Hyperscalers and Data Center Developers

Predict gigawatt-scale power demand from data center compute resources and assess the impact of variable loads on the connected distribution system using MATLAB and Simscape. Model electricity consumption from high-performance TPUs, GPUs, and rack servers with MATLAB, Simulink, and Simscape. Calculate heat generation at the data center or rack level to determine cooling requirements and simulate cooling system power consumption during operation.

Utility Regulators and Operators

Assess how hyperscale data centers affect local distribution systems using MATLAB, Simulink, and Simscape Electrical. Model variable data center loads to analyze steady-state and transient behavior, including voltage and frequency fluctuations and grid harmonics.

Represent data centers, other loads, and generators at different levels of fidelity to evaluate long-term power requirements and short-term transient effects from power converters. Add faults to the model to simulate unanticipated outages and analyze grid resilience. Use simulation results to identify where grid upgrades may be required to accommodate data center power demand.

Power Converter Developers

Develop 800 VDC solid-state transformers for AI data center power systems using Simulink and Simscape Electrical. Model analog electronic components and digital control algorithms in the same simulation environment. Use closed-loop simulation of the power stage and controller to evaluate design choices before implementation.

Model power stages with circuit components and simulate converters at average-value, ideal-switching, or detailed nonlinear levels of fidelity. Generate code for real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation to test power converter control code. Generate production-ready C and HDL code for deployment to processors and FPGAs.

Cooling System Equipment Developers

Model data center cooling systems with MATLAB, Simulink, Simscape, and Simscape Fluids to analyze interactions among thermal, fluid, electrical, and control systems. Represent complete cooling architectures, including chillers, cooling towers, pumps, heat exchangers, coolant distribution units (CDUs), liquid-cooling loops, and rack-level thermal systems. Use system-level simulation to:

• Compare air, single-phase liquid, and two-phase cooling architectures
• Analyze chiller performance and pump and fan control strategies
• Simulate transient thermal behavior under changing compute workloads
• Evaluate redundancy and fault scenarios, including pump failures and heat exchanger fouling
• Incorporate measured data to refine models, develop predictive maintenance algorithms, and evaluate operating setpoints for energy consumption and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)

For AI data centers, analyze power delivery and cooling systems together to evaluate tradeoffs among thermal margins, energy and water use, reliability, and capital cost for high-density racks and large data center campuses.

Power Generation Equipment and Energy Storage Developers

Use MATLAB, Simulink, and Simscape to develop behind-the-meter power generation systems that supplement power provided by the power grid. Model gas turbines, generator sets, fuel cells, energy storage, and hybrid power systems together with power conversion equipment and data center loads.

Develop and verify control algorithms, perform software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing, generate production code for embedded controllers, and create digital twins for condition monitoring and predictive maintenance. Extend these models to the system level to evaluate interactions among generation assets, energy storage, power electronics, and AI workloads. This helps equipment developers improve equipment performance, reliability, and efficiency while maximizing available power for compute.

High-Speed Digital Interconnect Developers

Use SerDes Toolbox, Signal Integrity Toolbox, and RF PCB Toolbox to analyze signal and power integrity for high-speed AI data center interconnects.

Analyze complete signal paths across systems

• Evaluate connections from advanced packages and accelerator boards through rack-level copper links and electrical interfaces to optical networks.
• Use S-parameters and IBIS-AMI models to analyze loss, crosstalk, jitter, eye diagrams, bit error rate, equalization, and standards compliance.

Evaluate power integrity at the PCB level 

• Analyze DC voltage drop and current density.
• Identify regions that exceed design limits.
• Compare power plane and via configurations before committing to hardware.
• Assess board layouts for adequate voltage delivery under specified load conditions.
• Perform AC power integrity analysis to evaluate frequency-dependent behavior of power distribution networks and identify power delivery issues.