Before an electronic design is put into physical manufacturing, engineers need a comprehensive way to evaluate it through a unified digital model, or Digital Twin. This simulation environment enables businesses to predict design behavior, evaluate critical factors, optimize design approaches, and verify reliability before producing a physical product.

This is particularly important for modern PCB designs, where high-speed signals, complex power systems, and increasing performance requirements make early analysis of electrical issues essential for reducing risk and shortening product development cycles.

Engineers need a Shift-Left approach that moves simulation and verification activities to the early stages of the design process. This allows businesses to proactively control factors such as Signal Integrity (SI), Power Integrity (PI), and EMI within familiar design environments.

1. Challenges in PCB Design Analysis

In practice, electronic design analysis still faces several limitations because different tools are often used separately for individual analysis tasks. Signal Integrity (SI), Power Integrity (PI), and EMI analysis solutions typically operate independently, resulting in:

Longer simulation times because each type of analysis must be performed separately.
Disrupted workflows when engineers need to switch between multiple tools.
A higher risk of errors when design data is manually transferred between different environments.
Difficulty in building a unified Digital Twin for the entire design.

To address these limitations, businesses need a platform capable of connecting different aspects of electronic design, from schematic analysis and pre-layout simulation to post-layout verification after the PCB is completed.

2. HyperLynx: PCB Simulation and Verification in a Unified Environment

HyperLynx from Siemens is a suite of electronic design simulation and verification solutions developed to help engineers comprehensively control electrical aspects of PCB designs. HyperLynx provides an ecosystem of tools integrated within a unified environment, supporting the entire workflow from:

Schematic design exploration and analysis,
Pre-layout evaluation,
Post-layout verification,
System-level electromagnetic analysis.

By enabling the creation of a Digital Twin for the electrical aspects of a product, HyperLynx helps simulate the electrical behavior of designs accurately at both board and system levels. The solution is designed to bring advanced simulation capabilities into existing PCB design workflows through automated guided flows. This enables engineers to make more accurate decisions early in the design process, reduce the number of physical prototypes required, and shorten product development cycles.

In addition, HyperLynx can work with various PCB design tools, making it a suitable complementary solution for many electronic product development workflows.

2.1. Signal Integrity (SI)

For designs using high-speed interfaces, ensuring signal quality is essential to maintaining system performance and stability.

HyperLynx SI supports engineers in analyzing interfaces such as:

Double Data Rate (DDR),
High-speed SerDes channels,
Other high-speed signals in electronic systems.

The solution enables Signal Integrity analysis from the early stages of design through LineSim, while also supporting post-layout verification without requiring a complex setup process.

2.2. Power Integrity (PI)

In modern electronic systems, many performance and stability issues originate from the power system rather than logic errors.

HyperLynx PI provides analysis tools that help engineers evaluate and optimize the Power Distribution Network (PDN), including:

DC Drop Analysis – Analysis of DC voltage drop.
AC Decoupling Analysis – Analysis of AC decoupling capacitor effectiveness.
PDN Optimization – Optimization of the power distribution network.

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2.3. Schematic Analysis (SA)

HyperLynx SA helps automate board-level schematic analysis within the PCB design workflow. The tool enables engineers to comprehensively check signal nets in schematics through an extensive model library, helping identify potential issues early before they affect subsequent stages of the design process.

2.4. Electrical Design Rule Check (DRC)

During PCB development, identifying electrical design rule violations early helps businesses reduce risks before moving into manufacturing. HyperLynx DRC uses 3D geometry checking technology to identify complex design issues that may be difficult to detect using traditional simulation methods.

In addition, HyperLynx DRC enables Signal Integrity specialists to delegate part of the design checking process to other engineers within the team while maintaining consistency and reliability in the results.

2.5. Analog Mixed-Signal (AMS)

For electronic designs that combine analog and digital circuits, accurately evaluating system performance before manufacturing is an important step. HyperLynx AMS supports simulation of analog and mixed-signal designs, helping engineers verify circuit behavior against specified electrical requirements.

2.6. Advanced Solvers (AS)

For complex PCB designs, particularly high-speed systems that require a high level of accuracy, electromagnetic modeling plays an important role in the analysis process. Advanced Solvers (AS) provides 3D modeling capabilities for system-level analysis, supporting accurate evaluation of:

High-speed DDR interfaces
SerDes channels
AC power integrity
Complex PCB structures

HyperLynx AS includes three main solver types:

Full Wave Solver (FWS): Used to simulate the electromagnetic behavior of complex 3D structures at very high frequencies. FWS is suitable for applications requiring high reliability in high-speed and high-frequency designs.
Hybrid Solver: Developed to optimize simulation efficiency for multilayer electronic structures. The tool performs analysis by dividing a large design into separate components such as traces, power/ground planes, and vias.
Quasi-Static Solver (Fast 3D Solver): Capable of handling larger structures than the Full Wave Solver and suitable for various modeling tasks in electronic design. It is commonly used to build package models with parasitic parameters, analyze pin-to-pin coupling, and simulate analog applications below 1 GHz.

3. Automated design optimization with 3D Explorer and Design Space Exploration

3.1. 3D Explorer (3DEX) – 3D Design Space Exploration

3D Explorer (3DEX) is designed for small- to medium-sized design spaces.

The tool enables high-accuracy electromagnetic (EM) modeling while remaining accessible to engineers without deep expertise in electromagnetic simulation.

With 3DEX, users can:

Quickly evaluate different design options,
Compare alternative configurations,
Identify solutions that meet technical requirements.

3.2. Design Space Exploration (DSE)

For complex designs with a large number of possible configurations, manually testing each configuration can consume significant time and resources. Design Space Exploration (DSE) uses optimization technology from HEEDS Software, combined with the intelligent SHERPA algorithm, to automatically explore design alternatives.

The solution can handle design spaces with more than 100,000 permutations, helping to:

Reduce manual testing time,
Quickly identify optimized design options,
Improve the efficiency of finding designs that meet performance and reliability requirements.

With the ability to combine multiple analysis tools within a unified environment, HyperLynx helps businesses transform PCB verification from a trial-and-error approach into simulation-driven design. Each component within the HyperLynx solution suite can operate independently, but its greatest value is achieved when the tools are combined within a unified workflow.

With experience implementing electronic design and simulation solutions for businesses, Vietbay is Siemens’ official authorized distribution partner in Vietnam, supporting businesses in selecting and implementing technologies that match their practical requirements.

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