U SER ’ S M ANUAL

V ERSION 8.2

F EBRUARY 2018
SIM ETRIX /SIMPLIS U SER ’ S M ANUAL
C OPYRIGHT © SIM ETRIX T ECHNOLOGIES LTD . 1992-2018
C OPYRIGHT © SIMPLIS T ECHNOLOGIES I NC . 1992-2018

Trademarks:
PSpice is a trademark of Cadence Design Systems Inc.
Hspice is a trademark of Synopsis Inc.

SIMetrix Technologies Ltd., SIMPLIS Technologies, Inc.

78 Chapel Street, P.O. Box 40084
Thatcham, Portland, OR 97240-0084
Berkshire USA
RG18 4QN
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1635 866395 Tel: +1 503 766 3928

Fax: +44 1635 868322 Fax: +1 503 296 5674
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.simetrix.co.uk Web: http://simplistechnologies.com

SIMetrix/SIMPLIS User’s Manual

 Contents

Contents

1 Welcome 1

2 Introduction 2
2.1 About SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1.1 HTML Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1.2 PDF Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 What is Simetrix? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.3 What is SIMPLIS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 Why Simulate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5.1 Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5.2 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.5.3 Recommended System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.5.4 Multi-core Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.6 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Quick Start 7
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1.1 Examples and Tutorials - Where are They? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1.2 Simulation for the Novice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Tutorial 1 - A Simple Ready to Run Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4 Tutorial 3 - Installing Third Party Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.4.1 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4 Getting Started 32
4.1 Simulation Modes - SIMetrix or SIMPLIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2 Using the Schematic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2.1 Creating a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.3 Circuit Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.4 Analysis Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.4.2 Setting up a SIMetrix Simulaton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.4.3 Setting up a SIMPLIS Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.4.4 Manual Entry of Simulator Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.5 Running the Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.5.1 SIMetrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.5.2 SIMPLIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.6 Plotting Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.6.2 Fixed Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.6.3 Random Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

5 SIMetrix GUI Environment 48

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5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.2 Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.3 Directory Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.4 Interface Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

6 Schematic Editor 55
6.1 Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.1.1 Schematic Windows and Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.1.2 Schematic Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.1.3 Editing Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.1.4 Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.1.5 Bus Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6.1.6 Copying to the Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.1.7 Annotating a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.1.8 Assigning Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.1.9 Checking the Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.1.10 Schematic Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.1.11 Adding and Removing Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.1.12 Finding and Specifying Net Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.2 Hierarchical Schematic Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.2.1 Top-Down Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.2.2 Bottom-up method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.2.3 Navigating Hierarchical designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.2.4 Placing - Full vs Relative Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.2.5 Connecting Buses in a Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.2.6 Global Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.2.7 Global Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.2.8 Passing Parameters Through a Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.2.9 Missing Hierarchical Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.2.10 Highlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.2.11 Copying a Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.3 Schematic Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.3.1 Line Based Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.3.2 Shape Based Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.3.3 Image Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.3.4 Text Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3.5 Title Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.4 Schematic Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.4.1 Style Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.4.2 Simplified Style Editing and Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.4.3 Advanced Style Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.5 Schematic Grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.5.1 Group Breaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.6 Schematic Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.6.1 Printing a Single Schematic Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.6.2 Printing a Hierarchical Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.7 File Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.7.1 Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.7.2 Exporting Schematic Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.7.3 Exporting to Earlier Versions of SIMetrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.7.4 Binary format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.7.5 Autosave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.8 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.8.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.8.2 What is a Property? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.8.3 Template Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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6.8.4 Editing Properties in a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

6.8.5 Restoring Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.9 Template Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.9.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.9.2 Template Property Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.9.3 Template Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.10 PSpice Schematics Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.10.1 Configuring the Translator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.10.2 If you don’t have PSpice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.10.3 Reading PSpice Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.10.4 Installing PSpice Libraries for Use with SIMetrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.10.5 What the Translator will do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.10.6 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
6.11 Load Component Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
6.11.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
6.11.2 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.11.3 Configuration File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.11.4 Creating a Configuration File from the Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.11.5 Loading a Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.11.6 Automating Load Component Values with Command line Switches . . . . . . . . 105
6.11.7 Automating Load Component Values with a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
6.12 CMOS IC Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
6.12.1 MOSFET Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
6.12.2 Edit Length and Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.12.3 Automatic Area and Perimeter Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.12.4 Editing the MOS Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.13 Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
6.13.1 How Symbols are Stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
6.13.2 Summary of Simulator Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

7 Symbol Editor and Library 112

7.1 Creating Schematic Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.2 Graphical Symbol Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.2.1 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.2.2 Symbol Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.2.3 The Elements of a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.2.4 Creating a New Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.2.5 Editing an Existing Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.2.6 Drawing Straight Line Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.2.7 Drawing Arcs, Circles and Ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.2.8 Placing and Defining Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.2.9 Defining Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.2.10 Saving Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.3 Creating a Symbol from a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.4 Symbol Library Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.4.1 Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.4.2 Editing System Symbol Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

8 Parts 125
8.1 How to Find and Place Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
8.2 Part Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
8.3 Part Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8.4 Model Library Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8.4.1 Selecting a Model by Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
8.4.2 Viewing and Editing Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
8.5 Numbered Parts in SIMPLIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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8.6 Circuit Stimulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

8.6.1 Waveform Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
8.6.2 PWL Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
8.6.3 Power Supply/Fixed Current Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.6.4 AC Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.6.5 Universal Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.6.6 Digital Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.6.7 Other Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.7 Generic Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
8.7.1 SIMPLIS Primitive Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.7.2 Saturable Inductors and Transformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.7.3 Ideal Transformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.7.4 DC Transformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
8.7.5 Coupling Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
8.7.6 Mutual Inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.7.7 Resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.7.8 Ideal Capacitors and Inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.7.9 Infinite Capacitors and Inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.7.10 Multi-Level Capacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
8.7.11 Electrolytic Capacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
8.7.12 Potentiometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.7.13 Lossless Transmission Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.7.14 Lossy Transmission Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.7.15 Fixed Voltage and Current Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.7.16 Controlled Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.7.17 Voltage Controlled Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.7.18 Switch with Hysteresis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.7.19 Delayed Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
8.7.20 Parameterised Opamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
8.7.21 Parameterised Opto-coupler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
8.7.22 Parameterised Comparator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
8.7.23 VCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
8.7.24 Verilog-A Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
8.7.25 Generic ADCs and DACs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
8.7.26 Generic Digital Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
8.7.27 Arbitrary Non-linear Passive Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
8.8 Creating Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
8.8.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
8.8.2 Creating Soft Recovery Diode Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
8.8.3 Creating Power Inductor Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
8.8.4 Digitising Data Sheet Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
8.9 Subcircuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
8.9.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
8.9.2 Creating a Sub-circuit from a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
8.9.3 Calling a Sub-circuit in a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
8.10 Special Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
8.10.1 Initial Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
8.10.2 Nodesets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
8.11 Parameters and Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
8.11.1 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

9 Analog Behavioural Modelling 188

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2 Non-linear Transfer Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2.1 Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
9.2.2 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

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9.2.3 Verilog-A Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

9.3 Laplace Transfer Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
9.3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
9.3.2 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
9.3.3 Laplace Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
9.3.4 Device type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.3.5 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.3.6 Impulse Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

10 Device Library, Parts Management 209

10.1 Using Model Library Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
10.2 Installing Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
10.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
10.2.2 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
10.2.3 Full Model Installation Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
10.2.4 Removing Model Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
10.3 Part Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
10.3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
10.3.2 Category Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
10.3.3 Editing the Part Selector Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
10.4 Advanced Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
10.4.1 Associating Multiple Models with Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
10.4.2 Embedded Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
10.4.3 Catalog Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
10.4.4 Importing Models to a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.5 Sundry Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.5.1 .LIB Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.5.2 Drag and Drop to Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.5.3 Library Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.5.4 Local Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.5.5 Library Indexing Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.5.6 Duplicate Model Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

11 Analysis Modes 222

11.1 Running Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
11.1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
11.1.2 Starting, Pausing and Aborting Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
11.1.3 Running Analyses in Asynchronous Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
11.1.4 Running an Analysis on a Netlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
11.1.5 Simulation and Multi-core Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
11.2 Transient Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
11.2.1 Setting up a Transient Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
11.2.2 Restarting a Transient Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
11.2.3 Transient Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
11.3 Operating Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
11.4 Sweep Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
11.4.1 Device Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
11.4.2 Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
11.4.3 Model Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
11.4.4 Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
11.4.5 Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
11.4.6 Monte Carlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
11.4.7 Setting up a Swept Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
11.5 DC Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
11.5.1 Setting up a DC sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
11.5.2 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

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11.6 AC Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

11.6.1 Setting up an AC sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
11.6.2 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
11.7 Noise Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
11.7.1 Setting up an AC Noise Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
11.7.2 Plotting Results of Noise Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.7.3 Example 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.7.4 Example 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
11.8 Real Time Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
11.8.1 Setting Up a Real Time Noise Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
11.9 Transfer Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
11.9.1 Setting up a Transfer Function Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
11.9.2 Plotting Transfer Function Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
11.9.3 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
11.10Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
11.10.1 Setting up a Sensitivity Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
11.11Convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11.11.1 Convergence Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11.11.2 Convergence Failure Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
11.11.3 Convergence Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
11.12Data Handling and Keeps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
11.12.1 Scope Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
11.12.2 Signals Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
11.12.3 To Add a Voltage Keep to a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
11.12.4 To Add a Current Keep to a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
11.13Simulator Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
11.13.1 Setting Simulator Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
11.14Multi-step Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
11.14.1 Setting up a Multi-step Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
11.14.2 Using Multiple Cores for Multi-step Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
11.14.3 Example 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
11.14.4 Example 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
11.15Safe Operating Area Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
11.15.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
11.15.2 Defining Simple Limit Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
11.15.3 Advanced SOA Limit Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

12 SIMPLIS Analysis Modes 267

12.1 Transient Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
12.1.1 Setting up a Transient Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
12.2 Periodic Operating Point (POP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
12.2.1 Setting up a POP Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
12.3 AC Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
12.3.1 Setting up an AC Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
12.4 SIMPLIS Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
12.5 Multi-step and Monte Carlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
12.5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
12.5.2 Comparison Between SIMetrix and SIMPLIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
12.5.3 Setting up a SIMPLIS Multi-step Parameter Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
12.5.4 Setting Up a SIMPLIS Monte Carlo Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
12.5.5 Multi-core Multi-step SIMPLIS Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
12.5.6 Tolerances and Distribution Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
12.5.7 Monte Carlo Log File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
12.5.8 Monte Carlo Seed Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
12.5.9 Performance Analysis and Histograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
12.6 Back-Annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

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12.6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

12.6.2 How to Back-annotate a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
12.6.3 Disable/Enable Initial Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
12.6.4 Back-annotation Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
12.6.5 Editing Back-annotated Initial Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
12.6.6 How Does it Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
12.6.7 Hierarchical Blocks and Subcircuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

13 Graphs, Probes and Data Analysis 284

13.1 Elements of the Graph Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
13.1.1 Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
13.1.2 Windows and Tabbed Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
13.1.3 Graph Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
13.2 Fixed vs. Random . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
13.3 Fixed Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
13.3.1 Fixed Probe Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
13.3.2 Curve History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
13.3.3 Fixed Bus Probe Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
13.3.4 Using Fixed Probes in Hierarchical Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
13.3.5 Adding Fixed Probes After a Run has Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
13.3.6 Per-cycle Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
13.3.7 XY Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
13.3.8 Bode Plot Probe with Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
13.3.9 Bode Plot Probe - Basic Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
13.3.10 Fourier Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
13.3.11 Arbitrary Fixed Probe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
13.3.12 Changing Update Period and Start Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
13.4 Random Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
13.4.1 General Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
13.4.2 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
13.4.3 Notes on Probe Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
13.4.4 Plotting Noise Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
13.4.5 Plotting Transfer Function Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
13.4.6 Fourier Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
13.4.7 Probing Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
13.4.8 Bus Probe Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
13.4.9 Plotting an Arbitrary Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
13.4.10 Curve Arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
13.4.11 Using Random Probes in Hierarchical Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
13.4.12 Previous Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
13.5 Updating Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
13.5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
13.5.2 Update Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
13.5.3 Plot Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
13.6 Graph Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
13.6.1 AutoAxis Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
13.6.2 Manually Creating Axes and Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
13.6.3 Selecting Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
13.6.4 Stacking Curves to Multiple Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
13.6.5 Moving Curves to Different Axis or Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
13.6.6 Detached X-Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
13.6.7 Deleting Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
13.6.8 Editing Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
13.6.9 Reordering Grids and Digital Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
13.7 Curve Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
13.7.1 Selecting Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

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13.7.2 Deleting Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

13.7.3 Hiding and Showing Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
13.7.4 Re-titling Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
13.7.5 Highlighting Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
13.7.6 Moving and Copying Curves Between Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
13.8 Graph Cursors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
13.8.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
13.8.2 Cursor Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
13.8.3 Additional Cursors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
13.8.4 Cursor Readout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
13.8.5 Cursor Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
13.9 Curve Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
13.9.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
13.9.2 Available Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
13.9.3 Using the Define Measurement GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
13.9.4 Measurement Definitions Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
13.9.5 Repeating the Same Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
13.9.6 Applying Measurements to Fixed Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
13.9.7 Notes on Curve Measurement Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
13.9.8 Plots from curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
13.10Efficiency Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
13.10.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
13.10.2 Step1: Place Power Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
13.10.3 Step 2: Define Input and Output probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
13.10.4 Step 3: Calculate Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
13.11Zoom and Scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
13.11.1 Zooming with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
13.11.2 Zooming with the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.11.3 Recovering an Earlier Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.11.4 Scrolling with the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.11.5 Zooming with Multiple Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.11.6 Adding new Curves to a Zoomed Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.11.7 Zoom to Fit Y-axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.12Annotating a Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.12.1 Curve Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
13.12.2 Legend Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
13.12.3 Text Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
13.12.4 Caption and Free Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
13.12.5 Graph Symbolic Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
13.13Exporting/Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
13.13.1 Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
13.13.2 Exporting Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
13.13.3 Data Import and Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
13.14Saving Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
13.14.1 Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
13.14.2 Restoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
13.15Saving Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
13.15.1 Saving the Data of a Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
13.15.2 Restoring Simulation Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
13.16DC Operating Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
13.16.1 Schematic Annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
13.16.2 Displaying Device Operating Point Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
13.16.3 List File Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
13.16.4 Other Methods of Obtaining Bias Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
13.16.5 Bias Annotation in SIMPLIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
13.16.6 Bias Annotation Display Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

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13.16.7 Bias Annotation and Long Transient Runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

13.17Performance Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
13.17.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
13.17.2 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
13.17.3 Histograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
13.17.4 Goal Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

14 The Command Shell 387

14.1 Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
14.1.1 Command History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
14.1.2 Message Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.1.3 Multiple commands on one line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.1.4 Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.1.5 Command Line Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.1.6 Command Line Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.2 Editing the Menu System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
14.2.2 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
14.3 User Defined Toolbars, Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
14.4 Message Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

15 Command–Function Reference 392

15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
15.1.1 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
15.2 Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
15.3 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
15.3.1 OpenGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
15.3.2 Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
15.3.3 Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
15.3.4 Unset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
15.4 Function Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
15.5 Function Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
15.5.1 abs(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
15.5.2 arg(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
15.5.3 arg_rad(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
15.5.4 atan(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.5 cos(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.6 db(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.7 diff(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.8 exp(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.9 fft(real [, string]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.10 FIR(real, real [, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
15.5.11 Floor(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
15.5.12 GroupDelay(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
15.5.13 Histogram(real, real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
15.5.14 Iff(real, any, any) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
15.5.15 IIR(real, real [, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
15.5.16 im(real/complex), imag(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
15.5.17 integ(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
15.5.18 Interp(real, real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
15.5.19 IsComplex(any) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
15.5.20 length(any) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
15.5.21 ln(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
15.5.22 log10(real/complex), log(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
15.5.23 mag(real/complex) , magnitude(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
15.5.24 maxidx(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

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15.5.25 Maxima(real [, real, string]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

15.5.26 Maximum(real/complex [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
15.5.27 mean(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
15.5.28 Mean1(real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
15.5.29 minidx(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
15.5.30 Minima(real [, real, string]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
15.5.31 Minimum(real/complex [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
15.5.32 norm(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
15.5.33 ph(real/complex) , phase(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.34 phase_rad(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.35 Range(real/complex [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.36 re(real/complex), real(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.37 Ref(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.38 Rms(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.39 RMS1(real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.40 rnd(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
15.5.41 RootSumOfSquares(real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.42 sign(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.43 sin(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.44 sqrt(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.45 SumNoise(real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.46 tan(real/complex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.47 Truncate(real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
15.5.48 unitvec(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
15.5.49 vector(real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
15.5.50 XFromY(real, real [, real, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
15.5.51 XY(real, real) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
15.5.52 YFromX(real, real [, real]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

16 Monte Carlo Analysis 409

16.1 An Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
16.2 Part Tolerance Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
16.2.1 Setting Device Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
16.2.2 Model Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
16.2.3 Matching Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
16.2.4 Random Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
16.3 Running Monte Carlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
16.3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
16.3.2 Setting up a Single Step Monte Carlo Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
16.3.3 Setting up a Multi Step Monte Carlo Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
16.3.4 Running a Monte Carlo Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
16.3.5 Log File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
16.3.6 Setting the Seed Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
16.4 Analysing Monte-Carlo Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
16.4.1 Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
16.4.2 Creating Histograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

17 Verilog-HDL Simulation 417

17.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
17.2 Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
17.3 Supported Verilog Simulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
17.4 Basic Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
17.5 Using Verilog-HDL in SIMetrix Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
17.5.1 Creating Schematic Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
17.5.2 Editing Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
17.6 Module Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

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17.6.1 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

17.7 Simulation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
17.7.1 Verilog Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
17.7.2 Timing Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
17.7.3 Open Console for Verilog Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
17.8 Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
17.8.1 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
17.9 Verilog Simulator Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
17.9.1 VPI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
17.9.2 Interface Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
17.9.3 Launch Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
17.9.4 Verilog Simulation Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

18 Sundry Topics 426

18.1 Saving and Restoring Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
18.1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
18.1.2 Saving a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
18.1.3 Restoring a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
18.1.4 Where is Session Data Stored? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
18.2 Symbolic Path Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
18.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
18.2.2 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
18.2.3 Configuration File Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
18.2.4 Using Symbolic Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
18.3 SIMetrix Command Line Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
18.3.1 Using startup.ini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
18.4 Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
18.4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
18.4.2 Default Configuration Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
18.4.3 Application Data Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
18.4.4 Specifying Other Locations for Config Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
18.5 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
18.5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
18.5.2 Using the Options Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
18.5.3 Using the Set and Unset commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
18.6 Startup Auto Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
18.6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
18.6.2 What is Set Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
18.6.3 Auto Configuration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
18.6.4 Installation - Customising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
18.7 Colours and Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
18.7.1 Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
18.7.2 Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
18.8 Startup Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
18.9 International Character Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
18.9.1 Character Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
18.9.2 SIMetrix Character Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
18.9.3 Compatibility with Older Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
18.9.4 Text Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
18.10Installation and Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
18.10.1 Install CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

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Chapter 1

Welcome

For a simple tutorial - see “Tutorial Introduction” on page 7

For basic guidance on the main features - see “Getting Started” on page 32
For more detailed documentation refer to one of the following:
• “Schematic Editor” on page 55
• “GUI Environment” on page 48
• “SIMetrix Simulator Analysis Modes” on page 222
• “SIMPLIS Simulator Analysis Modes” on page 267
• “Installing Models” on page 209
• “Finding and Placing Parts” on page 125
• “Waveform Viewer” on page 284

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Chapter 2

Introduction

2.1 About SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Documentation

2.1.1 HTML Documentation

All SIMetrix and SIMPLIS documentation is available in HTML form and may be viewed through your
web browser. This can be accessed through the menus Help | SIMetrix Documentation and Help |
SIMPLIS Documentation.
You can select whether you access this documentation on-line via the Internet or locally stored on your
system. Documentation on-line has the benefit of always being the latest version but has the drawback of
requiring a fast Internet connection. Local documentation has the benefit of being always available even if
there is no Internet connection, but may become out of date.
To choose the documentation source, select menu Help | Select Help Source.... If you opt for local
help and you have not selected this previously, the help files will first need to be installed. This operation is
performed automatically but will take a few minutes.

2.1.2 PDF Documentation

Much of the documentation is also available in the form of PDF manuals. The PDF manuals may be
accessed locally through the menus under Help | PDF Manuals or can be downloaded. These are
described below:

Manual name and web link Description

User’s Manual General operation of SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
Simulator Reference Manual Detailed reference for the SIMetrix simulator
SIMPLIS Reference Manual Detailed reference for the SIMPLIS simulator
Script Reference Manual SIMetrix script language reference manual
Verilog-A Reference Manual Verilog-A language reference manual

2.2 What is Simetrix?

SIMetrix is a mixed-signal circuit simulator designed for ease and speed of use.

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 2.3. What is SIMPLIS?

The core algorithms employed by the SIMetrix analog simulator are based on the SPICE program
developed by the CAD/IC group at the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences,
University of California at Berkeley. The digital event driven simulator is derived from XSPICE developed
by the Computer Science and Information Technology Laboratory, Georgia Tech. Research Institute,
Georgia Institute of Technology.
Although originally derived from these programs only a tiny fraction of the overall application code can be
traced to them. Nearly all of the simulator code is either new or has been rewritten in order to provide new
analysis features and to resolve convergence problems.
Features
• Closely coupled direct matrix analog and event driven digital simulator.
• Fully integrated hierarchical schematic editor, simulator and graphical post-processor.
• Superior convergence for both DC and transient analyses.
• Advanced swept analyses for AC, DC, Noise and transfer function. 6 different modes available.
• Real time noise analysis allowing noise simulation of oscillators and sampled data systems.
• Support for IC design models such as BSIM3/4, VBIC and Hicum.
• Cross probing of voltage, current and device power from schematic. Current and power available for
sub-circuits.
• Monte Carlo analysis including comprehensive tolerance specification features.
• Full featured scripting language allowing customised waveform analysis and automated simulation
• Verilog-A Analog Hardware Description Language
• Mixed signal simulation using Verilog-HDL
• Functional modelling with arbitrary non-linear source and arbitrary linear s-domain transfer
function.
• Arbitrary logic block for definition of any digital device using descriptive language. Supports
synchronous, asynchronous and combinational logic as well as ROMS and RAMs.
• Models for saturable magnetic parts including support for air-gaps.
• User definable fixed and popup menus and key definitions.

2.3 What is SIMPLIS?

SIMPLIS is a circuit simulator designed for rapid modelling of switching power systems. An acronym for
“SIMulation for Piecewise LInear System”, it is supplied with our SIMetrix/SIMPLIS product range.
SIMPLIS is a component level simulator like SPICE but is typically 10 to 50 times faster when simulating
switching circuits. It achieves its speed by modelling devices using a series of straight-line segments rather
than solving non-linear equations as SPICE does. By modelling devices in this way, SIMPLIS can
characterise a complete system as a cyclical sequence of linear circuit topologies. This is an accurate
representation of a typical switching power system where the semiconductor devices function as switches.
However, a linear system can be solved very much more rapidly than the non-linear systems that SPICE
handles. The end result is accurate, but extremely fast simulations, allowing the modelling of complex
topologies that would not be viable with SPICE.
SIMPLIS has three analysis modes: Transient, Periodic Operating Point and AC. Transient analysis is
similar to the SPICE equivalent but is typically 10-50 times faster. Periodic Operating Point is a unique
analysis mode that finds the steady-state operating waveforms of switching systems. AC analysis finds the
frequency response of a switching system without needing to use averaged models. This is especially

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useful for what-if studies on new circuit topologies or control schemes where the small-signal averaged
model has not yet been derived.
Because non-linear devices are defined using a sequence of straight line segments, models for such devices
are quite different from SPICE models. There are of course many SPICE models available and so in order
to retain compatibility with these, SIMetrix/SIMPLIS has the ability to convert models for some types of
device into SIMPLIS format. This conversion is performed when the device is placed on the schematic.
Devices currently supported are MOSFETs, BJTs and diodes. In the case of MOSFETs and Zener diodes,
the conversion is achieved by performing a sequence of simulations using the SIMetrix-SPICE simulator.
This method is independent of the method of implementation of the device.

2.4 Why Simulate?

Integrated circuit designers have been using analog simulation software for nearly five decades. The
difficulty of bread-boarding and high production engineering costs have made the use of such software
essential.
For board level designers the case has not been so clear cut. For them prototyping is straightforward,
inexpensive and generally provides an accurate assessment of how the final production version of a circuit
will behave. By contrast computer simulation has been seen as slow and prone to inaccuracies stemming
from imperfect models.
In recent years, however, the simulation of discrete analog circuits has become more viable. This has come
about because of advances in CPU power, the increased availability of device models from their
manufacturers and the introduction of easy to use and affordable simulation tools such as SIMetrix.
The pressure to reduce product development time-scales has meant that for many projects the traditional
bread-boarding phase is skipped altogether - with or without simulation - and circuit development is
carried out on the first revisions of PCB. The use of simulation on a circuit or parts of a circuit can help to
eliminate errors in a circuit design prior to this stage and reduce the number of PCB revisions required
before the final production version is reached. Of course, to be useful, the simulation process must
therefore not be too time consuming.
Computer simulation, does however, have many more uses. There are some things you can do with a
simulator which cannot be achieved with practical approaches. You can remove parasitic elements, you
can make non-invasive measurements that are impossible in real-life or you can run components outside of
their safe operating area. These abilities make simulation a valuable tool for finding out why a particular
design does not behave as expected. If the problem can be reproduced on a simulator then its cause can be
much more easily identified. Even if a problem cannot be reproduced then this gives some clues. It means
that it is caused by something that is not modelled, a wiring parasitic perhaps.
Simulation is extremely useful for testing ideas at the system level. Sometimes it is not easy to test a
concept because the hardware to implement it is very costly or time consuming to build. It may even be
that you don’t know how to implement the idea in hardware at all. The alternative is to design a model and
simulate it with a computer. Once it has been established that the concept is viable then attention can be
given to its implementation. If it proves not to be viable, then a great deal of time will have been saved.

2.5 System Requirements

2.5.1 Operating System

SIMetrix and SIMetrix/SIMPLIS 64 bit version

The following are supported:

Windows 10 Home, Pro and Enterprise - 64 bit editions

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 2.6. Acknowledgements

Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 8.1 Enterprise - 64 bit editions
Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise - 64 bit editions
Windows 7 Home Premium/Professional/Enterprise/Ultimate - 64 bit editions

SIMetrix and SIMetrix/SIMPLIS 32 bit versions

The following is supported

Windows 7 Home Premium/Professional/Enterprise/Ultimate

Windows RT

SIMetrix and SIMetrix/SIMPLIS will not run on any version of Windows RT.

