Flexcompute launches PhotonForge design platform
The company says its new platform offers a streamlined end-to-end workflow for PIC design and next-level performance with GPU-accelerated simulations
Flexcompute, a company focusing on simulation technology, has announced the launch of PhotonForge, which it describes as a groundbreaking photonic design automation platform that streamlines the entire PIC development process within a unified environment. As photonics emerges as the key to overcoming communication bottlenecks in modern datacentres, PhotonForge aims to deliver an integrated solution designed to address the industry’s most urgent challenges.
While computing power has surged by an astonishing factor of 60,000 in recent years, input/output bandwidth and memory speeds lag behind, creating a critical performance gap that risks hindering advancements in AI and large-scale computing. PhotonForge seeks to empower designers to unlock the bandwidth and energy efficiency required for tomorrow’s most demanding applications, delivering scalable, efficient, and reliable photonic advancements.
According to Flexcompute, PhotonForge integrates design, optimisation, simulation, and fabrication-ready layouts into a seamless interface to effortlessly create foundry-ready designs. The company says its new platform addresses a challenge in photonics: unifying diverse tools and workflows into a cohesive, end-to-end solution.
By leveraging GPU-accelerated, multi-physics solvers and enabling compatibility with foundry Process Design Kits, Flexcompute says PhotonForge delivers a layout editor, device-level simulation (optical, electrical), compact model generation, circuit-level simulations, and signal integrity analysis. The goal of this integrated approach is to reduce tape-out errors, shorten time-to-market, and lower development costs to accelerate photonic innovation.
“PhotonForge is a groundbreaking solution that redefines photonic device design and automation,” said Vera Yang, president of Flexcompute. “We are empowering innovators to accelerate design, reduce time-to-market, and unlock new growth.”
One of PhotonForge’s most powerful features is its GPU-accelerated multi-physics capabilities, says Flexcompute. According to the company, its cutting-edge solvers, including FDTD, MODE, RF, and CHARGE, enable PhotonForge to perform simulations up to 500 times faster than traditional methods. This advanced speed allows designers to explore design possibilities, to optimise and bring products to market with increased confidence and efficiency, Flexcompute adds.
“The industry’s major players are all doubling down on co-packaged optics to turbocharge I/O bandwidth,” said Prashanta Kharel, technology strategist at Flexcompute. “GPU-accelerated computing is the only way to tackle the complex, multi-dimensional problems standing in the way. It’s the future of photonics, and we’re making it happen.”
