Synopsys OptSim for Sensor Systems

Photonic and fiber-optic sensors find applications in wide-ranging industry segments. The photonic sensors have many advantages over mechanical sensors: low power consumption, smaller size, a smaller number of moving parts, lower maintenance, and immunity to RF interference. Designing such systems require accurate modeling of sensor physics, optical phase, bidirectional signal propagation, and interferometry – all of which are supported in Synopsys OptSim, making it an ideal tool for modeling photonic sensor systems for wide-ranging civilian, industrial, avionic and defense applications.

Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave LIDAR schematic in OptSim
Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave LIDAR schematic in OptSim, transmitted and reflected signals
Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave LIDAR schematic in OptSim: beat tone

Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) LiDAR: Schematic in Synopsys OptSim (top), transmitted & reflected signals, and the beat tone (bottom).

Benefits

  • Supports bidirectional propagation of signals, accurate tracking of phase and interferometry
  • Models impact of nonlinearities, polarization dependence, noise, jitter, crosstalk, and complex interplay of impairments
  • Comes pre-supplied with rich libraries of photonic sensing elements: Waveguide, fiber, fiber gratings, interferometers, ring filters, etc.
  • Delivers powerful options for design setup, Monte Carlo analyses, data visualization, plotting and management of project resources

Applications

  • Aerospace & Defense: Interferometric Fiber-optic Gyroscope (iFoG)
  • Automotive: Time-of-flight (ToF) and FMCW LiDAR systems
  • Biomedical: Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
  • Industrial Sensors: Gas Sensor, Thermal and Stress Sensors

Application Gallery