2.5.2 Hardware

SIMetrix will run satisfactorily on any system that meets all the following requirements:
1. The system is running one of supported operating systems listed above
2. The system meets the minimum hardware requirement for the operating system
3. The system’s display has a minimum vertical resolution of 720 pixels and a minimum horizontal
resolution of 1024 pixels

2.5.3 Recommended System

If you regularly run large circuit simulations or long runs on smaller circuits, we recommend investing in
the most powerful CPU available. A large RAM system can be useful as this will allow caching of
simulation data. This will speed up plotting results if a large amount of data is generated. The data is
stored to disk in an efficient manner and therefore substantial RAM is not essential unless the circuits
being simulated are very large indeed. A high performance bus mastering SCSI disk system will improve
simulation performance a little.

2.5.4 Multi-core Processors

SIMetrix can exploit multiple core CPUs in a number of ways and will benefit from multiple core
processors. Note, however, that you will require a SIMetrix Pro or SIMetrix Elite license to be able to use
the multiple core features. Note also that SIMetrix cannot effectively use Hyper-threading.
For more information, see the following sections:
“Simulation and Multi-core Processors” on page 224
“Using Multiple Cores for Multi-step Analyses” on page 260
“Multi-core Multi-step SIMPLIS Analyses” on page 276

2.6 Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the following code sources and copyright owners:

1. SPICE3, BSIM3 and BSIM4: The Regents of the University of California at Berkeley

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 2.6. Acknowledgements

2. XSpice: Computer Science and Information Technology Laboratory, Georgia Tech. Research
Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology
3. KLU Matrix Solver: University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
4. HiSim HV Model: Hiroshima University & Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center
(STARC)
5. SimKit models; NXP Semiconductors

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Chapter 3

Quick Start

3.1 Introduction

This chapter covers a number of tutorials that will help you get started with SIMetrix.
Tutorial 1 is designed for total novices. You may wish to skip to tutorial 2 if you already have experience
with SPICE type programs.
Tutorial 2 assumes you have grasped the basics of using the schematic editor. You don’t have to worry
about setting up analyses or the characteristics of any input stimulus such as V2 in tutorial 1; these
procedures will be explained.
If you are an experienced circuit designer but have never used a circuit simulator before, we recommend
you read “Simulation for the Novice” on page 7. This will familiarise you with a few concepts about
simulation that may be alien to you if you are used to traditional methods of evaluating circuits.

3.1.1 Examples and Tutorials - Where are They?

On Windows the example files are first installed under the main installation root (e.g. under C:\Program
Files\SIMetrix820\support\examples) but it is not intended that they are used from that location. Instead
they will be copied to your “My Documents” folder when SIMetrix starts for the first time, but only if you
accept the option to do so. If you can’t find the examples files, you may need to manually copy them from
the installation root to a suitable location of your choice.
In the following tutorial discussions, the examples directory is referred to as ‘EXAMPLES’.

3.1.2 Simulation for the Novice

When measuring a real circuit, you would probably connect up a power source - bench power supply
perhaps - maybe also some signal source, then switch it on and take measurements using - probably - an
oscilloscope. You can also make adjustments to the circuit and see the effects straight away.
For simulation, you have a choice of analysis modes and not all of them have an exact real life equivalent.
The analysis mode that most closely resembles the method of bench testing a circuit described above is
transient analysis. This performs an analysis over a specified (by you) time period and saves all the results
- i.e. all the voltages and currents in the circuit - to your hard disk. The difference between real life testing
and simulation is that the simulation is not running all the time. If you want to see the effects of changing a
part value, you have to change it then re-run the simulation. (But note there is a potentiometer device that
automates this procedure see “Potentiometer” on page 162).

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In order to solve the circuit, the simulator has to calculate the voltage at every node at every time point.
Disk space is cheap and plentiful so SIMetrix saves all these values as well as the device currents. Not all
simulators do this, some require you to state in advance what you want saved.
After the run is complete, you can then randomly probe the circuit to look at any voltage, current or device
power over the analysis time period. You can also place fixed probes on the circuit before running the
analysis which will cause the waveform at that point of the circuit to be automatically be displayed while
the simulation is running or optionally after its completion.
Some of the other analysis modes are: AC analysis which performs a frequency sweep, DC sweep which
ramps a voltage or current source and noise analysis which calculates total noise at a specified point and
which parts are responsible for that noise.

3.2 Tutorial 1 - A Simple Ready to Run Circuit

This tutorial demonstrates a basic simulation on a ready to run to circuit. All you need to do is load the
circuit and press F9 to run it. We will then make a few changes to the circuit and make some extra plots.
This tutorial demonstrates the basic features without having to get into the details of setting up a
simulation. Proceed as follows:
1. Select the menu File | Open... and if not already select Schematic Files in the file type drop down
box. Select the schematic file TUTORIAL1 which you should find in the folder
EXAMPLES/SIMetrix/Tutorial (See “Examples and Tutorials - Where are They?” on page 7). Click
on Open to open this file.
A schematic window will open with the following circuit:

This is a simple feedback amplifier designed to amplify a 100mV pulse up to around 500mV. The

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basic requirement of the design is that the pulse shape should be preserved, DC precision is
important but is not critical. The above is our first attempt at a design but has not yet been optimised.
This example circuit has been setup to be ‘ready to run’.
2. To start the simulation, select from the schematic window Simulator | Run Schematic or press
F9. The simulation will not take long, on a modern machine less than half a second.
You will see a graph of the output voltage appear:

As can be seen, our amplifier doesn’t work all that well. There are two problems.
1. There is substantial ringing on the rising edge, probably caused by the capacitative load.
2. The falling edge is somewhat sluggish.
The sluggish falling edge is caused by the absence of any standing current in the output emitter follower,
Q3. To rectify this, we will place a resistor from the emitter to the -5V rail. The resulting schematic is
shown below:

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To make this modification, proceed as follows:

1. Press the Resistor button in the parts toolbar. Alternatively, select the menu Place | Passives |
Resistor (Box shape) or, if you prefer, Place | Passives | Resistor (Z shape). A resistor
symbol will appear. Place this in the location shown in the diagram above. Click the left mouse
button to fix it to the schematic. You may now see another resistor symbol appear (depending on
how the system options are set). Cancel this by clicking the right mouse button.
2. Now wire up the resistor. There are a number of ways of doing this. If you have a three button
mouse or wheel mouse, one way is to use the middle button (or wheel). Pressing it once will start a
wire. Pressing it again will fix it and start a new one. Pressing the right button will terminate it.
If enabled you can also use the ‘smart-wiring’ method. Just take the mouse pointer to the pin of the
resistor. You will see a pen symbol appear as the mouse gets close to the pin. Left click then move
the mouse cursor to the destination then left click again. This method will automatically locate a
route for the wire if one exists.
You can also enter wiring mode by selecting the toolbar wire button. This puts schematic into a
permanent wiring mode where the left key is always used for wiring. Revert to normal mode by
pressing the wire button again.
3. Re run the simulation by pressing F9.
The graph will now be updated to:

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As you can see, The problem with the trailing edge has been fixed and the ringing is much improved.
Now let’s have a look at the ringing in more detail. To do this, we need to zoom in the graph by adjusting
the limits of the axes. There are two ways of doing this. The quickest is to simply drag the mouse over the
region of interest. The other method is to manually enter the limits using the Edit Axis Dialog Box. To
zoom with the mouse, proceed as follows:
1. Make sure that the graph window is selected by clicking in its title bar.
2. Place the cursor at the top left of the region of interest i.e to the left of the y-axis and above the top
of the red curve.
3. Press the left mouse key and while holding it down, drag the mouse to the bottom right of the area
you wish to zoom in. You should see a rectangle appear as you drag the mouse.
4. Release the mouse key. You should see something like:

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If you don’t get it quite right, press the Undo Zoom button:

to return to the previous view. You can also use the left, right, up and down arrow keys to shift the position
of the curves.
We can probably improve the ringing by adding a small phase lead in the feed back loop. This can be done
by connecting a small capacitor between the emitter of Q3 and the base of Q2. There isn’t room to add this
tidily at present, so first, we will move a few parts to make some space. Proceed as follows:
1. In the schematic window, drag the mouse with the left key pressed over the region shown by the
dotted lines below:

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 3.2. Tutorial 1 - A Simple Ready to Run Circuit

As you drag the mouse, a rectangle should appear.

2. Release the mouse. The area enclosed will turn blue:

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The blue wires and parts are said to be selected. To move them...
3. Place the cursor within one of the selected parts - V1 say - then press and hold the left mouse key.
4. Move the mouse to the right by two grid squares then release the left key.
5. Unselect by left clicking in an empty area of the schematic. This is what you should now have:

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6. Wire in the capacitor C1 as shown below using a similar procedure as for the resistor R6.

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1nF is obviously far too high a value so we will try 2.2pF. To change the part’s value proceed as follows:
1. Double click C1. You should see the following dialog box appear:

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You can type the new value in directly in the Result box or you can select a value using the mouse
alone with the up and down arrow buttons. Leave the Initial Conditions setting at its default (Open
Circuit)
2. Now re-run the simulation. This is the result you should see:

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The solid curve is the latest result. This is now a big improvement on our first attempt.
You will notice that a new curve is displayed each time you run a new simulation. This is the default
behaviour but this can be changed so that, for example, old curves are deleted leaving only the latest on
view. To do this, double click the probe - that is the object labelled “Amplifier Output”. Set History to 1
and close the box. (For more information see “Probe Options Sheet” on page 288). You can change the
number of curves that are shown at any time using the popup menu History | Show/Hide....
We will now round off tutorial 1 by introducing AC analysis.
AC analysis performs a frequency sweep over a specified frequency range. To set one up, follow these
instructions:
1. In the schematic window, select the menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... This is what you will
see

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Click AC check box and uncheck the Transient check box. The details of the AC sweep have already
been set up - click the AC tab at the top to see them.
2. Run the simulation - this will open a new graph sheet.

3.3 Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit

In this tutorial we will simulate a simple SMPS switching stage to demonstrate some of the more advanced
plotting and waveform analysis facilities available with SIMetrix.

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 3.3. Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit

You can either load this circuit from EXAMPLES/SIMetrix/Tutorials/Tutorial2 (see “Examples and
Tutorials - Where are They?” on page 7) or alternatively you can enter it from scratch. The latter approach
is a useful exercise in using the schematic editor. To do this follow these instructions:
1. Place the parts and wires as shown above.
2. The probe labelled ‘Output’ can be selected from the following locations:
The Part selector. If this is not already showing, select menu View | Show Part Selector.
Navigate to Probes → Voltage Probe
OR Menu Place | Probe | Voltage Probe
OR Menu Probe | Place Fixed Voltage Probe
OR by pressing ‘B’ in the schematic editor.
3. After placing the output probe, double click to edit its label. Enter Output in the box titled Curve
Label. All the other options may be left at their defaults.
4. For the pulse source V2, you can use Place | Voltage Sources | Universal Source or the
Universal Source tool bar button.
5. Double click V2. Edit the settings as shown below:

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This sets up a 200kHz 5V pulse source with 40% duty cycle and 50nS rise time.
6. Set up the simulation by selecting the schematic menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... In the
dialog box, check Transient. Usually we would set the Stop time but on this occasion, the default
1mS is actually what we want. Now select the Advanced Options button. In the Integration
method box, select Gear integration. This improves the simulation results for this type of circuit.
You will still get sensible results without checking this option, they will just be a little better with it.
(For more information, see Simulator Reference Manual/Convergence, Accuracy and Performance.
If you have any graph windows open, you should now close them. Once you have loaded or entered the
circuit, press F9 or use the schematic Simulator | Run Schematic menu to start the simulation. This
will take somewhat longer than the previous tutorial but still less than 1 second on a modern machine. This
is the graph you will see

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 3.3. Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit

The circuit is the switching stage of a simple step-down (buck) regulator designed to provide a 3.3 V
supply from a 9V battery. The circuit has been stripped of everything except bare essentials in order to
investigate power dissipation and current flow. Currently, it is a little over simplified as the inductor is
ideal. More of this later. We will now make a few measurements. First, the power dissipation in Q1:
1. Create an empty graph sheet by pressing F10
2. Select schematic menu Probe | Power In Device.... Left click on Q1.
This is what you should see:

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 3.3. Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit

This shows a peak power dissipation of 200W although you are probably more interested in the average
power dissipation over a specified time. To display the average power dissipation over the analysis period:
1. Select menu Measure | Mean
This should display a value of about 517mW. This will be shown in the measurement window below and
to the right of the graph plot area. This is the average power over the whole analysis period of 1mS. You
can also make this measurement over any period you select using the cursors as described below:
1. Zoom in the graph at a point around 100uS, i.e. where the power dissipation is at a peak.
2. Switch on graph cursors with menu Cursors | Toggle On/Off. There are two cursors represented
by cross-hairs. One uses a long dash and is referred to as the reference cursor, the other a shorter
dash and is referred to as the main or measurement cursor. When first switched on the reference
cursor is positioned to the left of the graph and the main to the right.
3. Position the cursors to span a complete switching cycle. There are various ways of moving the
cursors. To start with the simplest is to drag the vertical hairline left to right. As you bring the
mouse cursor close to the vertical line you will notice the cursor shape change. See “Graph Cursors”
on page 344 for other ways of moving cursors.
4. Press F3 or select analysis menu Measure | More Functions...:

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 3.3. Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit

In the right hand pane labelled Choose Measurement select Mean. In the Pre-process group, select
Cursor span. Click Ok to close the dialog box.
You should see a value of about 2.8W displayed. This is somewhat more than the 517mW average but is
still well within the safe operating area of the device. However, as we noted earlier, the inductor is ideal
and does not saturate. Lets have a look at the inductor current.
1. Select schematic menu Probe | Current in Device Pin (New graph sheet)...
2. Left click on the left pin of the inductor L1. This is what you will see:

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This shows that the operating current is less than 1.5A but peaks at over 6A. In practice you would want to
use an inductor with a maximum current of around 2A in this application; an inductor with a 6A rating
would not be cost-effective. We will now replace the ideal part, with something closer to a real inductor.
1. Delete L1.
2. Select schematic menu Place | Magnetics | Saturable Transformer/Inductor.... A dialog box
will be displayed. (See picture below). Select 0 secondaries then enter 34 for the number of turns in
primary 1. Next check Select Core Type. Select EFD10-3F3-A25. This is part number for a
Ferroxcube ferrite core. This is what you should have:

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 3.3. Tutorial 2 - A Simple SMPS Circuit

Click Ok to close the dialog box.

3. Place the inductor in the same place as before.
4. Run a new simulation.
5. Select the graph sheet that displayed the inductor current by clicking on its tab at the top of the
graph window. Now select schematic menu Probe | Current in Device Pin... and left click on
the left hand inductor pin.
You will notice the peak current is now in excess of 45A. This is of course because the inductor is
saturating. You can also measure the peak power over 1 cycle:
1. Select the graph sheet with the power plot then select Probe | Power In Device...
2. Zoom back to see the full graph using the zoom button.

3. Zoom in on the peak power.

4. Position the cursors to span a full cycle. (The cursors are currently tracking the first power curve.
This doesn’t actually matter here as we are only interested in the x-axis values. If you want to make
the cursors track the green curve, you can simply pick up the cursor at its intersection with the
mouse and drag it to the other curve).
5. We now have two curves on the graph so we must select which one with which we wish to make the
measurement. You can simply click on the curve to select it or check the box as shown below:

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 3.4. Tutorial 3 - Installing Third Party Models

6. As before, press F3 then select Mean with the cursor span pre-process option. The new peak
power cycle will now be in the 11-12W region - much more than before.

3.4 Tutorial 3 - Installing Third Party Models

In this tutorial, we will install a device model library. For this exercise, we have supplied a model library
file - TUTORIAL3.MOD - with just two devices. These are:
SXN1001 - an NPN bipolar transistor SXOA1000 - an opamp.
Both are totally fictitious.
You will find this file in the tutorial folder i.e. Examples/SIMetrix/Tutorials/Tutorial3.mod. There are two
aspects to installing a model. SIMetrix needs to know where within your file system, the model is located.
If the model is to be listed in the model library browser system, then SIMetrix also needs to know what
symbol to use for it in the schematic and what category it comes under. This is how you do it:
1. Open windows explorer or click on My Computer or open other file manager of your choice.
2. Locate TUTORIAL3.MOD in EXAMPLES/SIMetrix/Tutorials (see “Examples and Tutorials -
Where are They?” on page 7). Pick the file up and drop into the SIMetrix command shell message
window. That is, drop it in the window where SIMetrix messages are displayed. If the command
shell is not visible, select menu View | Show Command Shell. After dropping the file, this
dialog box will appear:

Select Install then Ok. The message “Model library changed. Rebuilding
catalogs, please wait...” will be displayed, followed by “Complete”.

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At this stage, SIMetrix knows where to find our fictitious devices. You will find that it also knows about
the NPN transistor as the following demonstrates:
1. Open an empty schematic.
2. Press ctrl-G or select menu Place | From Model Library. You should see a window displayed
with the caption Select Device
3. Select the * Recently Added Models * category from the top of list shown on the left hand side.
4. Select SXN1001 from the listed items on the right hand side. This is what you should see:

5. Press Place to place the device on the schematic.

Without you having to tell it, SIMetrix already knew that the SXN1001 is an NPN transistor. This is
because it is a primitive device defined using a .MODEL control. Such devices are built in to the simulator
and SIMetrix can determine the part type simply by reading the .MODEL control in TUTORIAL3.MOD.
This is not the case with the other device in the model library. This is an opamp and is defined as a
subcircuit. This is a module made up of other parts, in this case BJTs, diodes, resistors and current
sources. SIMetrix can’t tell what type of device this is. It knows that it has five terminals and it knows
where the electrical model is located in the file system, but it doesn’t know what schematic symbol to use
for this model.

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SIMetrix will ask you for this information when you try and place it. Follow this procedure:
1. Repeat the steps 1-5 above but instead select the SXOA1000 device instead of the SXN1000. Notice
that when you select the device in the right hand side, you see the message SIMetrix does not
know what symbol to use for this model. Press “Place” to resolve.
2. After pressing the Place button, you should see the following box:

3. First specify a suitable category for the device. In this case it is an operational amplifier, so select
Op-amps from the drop down box labelled Choose Category for SXOA1000.
4. Next define a symbol for this part. Under Define Symbol for SXOA1000 select Operational
Amplifier - 5 terminal.
We have not quite finished yet. Our new op-amp has the wrong pin out for the schematic symbol. The pin
order for the symbol is shown in the third box down on the right and is as follows:

Pin name Function

INP Non-inverting input
INN Inverting input
VSP Positive supply
VSN Negative supply
OUT Output

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The text at the bottom of the dialog box shows the actual subcircuit definition. Fortunately, it has been
annotated with the function of each of the sub-circuit’s terminals. (This is in fact usually the case with
third-party models). As you can see, the output terminal is in the wrong place. We can change the pin
order using the Pin order up and down buttons:
1. Select out in the pin order box.
2. Click twice on the up button so that it is positioned between inn and vsp. This is what you will now
have:

3. Press OK
You will now find our op-amp listed under the Op-amps category in the model library browser.

3.4.1 Notes

You will not always need to execute the above procedure to associate models and symbols even for
subcircuit devices. SIMetrix is supplied with a data base of over 40000 devices that are already associated.
These are devices for which SPICE models are known to be available from some third party source. This
database is in the file all.cat which you will find in ‘support\devdb’ directory. The information you enter in
the associate models dialog is stored in a file called user_v2.cat which you will find in devdb/user under
the application data directory - see “Application Data Directory” on page 431.
You will also not need to perform the above procedure for many 2 and 3 terminal semiconductor parts even
if they are not listed in the all.cat database. SIMetrix runs a series of simulations on these models and

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attempts to determine what the device type is from their results. If successful, the ‘association’ step
demonstrated above will be skipped.
Finally, there is a method of embedding association information within the model itself, and such models
will not require manual association. The embedding method is described in “Embedded Association” on
page 217.

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Chapter 4

Getting Started

This chapter describes the basic operation of SIMetrix and is aimed primarily at novice users.
The basic steps to simulate a circuit are as follows:
1. Enter the circuit using the schematic editor. See “Using the Schematic Editor” on page 33
2. Add signal sources if relevant to your circuit. See “Circuit Stimulus” on page 131.
3. Specify analysis. This includes what type of analysis and over what limits it should run. See
“Analysis Modes” on page 35.
4. Run simulator. See “Running the Simulator” on page 44
5. Graph results. See “Plotting Simulation Results” on page 44
The following paragraphs briefly describe these steps. More details are given in other sections.

4.1 Simulation Modes - SIMetrix or SIMPLIS

If you have SIMetrix/SIMPLIS, you can set the schematic editor to one of two modes to select whether
you are using the SIMetrix native (SPICE) simulator or the SIMPLIS simulator. To create a new schematic
in SIMPLIS mode use menu File | New | SIMPLIS Schematic and to create a new schematic in
SIMetrix mode, use File | New | SIMetrix Schematic. To switch to from SIMPLIS mode to SIMetrix
mode, use menu Simulator | Switch to SIMetrix mode and to switch from SIMetrix mode to
SIMPLIS mode use menu Simulator | Switch to SIMPLIS mode.
If the schematic is not empty and you change modes, the program will check that all parts entered on the
sheet are compatible with the newly selected simulation mode as not all parts will work in both modes.
Any that are believed not to be compatible will be highlighted and a warning will be issued. To clear the
highlighting, select Edit | Unhighlight (All Open Sheets). You will most likely need to replace those
parts but in some cases you may simply need to re-enter the same part.
If you wish to enter a circuit that will work in both modes, you should enter it in SIMPLIS mode and not
use any of the parts in the menu Place | SIMPLIS Primitives or Place | Digital except Place |
Digital | SIMetrix Compatible Logic Gates. Following this advice will not guarantee a circuit with
dual mode simulation ability but will minimise the chance of placing a device that is compatible with only
one of the simulators.
If you use SIMPLIS predominantly, you may wish to select SIMPLIS as the default simulator for all new
schematics. To do this, select menu File | Options | General... then select SIMPLIS for the Initial
Simulator setting.

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 4.2. Using the Schematic Editor

4.2 Using the Schematic Editor

4.2.1 Creating a Schematic

The schematic editor has been designed to be intuitive to use and you may not need to read too much about
it. Here we describe the less obvious procedures.If you have SIMetrix/SIMPLIS, make sure you are in the
correct mode before entering a schematic. See above section.
In the following notes references are made to the schematic tool bar. The diagram above shows the
standard toolbar and the function of each button.

To Place a Part

If it is a simple device which only needs a value such as a resistor or capacitor, select the appropriate
symbol from the tool bar or Place menu. For other devices that require a part number, it is easiest to use
the model library browser. Select menu Place | From Model Library and select your desired device.

To Change Value or Device Type for a Part

First select it then double click or select schematic popup Edit Part... or press F7. A dialog box
appropriate for the type of part will be displayed. For devices requiring a model name, a list of available
types will appear.

To Rotate, Mirror or Flip a Part

Use the Rotate toolbar button (see diagram above) or key F5 to rotate a part.
This operation can be performed while a part is being placed or while a block is being moved or copied
(see below).
You can also select a part or block then press the rotate button/key to rotate in-situ.
To mirror a part or block through the y-axis, press the Mirror toolbar button or F6 key.
To flip a part or block (mirror about x-axis), press Flip button or press shift-F6.

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Wiring

There are a number of ways of placing a wire:

Method 1: Place the mouse cursor close to an unselected symbol pin or wire end. Notice the cursor shape
change to depict a pen symbol. Now left click to mark the start point then left click again to mark the final
point. SIMetrix will automatically route the wire for you. You can also mark intermediate points if you
would prefer to define the precise route rather than accept the auto-routed connection.
Method 2: If you have a three button mouse or scroll wheel mouse you can start a wire by clicking the
middle button/scroll wheel. Clicking the middle button or scroll wheel a second time will complete the
wire and start a new one. Click the right button or press escape to terminate wiring.
Method 3: Start a wire by pressing F3 or double clicking the left button. Single clicking the left button
will complete the wire and start a new one. Click the right button or press escape to terminate wiring.
Method 4: Press the Wiring tool button on the toolbar. You can start a wire by single clicking the left
button, otherwise continue as described above. Press the Wire button again to cancel this mode.

Disconnecting Wires

In most cases just selecting the wire then deleting it with the delete key or button is the easiest way.
In some cases, especially if the wire is short, it is difficult to select it. In this instance, hold down the shift
key then select area enclosing the wire. Press delete button.

To Move Items Disconnected

Select items then schematic menu Edit | Detach or the Detach toolbar button. Move items to desired
location then press left mouse key. You can rotate/flip/mirror the items (see above) while doing so.

To Copy Across Schematics

Select block you wish to copy. Choose menu Edit | Copy. In second schematic choose Edit | Paste.

Multiple Selection

Individual items which do not lie within a single rectangle can be selected by holding down the control
key while using the mouse to select the desired items in the usual way.

Selecting Wires Only

Hold down shift key while performing select operation.

Holding Down the ALT Key...

... while selecting will limit part selection to only devices that are wholly enclosed by the selection box.

Zoom Area

Press the Zoom box button on schematic. Drag mouse to zoom in on selected area.

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Zoom Full (Fit to Area)

Press the HOME key to fit the whole schematic in the current window size.

4.3 Circuit Rules

The following design rules must be observed for the simulation to run correctly. Note that most circuits
obey them anyway and they do not impose serious limitations on the capability of the simulator.
• There must always be at least one ground symbol on every circuit.
• Every node on the circuit must have a dc path to ground. For example, two capacitors in series form
a node which does not have DC path to ground. If you do have a floating node, you can provide a
DC path to ground by connecting a high value resistor (e.g. 1G) between it and ground. Capacitors
without initial conditions do not have a DC path. But if you set an initial condition on a capacitor a
DC path is formed and this method is an alternative to using a resistor to provide a DC path.
Also note that inductors with an initial condition do not have a DC path. This is because they are
treated as a constant current during the calculation of the DC bias point.
If using a high value resistor to make a DC path for a transformer winding, we recommend that you
also place a low value capacitor in parallel with it. This is not always necessary but can help avoid
problems with transient analysis convergence. It is best to choose a realistic value that would
represent what the capacitance would really be in the real-world circuit.
• There must not be any zero resistance loops constructed from voltage sources, inductors without
initial conditions or capacitors with initial conditions. If you do have such loops you can insert a low
value resistor. You should choose a value that represents what the resistance would be in the real
world, e.g. the actual winding resistance of an inductor, and never use an unrealistically small value.
Very small resistances (e.g. 1 fempto-Ohm) can cause convergence problems.
For loops containing inductors you can break the loop by adding an initial condition to the inductor
instead of adding a resistor.
Failure to observe the above usually leads to a Singular Matrix error.

