• • • SUPPLEMENT • • •


MULTIPHYSICS FUSION:


CO-DESIGNING THE FUTURE OF MICROELECTRONICS


BY AMLENDU SHEKHAR CHOUBEY,


SENIOR DIRECTOR, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, SYNOPSYS


A


rtificial intelligence (AI) and high- performance computing (HPC) are driving unprecedented compute demand from the


silicon they run on. But delivering the next generation of advanced


chips is no longer a matter of shrinking process technologies. It is about co-designing and co-optimising early in the design cycle, helping to shrink the time-to-market window. As chip complexity increases, physics-related


challenges including signal, power, thermal and mechanical integrity, are becoming critical constraints at advanced nodes and in multi-die designs, requiring a unified EDA and multiphysics design approach. The need for co-packaged optics for higher data throughput is accelerating these trends. Such challenges are no longer downstream issues and must be explored early, they are exacerbated as the industry shifts from a single-die design to multi-die designs. As engineering teams face growing complexity,


these challenges are driving a new generation of system-aware co-design approaches that address interactions across multiple physical domains from the earliest stages of development in a unified flow.


Complexity doesn’t


stop at silicon As the industry embraces heterogeneous integration, engineering challenges increasingly extend beyond the chip itself. Electrical, thermal,


electromagnetic and mechanical effects interact across dies, packages and systems in ways that can be difficult to predict. Heat generated by one die can affect the performance and reliability of neighboring dies, while power delivery networks must support hundreds of watts across densely integrated structures. At the same time, high-speed interconnects for fast data movement introduce signal integrity challenges that blur the traditional boundaries between chip and package design.


Multiphysics is no longer a


downstream problem Historically, many of these issues were addressed separately and at the end of development. Today, that approach is becoming unsustainable. In modern multi-die designs, electrical, thermal, timing and electromagnetic effects continuously influence one another, making isolated multiphysics analysis less effective and increasing the risk of discovering critical issues late in the design cycle. This shift is being driven by several converging


trends: Advanced Packaging Adoption, Miniaturisation and Density, Heterogeneous Integration, Reliability and Yield Pressure, Faster, Time-to-Market and Regulatory and Customer Demands.


System technology co-design As a result, the industry is moving toward system - aware co-design approaches that bring design, multiphysics simulation and signoff technologies together earlier in the development process. Rather than treating thermal, power and electromagnetic analysis as independent verification steps, engineering teams can evaluate these interactions from architecture exploration through floorplanning and implementation to


38 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JULY/AUGUST 2026


signoff. Earlier visibility into cross-domain effects helps improve predictability, accelerate design convergence, reduce costly redesigns and ultimately deliver more reliable systems. In addition to improving predictability, this


approach helps align decisions across traditionally separate engineering disciplines. Architects, package designers, and silicon teams can evaluate tradeoffs using a shared view of system behavior, helping ensure that performance, power and reliability objectives remain balanced throughout development. This evolution reflects a broader reality: in


advanced multi-die designs, success increasingly depends not only on optimising individual components, but on understanding how the entire system behaves as a whole.


A foundation for next


generation AI systems The semiconductor industry has always advanced by overcoming new layers of complexity. Today, advanced packaging and multi-die designs represent the next frontier. This shift is reshaping how the industry approaches semiconductor development, from architecture planning through signoff and manufacturing. As multi-die designs move into the mainstream,


success will increasingly depend on understanding and optimising interactions across multiple physical domains simultaneously. For semiconductor designers, multiphysics is no longer a specialist consideration reserved for signoff, it is becoming a foundational element of modern chip engineering and a critical enabler of the next generation of AI systems.


www.synopsys.com electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk


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