• • Significantly updated general-purpose AWG and Scope interface modules for the vendor-agnostic integration of physical equipment and simulation environment
  • New dedicated modules interfacing with the Keysight M8199B AWG and their UXR oscilloscope series

• • Upgraded NgSpice module to support version 44.2 of the open-source SPICE simulator, which enables users to load compact Verilog-A models at run-time via the OSDI interface as part of full photonic system simulations
  • Work flow demo illustrating the compilation and simulation of a Verilog-A model of a voltage-controlled oscillator
  • Demo showing the simulation of a forced Van der Pol oscillator, solving second-order differential equations with specified initial conditions using a Verilog-A model
  • Demo simulating the characteristics of a microring modulator, illustrating how Verilog-A models of optoelectronic or photonic devices can be included

• • New experimental traveling-wave MZM module accounting for electrical impedance mismatch, signal reflections, and the velocity mismatch between optical wave and microwave
  • Enhanced module SmatrixMeasuredOpt for reading parameter-dependent S-matrices from a file with a new morphing-based algorithm to define interpolation settings for magnitude and phase, and optional integrity checks before simulation
  • Enhanced S-matrix assembly algorithm in the SMATRIX domain for fast and memory-efficient implementation via optional coarse frequency grid evaluation with subsequent interpolation, and control of supported polarization modes
  • New macro to add SMATRIX domain control parameters and illustrative demo for a scalable cascaded MRR DeMUX

• Significantly extended macro for visualizing and creating PhotonicsTLM-based multisection and multicontact devices by enabling the addition, deletion, or duplication of sections
• Demo characterizing the jitter of a hybrid mode-locked laser using a sinusoidal waveform
• Demo illustrating a hybrid integrated MLL design coupling an III/V RSOA to an external low-loss SiN cavity consisting of a spiral waveguide and a Sagnac mirror
• Demo illustrating the electro-optic expansion of a mutually injection-locked gain-switched optical frequency comb
• Extended macros for characterizing and creating measured passive circuits to support SMATRIX galaxies with an arbitrary number of ports
• Enhanced macro for characterizing passive circuits to choose between time- and frequency-domain simulation, and view all transfer functions simultaneously
• Enhanced module and corresponding macro for the characterization of optical modulators with improved usability and new parameters controlling the generated optical and electrical signals

• • Improved handling of corrupted schematics to ease repair by enabling opening them in the restricted mode and replacement of unknown modules with a placeholder
  • Improved handling of order of module execution by optionally synchronizing predecessors and successors, and ordering the initialization of modules

• New silent mode for the Jupyter Cosim module, running JupyterLab in the background without user interaction
• New module capable of collecting and storing float values as an argument to a user-defined function for evaluation over iterative simulations in iterations, multiple runs, and sweeps
• New multiport cosimulation interfaces enabling sending and receiving complex, float, and electrical signals via multiple connections
• Improved Message Log with Float Input module to dynamically adapt to the size of the inputs
• New Input Value modules for receiving data from external processes and schematics with adequate APIs in SED and simulation scripts, serving as counterparts to the existing Post Value modules

VPIphotonics Design Suite 11.6 is a comprehensive software platform for photonic design automation, enabling engineers and researchers to model, simulate, analyze, and optimize photonic integrated circuits (PICs), optoelectronic components, fiber-based devices, and optical transmission systems.  this version builds on VPIphotonics’ legacy of embedding expert knowledge from specialized tools into a unified, flexible environment, supporting end-to-end workflows from R&D to product deployment. It sets the industry standard for photonic innovation by providing high-fidelity numerical algorithms tailored to applications in telecommunications, datacom, sensing, and high-power photonics.