4.4 Analysis Modes

4.4.1 Overview

In this section we explain how to setup the most commonly used analysis modes in both SIMetrix and
SIMPLIS (SIMetrix/SIMPLIS product only)
For more comprehensive details on analysis modes, see “Analysis Modes” on page 222 for SIMetrix and
“SIMPLIS Analysis Modes” on page 267 for SIMPLIS .

4.4.2 Setting up a SIMetrix Simulaton

Analysis mode is setup by selecting the menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... In SIMetrix mode this
displays the following dialog box:

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To set up the analysis, first check the box on the right according to which analysis you wish to perform.
You can select more than one, but usually it is easier to do just one at a time.
The following describes the most commonly used modes and how to set one up.

Transient

The most useful and general mode. First the bias point is found. Then the circuit is simulated over a fixed
time interval in steps of varying size according to circuit activity. The circuit may contain any number of
time varying voltage and current sources (stimuli see “Circuit Stimulus” on page 131) to simulate external
signals, test generators etc.
Usually you only need to specify the Stop time specified at the top of the dialog box. For information on
the remaining options see “Transient Analysis” on page 225.

DC Device Sweep

A DC device sweep will sweep a specified device over a defined range and compute the DC operating
point of the circuit at each point. This allows, for example, the DC transfer function of the circuit to be
plotted. Note that all reactive elements are ignored in DC sweep.
To set up a DC Sweep, select the DC Sweep check box at the right and the DC tab at the top. You will
need to enter some values in the Sweep Parameters section:

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The analysis will sweep the device you specify in the Device name box over the range specified by Start
value, Stop value and Number of points or Points per decade if you select a decade sweep.
The entry in the Device name box is the part reference of the device to be swept and for DC sweep would
usually be a voltage source, a current source or a resistor.
Device sweep is just 1 of 5 modes available with DC sweep. The Define... button allows you to specify
one of the others. See “DC Sweep” on page 235 for details.

AC Frequency Sweep

An AC Frequency Sweep calculates the small signal response of a circuit to any number of user defined
inputs over a specified frequency range. The small signal response is computed by treating the circuit as
linear about its DC operating point.
There must be at least one input source for AC analysis for the results to be meaningful. Connect a voltage
or current source to the circuit, select it then press F7. In the dialog box select the Enable AC check box.
On the circuit, an AC input voltage source will look something like this:

To set up an AC Frequency Sweep, select the AC check box at the right and the AC tab at the top. You will
need to enter some values in the Sweep Parameters section:

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The analysis will sweep the frequency over the range specified by Start frequency, Stop frequency and
Number of points or Points per decade if you select a decade sweep.
Frequency sweep is just 1 of 6 modes available with AC sweep. The Define... button allows you to
specify one of the others. See “AC Sweep” on page 237 for details.

Noise Frequency Sweep

Like AC analysis, Noise analysis is a small signal mode. Over a user defined frequency range, the circuit is
treated as linear about its DC operating point and the contribution of all noisy devices to a designated
output is computed. The total noise at that output is also calculated and optionally the noise referred back
to an input source may also be computed.
To set up a Noise Frequency Sweep, select the Noise check box at the right and the Noise tab at the top.
You will need to enter some values in the Sweep Parameters section:

The analysis will sweep the frequency over the range specified by Start frequency, Stop frequency and
Number of points or Points per decade if you select a decade sweep.
You will also need to enter some additional parameters:

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An entry in the Output node box is compulsory. It is the name of the circuit node as it appears in the
netlist. Usually the schematic’s netlist generator chooses the node names but we recommend that when
running a noise analysis that you assign a user defined name to your designated output node. You can do
this using a terminal symbol (Place | Connectors | Terminal) To find out more see “Finding and
Specifying Net Names” on page 65.
An entry in the Ref node box is optional. It is the node to which the output node is referenced. If omitted
it is assumed to be ground.
An entry in the Source name box is optional. If specified the noise referred back to it will be calculated.
Enter the part reference of the voltage or current source that is used as the input to your circuit.
Frequency sweep is just 1 of 6 modes available with Noise Analysis. The Define... button allows you to
specify one of the others. See “Noise Analysis” on page 240 for details.

DC Operating Point

To specify a DC operating point analysis, check the DCOP box on the right of the Choose Analysis
Dialog.
Note that the DC operating point is calculated automatically for all the other analysis modes described
above although for noise analysis the results are not stored.
After a DC operating point has been completed, you can annotate your schematic with markers to display
the voltages at each node. Press ctrl-M on the schematic to place a single marker or select the popup menu
Place | Bias Annotation | Auto Place Markers to automatically place markers on all nodes. See
“Viewing DC Operating Point Results” on page 370 for full details.

Other Analysis Modes

Real-time noise An extension of transient analysis which enables noise generators for
noisy devices using the same equations used for small signal noise
analysis. See “Real Time Noise” on page 245.
Transfer function Similar to AC but instead of calculating the response to a (usually) single
input, it calculates the response from all signal sources to a single output.
See “Transfer Function” on page 246.
Sensitivity Calculates the sensitivity of a specified output to device and model
parameters. See “Sensitivity” on page 249.
Multi-step Analyses Transient, AC, DC, Noise and Transfer Function analyses can be run in an
auto-repeat mode while stepping a user-defined parameter. See
“Multi-step Analyses” on page 258.
Monte Carlo Analysis See “Monte Carlo Analysis” on page 409.

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4.4.3 Setting up a SIMPLIS Simulation

SIMPLIS analyses are setup using the same menu as SIMetrix but you must first set the schematic to
SIMPLIS mode. See “Simulation Modes - SIMetrix or SIMPLIS” on page 32 for details.
Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... You will see the following dialog box:

SIMPLIS has three analysis modes, namely Transient, Periodic Operating Point (POP) and AC. Transient
is similar to SIMetrix transient analysis. POP is a unique analysis mode that finds the steady state of a
switching circuit. AC finds the small signal response of a periodic system.

Transient Analysis

To setup a basic transient analysis:

1. Click on the Transient tab:

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2. Check the Transient box in the Select analysis section.

3. Enter an appropriate stop time under Analysis parameters.
4. Enter an appropriate selection under Save Options. Its usually best to select All. This will instruct
SIMPLIS to save all data for subsequent plotting.
In most cases the above is all you need to do. For information on the remaining transient analysis settings,
see “Transient Analysis” on page 225.

Periodic Operating Point Analysis (POP)

To setup a POP analysis:

1. Select Periodic Operating Point sheet:

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2. Check the POP box under Select analysis.

3. Check the Use "POP Trigger" schematic sevice box. You will need to place a POP trigger device
on your schematic. See below.
4. In the Maximum period box, enter a value that is larger than the largest possible value of your
circuits switching period.
You must place on your schematic a POP trigger device. Select menu Place | Analog Functions | POP
Trigger. After placing the device, connect its input to a switching frequency signal. You do not need to
connect the output of this device. Select the trigger device then press F7. Enter suitable values for Ref.
Voltage and Hysteresis so that it will always reliably trigger on the switching waveform. If you don’t use
the output, there is no need to change the other parameters.

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AC Analysis

To setup an AC analysis:
1. Select AC sheet.
2. Check the AC box under Select analysis.
3. Enter parameters in Sweep Parameters section. These have the same meaning as the equivalent
SIMetrix analysis.

4.4.4 Manual Entry of Simulator Commands

The analysis mode selected using Simulator | Choose Analysis... is stored in text form in the
schematic’s simulator command window also known as the F11 window. If you wish, it is possible to edit
this directly. Users familiar with the simulator’s syntax may prefer this approach. Note that the text
entered in the simulator command window and the Choose Analysis dialog box settings remain
synchronised so you can freely switch between the two methods.
To open the simulator command window, select the schematic then press the F11 key. It has a toggle
action, pressing it again will hide it. If you have already selected an analysis mode using the Choose
Analysis dialog box, you will see the simulator controls already present.
The window has a popup menu selected with the right key. The last item - Edit file at cursor - will open a
text editor window with the file name pointed to by the cursor or selected text item if there is one.
The simulator command window can be resized using the splitter bar between it and the schematic
drawing area.
If you have SIMetrix/SIMPLIS you should use the .SIMULATOR control to mark SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
entries. If .SIMULATOR SIMetrix is encountered, all following lines will only work in SIMetrix mode

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 4.5. Running the Simulator

and will be ignored by SIMPLIS. Conversely, any lines following .SIMULATOR SIMPLIS will only be
accepted by SIMPLIS and will be ignored by SIMetrix. All lines before any occurrence of .SIMULATOR
or after .SIMULATOR DEFAULT will be accepted by both simulators.

4.5 Running the Simulator

4.5.1 SIMetrix

You can run the simulator using a number of methods:

• Select the Simulator | Run Schematic menu item
• Press F9
• Click the Run button in the Simulator | Choose Analysis... dialog box
• Click on the play button

A dialog box will show the status of the simulation.

You can pause the simulation by selecting the Pause button on the simulator status dialog box. To restart
select the Resume button (the Pause button changes name when simulation pauses) or the Simulator |
Resume menu item. There is no obligation to resume a simulation that has been paused. If you start a
new run after having paused the previous one, you will be asked whether you wish to abandon the pending
simulation run.

Notes

1. There is no need to specify in advance of the simulation what voltages, currents and/or powers you
wish to look at. By default everything except signals internal to some device models are stored in a
disk file. You can decide after the run is complete what you wish to look at.
2. It is recommended that any schematics are saved before a run is commenced especially if the run is
expected to take a long time.

4.5.2 SIMPLIS

If the schematic is in SIMPLIS mode, the procedure described above will start the SIMPLIS simulator. A
window showing the progress of the SIMPLIS simulation will be displayed.
SIMPLIS can be aborted by pressing the Abort button in the progress window. SIMPLIS, cannot however,
be paused and resumed.

4.6 Plotting Simulation Results

4.6.1 Overview

SIMetrix provides two methods of creating plots of simulated results.

The first approach is to fix voltage or current probes to the schematic before or during a run. SIMetrix will
then generate graphs of the selected voltages and/or currents automatically. The probes have a wide range

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of options which allow you to specify - for example - how the graphs are organised and when and how
often they are updated.
The second approach is to randomly probe the circuit after the run is complete. (You can also do this
during a run by pausing first). With this approach, the graph will be created as you point the probe but will
not be updated on a new run.
You do not need to make any decisions on how you wish to probe your circuit before starting the run. You
can enter a circuit without any fixed probes, run it, then randomly probe afterwards. Alternatively, you can
place - say - a single fixed probe on an obvious point of interest, then randomly probe to investigate the
detailed behaviour of your circuit.
Fixed schematic probes are limited to single ended voltages and currents and differential voltages. The
random probing method allows you to plot anything you like including device power, FFTs, arbitrary
expressions of simulation results and X-Y plots such as Nyquist diagrams. It is possible to set up fixed
probes to plot arbitrary expressions of signals but this requires manually entering the underlying simulator
command, the .GRAPH control. There is no direct schematic support for this. For details of the .GRAPH
control see the “Command Reference” chapter of the Simulator Reference Manual.

4.6.2 Fixed Probes

There are several types of fixed probe. Three of the commonly used probes are:
1. Voltage. Plots the voltage on a net.
2. Current. Plots the current in a device pin.
3. Differential voltage. Plots the voltage difference between two points.
They are simply schematic symbols with special properties. When you place a fixed probe on the
schematic, the voltage or current at the point where you place the probe will be plotted each time you run
the simulation. The probes have a wide range of options which can be set by double clicking it. These
options are covered in detail in section “Fixed Probes” on page 286.
There are more fixed probes available in addition to those described above. See “Fixed Probes” on
page 286 for details.

Fixed Voltage Probes

You can place these on a schematic with the single hot key ‘B’ or with one of the menus:
Probe | Place Fixed Voltage Probe...
Place | Probe | Voltage Probe
schematic popup Probe Voltage

Hint

If you place the probe immediately on an existing schematic wire, SIMetrix will try and deduce a
meaningful name related to what it is connected to. If you place the probe at an empty location, its name
will be a default (e.g. PROBE1-NODE) which won’t be meaningful and you will probably wish to
subsequently edit it.

Fixed Current Probes

You can place these on a schematic with the single hot key ‘U’ or with one of the menus Probe | Place
Fixed Current Probe... Place | Probe | Current Probe schematic popup Probe Current...

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Current probes must be placed directly over a part pin. They will have no function if they are not and a
warning message will be displayed.

Fixed Differential Voltage Probes

These can be placed using one of the menus

Probe | Place Fixed Diff. Voltage Probe...
Place | Probe | Differential Voltage Probe

4.6.3 Random Probes

Most of the entries in the schematic’s Probe menu are for random probing. You can probe, voltage,
current, differential voltage, device power, dB, phase, Nyquist diagrams and much more. You can also plot
arbitrary expressions of any circuit signal and plot signals from earlier simulation runs. Just a few of the
possibilities to get you started are explained below. For a full reference see “Random Probes” on page 320.

Random Voltage Probing

1. Select the schematic menu item Probe | Voltage...

2. Using the mouse, place the cursor over the point on the circuit you wish to plot.
3. Press the left mouse button. A graph of the voltage at that point will be created. The new curve will
be added to any existing graph if the X-axis has the same units. Otherwise, a new graph sheet will be
created.

Random Voltage Probing - On New Graph Sheet

1. Select the schematic menu item Probe | Voltage (New Graph Sheet)...
2. Using the mouse, place the cursor over the point on the circuit you wish to plot.
3. Press the left mouse button. A graph of the voltage at that point will be created. A new graph sheet
will be created for it unconditionally.

Random Current Probing

1. Select the schematic menu item Probe | Current...

2. Using the mouse, place the cursor at the device pin whose current you wish to plot.
3. Press the left mouse button. A graph of the current at that point will be created. The new curve will
be added to any existing graph if the X-axis has the same units. Otherwise, a new graph sheet will be
created.

Random Current Probing - On New Graph Sheet

1. Select the schematic menu item Probe | Current in Device Pin (New Graph Sheet)...
2. Using the mouse, place the cursor at the device pin whose current you wish to plot.
3. Press the left mouse button. A graph of the current at that point will be created. A new graph sheet
will be created for it unconditionally.

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Probing dB and Phase for AC Analysis

In AC analysis you will probably want to plot signals in dB and you may also want to plot the phase of a
signal.
1. Select the schematic menu item Probe AC/Noise | db - Voltage... for dB or Probe AC/Noise |
Phase - Voltage....
2. Using the mouse, place the cursor over the point on the circuit you wish to plot.
3. Press the left mouse button. The new curve will be added to any existing graph if the X-axis has the
same units. Otherwise, a new graph sheet will be created.

Probing dB and Phase for AC Analysis - On New Graph Sheet

1. Create an empty graph sheet by pressing F10 or selecting menu Probe | New Graph Sheet
2. Proceed as in above section.

Differential Voltage Probing

The schematic menu Probe | Voltage Differential... allows you to plot the voltage difference between
two points. When you select this menu click on the schematic twice. The first is the signal node and the
second the reference node.

Advanced Probing

The menu Probe | More Probe Functions... provides many more probing functions selectable from a
tree structured list. More advanced plotting can be achieved with the menu Probe | Add Curve.... This
opens a dialog box allowing you to enter any expression and which also provides a range of options on
how you wish the graph to be plotted.

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Chapter 5

SIMetrix GUI Environment

5.1 Overview

The SIMetrix user interface provides an environment where multiple views can be managed within a
window. There are a range of views, for example content related views such as the Schematic Editor,
Symbol Editor and Waveform Viewer, along with more system related views such as the Command Shell
and File Viewer. By dragging a views title bar, views can be rearranged within a window into the layout
that best suits your needs.
Before we discuss the layout possibilities, we note that there are conceptually two types of views within
SIMetrix. The first, System Views, provide tools to operate the program, which includes the Command
Shell and File Viewer. The second, Workspace Views, provide means for developing and reviewing
designs, which includes the Schematic Editor and Waveform Viewer.

Overview of the User Interface.

In terms of layout, System Views sit on the outside of any Workspace Views. A visualisation of the regions

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that can be used to place a System View are shown below. Workspace Views will fill in any available space
if System Views are not present.

The regions that a System View can be placed (shown in blue), in relation to a Workspace
View (shown in white).

When a view is dragged, these guiding regions shown in blue will be displayed to highlight where a view
can be dragged to. Alternatively, views can be moved to new or existing windows. In the Interaction
section, more detail is given about arranging layouts within a window.

5.2 Interaction

To move any view, move the mouse to the title bar at the top of the view, shown in grey in the figure of a
blank schematic below. The cursor will change to an open hand. Click on the title bar and hold, the cursor
will change to a closed hand. Next move the mouse, causing the View to undock from the window and
begin to be dragged with the mouse. As you move the View, possible places to redock the View will be
highlighted in blue, which will also provide a preview of how the new window layout will look, as shown
in the second figure below. Dragging the view ontop of another view of the same type (either System or
Workspace) will cause those Views to stack on top of each other.

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A blank schematic. The draggable title bar is shown shaded grey at the top of the
schematic labelled ‘untitled’, along with the drag available cursor.

Placement of a View whilst being dragged. If the drag ended at this point in time, the blue
region shows where the dragged View would be placed.

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By default the View’s will split to take up half of the available space when placed next to each other. They
can be resized by moving the cursor in-between them until the cursor shown is visible, then dragging them
to the required size, as shown in the figure below of two schematics placed side-by-side.

Two schematics placed side by side. The resize cursor is shown between the two Views.

For Workspace Views, one View in each window will be selected to have application focus. The focus
determines which menus and toolbars are shown and where targeted operations, such as placing a
component, will be carried out. Bold title text in the Views title bar, indicates that the view is selected. To
quickly determine the type of view that currently has application focus, look for the buttons in the top right
of the screen, shown in the figure below of multiple views within the same window. These buttons show
the different Workspace Views that open in the current window. The type of View that has focus will be
highlighted blue. To quickly swap between different Workspace Views of different types, click on the
button of the type of View you want to see. This will display and focus the application on the last View of
that type that was used.

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Multiple Views within the same window. The selected View type, Schematic Editor, is
shown by the highlighted button in the top right of the window.

Views can be moved to new windows by either dragging them outside of their existing window.
Alternately, through the Undock or Dock to... drop down menu option available by pressing the

button in the View’s title bar. Similarly, all Views of a type can be undocked to another window by using
the Undock all drop down menu option of the View button at the top right of the window.

5.3 Directory Viewer

The directory viewer is a system view that enables the navigation of SIMetrix related files and directories.
By default, the SIMetrix folder in your Documents directory will appear in this view when you first use
SIMetrix, as shown in the figure below. The view will display the folders within the directory along with
files that are associated with the program. Double clicking on a file will open it in the program.

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The File View. The top level directory, SIMetrix, is the initial default top level directory.
Below that, all sub-directories and application related files are shown.

To add a new top-level directory to the viewer, click Add Directory, then navigate to the directory to add to
the view. When selected, the file viewer will show all sub-directories and files that are associated with
SIMetrix or SIMetrix/SIMPLIS.
To remove a top-level directory, right click on the directory and press Unload Directory.
The right click menu also allows you to open the containing folder for a particular sub-folder or file, create
a new folder and refresh the listings (although in most cases the listing will refresh automatically).

5.4 Interface Styles

The style of the user interface can be swapped between two preset styles, a lighter and a darker style.
These two styles are shown in the two figures below.
To swap between the two styles use: File | Options | Interface Colour.... Doing so will also cause
some schematic styles to be changed.

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Light version of the user interface.

Dark version of the user interface.

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Chapter 6

Schematic Editor

6.1 Fundamentals

6.1.1 Schematic Windows and Sheets

Schematic editor windows are Content Views in the SIMetrix GUI Environment. See “SIMetrix GUI
Environment” on page 48.

Creating Schematics

If you have SIMetrix/SIMPLIS, the schematic can operate in one of two modes, namely SIMetrix mode or
SIMPLIS mode and you can select the mode when creating a new empty schematic as follows:
• To create an empty SIMetrix schematic, select menu File | New | SIMetrix Schematic
• To create an empty SIMPLIS schematic, select menu File | New | SIMPLIS Schematic
If you have a SIMetrix-only product use menu File | New | Schematic.

Changing Simulator Mode

If you have SIMetrix/SIMPLIS and you change the simulator mode, select menu Simulator | Switch to
xxx Mode where xxx is either SIMetrix or SIMPLIS.

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6.1.2 Schematic Editor Window

6.1.3 Editing Operations

In the following notes references are made to the schematic tool bar. The diagram above shows the
standard toolbar and the function of each button.

To Place a Part

Parts are most conveniently placed using the parts selector which is located on the right hand side of the
schematic window. If it is not showing, select menu View | Show Part Selector to make it visible. The
part selector is a hierarchical categorised list containing nearly all parts available. When you find the part
you want, click on it then either right click to see menu options or click on the Place link between the list
and the symbol view.

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If you cannot find what you are looking for select menu Place | Search Part... to open the SIMetrix
search tool. You can also use the Search button:

Some commonly used parts can be selected from the parts toolbar.
Once the symbol has been selected, using the mouse, move the image of the part to your desired location
then press the left mouse button. This will fix the part to the schematic. Depending on preference settings
(menu File | Options | General... schematic tab), you may now be presented with another copy of the
symbol for placement. Use left key as before to place, press right key to cancel.
You can rotate, mirror or flip the part before placing it on the schematic using the appropriate toolbar
button or the keys F5, F6 or shift-F6 respectively

Selecting a Single Part

Most operations require items to be selected. When an item (part or wire) is selected, it changes colour to
blue.
To select a single part, just left click it.

Selecting an Area

To select all items within a rectangular area of the schematic press the left mouse key in an empty area of
the sheet and hold down while dragging mouse to opposite corner of rectangle. A rectangular box should
be drawn as you move the mouse. (Note that if the initial cursor position is too close to a wire junction or
part, a move operation will be carried out instead of selection.)

To Change Value or Device Type for a Part

First select it then select schematic popup Edit Part... or press F7. Alternatively, you can just double
click the device. A dialog box appropriate for the type of part will be displayed. For devices requiring a
model name, a list of available types will appear

To Rotate, Mirror or Flip a Part

Click the Rotate toolbar button or press key F5 to rotate a part.

This operation can be performed while a part is being placed or while a block is being moved or copied
(see below).
You can also select a part or block then click the Rotate button or press the F5 key to rotate in situ.
To mirror a part or block through the y-axis, click the Mirror toolbar button or press the F6 key.
To flip a part or block (mirror about x-axis), click the Flip toolbar button or press shift-F6.

Wiring

See “Wiring” on page 61.

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Deleting Wires

Select the wire by placing cursor over it clicking left button. Click the Cut toolbar button or press delete
key.

Disconnecting Wires

Press the shift key, then select area enclosing the wire or wires to be deleted. Press delete button.

To Move a Single Part

Place the cursor within it and then drag it using the left mouse key. You can rotate/flip/mirror the part (see
above) while doing so.

To Move More Than One Item

Select items as described above. Place cursor within any of the selected items then drag the items to the
desired location. You can rotate/flip/mirror the items (see above) while doing so.

To Move Items Disconnected

Select items as described above then click the Detach toolbar button. Move items to desired location then
press left mouse key. You can rotate/flip/mirror the items (see above) while doing so.

To Move Property Text (Labels)

SIMetrix provides the ability to move property labels simply by dragging them with the mouse but this
method is disabled by default. To enable, use menu File | Options | General... then in Schematic sheet
select Enable GUI property edits in the Property editing box.
Although this is of course a convenient method for moving property labels, our recommendation is that
this method is kept switched off. Our philosophy is that it is better to move the symbol so that the label is
clearly visible rather than move the label itself. See “Notes on Property Text Position” on page 60 for a
discussion.
You can also move a part’s value, by pressing ctrl-F7 and its reference using ctrl-F8. To move any other
property select device then popup Properties | Move... .

To Duplicate Items

Select items as described above then click the Duplicate toolbar button. Move the items to your desired
location then press left key to fix. You can rotate/flip/mirror the items (see above) while doing so.

To Copy Across Schematics

Select block you wish to copy. Choose menu Edit | Copy. In second schematic choose Edit | Paste.

To Delete

Select items as described above then click the Cut toolbar button or press the delete key.

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Multiple Selection

Individual items which do not lie within a single rectangle can be selected by holding down the control
key while using the mouse to select the desired items as described above.

Selecting Wires Only

Hold down shift key while performing select operation.

Holding Down the ALT Key...

... while selecting will limit part selection to only devices that are wholly enclosed by the selection box.

Unselecting

Place the cursor in an empty area and press left mouse key.

Unselect Items Within a Rectangle

You can unselect an area of schematic enclosed by the selection box. Use menu Edit | Unselect |
Rectangle.

To Change a Part Reference

Select part(s) then press F8 or select schematic menu Edit | Change Reference. Enter new reference.

To Correct a Mistake

Click the Undo toolbar button. By default you can backtrack up to ten operations (but this can be changed
with File | Options | General...). If you want to undo the undo operation, select the menu Edit | Redo
menu item.

To Add Text To a Schematic

Select the popup menu item Edit | Add Free Text.... This opens a dialog box prompting you for the text
to be entered. After entering text and closing box you can then position the text where you require using
the mouse.

To Change Text Already Entered

Select the text then press F7 and enter the new text.

To Hide A Part Value

Select popup menu item Hide/Show Value

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To Disable/Enable a Schematic Part

Schematic parts may be disabled so that, for simulation purposes, they behave as if they are not present on
the schematic.
To disable one or more parts, first select them then select right click menu Disable selected. Each of the
disabled parts will show with a cross through it.
To re-enable, select then right click menu Enable selected.
Any part may be disabled, including regular components, probes, terminals, module ports, ground symbols
and bus rippers. Be aware that if you use this method to disable an inline current probe, the probe will
become an open circuit.

Zoom Area

Click the Zoom box toolbar button then drag mouse to zoom in on selected area.

Zoom Full (Fit to Area)

Select popup View | Zoom to Fit or press HOME key to fit whole schematic in current window size.

