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AttoTude Accelerates Sub-THz Interconnect IC Design with Keysight EDA Software
AttoTude has reduced its design cycles by more than 50% while achieving first-pass silicon success across advanced RF, sub-THz, and THz tape-outs that underpin its guided-wave interconnect platform.
www.keysight.com
AttoTude, a developer of ASICs for dielectric interconnect architectures in AI and hyperscale data center environments, has integrated the Keysight Advanced Design System (ADS) platform and design data management software. The platform enables AttoTude to complete complex design cycles in under six weeks across radio frequency (RF), sub-terahertz (sub-THz), and terahertz (THz) tape-outs for guided-wave interconnect hardware.
High-Frequency Waveguide Simulation and Data Traceability
As hyperscale computing workloads scale, AttoTude designs specialized integrated circuits delivering per-lane data transfer rates of 200 Gbps, 400 Gbps, and 800 Gbps. At these multi-gigabit throughputs and extreme operating frequencies, on-chip traces behave as physical waveguides, making high-precision electromagnetic (EM) modeling and unified simulation essential to prevent costly silicon re-spins.
Key implementation benefits include:
- Shortened Design Cycles: Cut overall IC development schedules by over 50%, reducing tape-out turnaround times to less than six weeks.
- Electromagnetic & Layout Co-Design: Maintained synchronization between physical layouts, 3D electromagnetic models, and circuit simulations across sub-THz and THz domains.
- Unified Design Data Management: Established a centralized, version-controlled repository providing full engineering traceability and visibility across parallel design teams.
- System-Level Trade-Off Analysis: Enabled pre-silicon scenario exploration and tight simulation-to-measurement correlation to ensure designs meet operational targets on the first fabrication pass.
With the global semiconductor market projected to surpass $1.3 trillion in 2026 and artificial intelligence silicon comprising roughly 30% of total industry revenue, design velocity and simulation accuracy provide a critical framework for scaling next-generation data center interconnects.
Additional Context
This section details technical specifications not included in the original news release.
At carrier frequencies spanning 100 GHz to 300 GHz and beyond (sub-THz and THz bands), planar transmission lines on silicon—such as microstrips and grounded coplanar waveguides—experience severe signal degradation driven by dielectric substrate loss, skin-effect conductor resistance, and substrate mode propagation. Guided-wave dielectric interconnects overcome these physical transmission limits by coupling sub-THz electromagnetic energy directly into flexible, low-loss dielectric polymer waveguides (such as liquid crystal polymer or fluoropolymer channels), bypassing standard copper trace attenuation over rack-to-rack and board-to-board distances.
To model high-frequency IC transitions, EDA software suites utilize full-wave 3D finite element method (FEM) and method of moments (MoM) electromagnetic solvers coupled directly with transient and harmonic-balance non-linear circuit simulators. This co-simulation framework evaluates complex high-frequency phenomena—including surface roughness scattering, substrate coupling parasitics, transition mode conversion, and high-order modal dispersion—allowing engineering teams to optimize multi-lane PAM4 and coherent modulation transceivers operating at data rates exceeding 200 Gbps per lane without signal distortion.
Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.
Additional Context
This section details technical specifications not included in the original news release.
At carrier frequencies spanning 100 GHz to 300 GHz and beyond (sub-THz and THz bands), planar transmission lines on silicon—such as microstrips and grounded coplanar waveguides—experience severe signal degradation driven by dielectric substrate loss, skin-effect conductor resistance, and substrate mode propagation. Guided-wave dielectric interconnects overcome these physical transmission limits by coupling sub-THz electromagnetic energy directly into flexible, low-loss dielectric polymer waveguides (such as liquid crystal polymer or fluoropolymer channels), bypassing standard copper trace attenuation over rack-to-rack and board-to-board distances.
To model high-frequency IC transitions, EDA software suites utilize full-wave 3D finite element method (FEM) and method of moments (MoM) electromagnetic solvers coupled directly with transient and harmonic-balance non-linear circuit simulators. This co-simulation framework evaluates complex high-frequency phenomena—including surface roughness scattering, substrate coupling parasitics, transition mode conversion, and high-order modal dispersion—allowing engineering teams to optimize multi-lane PAM4 and coherent modulation transceivers operating at data rates exceeding 200 Gbps per lane without signal distortion.
Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.
