Keysight Enables End-to-End Electrical-Optical-Electrical Simulation for Data Center and Ethernet Design

Key Takeaways

• ADS 2026 adds unified electrical‑optical‑electrical simulation.
• Enables detection of cross‑domain signal integrity issues before silicon.
• Supports full‑duplex, multi‑wavelength links up to 800 Gbps+.
• Integrates High‑Speed Digital workflow with Photonic Designer tools.
• Cuts design cycle time by eliminating separate tool stitching.

Pulse Analysis

The explosion of artificial‑intelligence workloads and high‑performance computing has pushed data‑center interconnects toward optical speeds that were once the domain of research labs. By 2029, analysts expect 87 % of hyperscale transceivers to operate at 800 Gbps or higher, with 1.6 Tbps and 3.2 Tbps links on the near horizon. Traditional electronic‑only simulation tools cannot capture the subtle interactions between electrical drivers, photonic circuits, and the fiber channel, leading to hidden latency, jitter, and nonlinear distortion that only surface after silicon is fabricated.

Keysight’s ADS 2026 addresses this gap with an end‑to‑end Electrical‑Optical‑Electrical (EOE) co‑simulation engine. Leveraging the company’s High‑Speed Digital workflow and Photonic Designer, the platform models transmitters, wavelength‑division‑multiplexed photonic ICs, and receivers in a single, unified environment. Engineers can now evaluate full‑duplex link behavior, multi‑wavelength nonlinearities, and noise coupling across domains without manual data stitching. The patented multi‑domain bridge also supports PDK‑level component detail and RSoft photonic analysis, delivering a realistic system‑level view that accelerates trade‑off studies and reduces prototype iterations.

The practical impact is a shorter design cycle and lower risk for vendors racing to meet AI‑driven bandwidth demands. By catching cross‑domain signal‑integrity issues early, companies can avoid costly silicon respins and bring 800 Gbps and beyond products to market faster. As hyperscale operators continue to scale out their compute fabrics, tools like Keysight’s EOE simulation become essential infrastructure, enabling tighter integration between silicon photonics and electronic design teams and fostering the next wave of data‑center innovation.