Zoom Out

Click the Zoom out toolbar button or press F12 to zoom out one level.
You may also zoom out by holding down the control key and rolling the mouse scroll wheel backwards

Zoom In

Click the Zoom in toolbar button or shift-F12 to zoom in one level.

You may also zoom out by holding down the control key and rolling the mouse scroll wheel forwards

Panning

The easiest way to pan the schematic is with the mouse scroll wheel. Just rotate the wheel for vertical pan.
For horizontal pan, hold down the shift key and rotate the wheel.
You may also use the scroll bars, cursor keys and page up and down keys to pan schematic. The left, right,
up and down cursor keys pan the schematic one grid square in the relevant direction and the Page up, Page
down, control left cursor, control right cursor to pan the schematic 10 grid squares.

Notes on Property Text Position

The SIMetrix schematic editor has been designed using a basic principle that it is better to move the part to
make its property text visible rather than move the property. That way the part’s value and other properties
will always have a consistent location relative to the symbol body and there will be no confusion as to
which part it belongs.
If you have a situation where some device label (=property text) clashes with another, your first thought
will probably be to move the label. We ask you instead to think about moving the part that owns the label;
it’s nearly always a better way. In situations where the label is very long, it might be better to hide it
altogether.

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If you find that moving the label is the only way then you should be aware of how the positions of property
text are defined.
In SIMetrix, property positions can be defined in one of two ways namely Auto and Absolute. Most of the
standard symbols have their properties defined as Auto. This means that SIMetrix chooses the location of
the property on a specified edge of the symbol and ensures that it doesn’t clash with other properties on the
same edge. Auto properties are always horizontal and therefore easily readable. The position of Absolute
properties is fixed relative to the symbol body regardless of the orientation of the symbol and location of
other properties. When the symbol is rotated through 90 degrees, absolute text will also rotate. Absolute
properties are intended for situations where the precise location is important, such as in a title block.
When a visible property on a symbol is moved by the method described above, it and all other visible
properties on that symbol are converted to Absolute locations. This is the only way that the positions of all
properties can be preserved. This means that once you move a single property on a part, it and all other
properties will rotate with the symbol. For this reason, it is better not to move property text until the
orientation of the symbol has been finalised.

6.1.4 Wiring

Overview

SIMetrix offers both manual and smart wiring methods. In smart mode, you select the start and end points
and SIMetrix will find a suitable route. In manual mode, you place each wire segment individually in
exactly the locations you require. You don’t need to change global settings to select the mode you desire;
the procedures for each mode are different and so you can freely switch between them from one wiring
operation to the next.
However, in most applications you won’t need to use the manual wiring method. The smart wiring method
can still be used to enter wire segments one by one, simply by selecting start and end points that have an
obvious straight line route. The fundamental difference between smart and manual is that smart mode will
always route around obstacles such as existing wire terminations or whole symbols. In manual mode the
wire will always go exactly where you take it even it crosses existing connections or passes through
existing symbols.

Smart Wiring Procedure

1. Initiate smart wiring by bringing the mouse cursor close to either an unselected symbol pin or an
unselected wire end. As you do this you will notice that the cursor changes shape to depict a pen
symbol.
2. Click the left button (press and release), to mark the starting point of the wire connection.
3. Move, the cursor to the destination point. This may be anywhere on the schematic, not just at a wire
end or symbol pin.
If there is a viable route from the start point to the destination point, SIMetrix will locate it and draw the
wire route.

Smart Wiring Notes

The smart wiring algorithm use an heuristic algorithm that finds as many routes as possible then chooses
the best one based on a number of criteria. The criteria used in the selection include the number of corners,
the number of wires crossed, the number of property labels crossed and its overall length. It attempts to
find the most aesthetically pleasing route, but as this is somewhat subjective, it may not necessarily find
the route you may have chosen manually. However, in our tests, we have found that it usually finds the
best route for situations where there are no more than 2 or 3 corners required. In developing the algorithm

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we paid particular attention to common scenarios found in analog design such as routing the output of an
opamp back to its inverting input and you should find that these common scenarios work well.

Smart Wiring Options

There is two option to control the smart wiring algorithm. Firstly, you can disable the smart wiring
algorithm altogether, in which case the smart wiring procedure will place wires in a similar fashion to the
manual wiring methods.
Secondly, there is an option that controls whether or not the smart wiring algorithm is allowed to route
wires through existing wires that are connected to the start and end points. By default this option is on, i.e.
the smart algorithm is allowed to route through connected wires. If the option is off, the algorithm will not
allow any wires in the route to connect to any existing wire regardless of what it is connected to. In
general, we recommend that the option is left switched.
To change the smart wiring options, select menu File | Options | General.... The two wiring options are
in the section titled Wiring.

Manual Wiring Procedure

If you have a three button mouse you can start a wire by clicking the middle button. Clicking the middle
button a second time will complete the wire and start a new one. Click the right button to terminate wiring.
If you have a two button mouse you can start a wire by pressing F3 or double clicking the left button.
Single clicking the left button will complete the wire and start a new one. Click the right button to
terminate wiring.
Alternatively, click the Wire button on the toolbar. You can start a wire by single clicking the left button,
otherwise continue as described above. Press the Wire button again to cancel this mode.

6.1.5 Bus Connections

SIMetrix provides the Bus Ripper symbol to allow the connection of buses.

To Add a Bus Connector

1. Select the menu Place | Connectors | Bus Ripper... This will display dialog:

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Enter a bus name if you require it.

2. Start index and end index define the wires within the bus that you wish to connect to. Suppose you
were connecting to a data bus called DATA and it was 16 bits wide. If you wish to make a
connection to the 4 bits from DATA8 to DATA11, you would enter 8 and 11 for the start and end
index respectively. The bus ripper doesn’t care about the size of the bus to which it is connecting.
3. Choose an appropriate style. This only affects the appearance of the symbol not its functionality.
4. Click Ok then place the symbol on your schematic.

To Draw Buses

There is no special method of drawing buses. Simply wire up bus rippers as you would any other part. As
soon as you connect to the bus pin of a bus ripper, the colour and thickness of the wire will automatically
change to signify that it is a bus.

To Increase/Reduce the Connections to a Bus

If you wish to add connections to or delete connections from a bus ripper, select the ripper device and
press F7 or popup menu Edit Part.... The same dialog as above will be displayed. Adjust the start and
end indexes appropriately then close the box.

Connecting Buses in a Hierarchy

See “Connecting Buses in a Hierarchy” on page 68.

6.1.6 Copying to the Clipboard

To copy schematics to the clipboard, select the entire schematic then choose menu Edit | Copy. If you
wish the schematic to be copied in black white select Edit | Copy Monochromatic. It is recommended
that you zoom the schematic to fill the window prior to copying to the clipboard.
After copying to the clipboard, the schematic can be pasted into another application such as a word
processor.

6.1.7 Annotating a Schematic

You can add a caption or free text to a schematic. The only difference between them is the font style and
justification. Captions use a heavy font and are centre justified. Free text use a smaller font and are left
justified. To place a caption or free text use the popup or fixed menus:
Edit | Annotation | Add Caption...
Edit | Annotation | Add Free Text...

6.1.8 Assigning Part References

Standard Behaviour

As you place parts on a schematic, they are automatically assigned a part reference (R1, Q42, C11 - etc.).
These references are assigned in sequence and breaks in the sequence are reused. So if you place resistors
on the schematic R1, R2, R3 and R4 then delete R2, the next resistor placed will use the reference R2 that
has become available.

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Setting Start Value

By default, auto assigned references start at 1. You can change this using the AnnoMinSuffix option
variable (see the table in “List of Options” on page 439). For example, type this at the command line:
Set AnnoMinSuffix=100

Auto assigned part references will now begin with 100.

Assigning By Position

You can reassign part references so that they are allocated by their position on the schematic. To do this
select menu Edit | Assign References By Position.

6.1.9 Checking the Schematic

The schematic menu Simulator | Check performs a number of checks. First, a netlist of the circuit is
created. During this process the following potential errors will be reported.
• Unconnected pins.
• Dangling wires.
• Implicit connections (e.g. two terminal symbols with the same name)
• Name translations. This is for buses with different names connected together. One name has to win.
• Shorted parts. Any parts with two or more pins which have all their pins connected to each other.
Next the netlist is read in by the simulator but the simulation is not started. This will identify any devices
for which models have not been found.

6.1.10 Schematic Preferences

Part Toolbar

The default toolbar show a selection of symbols useful. There are however many more buttons available
and these can be added as desired. To do this select the schematic menu View | Configure Toolbar... .
This will display a dialog box allowing full customisation of the part buttons on the schematic toolbar.
Note that the toolbar configuration in SIMetrix mode is independent of the configuration in SIMPLIS
mode.
Further customisation of all toolbars is possible using script commands. You can also define your own
toolbars and buttons. Full details may be found in the Script Reference Manual

Part Placement Options

You can specify whether or not you prefer multiple or single placement of parts. By default, placement of
parts from the schematic tool bar is repetitive while placement of parts from the menus is done one at a
time. This can be changed. Select the menu File | Options | General.... In the schematic sheet, the
options available are presented in the Placement box.

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6.1.11 Adding and Removing Worksheets

A number of standard sizes of worksheet are included. See menu Place | Worksheets. The worksheet
menus automatically protect the worksheet after it has been placed. This prevents it from being selected.
To delete a worksheet, use the Place | Worksheet | Delete Worksheet menu. You should avoid
placing a worksheet from the Place | From Symbol Library menu as it will not be protected if you do
this.

6.1.12 Finding and Specifying Net Names

When a simulation is run, a netlist of the schematic is created and this is delivered to the simulator. The
netlist generator automatically assigns names to every net (or node) of the circuit. There are some
situations where you need to find the name of a net. For example, in noise analysis (see “Noise Analysis”
on page 240) you must specify an output node. In these situations you can either find the name of the net
that the netlist generator assigned or alternatively you can specify a name of your choice.

To Find an Assigned Net Name

Place the mouse cursor on the net of interest. You will see the name appear in the fifth entry of the status
box at the base of the schematic window in the form “NET=netname”. Note that the schematic must have
been netlisted for this to work. Netlisting occurs when you run a simulation for example, but you can force
this at any time by selecting the menu Simulator | Check.

To Specify a User Defined Name

User defined net names can be specified using either the Terminal symbol or the Small Terminal symbol.
Select menu Place | Connectors | Terminal or Place | Connectors | Small Terminal. To specify
the net name select the terminal then press F7 and enter your choice of name.

6.2 Hierarchical Schematic Entry

Schematics can be organised into multiple levels in a hierarchy. Typically the top level would contain a
number of blocks, each of which represents an underlying child schematic. Each of the child schematics
can in turn contain more blocks.
You can create a hierarchical schematic in one of two ways:
The schematic and its symbol are stored within the same file. The combined element is known as a
component and is usually given the file extension .SXCMP.
All the methods for creating hierarchical schematics described in this section use components.

6.2.1 Top-Down Method

Creating Part Symbol

Select schematic menu Hierarchy | Create New Symbol.... This will open the graphical symbol editor.
See “Graphical Symbol Editor” on page 112 for details. Note that the symbol you create must be given a
REF property typically with the initial value U? and a Model property which must have the value X.

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Placing Symbol

If the schematic containing the block has never been saved (‘untitled’ in caption bar) you must save it now.
This is so that the schematic has a title. This step is only necessary if the schematic has never been saved
before.
Select either Hierarchy | Place Component (Full Path)... or Hierarchy | Place Component
(Relative Path).... The first references the component file using a full file system path name while the
second uses a path relative to the parent schematic. See “Placing - Full vs Relative Path” on page 67 for
more details. Select the .SXCMP file you used to save the symbol in the above paragraph. Note that you
will see the warning message “Component module ports in underlying schematic do
not match symbol pins” displayed in the command shell. This warning may be ignored at this
point.

Creating Schematic for Block

1. Select the symbol whose schematic you wish to define then select schematic menu Hierarchy |
Descend Into. Note the symbol must have been saved as a component as described above.
2. A new schematic sheet will be opened with a number of module port symbols already placed. These
will be named according to the pin names of the block. You must use these to make connections to
the outside world.

6.2.2 Bottom-up method

Creating Schematic

1. Open or draw schematic. It must have at least one Module Port symbol on it. To place a module
port, use schematic menu Hierarchy | Place Module Port.
2. Save the schematic as a component. Select menu Save As... then select Components from Save as
type: list.

Creating Symbol for Schematic

1. Select Hierarchy | Open/Create Symbol for Schematic...

2. A graphical symbol editor window will be opened with a default symbol generated from the number,
orientation and names of the module ports on the schematic.
3. The symbol created can be saved straight away or you can edit it to suit your requirements. To save
it, in the symbol editor window, select the menu File | Save... . You will not usually need to
change any of the settings in the dialog. Just press Ok to close.

6.2.3 Navigating Hierarchical designs

There are a number of means of navigating hierarchical designs. You can go up or down one level or you
can jump straight to the top level (or root).

Descending into a Block

1. Select the block then either press Control-E or select Hierarchy | Descend Into.

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2. If schematic attached to the block is already open, it will be brought into view. If it isn’t it will be
opened. Note that the schematic will now be associated with the block that you entered. This is
important if you have more than one block attached to the same schematic and you intend to plot
curves from it after a simulation. This is explained more fully in the section on simulating
hierarchical designs.

Ascending to Parent Schematic

1. Select Hierarchy | Ascend

2. If schematic is open, it will be brought into view. if it isn’t, it will be opened.

6.2.4 Placing - Full vs Relative Path

Components can be placed using their full path or a relative path.

When placed with a full path, the component file is referenced using its full file system path name (e.g.
C:\Projects\Proj123\amplifier.sxcmp. This allows the schematic file that uses the component to be freely
moved as long as the component file stays in the same place. However if the component file is moved the
schematic will no longer be able to locate it.
When placed with a relative path, the component file is referenced with a file system path name relative to
the schematic that uses it. Most likely the component file will be in the same directory (or folder) as the
schematic and will therefore be referenced by its file name alone. (E.g. amplifier.sxcmp). This allows the
schematic file and component file to be moved together to any location but they may not be moved
individually.
In general we recommend using relative paths wherever possible. The exception is when placing a
component that is held in a general library, for example a standard cell used in an integrated circuit design.

To place a component using its full path

Select schematic menu Hierarchy | Place Component (Full Path).... Select a component file then
place in the normal way.

To place a component using its relative path

Select schematic menu Hierarchy | Place Component (Relative Path).... Select a component file
then place in the normal way.

Using symbolic constants

SIMetrix has a facility to define path names using symbolic constants. This system allows absolute
locations for files to be defined using a single value and thus making it easy to change that location. See
“Symbolic Path Names” on page 427 for further details.

Windows/Linux Inter-operability

Paths are stored on each schematic instance using the UNIX directory separator, that is the forward slash
‘/’. This is provided for compatibility with older versions that run under Linux. (SIMetrix for Linux is no
longer available.) This allows schematics created using a Windows version to be used with a legacy Linux
version. In most cases Windows accepts a forward slash as a directory separator whereas Linux does not
accept a back slash.

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6.2.5 Connecting Buses in a Hierarchy

Overview

Bus connections can be passed through a hierarchy in much the same way as normal single wire
connections. Bus connections are defined by the underlying schematic. The symbol representing the
schematic does not require any special treatment.

Creating Bus Connections Using the Bottom Up Method

1. Enter the schematic in the usual way.

2. To define a bus connection, place the part Hierarchy | Place Module Bus Port instead of the usual
Module Port. Select the device and press F7 to define the port name and bus size (i.e. the number of
wires in the bus).
3. Save schematic as a ‘Component’
4. Select menu Hierarchy | Open/Create Symbol for Schematic...
5. Edit symbol if required then save

Changing the Bus Offset in the Parent Schematic

The bus connection in the parent schematic has a size that is determined by the module port in the child
schematic. However, the offset - that is the first wire it connects to in the bus in the parent - can be changed
on a per instance basis. To do this, proceed as follows:
1. Select the label next to the bus pin. This will be of the form [A..B] where A is the start wire (default
is 0) and B is the final wire. Note that if you edited an existing symbol to add a bus connection, you
may not see this label. If so select the component then menu Hierarchy | Update Bus
Connections.
2. Press F7 then enter the new offset and OK. You will see the label change accordingly. For example,
suppose the bus has 8 wires as defined in the child schematic. To begin with the label will be [0..7]
and will therefore connect to bus wire 0 to 7. If you change the offset to, for example, 4, the label
will change to [4..11] meaning that the connection will now be made to wires 4 to 11.

Changing a Non-bus Connection to a Bus Connection

1. In the child schematic change the Module Port to a Module Bus Port and edit as appropriate.
2. In the parent schematic, select the block then menu Hierarchy | Update Bus Connections.
This will update the schematic to show the bus connection on the hierarchical block.

Changing the Size of a Bus Connection

1. In the child schematic, select the appropriate Module Bus Port.

2. Press F7 and enter the new size as required.
3. In the parent schematic, select the block then menu Hierarchy | Update Bus Connections.

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6.2.6 Global Nets

You can access any net at the top level of a hierarchy using a terminal symbol and prefixing the name with
‘#’.
For example, suppose you have a net at the top level called VCC. You can access this net at any level of the
hierarchy without having to pass the connection by connecting a terminal symbol (Place | Connectors |
Terminal) and then assigning it the name #VCC.

6.2.7 Global Pins

Supposing you have two instances of a hierarchical block which you wish to connect to different supply
rails. To do this you would need to connect the supplies - say VCC - to pins at the top level with explicit
(i.e. non-global) connections at the lower levels. So every child schematic at lower levels would also need
VCC pins.
However, it is sometime convenient to hide these connections. When there is only one supply for an entire
design, this can be done using global nets. However, in the scenario we described above, there are two
versions of VCC so we would not be able to use a global net in this case.
A solution to this is to use a feature of SIMetrix called Global Pins. Global pins are defined during symbol
definition. Once a pin is defined as global, a net of the same name will be available in all child schematics
at all levels without the need for it to be explicitly passed.

Example

Top Level Schematic

Block 1

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Block 2

In the above example, VCC and VEE connections have been made in block2 without them having to be
passed via the parent block1.
The above trivial example is supplied as an example. See Examples/Hierarchy/Global Pins.

Creating Global Pins

To define a global pin. select the symbol editor menu Property/Pin | Global Pins.... Double click on
the pin you wish to assign as global and select Yes.

6.2.8 Passing Parameters Through a Hierarchy

To pass parameters through a hierarchy, assign a PARAMS property then give it a value to assign each
parameter you wish to pass (e.g. PARAM1=10 PARAM2=57). See supplied example in folder
Examples/Hierarchy/Passing Parameters.
This feature works in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS runs.

Adding Parameters to a Symbol

The PARAMS property is most easily added in the symbol editor when the symbol for the hierarchical
block is created. This is the procedure:
1. Open the symbol in the symbol editor. If you are editing a hierarchical symbol that has already been
created and placed on a schematic, select the symbol then menu Hierarchy | Open/Create
Symbol for Schematic.

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2. In the symbol editor, select menu Property/Pin Add Property. This will open the Add Property
dialog box.
3. In the Name box enter PARAMS.
4. In the Value box enter the parameter names and their default values.
For example: PARAM1=10 PARAM2=57
5. You can leave the remaining settings at their default values or edit as desired.
6. Click Ok.
7. Select menu File | Save... , then click Ok to close. Close symbol editor window if desired.
The above procedure will add the PARAMS property to all new instances of the symbol. It will not add the
property to any existing instances already placed on a schematic.
If you have already placed instances of the symbol you can update it so that it acquires the new PARAMS
property you have just added to the symbol definition. To do this proceed as follows:
1. Select the instance of the symbol in the schematic editor.
2. Select right click menu Update Properties... . Accept the default action - this will add any
properties missing from the existing instance but present in the symbol definition.

Editing Parameters

To edit parameters after they have been added, proceed as follows:

1. Select hierarchical instance.
2. Select right click menu Edit/Add Properties....
3. Double click the item with name PARAMS
4. Enter new values as required in the Value box.

Accessing Parameters in the Child Schematic

You can use any parameter defined on the symbol in an expression to define a component value or model
value. You should enclose the expression with curly braces: ‘‘ and ‘’.

6.2.9 Missing Hierarchical Blocks

When a hierarchical schematic is opened, SIMetrix needs to locate the component files that contain the
symbols used for each hierarchical block. If, however, the file for a particular component is missing or is
in the wrong location, then SIMetrix will not be able to display that component’s symbol. Unlike library
symbols, component symbols are not stored locally in the schematic file.
In order to make it possible to resolve the problem, SIMetrix instead puts a place holder symbol in place of
the missing symbol. The place holder symbol is a diagonal cross.

Repairing Missing Components

If a component is missing you can either edit the schematic to identify the new location of the component,
or you can move files around so that the components are once again in the expected locations.
To edit the schematic, select the place holder symbol then menu Hierarchy | Replace Component....
To relocate files, use the system’s file handling tools to move the component files, then select menu
Hierarchy | Update Symbols.

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6.2.10 Highlighting

The schematic highlighting features will work through a hierarchy. The menus Edit | Highlight by Net
and Edit | Other Highlighting | Highlight Net by Name... will highlight a selected net within the
displayed schematic and any connected nets in other schematics in the same hierarchy. But note the
following:
1. In very large hierarchies, it is possible that the mechanism that traces through the hierarchy to
identify connected nets can noticeably slow down the time taken to descend into a new schematic.
Hierarchical highlighting can be disabled if this becomes a problem. See menu File | Options |
General... then check Disabled under Hierarchy Highlighting
2. Connectivity information in SIMetrix schematics is normally only generated when a netlist is
created. For this reason it is possible for highlighting to be incomplete if a schematic has been edited
since a simulation was last run. The highlighting algorithms seeks to minimise this problem by
running the netlister at certain times, but for performance reasons does not netlist the whole
hierarchy. You can use the menu Edit | Other Highlighting | Refresh Hierarchical
Highlights to resolve this problem. This will netlist the complete hierarchy and rebuild the
highlights from scratch.

6.2.11 Copying a Hierarchy

A complete hierarchy may be copied for archival purposes subject to certain conditions as follows:
1. The hierarchy must use relative paths throughout
2. All child components must be either in the same directory as the root or in a directory that is a direct
descendant of the root.
If these conditions are met then the hierarchy may be copied using schematic menu File | Copy
Hierarchy. Before any file copying is started, checks that the above conditions are met is made first. A
check will also be made for any existing target files to ensure that no existing file will be over-written. If
all checks are successful, you will be presented with a list of all the files that will be copied before the
copying operation is started.

6.3 Schematic Annotations

Annotations are elements that can be placed on the schematic that do not alter the behaviour of a circuit,
but give a method of adding additional descriptions for someone using the schematic or understanding the
design. There are four core annotation types: lines, shapes, images and text. Additionally there is also a
title block annotation that allows for marking title and authorship information about a schematic.

6.3.1 Line Based Annotations

There are two types of line annotations available: lines and arrows. These can be placed through the
Place | Annotation | New Line and New Arrow menu options.
To place a line based annotation, use the menu link, then click on the schematic where you want the
annotation to start and drag to where you want the annotation to end. The annotation can be moved by
clicking on the annotation then dragging it. One end of the annotation can be moved by rectangle selecting
one end, so that a cross is shown on the annotation like in the figure below, then clicking on the cross and
dragging it to where you want that end to now be placed.

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A partially selected line and arrow annotation. The cross marker on the left hand end of
each shows that only the left part of the annotation is selected.

All line annotations can be rotated and mirrored using the appropriate tool buttons.

6.3.2 Shape Based Annotations

There are several shape based annotations available, such as rectangles and ellipses.
All shape annotations follow the same rules when placing them on the schematic. After selecting the
annotation from the Place | Annotation menu, click on the schematic where to start drawing the
annotation, then drag and release where the annotation should be ended. A preview of the annotation will
be shown as you do this. For non-rectangular annotations, the annotations are drawn within a bounding
rectangle.
By clicking on the line of a shape you select the whole annotation, as shown in the figure below of a fully
selected rectangle annotation. The annotation will display in the selected style, but will also have four dot
markers, one on each corner. These dot markers show which corners are selected and will move with the
cursor if dragged. If all four markers are shown then it means the whole annotation will move if dragged.

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A fully selected rectangle annotation. The dot markers on each corner show that the whole
annotation is selected.

Shape annotations can be resized by dragging the corner or side of the shape that you want to resize (in the
case of non-rectangular shapes, you resize the bounding rectangle). The directions that the resize can
occur on, depend on the corners selected, examples are shown in the following two figures. To select a
single corner or two adjacent corners, use the rectangle selection method and ensure the corners you want
to select are within the rectangle. Then to resize, click and drag on one of the dot markers.

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A partially selected rectangle annotation with one corner selected. The dot marker on the
top right corner shows that only the top right corner of the annotation is selected. The
arrows show the directions of movement that can be made by dragging this marker.

A partially selected rectangle annotation with two corners selected. The dot marker on the
top right corner shows that the entire right side of the annotation is selected. The arrows
show the directions of movement that can be made by dragging this marker.

Text can be added to shape annotations, as shown in the figure below of a rectangle with text content. To
add text to a shape annotation, either double click on the annotation or select the annotation and go to
menu Edit | Annotation | Add Caption to Shape.... This will open a dialog to which you can enter

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your text. The text will appear in the annotation with the line formatting given in the text box. If you enter
text that is too large to fit the annotation, the annotation will resize to fit the text in.

A rectangle annotation with text content.

When text is added to an annotation, clicking anywhere within the annotations shape will cause the
annotation to be selected. Without text, only the edge of the shape is selectable.
With multiple lines of text, the justification of the text can be changed. The available justifications are:
Left-Align, Centered and Right-Align. These can be changed by selecting the annotation, then going to the
menu Edit | Annotation | Text Alignment and selecting the alignment required.
The available shapes are: Ellipse, Octagon, Rectangle, Rhombus, Rounded Rectangle and Triangle. An
example of each of these, all shown fully selected, is given in the figure below showing all available shape
annotations.

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Available shape annotations, all fully selected. The dot markers for non-rectangular
shapes extend outside of the shapes bounds, to an imaginary bounding rectangle. Dif-
ferent colours are used to easily identify the ownership of dot markers to annotations.

All shape annotations can be rotated and mirrored using the appropriate tool buttons.

