arXiv subjects

Jürgen Götze

Publications and source records attributed to Jürgen Götze.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Buffer-Parameterized Machine Learning Surrogate Models for Cross-Technology Signal Integrity Analysis and Optimization

Signal integrity (SI) analysis in printed circuit board (PCB) interconnects faces increasing complexity due to diverse integrated circuit (IC) buffer technologies, varying operating conditions, and manufacturing tolerances. Existing machine learning (ML) surrogate models for the prediction of SI metrics such as the inner eye contour, eye-height (EH), eye-width (EW), and transient waveform features often rely on fixed buffer parameters, limiting the adaptability across design and technology variations. This paper introduces a buffer-parameterized ML surrogate modeling methodology capable of handling cross-technology variations without retraining by treating IC buffer characteristics, e.g., clock frequency, supply voltage, rise/fall times, jitter, and internal resistors and capacitors, as model inputs in addition to the PCB parameters. To identify the optimal surrogate architecture for this high-dimensional space, tree-based methods (RFR/GBM), kernel methods (SVR/KRR), Gaussian process regression (GPR), and neural networks are compared. The buffer-parameterized approach is validated using a complex interconnect with a total of 44 design parameters. In addition to demonstrating strong generalization, the results show that neural networks outperform other ML models on large datasets, while the anisotropic GPR excels in low-data regimes. Finally, the practical value of the ML surrogate models is demonstrated through a cross-technology design space exploration and optimization scenario, which indicates large computational speedups for eye mask compliance checking compared to simulation.

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arXiv2026

Sequence-to-Sequence Neural Surrogate Modeling of Transient Responses in High-Speed Links with Variable Design Parameters

This paper presents sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) neural surrogates for high-speed transient response modeling and signal integrity analysis in fixed and variable design parameter spaces. To identify the structural requirements for prediction accuracy, multiple neural architectures were evaluated with respect to different training strategies such as sample-based and unit interval-based, as well as input configurations such as TX-only and TX+RX. For fixed design parameters, feedforward neural networks achieve accuracy comparable to recurrent models while requiring lower computational cost, as the static mapping can be approximated by fully connected and non-sequential representations. Variable design parameters alter the electromagnetic characteristics of the interconnect, which creates parameter-dependent temporal dynamics that require sequence-aware architectures to resolve the evolving interactions within the transient response. The results based on a 14-dimensional variable design parameter scenario show that while autoregressive TX+RX feedback suffers from severe phase drift and error propagation under variable conditions, non-autoregressive TX-only inference leads to stability. To overcome the structural limitations of standard decoders, a recurrent Early Fusion LSTM is proposed, which injects design parameters at the initial encoding stage. This approach achieves superior prediction accuracy, with an RMSE of 31.0 mV and an R2 of 99.51% for transient waveform prediction, an RMSE of 30.7 mV and an R2 of 99.57% for eye-height prediction, and an RMSE of 19.5 ps and an R2 of 99.94% for eye-width prediction. These results demonstrate that neural seq2seq surrogates are accurate for transient response modeling and signal integrity analysis in complex variable design parameter spaces.

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arXiv2026

Amortized Neural Optimization for Pre-Layout Signal Integrity Design Space Exploration using Differentiable Surrogates

Pre-layout design space exploration (DSE) for high-speed signal integrity (SI) analysis is often limited by the computational cost of simulations and iterative optimization algorithms within modern electronic design automation (EDA) workflows. While machine learning surrogate models accelerate the simulation step, optimizing designs still requires utilizing iterative black-box search methods. This iterative nature scales poorly and makes multi-corner sweeps computationally expensive. As a solution, this paper proposes amortized neural optimization (ANO) for pre-layout SI design. ANO avoids iterative black-box inference and utilizes a fully differentiable neural network surrogate model from which it extracts gradient information to train a global optimization policy. This does not solve the optimization problem repeatedly at inference, but learns the process offline, which amortizes the computational cost. Once the ANO policy is trained, it maps different channel contexts to near-optimal design parameters in a single deterministic forward pass. The efficiency and accuracy of the ANO framework are demonstrated based on three SI design scenarios, including DDR5 decision feedback equalization (DFE), 9-dimensional SerDes Tx/Rx co-equalization, and DDR3 DQS differential pair eye diagram optimization under intra-pair skew constraints. Trading roughly 10% in optimality compared to instance-specific black-box algorithms results in speedups of three to four orders of magnitude. For a large-scale 320,000-instance multi-corner SerDes sweep optimization, ANO reduces what would have taken days of computation using iterative search algorithms to a single batched forward pass that completes in milliseconds. This transforms computationally expensive SI optimization into real-time and interactive pre-layout DSE.

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arXiv2026

Surrogate-Assisted Framework for SI-Compliant Interconnect Design Optimization Using the Earth Mover's Distance

This work presents a deterministic, machine-assisted framework for SI-compliant PCB design based on the Earth Mover's Distance (EMD). In contrast to conventional surrogate-based optimization methods that rely on iterative black-box search procedures, the proposed approach follows an interpretable, sequential evaluation strategy. Neural surrogate models are first used to efficiently predict waveform describing features from topology-dependent design parameters. A decision tree then acts as a physically motivated quality gate that identifies SI-compliant waveforms according to predefined SI criteria. Within the resulting valid solution space, the Earth Mover's Distance is employed as a similarity metric to rank candidate designs according to their proximity to an ideal reference signal. This enables not only the deterministic identification of admissible parameter regions but also a transparent prioritization of physically superior solutions without inverse modeling or stochastic search procedures. The methodology is demonstrated using a large-scale set of simulated DDR3 fly-by waveforms. By combining surrogate prediction, interpretable classification, and EMD-based waveform evaluation, the framework provides an explainable and computationally efficient alternative to conventional optimization strategies for supporting PCB development with AI-based methods.

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