and PA Measurements are available. All the documentation is hosted on Read the Docs.

Key Features

  • VISA-based instrument control via GPIB, LAN, and USB

  • Support for multiple ETS-Lindgren, Keysight, and Rohde & Schwarz instruments

  • Built in deembedding support and DC power supply control

  • Measure RF power amplifier Figures of Merit (FoM) over a range of test parameters

    • Gain

    • Output Power

    • Drain Efficiency

    • Power Added Efficiency

  • Measure and visualize 2D/3D antenna realized and absolute gain characteristics by:

    • Gain Comparison Method (i.e., Two-Antenna Method)

    • Gain Transfer Method (i.e., Comparison Antenna Method) using a reference measurement

  • Measure antenna return loss (magnitude and phase).

  • Save/load test measurements in standardized file formats for data analysis.

  • Plot test measurements within the app for quick visualization.

  • Export plots to PDF, PNG, JPEG, and TikZ for publication (TikZ export is unsupported for polar plots).

Export Tip

TikZ export is supported for Cartesian 2D plots. Polar and 3D plots support image formats only.

Contributors

ARES Lab Logo

Acknowledgments

This project makes use of several open-source tools. The authors acknowledge the following:

  • matlab2tikz for enabling high-quality \(\LaTeX\)-compatible plot exports. Copyright (c) 2008–2016 Nico Schlömer. All rights reserved.

E. Geerardyn, N. Schlömer, et. al. (2025). “matlab2tikz: Version 1.1.0”. Zenodo, Oct. 20, 2016. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.162246.