6.3.3 Image Annotations

Images can be placed within schematics by either dragging the image into the program from an operating
system folder, pasting an image in the clipboard or using the menu Place | Annotation | Add Image...
and choosing a file.
Once in a schematic, the image will be initially resized to a size that is proportional to schematic
components and attached to the mouse. You place the image by clicking on the schematic where you want
the image to be.
The image can later be moved by clicking and dragging on the image and resized using the same dot
marker system used in “Shape Annotations” on page 73.

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An image annotation, which has been selected with dot markers visible.

Warning About Images

Whilst images are scaled visually within the schematic, they will not be compressed in terms of their data
content. When saved, images are converted to a text based representation, which will often be larger in
size than their native format. Using too large an image therefore may make schematic files excessively
large. Images added to a schematic should therefore be scaled to a suitable size before placing them into
SIMetrix.
Additionally, as images are scaled using a fast scaling process when drawing them to the screen that do
minimal anti-aliasing (removal of jagged lines), some images may produce poor looking results when
scaled even when shrinking a large initial image. If the image looks poor when placed in a schematic, try
resizing the image in an external image editor then add it back into the schematic.

6.3.4 Text Annotations

Text annotations can be added separately using the menus Edit | Annotation | Add Free Text... or
Edit | Annotation | Add Caption.... These two menu options produce text using two different styles,
both of which can be changed through editing the styles.
Alternatively, text can be copied from elsewhere and pasted directly onto the schematic.

6.3.5 Title Block

Title block annotations present information about a schematic such as title, authorship, version and notes,
as shown in the figure below. The annotation takes the provided information for these and automatically
resizes itself to fit the content correctly.
To create a title block, use the menu Place | Annotation | Add Title Block..., which will open a
window asking for schematic information. The information provided here will be placed into the title
block annotation in the same line format as given, so you may need to add line breaks if necessary.

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A title block annotation in the horizontal layout.

The Company Name, Author and Logo fields can have their values set as default, so that for all title blocks
they will appear automatically. The Version and Date values can be set manually or have an auto value
assigned. If auto values are selected, they will be set when the schematic is saved.
There are two layouts for the title block: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal layout provides a more
detailed title block, with title and author information, notes, version information and a logo picture. The
vertical layout is a less detailed layout and only shows the title, authorship and version information.
If an image is used, care should be taken to ensure that the image is not too large. More information can be
found in the “Image Annotations” on page 77 section.

6.4 Schematic Styles

Styles manage the look and feel of the schematic and symbol editors. They control the colour of
backgrounds, wires, components and annotations, along with the line type and thickness used.
Styles can exist either globally within your SIMetrix environment, or locally within a single schematic. If
local, the styles will transfer with the schematic file so that they appear on other users machines with those
styles. Although you are not forced to use another users local styling if you open a schematic with styling
applied, as when you open such a file you will be given an option to use the local styling or apply your
default global styling.
Elements on a schematic have at least two styles associated with them, one for how the element looks
normally and one for how the element looks if it is selected. In some advanced cases there may be
additional styles associated with a single element.

6.4.1 Style Editor

The Style Editor is made of four key components as shown in the figure below of the Edit Styles dialog.
These components are: the style names, the line settings, the font settings and a preview window.

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The Edit Styles dialog. Each style listed in the left hand panel of names has settings for
the lines and fonts used.

To edit a style, first open the style editor by going to the menu item Edit | Style | Add/Edit All Local
Styles... in the schematic editor. This will allow us to edit the styles used on the schematic currently
open. To change the styles globally across the program for all schematics, we would use the menu Edit |
Style | Add/Edit All Global Styles....
Next select the style to change from the left hand list of style names. When selected, the right hand panel
will show the line and font settings used by this style. The preview window may also update, this is
covered more in Preview Window.
The line and font settings can now be changed for this style. In some cases, such as wires, line annotations
and text annotations, you may only be interested in editing either the line or font settings. For components,
you may wish to change both.
To create a new style, use the New... button at the bottom of the style names list. Alternately you can
duplicate an existing style by selecting the style to duplicate and pressing the Duplicate button. Duplicated
styles can have their names changed using Edit name..., whilst local styles that appear in the global style
library can be reverted to their global settings by selecting the style and pressing Revert to Global.

Line Settings

There are settings for line type, line size and line colour.
The line type has the options of: Solid; Dash; Dot; Dash-dot and Dash-dot-dot.
The line size is a numeric value. A size of 1 is one pixel wide and is commonly used throughout the
program. Typically most lines would not need to have a line size above 3, with the majority being size 1.
The line colour selection box allows for different ways of inputting the required colour.

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Font Settings

There are settings for font name, font size, font decoration and font colour.
The font name drop down box provides a list of available fonts.
The font size is a numeric value. The preview window will demonstrate the relative size of the font to the
schematic.
The check boxes of bold, italics, overline and underline allow additional font styling and decorations to be
applied.
The colour selection box allows for different ways of inputting the required colour.
The Include as Property Font check box allows the styles font values to be added to possible style
overrides for symbol instance properties. This is covered more in “Advanced Style Settings” on page 83.

Preview Window

By default, the preview window will display an example schematic using the currently selected style. In
the figure at the top for example, the line settings have been used to draw both the wires and symbol
instances, whilst the font settings have been used for the text. The background and grid marker colours
come from the styles DefaultBackground and DefaultGrid.
The preview window can be set to allow the current style to only edit some of the preview output. To do
this, deselect the tick boxes below the preview window. If deselected, the wires will be drawn using
DefaultWire, the symbol instances using DefaultInstance and the text using the font information from
DefaultInstance.

Default Styles

The styles that are automatically used within the schematic editor by default are editable and are named
with the prefix Default. Below is a table of where the default styles are used.

Style Name Where used Uses

DefaultAnnotation All annotations except arrows and stan- All settings
dalone captions and free text.
DefaultArrow The arrow annotation. Line settings
DefaultBackground The schematic and symbol editor back- Line colour
ground colour
DefaultBus Schematic buses. Line settings
DefaultGrid Grid used in schematic and symbol editor. Line colour
DefaultInstance Symbols in the schematic editor and their All settings
properties.
DefaultOutline Used on all elements during a drag event to All settings
show where they were originally placed.
DefaultSchematicCaption Caption annotation font. Font settings
DefaultSelected Used on all elements when they are se- All settings
lected, except for overridden exceptions.
DefaultSelectedBus Selected override for buses. Line settings
DefaultSelectedHighlightedStyle Selected override for highlighted elements. All settings
DefaultSelectedSchematicCaption Selected override for schematic captions. Font settings

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Style Name Where used Uses

DefaultSelectedText Selected override for schematic free text. Font settings
DefaultSelectionRect Click and drag selection rectangle. Line settings
DefaultSymbolEditorFont Fonts used in the symbol editor. Font settings
DefaultSymbolEditorFontSelected Selected override for symbol editor fonts. Font settings
DefaultSymbolEditorOrigin Origin marker in the symbol editor. Line settings
DefaultSymbolEditorPin Pin markers in the symbol editor. Line settings
DefaultSymbolEditorSegment Symbol line segments used in the symbol Line settings
editor.
DefaultText Free text annotation font. Font settings
DefaultTitleBlock Title block annotation. All settings
DefaultTitleBlockSelected Selected override for title block. All settings
DefaultWire Schematic wires. Line settings
DefaultWireCreation Schematic wires being created by the user. Line settings
DefaultWireMoving Schematic wires being moved around the Line settings
schematic.

Additionally, there are legacy font settings used when importing schematics from earlier version of
SIMetrix (pre-version 8), which are prefixed with Legacy.

6.4.2 Simplified Style Editing and Creation

Below are simplified methods for creating or editing styles.

Creating a Style for a Subset of Elements on a Schematic

To create a style for a selection of elements within a schematic:

1. On the schematic, select the elements to create a new style for.
2. Go to menu Edit | Style | Create New Style (selected).
3. Enter names to be used for the normal style and selected styles that are to be created and press OK.
4. The Edit Styles dialog will now display, with only the two styles that were created on the previous
step showing.
5. Set the styles as required for both the normal and selected styles.
6. Finish by pressing OK.
7. The selected elements will now use the new styles.
Note: Styles applied to wires will only remain consistent when changed, if all connected wires share the
same style.

Editing the Styles used by an Element or Selection of Elements

To change the style properties used by a particular element or group of elements:

1. On the schematic, select the element or elements to change the style properties for.

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2. Go to menu Edit | Style | Edit Selected Styles.

3. The Edit Styles dialog will now display, with only the styles used by the selected elements showing
in the styles list.
4. Make the changes to the styles as required.
5. Finish by pressing OK.
6. All elements using those styles will now be updated on the schematic with those changes. Changes
are made to the local styles.

Changing the Styles used by an Element or Selection of Elements

To change the style used by a particular element or group of elements:

1. On the schematic, select the element or elements to change the style properties for.
2. Go to menu Edit | Style | Set Normal Style (selected) for changing the normal style, or Edit |
Style | Set Selected Style (selected) for changing the selected style.
3. A list of available styles will appear.
4. Choose the style to use and press OK.
5. The selected elements will now change to use the requested style.

6.4.3 Advanced Style Settings

Below are advanced topics for using styles.

Property Fonts

Property fonts are overrides to the standard font used for properties within a symbol instance. Any style
can be added to the available property fonts by selecting the Include as Property Font checkbox.
Checking this on a local style will make the style available to only properties within that schematic, whilst
checking it on a global style will make it available to all schematics.
The fonts of a property are then changed by:
1. Right clicking on symbol instance in the schematic
2. Click Edit/Add Properties...
3. The Edit Properties dialog will appear, double click on the property to change.
4. The Edit Property dialog will appear. Under Property Attributes, ensure the Font Style checkbox
5. Default is deselected, then choose a font style, as shown in the figure below.
6. Click OK on all open dialogs to close them and save the changes.

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The Edit Property dialog, showing drop down list of override font styles. If default is
selected, the font information in the symbol instance’s style will be used, otherwise the
selected override style will be used for the property text.

Alternatively, the globally available property styles can be altered by using the dialog available in the
Schematic Editor menu Edit | Style | Set Property Styles.

Manually Changing Styles Used

The styles used by an element can be manually changed by changing the style properties for that element.
The properties to change are StyleNormal for the style used when displaying the element normally on the
schematic. The style StyleSelected is used when the element has been selected by the user. The value of
the property should correspond to a style name.

Symbol Fill Colour

If a symbol has been created with a filled region, the colour used for the filled region can be specified
separately from the main style used by setting the StyleNormalInstanceFill property and setting the value
to a style name. This can also added in the symbol editor at time of creation.

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There is also a dialog that can be used to change the fill colour, in the Schematic Editor menu Edit | Style
| Set Symbol Fill Style.

6.5 Schematic Grouping

Grouping allows the user to interact with a set of elements as if they were interacting with a single
element. Any selection of elements can be grouped together and doing so allows the user to subsequently
only have to select one of the elements to cause them all to be selected.
To group together a set of elements:
1. Select the elements to group together.
2. Right click and select menu item Group Selected, alternately Edit | Group Selected.
To ungroup a set of elements:
1. Select the group.
2. Right click and select menu item Ungroup Selected, alternately Edit | Ungroup Selected.
There can be multiple levels of grouping. For example two sets of elements can be grouped individually
into Group A and Group B. Later, the two groups can be grouped together to form Group C. To ungroup,
either the grouping levels can be ungrouped individually, so for example, Group C ungrouped to leave
Group A and Group B, or the entire grouping can be removed by using menu Edit | Group | Ungroup
All Selected.

6.5.1 Group Breaking

If an element is moved onto a group, or a group is moved onto another element, the grouping will break.
As shown in the figure below, a visual indicator will be shown whilst elements are being dragged warning
if a group will be destroyed if the drag ends in that state.

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Moving an element into a group with warning of group destruction. The wires and re-
sistors have been grouped together. The capacitor is being dragged over the grouping.
A warning box with a red cross appears around the group to indicate that placing the
capacitor here would break the grouping of the elements.

6.6 Schematic Printing

6.6.1 Printing a Single Schematic Sheet

1. Select menu File | Print...

2. If there is a graph window currently open (See “Graphs, Probes and Data Analysis” on page 284)
you can choose to plot the schematic alongside the graph on the same sheet. Select your choice in
the Layout section.
3. In the Schematic box select an appropriate scale. Fit area will fit the schematic to a particular area
relative to the size of paper. If multiple sheets are chosen, a small overlap will be included. Fixed
grid means that the schematic’s grid will be mapped to a fixed physical size on the paper. The sizes
are in inches (1 inch=25.4mm). So 0.3 means that 1 grid square on the displayed schematic will be
0.3 inches or 7.5mm on the printed sheet.

6.6.2 Printing a Hierarchical Schematic

1. Select menu File | Print Hierarchy...

2. You will be presented with a complete list of schematics used in the current hierarchy. Select the
schematics you wish print and Ok.
3. Select options as appropriate then Ok.

6.7 File Operations

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6.7.1 Saving

For normal save operations use the File | Save or File | Save As... menus.
To save all the sheets currently open use File | Save All.

6.7.2 Exporting Schematic Graphics

You may export schematic graphics to other applications such as word processors or drawing programs.
You can do this via the clipboard (see “Copying to the Clipboard” on page 63) or by writing out to a file.
To export schematic graphics to a file, select the schematic menu File | Save Picture... then select the
format of your choice using the Save as type: drop down box. The choices are:
1. Windows Meta File (.EMF and .WMF). Nearly all windows applications that support graphics
import will accept this format. Note that this is a scalable format and therefore suitable for high
resolution printing.
2. Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg). This is a relatively new format and is not supported by many
applications. However, unlike WMF and EMF, it is supported by operating systems other than
Windows and may be useful for users wanting to export scalable graphics to other applications that
run on other operating systems.
3. Bitmap - default image size (.png, .jpg, .bmp) These are available on all platforms, are widely
supported by graphics applications but these are not scalable formats and so do not offer good
quality when printed using high resolution printers. PNG is the default format if you do not choose a
file extension. PNG tends to be the most efficient format to use for images such as schematics and it
is also lossless meaning that it uses a compression technique which does not lose information. To
choose JPG (JPEG format) or BMP (windows bitmap format) you must explicitly enter .jpg or .bmp
file extensions respectively. With this option the image size will match the image size currently
displayed on screen. If you wish to specify a different image size, use next option.
4. Bitmap - specify image size (.png, .jpg, .bmp). As 3 above but you must explicitly define the
image resolution in pixels. You will be prompted for this when you close the file selection dialog
box. Note that schematics always maintain their aspect ratio so the final image size may differ from
what you specify. The actual image will always fit within the X and Y values you give.

6.7.3 Exporting to Earlier Versions of SIMetrix

From version 8.0, all schematics are stored in an ASCII format. This format is recognised by all SIMetrix
versions from version 5.0. So all schematics can be read by all versions from version 5.0 or later. Note the
following when reading a version 8 schematic with an earlier version:
• Features introduced in version 8 will not be useable in older versions. In particular, annotations and
styles were not available in earlier versions. A version 8 schematic with annotations will open in
older versions but the annotations will not be displayed.
• Although the schematic will open, it won’t necessarily simulate. This will depend on the devices
used in the schematic
The ASCII format used is fully documented allowing the development of translators to other formats. Also
there are some editing operations that are easier performed on an ASCII file than with the graphical editor.
For example, changing a symbol name is very difficult with the schematic editor as you have to delete and
replace all instances. But this is a simple task with a text editor operating on the ASCII file.
Versions before 5.0 can read schematics written in the binary format. See following sections for details.

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6.7.4 Binary format

Schematics may also be saved in a binary format. The only purpose of this is for compatibility with older
versions prior to version 5.0

Saving in binary Format

To save a schematic in the binary format use the menu File | Save Special... then select binary format.

Opening binary Schematics

No special procedure is needed. Just open the schematic in the usual way. SIMetrix will detect that it is in
the binary format automatically. Note that if saved again, the ASCII format will always be used.

File Format

Documentation for the format be found on the install CD (see “Install CD” on page 460) may be found at
Docs/File-Formats/schematic-ascii-format-revnnn.pdf. (nnn is the format revision number).

6.7.5 Autosave

When enabled, SIMetrix will automatically save all open schematics at regular intervals.This system does
not write to the schematic’s normal file but to a backup location. If SIMetrix closes unexpectedly due
perhaps to a power failure, you will be asked whether you would like to recover the auto-saved schematics
when you restart SIMetrix.
To enable auto saving and to set the auto-save interval, select menu File | Options | General.... See the
Auto-save interval section in the Schematic sheet.

6.8 Properties

6.8.1 Overview

Properties are one of the schematic editor’s most important concepts. They are actually used for a number
of purposes but the most importantly they are used to determine how a schematic device behaves during
simulation. A property tells the simulator what type of device it is (resistor, BJT, sub-circuit etc.), another
property specifies a device’s value or model name and, for a hierarchical block, a property specifies the file
location of the underlying schematic.
For many applications, you only need to understand the meaning of ref, value and model properties. These
are explained below but also in “Adding Standard Properties” on page 119. It is also useful, but not
essential, to understand the SCHEMATIC_PATH property used in hierarchical blocks.

6.8.2 What is a Property?

A Property is an item of text that is attached to a schematic part to specify some circuit parameter such as a
part reference (e.g. R23), value (e.g. 2.2K) or model name (e.g. BC547).
All properties have a name, a value and a number of attributes. A property’s value may be displayed on the
schematic. Most attributes determine how the value is displayed; an exception is the protected attribute
which determines whether a property is allowed to be modified.

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A property can have any name (as long as does not have spaces in it) and any value. However, certain
property names have a special meaning and impart a particular functionality on the part that owns it. These
special properties are described in the following table. Note, however, that this is not an exhaustive list as
many properties are used for special parts and the behaviour they impart is defined in the script that is used
to edit those parts.

Property name Function

REF Part reference. (E.g. R23) All circuit devices must have this property and
its value must be unique.
VALUE Part value or model name. (E.g. BC547). All circuit devices must have
this property. (This may be confusing. What is described here is a
property of name VALUE, not the property’s value.)
MODEL Single letter to signify type of device. For list of signifying letters for each
device supported by simulator see “Summary of Simulator Devices” on
page 108. If absent the first letter of the part reference will be used instead
(as for SPICE) For example, a device with a MODEL property of value Q
will always be a BJT regardless of its part reference. MODEL properties
of X, H and F have a special significance as follows:
X Subcircuit instance. PINNAMES specifier will be added to
inform simulator of the devices pin names. The simulator will
then choose names for device current vectors which will allow
cross-probing of currents from the schematic.
F Current controlled current source. The standard SPICE CCCS is a
two terminal device which uses a separate voltage source for the
controlling current. SIMetrix provides the facility to use a single
four terminal device with pins 3 and 4 for the controlling current
and pins 1 and 2 for the output. Any symbol with four terminals
and a MODEL property of F will be treated as a such a device.
An additional voltage source will be created by the netlist
generator and connected to pins 3 and 4 to be used as the
controlling current.
H Current controlled voltage source. As F above but has a voltage
output.
For a list of valid device types and their signifying letters see “Summary
of Simulator Devices” on page 108.
(In some respects, the special behaviour of MODEL property values X, F
and H is legacy from the past. The recommended method of customising
netlist output is to use the TEMPLATE property, but this was not
supported in very early versions of SIMetrix.)
NETNAME If this property is present on a symbol, all nets connected to any of its pins
will be named according to the VALUE property. The NETNAME
property is used by the Terminal part from menus Place | Connectors |
Terminal and Place | Connectors | Small Terminal. The Terminal
parts force the net to which it is attached to have a user specified name.
(The value of the NETNAME property will be used in the absence of a
VALUE property).
SCTERM Identifies the part as a Module Port. These identify connections in
hierarchical blocks.
TOL, LOT, MATCH These are used for Monte Carlo analysis to specify tolerances. See page
“Monte Carlo Analysis” on page 409.

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Property name Function

SCHEMATIC_PATH Path of schematic in hierarchical designs
MAPPING Rearranges pin order. This is a sequence of numbers each representing a
symbol pin order. The order of the numbers in the mapping is the order in
which the schematic symbol pins placed on the netlist.
For example the LMC6762B comparator in the library is assigned a
mapping of 1,2,5,3,4. The output on the comparator symbol is pin 5 but
the model requires this to be the third node in the netlist entry.
PARAMS Additional parameters for device appended to value. If MODEL property
is X, the keyword PARAMS: prefixes the PARAMS property value.
TEMPLATE Specifies a customised netlist entry for the device. See “Template
Property” on page 90 for full details.
VALUESCRIPT Specifies a script to be called when F7 or equivalent menu is
selected.
INCSCRIPT Script to be called when the shift-up key is pressed. This is to increment a
part’s value. Currently used for potentiometers and some passive
devices.
DECSCRIPT As incscript but for shift-down to decrement a device.
HANDLE This property is automatically allocated to every instance and always has a
unique value. Because it is automatically added, it is the only property that
every schematic part is guaranteed to possess. This property is protected
and therefore cannot be edited
SIMULATOR Determines simulator compatibility. See “Adding Standard Properties” on
page 119.

6.8.3 Template Property

This is the subject of its own section. See below.

6.8.4 Editing Properties in a Schematic

Unprotected properties of a symbol placed on a schematic may be edited using the popup menu Edit
Properties.... This first opens a dialog listing all properties owned by the device. After selecting the
property to edit a dialog box similar to the box described in “Defining Properties” on page 116. If the
property you select is protected, the dialog box will still open but you will not be able to change any of the
settings.

6.8.5 Restoring Properties

This is a method of restoring an instance’s properties to the values and attributes of the original symbol.
This is especially useful in situations where a symbol has been edited to, for example, add a new property
and you wish that new property to be included on existing instances of that symbol.
To restore instances properties follow the instructions below.
1. Select the instances whose properties you wish to restore.
2. Select popup menu Restore Properties...

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3. There are two options:

New Properties Only will only add new properties to the selected instances. That is any property
that is present on the symbol definition but not on the schematic instance of it will be added. All
other properties will remain intact.
All Properties will restore all properties to that of the symbol definition. This includes deleting any
instance properties that are not in the symbol definition. In effect this will restore the symbol as if it
had just been placed using the Place | From Symbol Library menu. Note that REF properties
will be automatically annotated to make them unique. This option must be used with care. Don’t use
it unless you are very clear about what it will do.
This function will restore properties according to the local symbol definition stored in the schematic. This
won’t necessarily be the same as the global definition in the symbol library. For more information see
“How Symbols are Stored” on page 108.

6.9 Template Property

6.9.1 Overview

The TEMPLATE property provides a method of customising the netlist entry for a schematic part.
Normally a single line is created in the netlist for each schematic part (except ‘F’ and ‘H’ devices which
are defined by two lines). The line is created according to the values of various properties most
importantly the ref, model, and value properties. If, however, a TEMPLATE property is specified this
system is bypassed and the netlist entry is defined by the value of this property.
The TEMPLATE property value can contain a number of special keywords and characters that will be
substituted during the netlist creation. Values that can be substituted include node names, pin names and
the value of any property.
There are three template keywords that define multiple lines to implement series or/and parallel
combinations, ladder networks or arrays of devices.

6.9.2 Template Property Format

The netlist entry for a device with a TEMPLATE property will be the literal text of the TEMPLATE
property’s value with certain special characters and words substituted. Text enclosed by ‘<’ and ‘>’ are
keywords and have a special meaning. Text enclosed with ‘%’ is substituted with the value of the property
whose name is enclosed by the ‘%’ character. Finally text enclosed by curly braces, ‘{’ and ‘}’ will be
treated as an expression and will be evaluated. Each of these is described in more detail in the following
sections.

Property Substitution

Any text enclosed with ‘%’ is substituted with the value of the property whose name is enclosed by the
‘%’ character. So %REF% would be substituted with the value of the ref property.

Expressions

Text enclosed by curly braces, ‘{’ and ‘}’ will be treated as an expression and will be evaluated. Note that
property substitutions are performed before expressions are evaluated, so the result of an expression can
depend on any combination of property values.
If the attempt to evaluate the expression fails the result will be empty. No error message will be reported.

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Keywords

Any text enclosed by ‘<’ and ‘>’ represents a keyword. The keyword along with the ‘<’ and ‘>’ will be
substituted according to the keyword as defined in the following table. There are two types of keyword:
simple and compound. Simple keywords are just a single word whereas compound keywords consist of
sequence of names and values separated by colons (‘:’). Compound keywords are used to generate
multiple netlist lines for applications such as creating series and parallel combinations.

How Template Properties are Evaluated

Template properties are processed in two passes. In the first pass the property names enclosed by ‘%’ are
substituted, while keywords and expressions pass through untouched. In the second pass, keywords and
expressions are processed and the ‘%’ character is treated literally.
This makes it possible to use property values in expressions and the control values for the multi line
keywords. For example:
%MODEL%$%REF% <nodelist> %VALUE% L=%L% W=%W% AD={%W%*0.5u}

if L=1u, W=0.5u, MODEL=M, REF=Q23 and VALUE = N1, this would resolve to the following after the
first pass:
M$Q23 <nodelist> N1 L=1u W=0.5u AD={0.5u*0.5u}

The second pass would then be able to evaluate the expression and resolve <nodelist> (see below). The
value of AD will be calculated according to whatever W is set to. This is an alternative method of setting
MOSFET area and perimeter values. (The method used with the standard symbols is different in order to
remain compatible with earlier versions).
Note that if the property value contains any of the special characters (‘<’, ‘>’, ‘’, ‘’, ‘%’), these will be
treated literally. So if for example a property value was tailres, no attempt would be made to evaluate
tailres in the second pass.

Keyword Summary

The keywords available are summarised in the following table and explained in detail below.

Keyword Description
BUS Returns name of bus connected to the specified pin
FOREACHPIN Repeats for each pin
IFD Conditional on whether a property is defined
IF Conditional on the result of an expression
INODE Generates an internal node.
JOIN, JOIN_PIN, JOIN_NUM, JOIN_REF Returns information about a connected device. Used for current
probes.
MAPPEDNODE[n] As ‘node’ but order defined by mapping property if
present
MAPPEDPINNAMES As pinnames but order is altered according to mapping property
if present
NODELIST, NODELIST_H Substituted with full list of nodes for device.

