The OKI Group’s PCB business unit, OKI Circuit Technology (OTC), has announced the development of High-Accuracy Simulation Technology for High-Frequency Vias, designed to optimize 1.6 Tbps-class high-speed transmission PCBs for next-generation AI data centers. The innovation aims to improve signal integrity and accelerate development and mass production of complex multilayer PCBs.
As the adoption of generative AI expands globally, AI servers, data centers, and AI semiconductors are rapidly increasing in capacity and speed. Correspondingly, the printed circuit boards used in these systems are becoming increasingly multilayered and structurally intricate. Engineers face challenges in minimizing transmission losses and signal reflections, which can impede high-speed data transfer. Critical to addressing these challenges are vias—the electrical connectors linking layers within a multilayer PCB. Controlling via characteristic impedance is essential to minimize reflections and ensure stable high-frequency signal transmission.
At frequencies exceeding 50 GHz, conventional modeling approaches struggle to accurately account for manufacturing variations, material properties, and complex high-frequency effects. This discrepancy between simulations and measured results has historically posed a challenge for PCB designers seeking to meet stringent signal integrity requirements.
OKI’s new simulation technology tackles these challenges by leveraging a proprietary database of finished dimensions, manufacturing variations, and material characteristics. By integrating 3D electromagnetic field analysis with accumulated evaluation data, the system enables highly accurate via modeling, allowing engineers to optimize via structure, dimensions, and manufacturing margins before fabrication. This predictive capability helps ensure that simulation results closely reflect actual product performance, reducing development cycles and facilitating faster time-to-market for high-speed PCBs.
“By precisely controlling via characteristics at high frequencies, we can help customers achieve reliable signal transmission even in highly dense multilayer PCBs,” said Masaya Suzuki, President of OKI Circuit Technology. “This technology is particularly important for AI data center applications, where performance and speed are critical.”
OTC’s development of this high-accuracy simulation technology is expected to strengthen OKI’s position as a key partner for AI data center hardware developers, supporting the production of next-generation high-speed transmission PCBs with unprecedented reliability.
