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Technology
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Computer aided design (CAD) has been long been one way companies attempt to keep pace, but traditional CAD software focuses on only parts and pieces of the circuit, and most still require an advanced knowledge of optical design. To design next generation optical with the speed, accuracy, and cost efficiencies necessary to satisfy market demand, product designers can use coherent, end-to-end Apollo CAD tool with intrinsic knowledge of basic optical foundations.
Apollo is proud to have this vision to propose and implement such advanced CAD tool in Photonic industry. By introducing object oriented design flow (OODF) in its new product Apollo Photonics Solutions Suite (APSS) in 2001, Apollo had a break through in CAD technology offering an integrated hierarchal platform for complete solution.
Integrated Modeling
Integration of device and circuit modeling within a hierarchical framework is the most direct and efficient approach to designing a circuit. With a common database capable of sharing information among modules, circuits can be created vertically instead of horizontally. This integration is accomplished in APSS (Apollo Photonic Solutions Suite) by segmenting the four core steps into modules across a common platform, making device design more logical and coherent. The core steps include Material design, Waveguide design, Device design, and Circuit design. As a truly comprehensive optical CAD tool, ASS provides a platform for all these steps.
Material Design
Material design lays the groundwork for the end product. In APSS, designers have fingertip access to the full range of material models used in optical design, from standard formulas to complicated models incorporating the effects of wavelength, temperature, and other external environmental parameters. Access to commonly used design calculation in APSS reduces repetitive input and the opportunity for error.
Waveguide Design
The next logical step in the design of an optical networking product is waveguide design. Building material design in APSS, designer can move quickly to the next level o process subjective waveguide geometry. As a comprehensive waveguide suite, APSS enables designers to design and optimize their waveguide designs considering all aspects of the waveguide such as high order modes, bending loss, far field, and near field effects.
Device Design
Device design is the third step in the process of circuit design. This critical step is frequently found as a separated CAD tool. In APSS by integrating this module, designers can easily optimize their device by using all waveguide information, and even changing the waveguide to achieve the better design. Design templates and knowledge-based libraries are perhaps the most valuable option in APSS to develop optical devices. Built-in libraries for switches, splitters in WDM applications such as multi mode interference (MMI), star couplers, array waveguide gratings (AWG), and other standard component such as Y-junction, directional coupler, bends, facets, and gaps offer easy stating points for designers. APSS provides all information about the simulated device, such as insertion loss, return loss, polarization dependency loss, group delay, dispersion loss, power splitting ratio…
Circuit Design
The last step is to design Photonic integrated circuits (PIC). In APSS there is a special solver is provided to efficiently simulate the circuit. APSS provides a powerful tool to consider how the connector is set up using symbolic devices in the physical circuit layout so the designs are easily visualized, particularly for multi-port devices. APSS intelligently uses proper connector for each setup. As a final stage of checking the circuit, and the most important part in circuit performance is to estimate the quality of connectors. Otherwise even using the best devices, a good circuit cannot be achieved. The use of neural network technology is also considered in APSS to facilitate abstraction transition from the low level to the high level of the model hierarchy, creating connections between devices rather than spending exhaustive calculations.
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