The PowerSynth project started in 2010 when Prof. Mantooth realized that wide bandgap power module layout was too multidimensional and manual. After winning a 2009 R&D 100 Award for the world's highest temperature power module at the time, a collaborative effort with Rohm Semiconductor, Arkansas Power Electronics International, and the University of Arkansas, he and his team's research was leading the field. But, it was clearly a process in need of improvement and formalization. Prof. Yarui Peng co-leads the Powersynth team since 2017 and brings in his expertise in EDA for 3D ICs and multi-chip packaging. His team started to formulate the CAD algorithms, EDA methodologies, and design flows since PowerSynth v1.1.

Our vision is to develop PowerSynth as a flag-bearer for EDA in power electronics, and inspire new computer-aided design methodologies, similar to how EDA reshaped the VLSI industry in the 1980s. The PowerSynth project began with PC board layout optimization and then grew to 2D (v1.1), 2.5D (v1.9) and now 3D (v2) power module layout generation. The project continues to this day and has been supported by the NSF GRAPES Center, the NSF POETS Center, NSF under a GOALI grant with ANSYS, and the Army Research Laboratory. Several companies have also had vital input into the tool's specifications and requirements.

The listing below describes some of the details and key publications of versions of the tool that we make freely available for download. If you wish to support the PowerSynth project, please contact Prof. Alan Mantooth or Prof. Yarui Peng for more information.

For publications not associated with a specific release, please refer to the publication page for the most up-to-date publication list and downloadable pdfs.

PowerSynth (v1.4) won the First Place Award in ECCE 2021 Student Demo Competition (Software Track)! Demonstration title: PowerSynth an MCPMs Layout Optimization Tool (University of Arkansas), Team Members: Quang Le, Imam Al Razi, Tristan Evans, Alan Mantooth (Advisor), Yarui Peng (Advisor)

The PowerSynth 1 and 2 are now open-sourced. Check it out on github!

Overview Video of PowerSynth 1 (v1.4) and PowerSynth 2 (v2.0)

The software can be evaluated and distributed for academic research and non-commercial use. The University of Arkansas only requests that you attribute this work in your publications and presentations as appropriate in return for the free usage of the tool.

The software is provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software.

Overview

Abstract

Multi-Chip Power Modules (MCPM) are a critical component in power conversion applications. Power modules and their layout optimization have been considered a crucial step to achieving maximum performance. PowerSynth 2 (PS2) is an electronic design automation (EDA) tool for the generation and optimization of power module layouts. Currently, v2.0 uses NSGA-II and Randomization for layout optimization. However, existing NSGA-II implementation is not aware of the layout hierarchy, resulting in a less desirable solution space than Randomization. To address this limitation, this research presents a hierarchical optimization framework for the layout synthesis process in PowerSynth 2. Experimental results show that proposed hierarchical algorithms improve over the existing optimization algorithms. Moreover, MOPSO is faster than NSGA-II to converge to Pareto Front with similar solution space coverage.

Note

A new installer is built starting in v2.1. An essential Anaconda python runtime environment are included in the installer. However, the source code and additional pypi packages will be downloaded automatically through a post-installation script. This requires you to have online access to github and pypi during installation.

This version requires Matlab 2022b or higher installed at default location to run. For installation instructions, please refer to E3DA Github PowerSynth2-pkg or pkg/README.md file within the installation.

For a new feature overview, you can checkout a PS2 v2.1 demo video based on the v2.1 windows release version.

Release (v2.1)

[Windows Package] [Linux Package] [User Manual]

Abstract

Electronics Design Automation (EDA) has shown significant importance in the power electronics industry. As power electronic circuits become more complex, the traditional trial-and-error approach in physical design becomes less effective and time-consuming. Novel packaging technologies and intelligent design automation solutions are crucial to overcome these challenges and produce reliable solutions. PowerSynth 2 is an EDA tool for generating and optimizing power module layouts. To extend the layout synthesis capability beyond power modules, the layout engine needs to consider various custom components such as capacitors, inductors, and gate drivers. This research presents a novel framework for the layout synthesis process in PowerSynth 2 to allow importing user-defined components. The proposed algorithm can effectively generate a Power Electronics layout by introducing a hierarchical framework for custom components and pin pads. It will extend the physical design process to broader design types, such as converters and server boards. Example converter designs are tested, demonstrating the efficiency and scalability of the proposed design tools.

Note

This is the work-in-progress version that is still in development stage. It is release for testing and for development instead of regular users. It is not fully tested and configuration will change. The code is automatically tracking the latest dev branch on Github.

A new installer is built starting in v2.1. An essential Anaconda python runtime environment are included in the installer. However, the source code and additional pypi packages will be downloaded automatically through a post-installation script. This requires you to have online access to github and pypi during installation.

This version requires Matlab 2022b or higher installed at default location to run. For installation instructions, please refer to E3DA Github PowerSynth2-pkg (dev branch).

Release (v2.2)

[Windows Package] [Linux Package]

Related Publications

Imam Al Razi, Quang Le, Tristan Evans, H. Alan Mantooth, and Yarui Peng, "PowerSynth 2: Physical Design Automation for High-Density 3D Multi-Chip Power Modules", IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 4698-4713, 2023. [PDF]

Note

This version requires Matlab 2022b installed at default location to run. The source code and runtime environment are included in the package.
For installation instructions, please refer to pkg/README.md file inside the package.

For a usage overview, you can checkout a PS2 pre-2.0 demo video based on a pre-2.0 linux development version.

Release (v2.0)

[Windows Package] [Linux Package] [User Manual]

Archived Release

These release packages are posted for archival purposes of PowerSynth 1. Please use the supported PowerSynth 2 packages.

Release (v1.1)

Tristan Evans, Quang Le, Shilpi Mukherjee, Imam Al Razi, Tom Vrotsos, Yarui Peng, and H. Alan Mantooth, "Powersynth: A Power Module Layout Generation Tool", IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 5063–5078, Jun 2019, Highlighted Paper. [PDF]

[Windows Package] [User Manual]

Release (v1.3)

Yarui Peng, Quang Le, Imam Al Razi, Shilpi Mukherjee, Tristan Evans, and H. Alan Mantooth, "PowerSynth Progression on Layout Optimization for Reliability and Signal Integrity", IEICE Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 124-144, Apr 2020, Invited Paper. [PDF]

[Windows Package] [User Manual]

Release (v1.4)

Tristan Evans, Shilpi Mukherjee, Yarui Peng, and H. Alan Mantooth, "Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools and Considerations for Electro-Thermo-Mechanical Co-Design of High Voltage Power Modules", in Proc. IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, pp. 5046–5052, Oct 2020. [PDF]

[Windows Package] [User Manual]

Release (v1.9)

Imam Al Razi, Quang Le, Tristan Evans, Shilpi Mukherjee, H. Alan Mantooth, and Yarui Peng, "PowerSynth Design Automation Flow for Hierarchical and Heterogeneous 2.5D Multi-Chip Power Modules", IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 8919–8933, 2021. [PDF]

[Windows Package] [User Manual]

Abstract

We are currently developping new features for PowerSynth including layout synthesis for power converters, and reliability optimizations. Will update once a new package is released.

Related Publications

In Submission

Release (vNext)

Comming Soon!