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Keyword Description
NODENAME This is not replaced by any text but signifies that the item
following is a node name. The netlist generator must be able to
identify any text that is a node so that it can correctly substitute
the name when required.
NODE[n] Substituted for individual node
NUMPINS Returns the number of pins on a symbol
PARALLEL Start of compound keyword to create a parallel
combination.
PARAMSVALUE Returns passed parameters
PINLIST Substituted with full list of pin names for symbol
PINNAMES Equivalent to ‘pinnames: <pinlist>’ except that no substitution
takes place if the /nopinnames switch is specified for the Netlist
command.
PROBE Similar to node but resolves mapped nodes in SIMPLIS
mode
REF SPICE compatible part reference
REPEAT Start of compound keyword to create a general purpose
repeating sequence
ROOTDIR Root schematic directory in hierarchical design
ROOTPATH Root schematic full path in hierarchical design
SCHEMDIR This schematic directory
SCHEMPATH This schematic full path
SEP Returns separator character. (Usually ‘$’)
SERIES Start of compound keyword to create a series
combination
STEP Used by series and parallel to return sequence number.
T Substitutes a property value treating it as a template
VALUE Returns the resolved value

In the following descriptions the square bracket character is used to denote an optional item. Square
brackets in bold (‘[’, ‘]’) mean the literal square bracket symbol.

BUS

<BUS[n]>

Returns the name of the bus connected to the n’th pin.

FOREACHPIN

<FOREACHPIN:var:<body>>

Repeats body for each pin on the symbol. var is a variable that will be assigned with the pin number being
processed and may be used inside an expression.
body may also use keywords <node> and <pin> to access connected nodes and pin names respectively.

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IFD

<IFD:propname:action1[:action2]>

If propname is present and not blank, action1 will be substituted otherwise action2 will be substituted.
Example
ifd:value:<%value%>:1>

In the above, if the property value is present it will be substituted otherwise the value ‘1’ will be
substituted.

IF

<IF:test:action1[:action2]>

If test resolves to a non-zero value action1 will be substituted otherwise action2 will be substituted.
Typically test would be an expression enclosed in curly braces. (‘{’ and ‘}’).
For example, the following implements in a somewhat complex manner a series connection of resistors.
(This should actually all be on one line)
<REPEAT:line:%SERIES%:<%REF%$R{line} <if:{line==
1}:<<NODE[1]>>:$%REF%${line}> <if:{line==
%SERIES%}:<<NODE[2]>>:$%REF%${line+1}> %VALUE%;>>

Note that usually each action should be enclosed with ‘<’ and ‘>’. They can be omitted if the action does
not contain any keywords. If in doubt, put them in.

INODE

<INODE:name>

Resolves to a unique node number that is guaranteed not be used anywhere else. The value name may be
used to identify the number for repeated use within the same TEMPLATE. For example <inode:a> will
always resolve to the same node number if used more than once within the same TEMPLATE definition.
INODE is intended to be used to create devices that need multiple netlist lines with connected nodes. This
can also be done using a subcircuit but for simple cases INODE may be more convenient.
JOIN

<JOIN:prop_name[:index]>

This can only be used with instances of symbols with one and only one pin. Returns the value of
prop_name on an instance attached directly to the single pin of the device. For example in the following:

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<JOIN:REF> on the probe (R1-P) would return R1 as this is the value of the REF property of the resistor.
In situations where more than one instance is connected to the pin, index may be used to specify which
one. index may have a value between 0 and 1 less than the number of devices connected. Use <join_num>
to determine how many devices are connected.
Note that the pin of the device must be directly connected i.e. with pins superimposed and not by wires.
<JOIN> is intended to be used for current probes.

JOIN_REF

<JOIN_REF>

Similar to <JOIN:REF> except that instead of the literal REF property, it returns how the connected
instance is identified in the netlist. This takes account of any TEMPLATE property the connected instance
possesses or the MODEL property prefix if it does not have a TEMPLATE property.
JOIN_NUM

<JOIN_NUM>

Only valid for single pin instances. Returns number of joined devices. See <JOIN> for details.
JOIN_PIN

<JOIN_PIN[:index]>

Only valid for single pin instances. Returns connected pin name for another device connected to this
device’s only pin. This can be used in conjunction with <JOIN> to return the current vector for a part. E.g.
<JOIN:REF>#<JOIN_PIN>

for the probe device in:

would return R1#p.

In situations where more than one instance is connected to the pin, index may be used to specify which
one. index may have a value between 0 and 1 less than the number of devices connected. Use <join_num>
to determine how many devices are connected.
MAPPEDNODE

<MAPPEDNODE[n]>

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Same as NODE except that the mapping property is applied. The mapping property is used to rearrange
nodes in a different order than defined on the symbol. It is used by the model-symbol association system to
allow a single symbol to be associated with multiple models that may not necessarily have the same
terminal order.
MAPPEDPINNAMES

<MAPPEDPINNAMES>

As PINNAMES but with the mapping property applied. See MAPPEDNODE above.

NODELIST, NODELIST_H

<NODELIST[:map[|nox]]>
<NODELIST_H[:map[|nox]]>

Replaced by the nodes connected to the device’s pins. NODELIST_H includes hidden global pins (see
“Global Pins” on page 69) used in hierarchical schematics whereas NODELIST omits these. Has two
options:

map If present will order the nodes according to the

MAPPING property.
nox If present, will disable XSpice pin attributes.
See “Adding XSpice Pin Attributes” on
page 116 for details.

NODENAME

<NODENAME>

This is not replaced by any text but signifies that the item following is a node name. The netlist generator
must be able to identify any text that is a node so that it can correctly substitute the name when required.
For example, the following is the template definition of the N-channel MOSFET with bulk connected to
VSS:
%model%$%ref% <nodelist> <nodename>vss %value%

If VSS were actually connected to ground, the netlist generator would replace all nodes called VSS with 0
(meaning ground). If the <nodename> keyword were not present in the above the netlist generator would
not be able to determine that VSS is a node and the substitution would not take place.
NODE

<NODE[n]>

Replaced by the individual node identified by n starting at 1. So node[1] is node name connected to the
first pin on the symbol.

NUMPINS

<NUMPINS>

Returns the number of pins on the symbol owning the TEMPLATE property.
PARALLEL

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<PARALLEL:num:<line>>

Creates a parallel combination of the device described in line. For example:

<parallel:%parallel%:<<ref> <nodelist> %VALUE%>>

creates a parallel combination of parts. The number in parallel is determined by the property PARALLEL.
Note that the REF keyword returns the part reference appropriately modified by the MODEL property and
appended with the sequence number. If PARALLEL=5, REF=R1, VALUE=1k, MODEL=R and the device
is connected to external nodes R1_P and R1_N, this is the end result.
R1$1 R1_P R1_N 1k
R1$2 R1_P R1_N 1k
R1$3 R1_P R1_N 1k
R1$4 R1_P R1_N 1k
R1$5 R1_P R1_N 1k

If the num element is empty - e.g. in above example if PARALLEL property were empty or missing - then
no output will be made at all.
The example above can be used for any two terminal part. There must however be a PARALLEL property
present on the symbol.
PARAMSVALUE

<PARAMSVALUE>

Returns the instance’s parameters. This is defined by the PARAMS property and will be prefixed with the
parameter separator for subcircuit devices. This is params: for SIMetrix mode and vars: for SIMPLIS
mode. This keyword will also include tolerance parameters defined by the properties LOT, TOL and
MATCH if present.
PINLIST

<PINLIST>

Replaced by the symbol’s pin names.

PINNAMES

<PINNAMES>

Equivalent to ‘PINNAMES: <PINLIST>’ except that no substitution takes place if the /nopinnames switch
is specified for the Netlist command.

PROBE

<PROBE[n]>

In SIMetrix mode, behaves identically to NODE. In SIMPLIS mode, will return the mapped node name if
relevant. This will happen if the node has a name defined by a terminal symbol. Instead of the assigned
node number this keyword will return the node name prefixed by a ‘#’. As the name implies, this is
intended for use with probe symbols.
REF

<REF>

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Returns the part reference of the device using the same rules that are used when the TEMPLATE property
is not present. The rules are:
IF MODEL property is blank OR MODEL is a single character AND first letter of REF property equals
MODEL property
<REF> = %REF%

otherwise
<REF> = %MODEL%<SEP>%REF%

Where <SEP> is the separator character. This is usually ‘$’ but can be changed at the netlist command
line. See Netlist command syntax in the Script Reference Manual/Command Reference/Netlist.
If <REF> is used for a series or parallel repeat sequence, it will be appended with:
<SEP><STEP>

where <STEP> is the sequence number for the series/parallel function. See below.

REPEAT

Repeats line, num times. var_name is incremented on each step. var_name may be used in an expression
to define device or node names.
The following example creates a subcircuit that define an RC ladder circuit with a variable number of
sections defined by the property NUM. The resistance of each section is defined by the property RES and
the capacitance by the property CAP. Note that, as explained above, templates are resolved in two passes.
In the first pass the property names enclosed by ‘%’ are substituted with their values while expressions and
keywords are left untouched. In the second pass the keywords and expressions are processed.
.subckt ladder 1 {%NUM%+1} gnd

<repeat:idx:%NUM%:<X{idx} {idx} {idx+1} gnd section;>>

.subckt section in out gnd

R1 in out %RES%
C1 out gnd %CAP%
.ends

.ends

var_name in the above is set to idx. If NUM were set to ten, the line:
X{idx} {idx} {idx+1} gnd section;

would be repeated 10 times with idx incrementing by one each time. Note the semi-colon at the end of the
line. This signifies that a new line must be created and is essential. The end result of the above with
NUM=10, RES=1k and CAP=1n is:
.subckt ladder 1 11 gnd

X1 1 2 gnd section
X2 2 3 gnd section
X3 3 4 gnd section
X4 4 5 gnd section
X5 5 6 gnd section
X6 6 7 gnd section
X7 7 8 gnd section
X8 8 9 gnd section

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X9 9 10 gnd section
X10 10 11 gnd section

.subckt section in out gnd

R1 in out 1k
C1 out gnd 1n
.ends

.ends

Although it is legal to nest REPEAT keywords, we recommend avoiding doing so as it can lead to
unexpected results. You can always use subcircuit definitions to each multi-dimensional repeats and these
are usually easier to understand.
The above example has multiple lines. These can be entered using the Edit Properties dialog box. The best
way to define multiple line templates is to first enter them in a text editor and then copy and paste to the
Edit Properties dialog.

ROOTDIR

Returns the root directory in a hierarchical design. If the design is not hierarchical, returns the same value
as <SCHEMDIR>.

ROOTPATH

Returns the full path of the root schematic in a hierarchical design. If the design is not hierarchical, returns
the same value as <SCHEMPATH>.

SCHEMDIR

Returns the directory where the current schematic is located.

SCHEMPATH

Returns the full path of the current schematic.

SEP

<SEP>

Returns separator character used to separate the device letter and part reference. This defaults to ‘$’ but
can be changed at the Netlist command line. See Netlist command syntax in the Script Reference
Manual/Command Reference.
SERIES

<SERIES:num:<line>>

Creates a series combination of the device described in line. For example:

<series:%series%:<<ref> <nodelist> %VALUE%>>

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Creates a series combination of parts. The number in series is determined by the property SERIES. Note
that the REF keyword returns the part reference appropriately modified by the MODEL property and
appended with the sequence number. If SERIES=5, REF=R1, VALUE=1k and MODEL=R and the device
is connected to external nodes R1_P and R1_N, this is the end result.
R1$1 R1_P 1 1k
R1$2 1 2 1k
R1$3 2 3 1k
R1$4 3 4 1k
R1$5 4 R1_N 1k

If the num element is empty - e.g. in above example if SERIES property were empty or missing - then no
output will be made at all.
The example above can be used for any two terminal part. There must however be a SERIES property
present on the symbol.
STEP

<STEP>

Used with SERIES and PARALLEL keywords. Returns sequence number.

<T:prop_name>

Does the same as %prop_name% except that the properties value is evaluated as if it were a template itself.
With %prop_name% the literal value of the property is always used. Note that recursive properties will
simply be substituted with nothing. E.g. <T:TEMPLATE> will return empty if used in a template property
called TEMPLATE.
VALUE

<VALUE>

Returns the VALUE property value unless the instance is a hierarchical block in which case it returns the
name of the referenced subcircuit definition.

Further Information

To put a new line in the netlist entry you can use a ‘;’. Literal new lines are also accepted.
To put a literal < >; or % character in the text, use two of them. So ‘«’ will become ‘<’.

6.9.3 Template Scripts

It is also possible to write a script to compile the line generated by the netlist generator. Such scripts are
called ‘Template Scripts’. With this approach, you enjoy the full power of the scripting language and very
complex devices can be created in this manner. For full details of this approach, please refer to the Script
Reference Manual/Applications/Schematic Template Scripts.

6.10 PSpice Schematics Translation

SIMetrix can read schematic files created by the PSpice ‘Schematics’ program. ‘Schematics’ is the
original MicroSim schematic editor but is no longer supported. Current PSpice releases use Orcad Capture
for schematic entry. SIMetrix is not able to read Orcad Capture schematics.

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Important: this feature is now deprecated and no longer supported. It still functions but will be removed
from future versions.

6.10.1 Configuring the Translator

Before using this facility, it must be configured. This is simply a matter of specifying the location of the
PSPICE.INI file which PSpice uses to store symbol library locations. Proceed as follows:
1. Select menu File | Options | General...
2. Select File Locations tab
3. Double click the item ‘PSpice inifile’
4. Locate the file PSPICE.INI. This is usually at the root folder for PSpice e.g. C:\Program
Files\Orcad\PSpice\PSPICE.INI. Press Open when you have found the file.
The above assumes you are using version 9 of PSpice. Earlier versions stored their settings in a similar
manner but the file name was different and in a different location. For example MSIM.INI located in the
windows directory. Note we have only tested version 9.2 and the evaluation version 8.0. Some earlier
versions used different inifile section names and in these cases the file will need to be manually edited. For
more information see the on-line help topic Schematic Editor » PSpice Schematics Translation.

6.10.2 If you don’t have PSpice

If you do not have PSpice on your system then you will need to create a PSPICE.INI file that contains the
location of the PSpice symbol libraries. Note that PSpice schematics do not contain local copies of their
symbols (unlike SIMetrix) so the symbol libraries are essential to perform any schematic translation. For
information see the on-line help topic Schematic Editor » PSpice Schematics Translation.

6.10.3 Reading PSpice Schematics

Once the translator has been configured, simply open the PSpice schematic in the same way as you would
one created by SIMetrix.

6.10.4 Installing PSpice Libraries for Use with SIMetrix

You can install PSpice symbol libraries in the same way as SIMetrix symbol libraries. This will make the
symbols available for use with SIMetrix. Note that the schematic translator only uses symbols in the
PSpice libraries specified using the procedure described above.

6.10.5 What the Translator will do

1. The translator will convert symbols, parts and wires and display them in a manner that is as close as
reasonably possible to the original schematic.
2. It will convert any TEMPLATE properties to the SIMetrix format while preserving the original
PSpice template under a different name.
3. It will copy where possible any simulator commands to the F11 window.
4. Hierarchical symbols will be appropriately converted but the underlying schematics need to be
converted separately and saved in SIMetrix format.

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5. Translated symbols will be copied to PSPICE.SXSLB in the SymbolLibraries directory. By default

this library is not installed. If you do install it (see “Symbol Library Manager” on page 122) these
symbols can then be used in SIMetrix schematics.

6.10.6 Limitations

The translator has the following limitations:

1. It cannot convert buses.
2. Boxes, text boxes, free text and embedded graphics are not supported.
3. Pin attributes are not supported.
4. Hierarchical blocks are not supported but hierarchical symbols are. To use hierarchical blocks, use
PSpice to convert them to symbols.
5. The template properties are converted to the SIMetrix format but with one limitation. References to
properties that are themselves templates are not supported. These are used in some of the standard
ABM blocks supplied with PSpice. These will need to be manually converted by editing the
template property.
6. You will not normally be able to cross probe current into a device converted from PSpice. The
current into the device will be available but the schematic cross-probing mechanism won’t work
without manually editing the symbols and template property.
7. PSpice Schematics allows the placement of symbol pins, parts and wires off-grid. The translator will
convert these correctly and SIMetrix will display them correctly but they can cause problems if
attempting to edit them subsequently. (SIMetrix itself does not permit the user to place off-grid
items). If off grid parts are identified, they will be highlighted and a warning will be displayed.
Off-grid symbols will also resulting in a warning. If possible we recommend that these are corrected
within the PSpice environment before reading the file into SIMetrix.

6.11 Load Component Values

The Load Component Values feature allows you to quickly change component values in your design
without having to edit each component individually. Multiple designs that use the same schematic can be
configured easily by saving a configuration file containing a set of component values. Each design can
then be configured by loading the appropriate configuration file. Refer to the following topics:
• “Overview” on page 102
• “Menus” on page 103
• “Configuration File Format” on page 103
• “Creating a Configuration File from the Schematic” on page 103
• “Loading a Configuration File” on page 104
• “Automating Load Component Values with Command line Switches” on page 105
• “Automating Load Component Values with a Script” on page 105

6.11.1 Overview

The Load Component Values feature can change any schematic symbol property, however; the schematic
configuration, including symbol placement and wiring, are unchanged. The Load Component Values
feature works for both the SIMetrix and the SIMPLIS simulator modes.

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CAUTION: Be sure to backup your schematic before loading a set of component values. When you load a
configuration file, the schematic values change and this action cannot be undone.
The Load Component Values feature does the following:
• Load component property values from a text file
• Change each component in the design according to the values in text file
• Produces a report In the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS command shell, detailing the properties that were
changed.

6.11.2 Menus

There are six menu items under the main menu Tools | Load Component Values. These are:

Overview Opens this help topic

Create Config File from Schematic... Creates a component-value configuration file from the
currently selected schematic
From Default File Loads component values from the default text file. The
default text filename is
<schematic_name>.compvalues.txt
Select a File to Load... Prompts for a configuration file to load.
Edit Configuration File... Prompts for a configuration file to edit.
View Log File... Views values in last component-value log file.

6.11.3 Configuration File Format

The configuration file is a plain ASCII text file with two columns separated by a tab character. Following
are the rules for the configuration file:
• Blank lines and comment lines (starting with *) are ignored.
• Each non-blank, non-comment line is assumed to be a load-component-value directive.
• Load-component-value directives are in the following form:

ADDRESS VALUE
L1.DCR 5m

• The ADDRESS information should point to an explicit designator.property combination. For

example, a resistance value is specified as R1.VALUE, not merely R1. Note: The correct
ADDRESS for any given parameter depends heavily on the type of symbol that is being used, not
merely the type of component. The program supports many standard symbols, but custom or
seldom-used symbols may require some tweaking in order to get the desired behavior. ADDRESS
and VALUE must be separated by tabs.
• The VALUE should appear exactly as you want it to be set in the component. For values containing
white-space characters, enclose the value in double quotes (").

6.11.4 Creating a Configuration File from the Schematic

To create a configuration file from the schematic, follow these steps:

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1. Select menu Tools | Load Component Values | Create Config File from Schematic... The
system reads all schematic symbols on the currently selected schematic and creates a
component-value configuration file.
2. At the file selection dialog, type a filename and select a location to save the configuration file. The
configuration file contains symbol properties only for component values that can be successfully
loaded. Property values with spaces are automatically double quoted per the required configuration
file format. Property values that are protected or that contain the double quote character are
excluded from the generated configuration file.
3. Edit the configuration file using the menu
Tools | Load Component Values | Edit Configuration File... to remove any load component
value directives which you don’t need.

6.11.5 Loading a Configuration File

CAUTION: Be sure to backup your schematic before loading a set of component values. When you load a
configuration file, the schematic values change and this action cannot be undone.
An example including the schematic and a configuration file can be downloaded here :
simplis_003_load_comp_values_MP8708.zip.
To load component values for this design, follow these steps:
1. Unzip the archive to a location on your computer.
2. To open the schematic, double click the .sxsch file or drag that file into the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS
Command Shell.
3. Execute one of the menu options from the Load Component Values menu:
• Tools | Load Component Values | From Default File
• Tools | Load Component Values | Select a File to Load...
The schematic reflects the new values, and the following report appears in the command shell window.
Located default component value input file
(<path>/simplis_003_load_comp_values_MP8708.compvalues.txt).

Action: refdes old new

——- —— — —
No Change Vin.VC 12 12
No Change Vin.ESR 1m 1m
Change C5.CC 22u 4.7u
No Change C6.CC 1 1u
No Change C10.CC 100n 100n
No Change C11.CC 1u 1u
Change L1.LI 1.8u 4.2u
No Change C7.CC 22u 22u
Change C7.QUANTITY 2x 2
No Change C9.CC 1p 1p
Change R1.VALUE 40.2k 59k
Change R2.VALUE 12.7k 19.1k

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Load component value – complete @ XX:XX:XX

You may also view the log file with the Tools | Load Component Values | View Log File... menu.

6.11.6 Automating Load Component Values with Command line Switches

A special switch /l ( the letter l, not the numeral 1) has been added to SIMetris/SIMPLIS to automatically
open a schematic and load a set of component values when the program starts. The syntax for the
command line switch is:
<full_path_to_simetrix.exe> <full_path_to_schematic_to_open> /l <full_path_to_comp_values_file>
Note each of the three command line arguments are full paths.

6.11.7 Automating Load Component Values with a Script

The load component values feature is provided by the script load_comp_values.sxscr. The script has one
optional argument – a filename. Without the optional argument, the script attempts to load the default file,
which is <schematic_name>.compvalues.txt. If that file cannot be found or cannot be opened, a file
selection dialog opens to allow you to select a configuration file.
• To load the default file, type load_comp_values at the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS command line.
• To load a different filename, type load_comp_values ’<config_filename>’ at the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS
command line. Note the filename is enclosed in single quotes.
The load component values script can be called from any SIMetrix Script. The scripting language is
available only in the full version of SIMetrix/SIMPLIS, although the script feature can be temporarily
unlocked in SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elements by using the Unlock feature.

6.12 Using Schematic Editor for CMOS IC Design

6.12.1 MOSFET Symbols

Four MOSFET symbols are supplied for use in CMOS IC design. These are:

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These symbols have the model name N1 for the N-channel types and P1 for the P-channel types. These
names can of course be changed after being placed on the schematic, but this would be time consuming to
have to do each time. To avoid having to do this, you can do one of the following:
• Modify your SPICE model files so the devices are always called N1 and P1
• Modify the standard symbol so the model name corresponds to your SPICE models.
• Create a new set of symbols for each process you use.
The best course of action is probably to create a new symbol for each process. Once you have created the
new symbols, you can modify the toolbar buttons so that they call up your new symbols instead of the
standard ones. You must do this using the DefButton command which redefines toolbar buttons. To make
permanent changes the DefButton command should be put in the startup script. Here is the procedure:
1. Select menu File | Options | Edit Startup Script. This will open the startup script in a text
editor window. The startup script is automatically run each time the program starts.
2. Enter a DefButton command for each toolbar button you wish to redefine. For the MOS symbols the

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commands will be one or more combinations of the following:

DefButton NMOS4 "inst /ne your_nmos4_symbol"
DefButton PMOS4 "inst /ne your_pmos4_symbol"
DefButton NMOS3IC "inst /ne your_nmos3_symbol"
DefButton PMOS3IC "inst /ne your_pmos3_symbol"
Replace your_nmos4_symbol, your_pmos4_symbol etc. with the internal names of your new
symbols.

6.12.2 Edit Length and Width

A popup menu Edit MOS Length/Width... will edit L and W properties. The menu is initially hidden
but can be enabled by setting the option variable EnableLWEditMenu. You can do this by typing this
command at the command line:
Set EnableLWEditMenu

You will need to restart SIMetrix to bring this into effect.

6.12.3 Automatic Area and Perimeter Calculation

The optional popup menu Edit MOS Length/Width... (See “Edit Length and Width” on page 107) edit
device length, width and scale factor. These menus alter the symbol properties W, L and M for width,
length and multiplier.
The symbols described above have been designed in a manner such that additional parameters such as AS,
AD, PS, PD, NRS and NRD may be automatically calculated from width and length. To use this facility
append the VALUE property with the parameter definitions defined as expressions. E.g.:
N1 AD={2*%W%+0.8u}

The above device will have an AD parameter calculated from “2*width+0.8u”. Note that the formula is
enclosed in curly braces (‘{‘, ‘}’) and width and length expressed as %W% and %L% respectively. You
can use similar expressions for any other parameter.
As an alternative, you can define AS, AD etc. as a parameter expression in a sub-circuit. See “Subcircuits”
on page 181 for more details.

6.12.4 Editing the MOS Symbols

You may wish to create your own MOS symbols for each process you use. We suggest that you always
make a copy of the standard symbols and save them with a new name in your own symbol library.
Once you have your copied version, you can edit it to suit your IC process. In most applications, you will
probably only need to edit the VALUE property. See next paragraph.

Editing VALUE property

The VALUE property defines the model name and all the device’s parameters except length, width and the
multiplier M. The standard VALUE property defines just the model name and this defaults to N1 for
NMOS devices and P1 for PMOS devices. You should edit these to match the model name used in your
process.

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In addition (as described in “Automatic Area and Perimeter Calculation” on page 107) you can append the
VALUE property with other parameters such as AD, AS etc. and define these as expressions relating width
(using %W%) or/and length (using %L%.)

To Edit the Default Values of L and W

Edit the L and W properties as appropriate.

To Edit the Hidden Node for 3 Terminal Devices

The hidden bulk node for three terminal devices is defined by the BULKNODE property. This defaults to
VSS for NMOS devices and VDD for PMOS devices.

6.13 Further Information

6.13.1 How Symbols are Stored

When a symbol is placed on a schematic, a copy of that symbol definition is stored locally. This makes it
possible to open the schematic even if some of the symbols it uses are not available in the symbol library.
However, if you edit a symbol definition for a schematic that is saved, when you open that schematic, it
has a choice between its local copy of the symbol or the copy in the library. Which it chooses depends on
an option chosen when the symbol is saved. When saving the symbol with the graphical editor, you will
see the check box All references to symbols automatically updated. If this is checked then the
schematic editor will always use the library symbol if present. If not, it will use its local copy.
If a schematic is using a local copy and you wish to update it to the current library version, select the
symbol or symbols then select the popup menu Update Symbol. Note that all instances of the symbol
will be updated. It is not possible to have two versions of a symbol on the same schematic.

