This example demonstrates a use case for the Photonic integrated circuit design workflow with OptoCompiler and INTERCONNECT, with a double-bus micro-ring resonator, and using INTERCONNECT as engine to run an ONA simulation. In this workflow, OptoCompiler acts as a complete design ecosystem cockpit for photonic IC by integrating schematic design, simulation, and layout, and INTERCONNECT serves as a background engine for photonic circuit simulation.
This article focuses mainly on the ONA analysis aspect of the workflow. For further information on the settings in OptoCompiler for using INTERCONNECT as an engine, see the Photonic integrated circuit design section of the Lumerical-OptoCompiler integration Knowledge Base article. For further information on running the simulation in general, see the OptoCompiler-INTERCONNECT Schematic Driven PIC design PAM4 example article, where the workflow is shown in detail with a transient (otran) simulation.
Setup and package contents
Once OptoCompiler and INTERCONNECT are installed, the environment necessary for this workflow is automatically set up. This example uses Lumerical products 2026 R1.2 release, and Synopsys 2026.03-SP1 release.
A test package is attached to this article, containing necessary files. Download the extract this package prior to starting the example. Ensure that the full path to this package does not contain white spaces.
The extracted folder contains a lib.defs file for OptoCompiler, as well as a folder named INTC_OC_ONA_example containing the necessary schematic and simulation setup.
Example summary
This workflow is completely driven from the OptoCompiler interface. INTERCONNECT runs in the background as an engine.
In-depth steps
Step 1 – Load PDKs and schematics
Navigate to the extracted folder of the package, and run OptoCompiler using optocompiler & from the directory where lib.defs file is. After which, open the Library Manager. The example is in the library INTC_OC_ONA_Example and cell db_Micro_Ring_Resonator.
The cell contains two views, the schematic view containing the circuit schematic, and the default_INTERCONNECT view containing setup for running the simulation.
Step 2 – Configure and run simulation
The schematic and simulation settings for this example are already set up. This section will outline important settings for usage prior to running the simulation. Confirm these settings and setup using the following steps:
- Open the schematic view to examine the schematic setup. This schematic contains the micro-ring resonator built with primitive INTERCONNECT elements. The roundtrip length of this ring resonator is approximately 82.8 um. There is no source present in the schematic, because the optical signal is injected during set up of the analysis.
- Open the default_INTERCONNECT view. This opens the PrimeWave window and contains simulation parameters and outputs for the ONA analysis.
- Double click on the ONA analysis that is already present in the top right to examine the simulation settings. The ONA analysis settings have multiple tabs, including standard, enhanced, and Root Element.
- Examine sweep settings in the Standard tab. Fields in the standard tab sets the wavelength sweep parameter, including the center and range of the source, as well as the number of points and mode injected into the system. The ONA Analysis Type dictates the type of analysis being ran. In this case, a frequency domain scattering data analysis is picked.
- Confirm the ONA source for the analysis. For ONA analysis, you must select a port at the root level to inject the optical signal.
In this case, the ONA source port is set as/I0/port_1, which is the input port of the bottom-left waveguide. This makes top-left port the drop port, and the bottom-right port the through port. You can also use thebutton to directly select a port from your schematic.
- Confirm the settings for the Enhanced tab. Here, the options peak excursion and pit excursion is modified to locate the correct peaks. For further information, see the INTERCONNECT Optical Network Analyzer element article.
- Confirm settings for the Root Element. Here, the bit rate, sample rate, and time window is set. This tab uses the same variables as the INTERCONNECT ROOT element.
- Confirm the output set up. In this case, the output is setup to plot the gain, group delay, and loss of the THRU and DROP ports. Here, the ona calculator command is used to probe for results from the ONA analysis.
Theonacommand takes two arguments. The first argument is the port to measure, and the second argument is the type of result to measure. The calculator accessible through the Results->Analyzer window contains the compatible results. Note that the method to access these are not the same as the INTERCONNECT ONA element, and the usual input number and mode number are unused. - After confirming the configuration above, run the simulation using the Simulation->Netlist and Run button from the top bar of the PrimeWave window.
Setting up and running the simulation is now complete. After your simulation completes, proceed to the next step to view the results.
Step 3 – Examine results
After the simulation completes, the results window automatically opens, and the configured outputs are shown in the default_INTERCONNECT test bench.
You can plot each of the results in WaveView, for example, the THRU port gain is shown below.
See Also
Lumerical-OptoCompiler integration, Using INTERCONNECT as an engine in OptoCompiler, OptoCompiler-INTERCONNECT Schematic Driven PIC design PAM4 example