The Breault Research Organisation (BRO) has released its next generation Advanced Systems Analysis Program (ASAP). For the ASAP 2008 release, BRO's development team has focused on CAD interoperability, polarisation enhancements, optimisation methods, and the ASAP HTML Help System. The 2008 release contains SolidWorks Layering, which is an enhancement to the BRO GTX file format allowing interoperability between the SolidWorks Parts Only 3D Modeling Engine and ASAP 2008 now allows users to assign layers and object names within SolidWorks - prior to analysis in ASAP. It also has polarisation enhancements, including numerous polarisation ray-tracing enhancements, including a new Realistic Polarizer Model, Stokes-value inputs and data views, Jones-value inputs and data views, and a Poincare sphere visualization tool.
Three new optimisation methods are included in the ASAP 2008 release: a Brent's Method routine for single-variable problems, as well as Downhill Simplex and Simulated Annealing Methods for multi-variable problems. ASAP 2008 also comes with a redesigned HTML Help System benefiting both new and experienced users. Users can now expect improved Help topics, easier access to parent topics and related information, and point-and-click access to example scripts. Industry applications for ASAP include automotive, architectural and specialty illumination design, simulation of laser systems and other coherent devices, stray light analysis of telescopes and space-based imaging systems, display modeling, complete biomedical system modelling, and micro-optical device modelling through FDTD interoperability.