System Requirements

Operating Systems Supported

Photonic Solutions software supports the 64-bit Synopsys V-Foundation. For details, please visit the Synopsys Release Specific Support page.

Synopsys cannot unconditionally guarantee support for all Linux distributions. However, in practice, we have found that the software can be configured to run successfully on most modern 64-bit Linux distributions.

FullWAVE FDTD

FullWAVE GPU Requirements:

  • A NVIDIA GPU card with Turing or higher architecture. 
  • A recent enough CUDA driver needs to be installed (corresponding to CUDA 12.3 or greater). 
  • For Multi-GPU operation on Windows the GPUs need to be set in TCC mode. 

Installation Guides

Make sure you have the license file installer(s), and USB dongle (if applicable) that corresponds to the software you are installing. There are three installers; depending on the products you are licensed for you may install one, two, or all three suites in any order. Note that you need to install both the ‘System’ and ‘OptoDesigner’ installer for the PIC Design Suite.

  • Windows: Run the installers, selecting the license mode: Nodelocked licenses are standalone copies of the software used on one computer, Network licenses are installed on a license server and are shared among different computers. Select the license file (nodelocked only) or the name of the license server (network only) when prompted.
  • Linux: See instructions in the Installation Guide below.

Download the Photonic Solutions Installation Guide for instructions for detailed instructions for installing on Windows and Linux operating systems. Contact photonic_support@synopsys.com

Photonic SaaS Solution

The Photonic SaaS solution allows users to access Synopsys photonic design tools via the cloud. This setup eliminates the need for local hardware and provides high-performance computing resources for complex simulations. Users benefit from automatic updates and can collaborate remotely, ensuring efficient and up-to-date workflows. Contact us for a trial or to learn more about the Synopsys Cloud SaaS by reaching out to our sales team:

For More Information & Assistance

For additional information on specific platforms and hardware requirements, send an email to
photonics_support@synopsys.com.