Important Note

Note, that only the symbol geometry, pin definitions and protected properties of a schematic instance will
be changed when its symbol definition is edited.
Unprotected properties will remain as they are. For example, the standard NPN bipolar transistor symbol
has an initial VALUE property of Q2N2222 so when you place one of these on the schematic from the
Place menu or tool bar, this is the value first displayed. This can of course be subsequently changed. The
initial value of Q2N2222 is defined in the NPN symbol. However, if you edit the symbol definition and
change the initial value to something else - say - BC547, the value of the VALUE property for any
instances of that symbol that are already placed will not change.
You can use the popup menu Restore Properties... to restore properties to their symbol defined values.
For more information, see “Restoring Properties” on page 90.
If you wish a property value to always follow the definition in the symbol, then you must protect it. See
“Defining Properties” on page 116 for details.

6.13.2 Summary of Simulator Devices

The following information is needed to define schematic symbols for the various devices supported by the
simulator.

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In order to be able to cross-probe pin currents, the pin names for the schematic symbol must match up with
those used by the simulator. So for a BJT (bipolar junction transistor) the simulator refers to the four pins
as ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘e’ and ‘s’ for base, collector, emitter and substrate. The same letters must also be used for the
pin names for any schematic BJT symbol. The simulator device pin names are listed below.
The MODEL property is the schematic symbol property which describes what type of device the symbol
refers to. SPICE uses the first letter of the part reference to identify the type of device. The SIMetrix
netlist generator prefixes the MODEL property (and a ‘$’ symbol) to the part reference to comply with
this. This makes it possible to use any part reference on the schematic.

Device Model property Pin Pin Pin function

no. names
XSPICE A
device
Arbitrary B 1 p
Sources
2 n
Bipolar junction Q 1 c Collector
transistors
2 b Base
3 e Emitter
4 s Substrate
Capacitor C 1 p
2 n
Current Controlled F 1 p
Current Source (2
terminal)
2 n
Current Controlled F 1 p + output
Current Source (4
terminal)
2 n - output
3 any + control
4 any - control
Current Controlled H 1 p
Voltage Source (2
terminal)
2 n
Current Controlled H 1 p + output
Voltage Source (4
terminal)
2 n - output
3 any + control
4 any - control
Current I 1 p +
Source
2 n -

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Device Model property Pin Pin Pin function

no. names
Diode D 1 p Anode
2 n Cathode
GaAs FETs Z 1 d Drain
2 g Gate
3 s Source
Inductor L 1 p
2 n
Junction FET J 1 d Drain
2 g Gate
3 s Source
MOSFET M 1 d Drain
2 g Gate
3 s Source
4 s Bulk
Resistors R 1 p
Transmission T (lossless) 1 p1 Port 1 Term 1
Line
2 n1 Port 1 Term 2
O (lossy) 3 p2 Port 2 Term 1
4 n2 Port 2 Term 2
Voltage Controlled G 1 p + output
Current Source
2 n - output
3 cp + control
4 cn - control
Voltage Controlled S 1 p Switch term
Switch 1
2 n Switch term
2
3 cp + control
4 cn - control
Voltage Controlled E 1 p + output
Voltage Source
2 n - output
3 cp + control
4 cn - control
Voltage V 1 p + output
Source
2 n - output

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Device Model property Pin Pin Pin function

no. names
Subcircuits X Pins can be given any name. Numbering must be in
the order that pins appear in the .subckt control
which defines the subcircuit. SIMetrix uses a special
extension of the netlist format to tell the simulator
what the pin names are.
Verilog-A device U (recommended) Pin count, names and order must match ports in
Verilog module statement. See Verilog-A User
Manual for details.
VSXA U Pin count, names and order must match ports in
(Verilog-HDL Verilog module statement. See VSXA device in the
device) Simulator Reference Manual.
AC Table U Pin count = 2 x number of ports. This device does
Lookup not currently provide current readback. Pin names
can thus be assigned arbitrarily.

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Chapter 7

Symbol Editor and Library

7.1 Creating Schematic Symbols - Overview

A large variety of schematic symbols are supplied with SIMetrix which should cover many uses. However,
there will be occasions when you wish either to define your own new symbol - perhaps to implement a
hierarchical block or subcircuit - or to modify one of the standard symbols. This chapter describes how
this can be done.
Schematic symbols are organised in a library handled by the library manager. For details refer to “Symbol
Library Manager” on page 122
There are two different methods to create symbols:
1. Use the graphical symbol editor (see “Graphical Symbol Editor” on page 112).
2. Create manually with a script
For most applications, using the graphical symbol editor is the most appropriate method.
Creating a symbol from a script is appropriate for automated symbol creation. Details are provided in
Script Reference Manual/Applications/Schematic Symbol Script Definition.

7.2 Graphical Symbol Editor

7.2.1 Notes

The graphical symbol editor shares much in its operation and layout with the schematic editor. For this
reason, it is recommended that, before learning how to use the symbol editor, you become competent in
the operation of the schematic editor. In some parts of the following sections the explanations assume that
you are already familiar with the schematic editor.

7.2.2 Symbol Editor Window

The following diagram shows the main elements of the symbol editor

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7.2.3 The Elements of a Symbol

Schematic symbols are composed of a combination of the following elements. All symbols that represent
an electrical device would comprise all of these elements. Symbols used purely for annotation would not
need pins and may not need one or other of the remaining elements either. The schematic caption, for
example, is a symbol that consists purely of properties.
• Segments. These make up the visible body of the symbol. They include straight line segments and
arc segments.
• Pins. These define electrical connections to the device.
• Properties. Properties have a name and a value and are used to define the behaviour of the device
represented by the symbol. They can also be used for annotation, for example, a label or a caption.

7.2.4 Creating a New Symbol

Select the menu File | New | Symbol. This will open a symbol editor window as shown above. Now
create the elements of the symbol as described above. Details are provided in the following sections.

7.2.5 Editing an Existing Symbol

Select the menu File | Symbol Manager... and select the symbol you wish to edit. See “Symbol Library
Manager” on page 122 for details.

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If you wish to edit a symbol that is placed on an open schematic, select the symbol on the schematic then
choose popup menu Edit Symbol....

7.2.6 Drawing Straight Line Segments

Drawing straight line segments in the symbol editor is very similar to drawing wires in the schematic
editor. You can do one of the following:
1. Select Draw Segment Mode by clicking the Draw segment tool button. You can now draw
segments using the left and right mouse buttons. Press the button again to revert to normal mode.
2. If you have a three button mouse, the middle button will start a new segment. The left button will
complete a segment and terminate the operation, while the right button will terminate without
completing the current segment.
3. Enter Draw Segment Mode temporarily by pressing F3.
4. Double click the left button to start a new segment.

7.2.7 Drawing Arcs, Circles and Ellipses

The basic method of drawing each of the curved elements is the same for each case. Before drawing starts,
you must define the start-finish angle and, for ellipses, the ratio of height to width. The drawing operation
itself defines the start and finish points. For full circles and ellipses the start and finish points are on
opposite sides.
Dedicated menus are supplied for starting a full circle, half circle and quarter circle. For everything else
use Arcs | Ellipse/Arc... .
When you have initiated the operation, the cursor will change to a shape showing a pencil with a small
circle. You can now draw the curved segment by dragging the mouse with the left key. When you release
the mouse button the operation will be complete and the mouse mode will revert to normal select mode.
It is easier to demonstrate than explain. You may wish to experiment with arc/circle/ellipse drawing to
gain a feel of how the system operates.
You will note that full circles are displayed with a small filled square on opposite sides. These are the
select points. You can pick either one and drag it to resize the circle.

7.2.8 Placing and Defining Pins

Placing a Single Pin

To place a single pin, select Property/Pin | Place Pin... . Place this on the sheet by left clicking the
mouse at your desired location. Note that pins always snap to major grid points. (See diagram in section
“Symbol Editor Window” on page 112).
The first pin you place on the sheet will be called ‘*pin’. The * signifies that the pin name will not be
visible when the symbol is placed on a schematic.

Editing Pin Attributes

To edit the attributes of the pin, (e.g. to change its name or visibility) select either the pin or its label with
the left mouse key then press F7 or select popup menu Edit Property/Pin/Arc... . This will display the
following dialog:

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Pin name

Must be unique within the symbol and may not contain spaces.
If the symbol is to be used as a hierarchical block, the pin name must match the names of the module ports
on the schematic which it represents.
If the symbol is to be used for an existing sub-circuit from, for example, a model library, the pin names are
not important and you can choose any suitable name. The pin names do not need to match the node names
in the sub-circuit definition.

Text Location

Justification If the pin name is visible this specifies its alignment.

Hidden Check this box if you do not wish the pin name to be visible on the
schematic.
Vertical The pin’s label will be displayed vertically if this is checked.

Attributes

Font style Select font style to use for a visible pin name. There is a choice of 8 styles.
Schematic fonts are explained in “Fonts” on page 458.

Placing Multiple Pins

To place more than one pin select menu Property/Pin | Place Pin (repeated).... You will be prompted
to supply a Base pin name which will be used to compose the actual pin name. SIMetrix will append a
number to this name to make the pin name unique. The first number used will be ‘0’ unless you append the
Base name with a number in which case your appended number will be used as the starting point. For

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example, if you supplied a Base name of DATA, the first pin placed will be called DATA0, the second
DATA1 etc. assuming there aren’t already pins of that name on the sheet. If you supplied a base name of
DATA2, the first pin you place will be called DATA2, the second DATA3 etc.

Editing Multiple Pins

You can only edit the names of pins one at a time, but you can edit the attributes of a group of pins in a
single operation. First select all of the pins you wish to edit. Selecting is done in the same manner as for
the schematic except note that you can select the pins themselves or the pin names; either will do. Now
press F7 or select popup menu Edit Property/Pin/Arc.... You can change any of the pins attributes
except its name and the change will be applied to all selected pins.

Moving Pins or Pin Names

Moving any item in the symbol editor is done the same way as in the schematic. Note, however that pin
names are attached to the pins. If you move a pin, its name moves with it. You can move the name on its
own by making sure that only the name is selected and not the pin.

Defining Pin Order

The symbol’s pin order is important if you are defining a symbol for use with a sub-circuit or primitive
simulator device. If it is a sub-circuit, the symbol’s pin order must match the order in which the
corresponding nodes are defined in the .SUBCKT statement. If the symbol is a primitive device, then it
must follow the order defined in section “Summary of Simulator Devices” on page 108.
If you are creating a symbol for a hierarchical block, you do not need to define the pin order. The
connection between the symbol and the underlying child schematic is made by name.
To define the symbol’s pin order select menu Property/Pin | Edit Pin Order.... Use the up and down
buttons to reorder the pins as appropriate.

Adding XSpice Pin Attributes

Some XSPICE devices support vector connections and/or variable type connections. These are designated
in the netlist with the characters ‘[’, ‘]’ and ‘%’ and are explained in Simulator Reference
Manual/Simulator Devices/Using XSPICE Devices. You can add these to a symbol by prefixing the
appropriate pin name with the same characters as required in the netlist. E.g. to start a vector connection at
a pin named IN1 enter the pin name [IN1. To close a vector connection at pin IN3 use pin name IN3].
Similarly to change a connection whose default type is ‘v’ (i.e. a single-ended voltage) to a differential
current (type%id), prefix the first pin name with%id and a space. E.g. pin name ‘VIN’ would become ‘%id
VIN’.
Examples of the use of vector connections in symbols can be found with any of the digital gate symbols.

7.2.9 Defining Properties

Properties define the behaviour of the symbol. For full documentation on the use of properties, see section
“Properties” on page 88. In this section, the methods of adding and editing properties in the symbol editor
are described.

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Adding a Single Property

To add a property to a symbol, select Property/Pin | Add Property.... You will see the following dialog
box:

This box allows you to define the name, value and attributes of the property. Note that if the property is not
protected, the value and attributes can be changed after the symbol has been placed on a schematic using
the schematic popup Edit Properties....

Name

Name of property. This would usually be one of the special properties documented in “Properties” on
page 88. You can, however, add any property name you wish to display as text or to provide a special
function that you define in a custom script. The only restriction is that the name must not contain spaces.

Value

The property’s value. (Don’t confuse this with the VALUE property). You can insert a new line by
pressing the ENTER key. But be careful that if you press the ENTER key accidentally intending to close
the dialog that you must delete the erroneously entered new line.

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Text location

Define the position of the property’s value text on the schematic.

Auto/Absolute When auto is selected, the property’s value text is positioned automatically
outside the symbol’s border according to the options specified in Normal
and Rotated. When absolute is selected, the property is placed at a fixed
position relative to the symbol body. You can define the location
interactively with the mouse. When auto is selected, the text is always
horizontal, when absolute is selected, the text is vertical when the symbol
is at a 90 degree rotation.
Normal When auto is selected, this specifies which side of the symbol the text is
located when the symbol is in normal orientation.
Rotated When auto is selected, this specifies which side of the symbol the text is
located when the symbol is rotated 90 degrees.
Justification Defines the reference point on the text when absolute is specified. See
diagram below for meaning of options. The reference point is always at a
fixed location with respect to the symbol body. The position of the
remainder of the text may vary with zoom level or font size.
Hidden The property’s value text will not be displayed in the schematic.
Vertical If checked, the property will be displayed vertically. This option is only
available if absolute location is selected.

Property Attributes

Font style Select one of eight font styles. The actual font definition is defined by the
Font dialog box. See “Fonts” on page 458 for details.
Selectable If checked, the instance of the symbol owning the property can be selected
by clicking in the property text. It is recommended that this option is off
unless the symbol has no body e.g. a pure text item.
Protected If checked, it will not be possible to edit or delete the property on a
schematic instance of the symbol.
Linear When this is not checked, the size of the font is adjusted for best
readability and does not necessarily scale exactly with the zoom
magnification. When the box is checked, the font size follows the
magnification in a linear fashion.
Show Name If selected the name of the property as well as its value will be
displayed.
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Resolve symbolic The value may contain expressions enclosed by ‘{’ and ‘}’, keywords
enclosed by ‘<’ and ‘>’ and property names enclosed by ‘%’. These items
will each be substituted with their resolved value to obtain the property
text that is actually displayed.
Expressions may contain the usual arithmetic operators and may also use
functions as defined in Script Reference Manual/Function Reference.
Property names enclosed with ‘%’ are substituted with that property’s
value. Keywords may be <date>, <time>, <version>, <if>, <ifd> and <t>.
<date>, <time> resolve to date and time in local format and <version>
resolves to an integer value which is incremented each time a schematic is
saved. The keywords <if>, <ifd> and <t> behave in the same manner as
the TEMPLATE property keywords of the same name. See “Template
Property” on page 90 for details.
Note that, like template properties, the resolution is performed in two
passes with the property values being substituted first.

Adding Standard Properties

Select menu Property/Pin | Add Standard Properties.... This prompts you for values for the ref,
value and model properties. These properties are usually specified for all symbols, with the exception of
hierarchical blocks which do not require a VALUE property. If you are using the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS
product, you will also be prompted to supply a value for the SIMULATOR property.
The following table describes the four standard properties.

Property name Function

REF property This is the part reference e.g. U1, R3 etc. This would conventionally be a letter
or letters followed by a question mark (‘?’). When you place the part on the
schematic, the question mark will be replaced automatically by a number that
makes the reference unique. If you don’t specify a MODEL property (see
below), the first letter of the reference is important as it defines the type of
device. This is explained in more detail below.
VALUE property This is the device’s value or model name including any additional parameters.
For a resistor this might be 12k for an op-amp, LM324, or for a bipolar
transistor, Q2N2222. The VALUE property must be present on a symbol at the
definition stage but its initial value is not important as it would usually be
changed after the symbol is placed on a schematic.
MODEL property This property usually has a value that is a single letter that specifies the type of
device. For sub-circuits and hierarchical blocks this letter must be ‘X’. For
other types of device refer to the table in “Summary of Simulator Devices” on
page 108. If this property is not present, the first letter of the REF property will
be used to identify the device.
For information only: The value of this property and a ‘$’ symbol are prefixed
to the ref property to obtain the first word of the device line in the netlist hence
complying with SPICE syntax. (This won’t be done if the first letter of the REF
property is already the same as the value of the MODEL property as this would
be unnecessary.)

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Property name Function

SIMULATOR property This is only required for the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS product. It declares which
simulator the symbol is compatible with. This is only for the purpose of
advising the user if a part may not work with a particular simulator. It does not
affect the functionality of that part for any simulator.
This property can have one of three values:
SIMetrix Symbol compatible with SIMetrix simulator only.
SIMPLIS Symbol compatible with the SIMPLIS simulator only.
Dual Symbol compatible with both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS

Editing a Property

To edit a property, select it then press F7 or select popup menu Edit Property/Pin/Arc.... This will open
a dialog box very similar to the one described above but without the option to enter a property name. Make
the appropriate changes then Click Ok.

7.2.10 Saving Symbols

To save the current symbol, select menu File | Save.... The following dialog will be displayed:

Define Symbol - User Name

Enter the name as you wish it to be displayed in the dialog box opened with the schematic menu Parts |
All Symbols....

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Define Symbol - Internal Name

For a new symbol, an internal name will automatically be entered when you type the User Name. In most
cases you can leave it at that. However, the internal name must be unique across the whole model library
so there may be situations where you will need to change it. If you are unsure whether the name used is
unique, prefix it with something that is very unlikely to be used anywhere such as your initials. The
resulting name does not need to be meaningful to anyone else; it is an identifying code not a descriptive
name.

Define Symbol - Category

Enter a category to determine how the symbol will be listed in the dialog box opened with the schematic
menu Place | From Symbol Library.... Sub-categories are separated using a semi-colon. Note that you can
easily move symbols to different categories using the symbol library manager . So if you are unsure at this
stage what category to use, you can place it in a temporary category and move it later.

Define Symbol - All references to symbol automatically updated

If this is checked, any changes you make to a symbol will automatically be applied to any instance of it in
existing schematics whether they are open or not.
If it is not checked, instances of the symbol will not be updated until the Update Symbols menu is
selected in the schematic. Copies of all symbols used by a schematic are stored locally within the
schematic and that local version will only be updated if this box is checked.
See “How Symbols are Stored” on page 108 for further details.

Save to - Library File

Saves the symbol to the library file specified in the File box. This would usually have a .SXSLB extension.

Save to - Component File

Saves the symbol as a component to the file specified in the File box. This would usually have the
extension .SXCMP. Component files are used for hierarchical schematics and contain a schematic and a
symbol representing it in the same file. When you save a symbol to a component file, only the symbol
portion of it will be over-written. If it contains an embedded schematic, that schematic will remain
unchanged. See Hierarchical Schematic Entry .

Save to - Current Schematic Only

The symbol will be saved to the currently selected schematic only and will not be available to other
schematics.

File

Library or component file name - see above. Press Browse to select a new file.

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7.3 Creating a Symbol from a Script

Creating a symbol from a script is a method of creating symbols programmatically and is useful for
creating symbols for devices that have some variable characteristic. An example is a transformer that can
have a varying number of windings and indeed this technique is employed to create symbols for the
built-in transformer models.
For full documentation on how to create a symbol from a script, refer to the Script Reference
Manual/Applications/Schematic Symbol Script Definition.

7.4 Symbol Library Manager

The symbol manager is a comprehensive system for managing symbols and the libraries that store them.
To open the symbol library manager, select menu File | Symbol Manager.... The dialog shown below
will be displayed.

Note that the box can be resized in the usual way.

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The symbols available to the schematic editor are stored in library files which conventionally have the
extension .SXSLB . Only symbols in installed libraries are available for placing a new part. Note,
however, that once a symbol is placed on a schematic a copy is stored locally, so you can still view a
schematic that uses symbols that are not installed.
The symbols in each file are grouped into categories using a tree structure as shown above in the Symbols
box.
The manager allows you to install or uninstall library files, to move symbols between files or categories, to
delete symbols, to copy symbols and to create new categories. You can also create new empty symbols
ready for editing with the symbol editor.

7.4.1 Operations

Installing Libraries

Select the Add... button and select a library file to install.

Clicking the Add... button will open a file select dialog box allowing you to add a new symbol library file.

Uninstalling Libraries

Select the library file you wish to uninstall from the Library Files box then click the Remove button. Note
that this does not delete the file.

Changing Search Order

When searching for a particular symbol, the library files are searched in the order in which they are listed
in the Library Files box. To change the order, use the Up and Down buttons.

Moving Symbols

To move an individual symbol to a new category, simply pick it up with the mouse and drop it onto the
new category. You can move a symbol to a new library by dropping the symbol onto a library file in the
Library Files box.
You can move more than one symbol at a time by picking up a complete category.

Copying Symbols

To copy a symbol within a library, select the symbol in the Symbols box then click the Copy... button or
use the right click menu Copy Symbol.... Enter a new user name for the symbol. It isn’t usually
necessary to change the internal name.
To copy symbols to a new library, use the same drag and drop procedure as for moving but hold the
control key down while doing so. You can do this for a single symbol or for an entire category. Note that
when copying to a new library, the symbol retains its user name and internal name. There will therefore be
duplicates installed unless they are renamed.

Deleting Symbols

To delete a symbol, select it then press Delete or the right click pop-up menu of the same name. You can
also delete an entire category in the same way.

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Renaming Symbols

Select a symbol then press F2 or the right click popup menu Rename. You can also rename a category in
the same way.
Note that this only renames the user name of the symbol. There is no method of changing the internal
name other than making a copy with a new name, then deleting the original.

Creating a New Category

To create a new category, select the parent category where you wish it to be placed, then click Create... or
the popup menu of the same name. In the dialog that opens, select the Category button and enter the new
name.

Creating a New Symbol

Select the category where you wish the symbol to be placed, then click Create... or the popup menu of the
same name. Enter the desired user name. An internal name will be automatically entered as you type in the
user name. This can usually be left alone.
The symbol created will be empty. Use the symbol editor to define it. You can call this directly by clicking
the Edit button. Note that this will close the library manager dialog box.

Placing Symbol

If a schematic sheet is open, you can place a symbol on it directly from the library manager by clicking the
Place button. Note that this will close the dialog box.

7.4.2 Editing System Symbol Libraries

The system symbol libraries are listed in the file SystemLib.sxlst located in the symbol libraries folder.
The libraries are treated specially when written to - e.g. when editing any symbol in the library.
System symbol libraries are protected from being edited directly. You can still edit the system symbols,
but the changes are stored separately in an ASCII file located in a directory in the application data area.
This scheme protects such changes from being lost when the system symbol libraries are updated during a
service update.
The system symbol libraries are stored in a directory defined by the SymbolsDir option variable (see “List
of Options” on page 439). This is typically located at C:\Program Files\SIMetrixXX\support\symbollibs.
The directory where system library edits are stored is defined by the UserSystemSymbolDir option
variable (see “List of Options” on page 439).

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Chapter 8

Parts

In this chapter we describe the parts available at the schematic level. Broadly speaking parts fall into two
categories namely numbered and generic. Numbered parts, also referred to as model library parts are
devices that have a manufacturer’s part number and are described by a model either supplied with
SIMetrix or by the manufacturer itself. Generic parts are devices that are defined by one or more
parameters that are entered by the user after the part has been placed on the schematic.
A transistor like a 2N2222 or BC547 is an example of a numbered part and a resistor is probably the
simplest example of a generic part.
There are some parts that have characteristics of both types. CMOS IC designers would use MOSFETs
defined by a model but will then customise it with length and width parameters. Saturable inductors have
an underlying model to describe the core’s characteristics but a number of user defined parameters to
define the geometry and air gap.
Numbered parts need a model which is usually stored in the model library. Refer to “Device Library and
Parts Management” on page 209 for details.
This chapter is concerned only with devices at the schematic level. Many of these devices are implemented
directly by the simulator. For example the simulator has a bipolar transistor model built in and such
devices can be defined with a set of simulator parameters. However, not all devices are implemented
directly by the simulator. It does not, for example have an operational amplifier device built in. These parts
are constructed from a number of other parts into a subcircuit.
The devices built in to the simulator are described in the “Simulator Devices” chapter of the Simulator
Reference Manual.

8.1 How to Find and Place Parts

SIMetrix has a number of different ways of finding and placing parts. Many parts can be placed in 2 or 3
different ways and which you choose will depend on personal preference. The methods are:
1. “Part Selector” on page 126. The part selector is a hierarchical list of parts that may be displayed
within the main application window.
2. “Part Search” on page 127. Searches parts available in the part selector.
3. Place menu. This includes the “Model Library Browser” on page 127 and the search by specification
(see “Selecting a Model by Specification” on page 128) system. Other parts may also be placed
from the place menu but many are easier to locate using the part selector.
4. Toolbar. Only a few parts available but quick and easy.

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8.2 Part Selector

The part selector is hierarchical list of parts used with the schematic editor. As a System View the part
selector can be placed anywhere around the outside of the window, it’s default position is the right hand
side of the window. See below:

The part selector is arranged in hierarchical manner to ease browsing for the part you wish to place.
To use the part selector, locate the part to place then either:
1. Right click and select a menu as appropriate. The vast majority of parts offer a single placement or a
repeated placement. Parts from the model library also provide a View Model menu to preview the
actual electrical model.
OR
2. Click on the hyperlink that shows below the part selector tree and above the symbol window. OR
3. Double click the part in the selector tree.

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Virtually all available parts may be selected using the part selector. There are differences between
SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes in how parts located in the model library are placed; in SIMetrix mode the
part appears directly in the part selector whereas in SIMPLIS mode, the part selector directs you to the
model library browser. There are options to change this behaviour - see PartSelShowSimplisModels in
“List of Options” on page 439.
The part selector may be customised in a number of ways; you can reorganise the hierarchical structure
using a simple GUI and you can also add your own special parts or remove some of the standard items.
For more information see “Parts Management - Configuring the Part Selector” on page 213.

8.3 Part Search

The part search feature locates a part by its name or using keywords attached to the part.
Click on the binoculars button on the schematic editor tool bar to open the search tool:

The part selector maintains a list of keywords associated with each part and this list will also be searched.
The results will be displayed as you type. You can select whether or not you wish to include model library
parts in the search, just check the Include model library parts box to enable
When you have located the part you desire, select it from the list then click Ok. This will place the part on
the schematic in the usual way.

8.4 Model Library Browser

Numbered parts - that is parts that are located in the model library - may be accessed via the Model
Library Browser. Select menu Place | From Model Library to open it.

