Presentation
Agile Silicon: A Gitops-Based PD Orchestration Framework Enabling <10-Person PD Team to Deliver CPO Tapeouts
DescriptionCo-packaged optics (CPO) presents unique physical design challenges: numerous small blocks with irregular shapes to accommodate photonics and analog integration, combined with frequent RTL changes extending close to tapeout due to evolving system architectures of cutting-edge silicon photonics design. Traditional manual PD flows widely used in the industry cannot sustain rapid iteration requirements while maintaining team scalability. We present a production-grade GitOps-based PD orchestration framework that treats PD recipes as version-controlled code, enabling automated synthesis through signoff with CI/CD integration. Our framework leverages YAML/Jinja configuration templates, parallel multi-block execution, commercial LLM APIs enabled with EDA tool docs, and human-in-the-loop validation via automated QoR regression and Slack notifications. Deployed at Lighmatter, a fabless CPO company, this system enabled a team of fewer than 10 PD engineers to successfully deliver multiple test chips and product tapeouts with boosted productivity compared to industry baselines, while seamlessly absorbing RTL changes in the final two months before tapeout. Beyond immediate productivity gains, this infrastructure establishes the data collection and execution framework necessary for AI-agent-assisted PD optimization, providing auditable run histories and structured metrics that serve as training data for autonomous design exploration.
Event Type
Engineering Poster
TimeTuesday, July 285:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
LocationDAC Pavilion, Exhibit Floor