Insider Brief
- Wave Photonics has launched its PDK Management Platform to integrate foundry process design kits with leading electronic design automation tools, automate S-parameter generation, and streamline access for photonic integrated circuit designers.
- The platform’s first adopter, CORNERSTONE, is using it to distribute PDKs across major EDA tools without manual setup, with built-in IP protection, NDA tracking, version control, and automated documentation.
- Compatibility includes Luceda Photonics, Cadence, Siemens, and GDSFactory, with Synopsys and Latitude Design Systems integration coming soon, aiming to simplify PDK management and accelerate photonic device development.
PRESS RELEASE — Wave Photonics announces the launch of its PDK Management Platform to integrate foundry PDKs with leading EDA tools, provide ready-calculated S-Parameters for circuit simulation, and provide easy access for designers. The platform reduces repetitive work involved in mapping PDKs to multiple EDA tools, allowing teams to focus on higher-value work. PIC designers can plug PDKs into the EDA tool of their choice with no extra setup required.
Launched today with the first foundry adopter, CORNERSTONE, the platform integrates PDKs into all major EDA tools with no manual setup required. Key features include:
- Built in compatibility with Wave Photonics’ EDA partners Luceda Photonics (IPKISS), Cadence (Virtuoso), Siemens (L-Edit Photonics), and the open-source GDSFactory, with functionality for Synopsys (OptoCompiler) and Latitude Design Systems (PIC Studio) coming soon.
- Automated generation of S-parameters that work out-of-the-box with EDA/circuit simulation tools.
- IP management through built-in blackboxing feature and NDA tracking, enabling controlled access and protecting the confidentiality of process data.
- Automated documentation and version control that provides designers with up-to-date documentation and helps avoid PDK mix-ups and accidental cross-use of conflicting PDKs.
Foundries can upload their PDKs directly to the platform. The platform then automatically generates S-parameters (which can use Wave Photonics’ fabrication models for improved accuracy), produces documentation, and packages the PDK for integration into EDA tools. Each packaged PDK is hosted on the platform with its metadata, enabling version tracking. Fine-grained access controls and NDA tracking features allow foundries to manage distribution and maintain confidentiality of the process data. Once PDK access is granted to the designers, designers can download the PDK and design immediately using their preferred EDA tool.
To learn more about how the platform works, explore wavephotonics.com/pdk-management.
CORNERSTONE, a silicon photonics rapid prototyping foundry, is using the platform to manage and distribute its PDKs efficiently across a global base of designers. Users can access the completely open-source CORNERSTONE PDK for each EDA tool here: cornerstone.wavephotonics.com
Dr. Emre Kaplan, PDK Manager at CORNERSTONE, said, “We’re excited to collaborate with Wave Photonics to bring our PDKs to a wider range of PIC design platforms. Together, we’re building a more connected ecosystem that simplifies access, strengthens PDK management, and accelerates the development of next-generation photonic devices. I’d like to thank the teams at Wave Photonics and CORNERSTONE for their shared commitment and collaboration in making this achievement possible.”
James Lee, Wave Photonics CEO, said, “For designers, there is a lot of repetitive work required to access, set up, and get S-Parameters for a PDK, and maintaining and updating the PDK for different tools can be a burden for fabs. With our EDA partners, we’d already built a solution to this for our PDKs and decided to offer this as a service to foundries so they can improve the designer experience and focus their efforts on high-value work and customer support.”