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Select the appropriate category on the left then the part number on the right. The picture above shows what
you would see if selecting an IRF530 from the NMOS category. If you are not sure what category the part
is in, select the ‘* All Devices *’ category which you will find at the bottom of the category list.
If you are looking for a part that you installed (as opposed to a part supplied with SIMetrix) then you will
find it in the ‘* All User Models *’ category as well as the ‘* All Devices *’ category. If installed within
the last 30 days, you will also find it under ‘* Recently Added Models *’.
To reduce the number of devices displayed to a manageable level, you can specify a filter. You can use the
wild-cards ‘*’ and ‘?’ here. ‘*’ will match 1 or more of any character while ‘?’ will match any single
character. So, ‘*’ on its own will match any string and so all devices will be displayed. But ‘IRF*’ will
display any device that starts with the three letters ‘IRF’. ‘IRF???’ will display any device beginning with
IRF and followed by three and only three characters.

8.4.1 Selecting a Model by Specification

For some classes of part, you can select a model based on a desired specification. For example, if you are
looking for an n-channel power FET with a 200V max Vds and Rds(on) less than 0.5Ohms, you can enter
this specification and obtain a list of parts that meet it. Currently, devices supported for this scheme include
power FETs, diodes and Zener diodes. This feature is available in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes.

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To use this method of selecting a device, proceed as follows:

1. Select one of the menus listed under Place | Select by Specification. You can also access this
feature using the Part Selector. The picture below show what you would see if selecting NMOS
Power FET

2. Note that this is not the entire list of available parts of the desired type; only parts for which a
specification is available will be listed. However, there should be a representative range so that it
should be possible to find a model suitable for initial development work.
To filter listed parts to include your desired spec, use the drop-down boxes at the bottom of the box
in the Filter group. Note that the upper end of each range is exclusive. So for example, ‘100-500’
means everything from and including 100 up to but not including 500.
3. Once you have selected your model, click Ok to place in the usual way.

8.4.2 Viewing and Editing Models

All parts selected using the model library browser as described above are defined using a model located in
the global model library. You can view this model using the right click popup menu View/Edit Model... .
This will display something like the following dialog box:

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The top half of the above box shows the definition of the model in the library. The bottom half shows an
editable local copy of the model. To begin with, this will be exactly the same as the library model shown in
the top half. But you may edit this as desired (but note you should not edit the top line starting .subckt or
bottom line .ends). This model will then be used instead of the global library model if you select the check
box at the bottom: Use local model.
You may subsequently swap between the global and local models at any time. The local model is stored in
the schematic instance as a property and will continue to be available even if you select the global model at
some time. This allows you to freely swap between the library model and your own modified version.
Note that only models defined in the global library may be viewed and edited in this way. Models defined
locally in the F11 window or models defined using .lib or .inc may not currently be viewed or edited.

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 8.5. Numbered Parts in SIMPLIS

8.5 Numbered Parts in SIMPLIS

This section applies only to the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS product.

SIMPLIS works in a quite different way to SIMetrix (SPICE) and as a result its models for semiconductor
devices are completely different. For that reason the selection of devices available from Place | From
Model Library when in SIMPLIS mode will not be the same as in SIMetrix mode.
However, SIMetrix is able to convert some SPICE models for use with SIMPLIS. When a supported
device is placed on a SIMPLIS schematic, a model parameter extraction routine is invoked to
automatically convert the SPICE model to a SIMPLIS model. During the model parameter extraction
process, SIMetrix/SIMPLIS automatically runs several SPICE simulations on the SPICE model and
extracts the SIMPLIS model parameters. After the Piecewise Linear (PWL) model parameters have been
extracted, the resulting device model will run in SIMPLIS.
The conversion of SPICE models to SIMPLIS models is covered in the Help system. Navigate to
SIMPLIS Documentation -> SIMPLIS Parts -> Semiconductors.

8.6 Circuit Stimulus

Most circuits require some form of input signal such as a pulse or sine wave. Such signals - or stimuli - are
specified using a voltage or current source which is placed on the schematic in the usual way. A number of
different types of source are available. These are described in the following sections.

8.6.1 Waveform Generator

This is used to create a time domain signal for transient analysis. This generator will work in both
SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes of operation. To place one of these devices, select menu Place | Voltage
Sources | Waveform Generator for a voltage source or Place | Current Sources | Waveform
Generator for a current source.
To specify the signal for the source, select then choose the popup menu Edit Part... or press F7. This will
bring up the dialog box shown below. (In SIMPLIS simulation mode it will have an additional check box -
see notes below)

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Select the wave shape on the right hand side then enter the parameters as appropriate. The following notes
provide details on some of the controls.
• Damping describes an exponential decay factor for sinusoidal wave-shapes. The decay is governed
by the expression:
e−damping×t

• Off until delay if checked specifies that the signal will be at the Initial value until the delay period
has elapsed.
• Note that some parameters can be specified in more than one way. For example both frequency and
period edit controls are supplied. Changing one will cause the other to be updated appropriately.
The same applies to duty and width and the vertical controls in the lower half.
• A Cosine wave-shape combined with a positive delay and with Off until delay checked, will only
function correctly in SIMPLIS mode.
• If in SIMPLIS simulation mode, you will also see a check box titled Source Idle during POP and
AC analyses. If checked, the source will be disabled in POP and AC analysis modes.

8.6.2 PWL Source

This device can be used to describe a piece wise linear source. A PWL source can describe any arbitrary
wave shape in terms of time-voltage or time-current pairs. To place a PWL source select menu Place |
Voltage Sources | PWL Source or Place | Current Sources | PWL Source.
To edit the device, select it and press F7 or Edit Part... popup menu. This will open the Edit PWL Dialog
which allows you to enter time and voltage/current values.
As well as entering values individually, you can also paste them from the Windows clipboard by pressing
the Paste button or ctrl-V. The values can be copied to the clipboard using a text editor. The values may
be separated by spaces, tabs, commas or new lines.

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PWL sources may be used in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes, but note that in SIMPLIS, PWL sources
are limited to 256 points. Larger definitions are allowed in SIMetrix mode, but for very large PWL
definitions, a PWLFILE source will See the “Analog Device Reference” in the Simulator Reference
Manual for more information.
In SIMPLIS mode, a check box titled Source Idle during POP and AC analyses will also be shown.
This will be checked by default meaning that the source is inactive in POP and AC analyses.

8.6.3 Power Supply/Fixed Current Source

Select menu Place | Voltage Sources | Power Supply or Place | Current Sources | DC Source
to place a fixed voltage or current source. These devices work in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes.

8.6.4 AC Source

The small signal analysis modes, AC sweep and Transfer Function, require AC sources for their input
stimulus.
To place an AC source select menu Place | Voltage Sources | AC Source (for AC analysis) or
Place | Current Sources | AC Source.
You can also use a Universal Source (see below) for the AC source for SIMetrix (i.e. not SIMPLIS)
simulations. Be sure to check the Enable AC check box in the Universal Source.

8.6.5 Universal Source

All of the sources described above can be used in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes of operation. In
SIMetrix mode there is also a Universal source which provides the function of transient, AC and DC
sources all in one device. In addition, the Universal source may be used to create a random noise source.
To place a universal source, select menu Place | Voltage Sources | Universal Source or Place |
Current Sources | Universal Source.
To edit a universal source, select the device and press F7 or popup menu Edit Part.... This will display
the following dialog box:

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Refer to the following for details of each tabbed sheet:

“Pulse sheet” on page 135
“Sine sheet” on page 136
“Noise sheet” on page 137
“AC sheet” on page 138
“DC sheet” on page 138
“Text sheet” on page 140

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Pulse Sheet

This selects the values for pulse waveform. For the values to be used the Pulse radio button at the right of
the box must be selected.
The diagram below defines the pulse waveform timings.

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PER = Period
PW = Width
TR = Rise
TF = Fall
TD = Delay
Period/Width and Frequency/Duty boxes are two different ways of specifying the same thing. If you
modify one pair the others change accordingly.

Sine Sheet

This selects values for a sine wave generator. For the values to be used the Sine radio button at the right of
the box must be selected.
The shape of the waveform is described by:
0 to delay: vof f set
delay to Stop time vof f set + vpeak.e−(t−delay).theta ). sin(2.π.f req.(t + delay))
Where:
t : time
vof f set : value in Offset edit box
√
vpeak : value in Peak edit box. If RMS is selected, vpeak = vrms. 2

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delay : value in Delay edit box

theta : value in Theta edit box
f req : value in Frequency edit box
Phase is implemented using a negative delay value. For example, a phase of 30 degrees is entered, the
delay will be 30/360.1/f req

Noise Sheet

To enable noise, select the Noise radio button at the right of the dialog box.
Source generates a random value at guiInterval with distribution such that spectrum of signal generated is
approximately flat up to frequency equal to 1/(2*interval). Amplitude of noise is RMS volts.
Start time and End time values may be entered to define the interval over which the noise signal is active.
If End time is zero, the noise will continue to the end of the simulation.

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AC Sheet

The entries in the AC sheet are only used for AC analysis.

Sets the magnitude and phase of the source for AC analysis. To take effect the Enable AC check box must
be checked.
This specification has no effect in other analysis modes.
SIMetrix does not require an AC specification for the input referred source in Noise analysis.

DC Sheet

Specifies DC value for bias point calculation. If one of sine, pulse, noise, piece wise linear, exponential, or
single frequency fm sources is also specified, this value will be ignored and the time=0 value used instead.

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Text Sheet

The text sheet may be used to define one of the following

“PWL Definition” on page 140
“PWLS Definition” on page 141
“PWLFILE Definition” on page 146
The text sheet may also be used to define a single frequency FM or exponential source using traditional
SPICE syntax. Refer to Simulator Reference Manual/Analog Device Reference/Voltage
Source/Exponential Source and Single Frequency FM for details.

PWL Definition

An piecewise linear source may be entered in the Text Sheet of the Universal source using the syntax
described below.
This applies to both voltage and current sources.
pwl ( T1 V1 [T2 V2 [T3 V3 [... ]]] )

Each pair of values (Ti Vi) specifies that the value of the source is Vi at time = Ti. The value of the source
at intermediate values of time is determined by using linear interpolation on the input values.
Example

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Produces this waveform:

PWLS Definition

The PWLS definition allows more advanced signal sources to be created using a simple language syntax.
The syntax is described below. For some example, see “PWLS Examples” on page 143
The syntax is in the following form:
PWLS [TIME_SCALE_FACTOR=time_factor] [VALUE_SCALE_FACTOR=value_factor]
pwls_spec [ pwls_spec ... ]

Where:

time_factor Scales all time values in definition by time_factor

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value_factor Scales all magnitude values by value_factor

pwls_spec may be one of the following:
(time, value) Creates a single data point. time is relative to
the current context.
(+time, value) Creates a single data point. time is relative to
the previous point.
REPEAT FOR n pwls_spec Repeats pwls_spec n times.
ENDREPEAT
REPEAT FOREVER pwls_spec Repeats pwls_spec forever
ENDREPEAT
SIN sine_parameters Creates a sinusoid. See table below for
END definition of sine_parameters
PULSE pulse_parameters Creates a pulse train. See table below for
END definition of pulse_parameters
FILE file_name Loads a definition from file file_name. If the
name contains spaces, it must be quoted

Sine Parameters

Name Description Default Compulsory

FREQ Frequency N/A Yes
PEAK Peak value of sine 1.0 No
OFFSET Offset 0.0 No
DELAY Delay before sine starts. 0.0 No
PHASE Phase 0.0 No
CYCLES Number of cycles. Use -1.0 for infinity -1.0 No
MINPOINTS Minimum number of timesteps used per cycle 13 No
RAMP Frequency ramp factor 0.0 No

The sine value is defined as follows:

if t>0 OR DELAY<0
PEAK * SIN(f*2PI*t+PHASE*PI/180) + OFFSET
else
PEAK * SIN(PHASE*PI/180) + OFFSET

Where:
f = FREQ + t×RAMP
t = time - tref - DELAY
time is the global simulation time
tref is the reference time for this spec
Pulse Parameters

Name Description Default Compulsory

V0 Offset 0 No

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Name Description Default Compulsory

V1 Positive pulse value 1.0 No
V2 Negative pules value -1.0 No
RISE Rise time i.e time to change from V2 to PERIOD/1000 No
V1
FALL Fall time i.e time to change from V1 to PERIOD/1000 No
V2
WIDTH Positive pulse width (PERIOD-RISE-FALL)/2 No
PERIOD Period N/A Yes
DELAY Delay before start 0 No
CYCLES Number of complete cycles. -1 means -1 No
infinity

RISE, FALL, WIDTH and PERIOD must be greater than zero. DELAY must be greater than or equal to
zero

PWLS Examples

Example 1
PWLS REPEAT FOREVER 0 0 10u 0 20u 1 100u 1 120u 2 200u 2 250u 0 ENDREPEAT

Produces a repeated signal as shown below:

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Example 2
The following defines a simple grey scale PAL test signal.
PWLS REPEAT FOREVER
+ 0 0 1.65u 0 1.75u -0.3 6.35u -0.3 6.45u 0 7.3u 0
+ SIN FREQ=4.43Meg CYCLES=10 PEAK=0.1 END
+ 10u 0 63u 0.7 64u 0
+ ENDREPEAT

Example 3
The following repeats a PWL definition 3 times only
PWLS REPEAT FOR 3 0 0 10u 0 +1u 1 20u 1 20u -1 30u -1 31u 0 100u 0 ENDREPEAT

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Example 4
The following describes a tone burst signal
PWLS REPEAT FOREVER
+ SIN peak=1 delay=0 freq=1k cycles=3 minpoints=50 offset=0 END 0.01 0 ENDREPEAT

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PWLFILE Definition

PWLFILE filename

This performs the same function as the normal piece wise linear source except that the values are read
from a file named filename.
The file contains a list of time voltage pairs in text form separated by any whitespace character (space, tab,
new line). It is not necessary to add the ‘+’ continuation character for new lines but they will be ignored if
they are included. Any non-numeric data contained in the file will also be ignored.
Be aware that numbers in engineering format, i.e. using suffixes such as u for 1e-6 and k for 1e3, are not
recognised in a PWLFILE definition. If your data does include such values, you can instead use the PWLS
definition in the form PWLS file=filename which does accept such values.
8.6.6 Digital Sources

Digital Pulse

The digital pulse device creates a single shot or repetitive pulse in the digital event driven domain. As
digital and analog nodes can be freely interconnected, analog parts may be connected to it but it is more
efficient to use an analog pulse generator for this purpose.
To Place a Digital Pulse
1. Select menu Place | Digital | Digital Pulse or Place |Digital |Digital Pulse (open emitter)
and place. The open emitter version can be "wire-ored" but requires a pull down resistor. You can
use menu Place | Digital | Pull-down for this.
2. Select device then press F7 or equivalent menu. Enter parameters as required. For a single pulse
enter ’0’ for the period.

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Device Operation This device supplies a repetitive or single pulse of defined period, delay and width.
Optionally, the device may be specified to have an open emitter output allowing several pulse sources to be
wire OR’ed to create complex pulses. All 5 main .MODEL parameters may also be specified on the device
line as instance parameters in which case they override any values specified in the .MODEL control.

Digital Signal Source

The digital signal source provides a multi bit arbitrary digital signal defined in a file. There is no standard
schematic part for this device as it can be defined with an arbitrary number of outputs. For more
information, see Simulator Reference Manual/Digital Mixed Signal Device Reference/Digital Signal
Source.

8.6.7 Other Sources

Sine Tone Burst

Generates a sequence of sinusoidal bursts with a user defined number of cycles per burst, burst frequency
and tone frequency.
Use menu Place | Voltage Sources | Sine Tone Burst then place device in the usual way. Editing the
device will bring up a dialog with 6 parameters:

Parameter Description
Burst Freq. Burst frequency
Tone Freq. Frequency of the sinusoidal tone
Num Tone Cycles Number of sinusoidal cycles in each burst
Peak Peak voltage
Offset Offset voltage
Points Per Cycle Minimum number of time steps in each sinusoidal cycle. Increasing this
number will improve the accuracy of the simulation at the expense of
simulation speed

Swept Sinusoid

Generate a sinusoidal signal with linearly increasing frequency.

Use menu Place | Voltage Sources | Swept Sine then place in the usual manner. Editing the device
will bring up a dialog with 6 parameters:

Parameter Description
Start Frequency Starting frequency
End Frequency Frequency at the end of the ramp
Interval Time taken to ramp from start frequency to end frequency
Peak Peak voltage
Offset Offset voltage

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Parameter Description
Points Per Cycle Minimum number of time steps in each sinusoidal cycle. Increasing this
number will improve the accuracy of the simulation at the expense of
simulation speed

Bidirectional Pulse

Generates a symmetrical bidirectional pulse waveform.

Use menu Place | Voltage Sources | Bidirectional Pulse then place device in the usual way. Editing
the device will bring up a dialog with 3 parameters:

Parameter Description
P-P Voltage Peak to peak voltage
Frequency Pulse frequency
Delay Delay after start

8.7 Generic Parts

As explained in the overview generic parts are devices that are defined by one or more parameters entered
by the user after the part is placed. The following generic parts are available:

Device SIMPLIS support?

Ideal Transformer Yes
Saturable Inductors and Transformer No
Inductor Yes
Capacitor Yes
Resistor Yes
Potentiometer Yes
Transmission Line (Lossless) No
Transmission Line (Lossy) No
Infinite capacitor No
Infinite inductor No
Voltage source Yes
Current source Yes
Voltage controlled voltage source Yes
Voltage controlled current source Yes
Current controlled voltage source Yes
Current controlled current source Yes
Voltage controlled switch No

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Device SIMPLIS support?

Voltage controlled switch with Hysteresis Yes
Delayed Switch No
Parameterised Opamp Yes
Parameterised Opto-coupler No
Parameterised Comparator No
VCO No

Device
Non-linear transfer function
Laplace transfer function
Non-linear resistor
Non-linear capacitor
Non-linear inductor
Analog-Digital converter
Digital-Analog converter
Digital counter
Digital shift register
NAND/NOR/OR/AND gates
Digital bus register

8.7.1 SIMPLIS Primitive Parts

The following parts are only available with the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS product and when in SIMPLIS. They
can all be found under the menu Place | SIMPLIS Primitives. For full details, see the SIMPLIS
Reference Manual.

Device
Comparator
Set-reset flip-flop
Set-reset flip-flop clocked
J-K flip-flop
D-type flip-flop
Toggle flip-flop
Latch
Simple switch - voltage controlled
Simple switch - current controlled
Transistor switch - voltage controlled
Transistor switch - current controlled
VPWL Resistor

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Device
IPWL Resistor
PWL Capacitor
PWL Inductor

8.7.2 Saturable Inductors and Transformers

SIMetrix is supplied with a number of models for inductors and transformers that correctly model
saturation and, for most models, hysteresis. As these parts are nearly always custom designed there is no
catalogue of manufacturers parts as there is with semiconductor devices. Consequently a little more
information is needed to specify one of these devices. This section describes the facilities available and a
description of the models available.

Core Materials

The available models cover a range of ferrite and MPP core materials for inductors and transformers with
any number of windings. The complete simulation model based on a library core model is generated by
the user interface according to the winding specification entered.

Placing and Specifying Parts

1. Select the menu Place | Magnetics | Saturable Transformer/Inductor... You will see the
following dialog box:

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2. Specify the number of windings required for primary and secondary in the Configuration section. If
you just want a single inductor, set primary turns to 1 and secondaries to 0.
3. Specify the number of turns for each winding in the windings list below the Configuration section.
You can also define positive or negative polarity which will control the orientation of the winding.
4. Specify the coupling factor in the Configuration section. The coupling factor is the same for all
windings. You can define different coupling factors for each winding by adding ideal inductors in
series with one or more windings. In some instances it may be necessary to add coupled inductors in
series. This is explained in more detail in “Coupling Factor” on page 153.
5. Specify the core characteristics in the Define Core section. A number of standard core sets are
pre-programmed and can be selected from the Select Core Type list at the top. If the part you wish
to use is not in the list or if you wish to use a variant with a - say - different air gap, you can
manually enter the characteristics by clicking on the Manual Entry check box.
The values you need to enter are

Ae Effective Area
Le Effective Length
Ue Relative Permeability
Core Material

Model Details

The models for saturable magnetic parts can be found in the file cores.lb. Most of the models are based on
the Jiles-Atherton magnetic model which includes hysteresis effects. The MPP models use a simpler
model which does not include hysteresis. These models only define a single inductor. To derive a
transformer model, the user interface generates a subcircuit model that constructs a non-magnetic
transformer using controlled sources. The inductive element is added to the core which then gives the
model its inductive characteristics.
The model does not currently handle other core characteristics such as eddy current losses nor does it
handle winding artefacts such as resistive losses, skin effect, inter-winding capacitance or proximity effect.

8.7.3 Ideal Transformers

Ideal transformers may be used in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes. Note that SIMPLIS operation is
more efficient if the coupling factors are set to unity.
To define an ideal transformer, select the menu Place | Passives | Ideal Transformer.... This will
open the following dialog box:

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Configuration

Specify the number of primaries and secondaries. You can specify up to 20 of each.

Define winding turns and inductance

Specify the number of turns for each winding in the list at the bottom of the window. Also set the
inductance for the first primary. The inductances for the other windings will automatically update. These
are calculated from the primary inductance and the relevant turns ratio.
You may also specify the polarity for each winding. The polarity of the winding will be shown on the
schematic symbol using the conventional dot at one end of the winding.

Coupling factor

Inter-primary coupling Coupling factor between primaries.

Inter secondary coupling Coupling factor between secondaries.
Primary-secondary coupling Coupling factor from each primary to each secondary.

This method of implementing an ideal transformer is not totally general purpose as you cannot arbitrarily
define inter winding coupling factors. If you need a configuration not supported by the above method, you
can define any ideal transformer using ideal inductors and the Mutual Inductance device. The SIMetrix
version is explained in “Mutual Inductors” on page 154. For the SIMPLIS equivalent, see the SIMPLIS
reference manual.

8.7.4 DC Transformers

The DC transformer model is like a normal transformer except that it has - in effect - infinite inductance.
So it will work at DC and has zero magnetisation current. To place a DC transformer, select menu Place |
Magnetics | Ideal DC Transformer.... This will open the following dialog box:

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Configuration

Specify the number of primaries and secondaries. You can specify up to 20 of each.

Define winding turns

Define the number of turns for each winding in the list. Note that the behaviour of the part depends only
on the ratios between the turns. You may also specify the polarity for each winding. The polarity of the
winding will be shown on the schematic symbol using the conventional dot at one end of the winding.

8.7.5 Coupling Factor

The standard user interface for both saturable and ideal transformers provide only limited flexibility to
specify inter-winding coupling factor. In the majority of applications, coupling factor is not an important
issue and so the standard model will suffice.
In some applications, however, the relative coupling factors of different windings can be important. An
example is in a flyback switched mode supply where the output voltage is sensed by an auxiliary winding.
In this instance, best performance is achieved if the sense winding is strongly coupled to the secondary.
Such a transformer is likely to have a different coupling factor for the various windings.
You can use external leakage inductances to model coupling factor and this will provide some additional
flexibility. One approach is to set the user interface coupling factor to unity and model all non-ideal
coupling using external inductors. In some cases it may be necessary to couple the leakage inductors.
Consider for example an E-core with 4 windings, one on each outer leg and two on the inner leg. Each
winding taken on its own would have approximately the same coupling to the core and so each would have
the same leakage inductance. But the two windings on the centre leg would be more closely coupled to
each other than to the other windings. To model this, the leakage inductances for the centre windings could
be coupled to each other using the mutual inductor method described in the next section.

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8.7.6 Mutual Inductors

You can specify coupling between any number of ideal inductors, using the mutual inductor device. There
is no menu or schematic symbol for this. It is defined by a line of text that must be added to the netlist.
(See “Manual Entry of Simulator Commands” on page 43). The format for the mutual inductance line is:
Kxxxx inductor_1 inductor_2 coupling_factor

Where:

inductor_1 Part reference of the first inductor to be coupled.

inductor_2 Part reference of the second inductor to be coupled.
coupling_factor Value between 0 and 1 which defines strength of coupling.

Note

If more than 2 inductors are to be coupled, there must be a K device to define every possible pair.

Examples

** Couple L1 and L2 together

K12 L1 L2 0.98
** Couple L1, L2 and L3
K12 L1 L2 0.98
K23 L2 L3 0.98
K13 L1 L3 0.98

8.7.7 Resistors

Resistors may be used in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes. Note that in SIMetrix mode a number of
additional parameters may be specified. These will not work with SIMPLIS and must not be specified if
dual mode operation is required.
Select from Place | Passives menu.
To edit value use F7 or select popup menu Edit Part... menu as usual. This will display the following
dialog for resistors.

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You can enter the value directly in the Result box or use the Base and Decade up/down controls.

Additional Parameters

Press Parameters... button to edit additional parameter associated with the device such as temperature
coefficients (TC1, TC2). Refer to device in the Simulator Reference Manual for details of all device
parameters.

8.7.8 Ideal Capacitors and Inductors

Capacitors and inductors may be used in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes. Note that in SIMetrix mode
a number of additional parameters may be specified. These will not work with SIMPLIS and must not be
specified if dual mode operation is required.
The following dialog will be displayed when you edit a capacitor or inductor:

The device value is edited in the same manner as for resistors. You can also supply an initial condition that
defines how the device behaves while a DC operating point is calculated. For capacitors you can either
specify that the device is open circuit or alternatively you can specify a fixed voltage. For inductors, the
device can be treated as a short circuit or you can define a constant current.

8.7.9 Infinite Capacitors and Inductors

The infinite capacitors and inductors are often useful for AC analysis.
To place an infinite capacitor, select menu Place | Passives | Infinite Capacitor To place an infinite
inductor, select menu Place | Magnetics | Infinite Inductor
The infinite capacitor works as follows:
1. During the DC bias point calculation, it behaves like an open circuit, just like a regular finite
capacitor.
2. During any subsequent analysis it behaves like a voltage source with a value equal to the voltage
achieved during the DC bias point calculation.
The infinite inductor behaves as follows:
1. During the DC bias point calculation, it behaves like a short circuit, just like a regular finite inductor.

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2. During any subsequent analysis it behaves like a current source with a value equal to the current
achieved during the DC bias point calculation.
These parts allow you to close a feedback loop during the DC bias point then open it for any subsequent
analysis.
The infinite capacitor is a built in primitive part and is actually implemented by the voltage source device.
The infinite inductor is a subcircuit using an infinite capacitor and some controlled sources.

8.7.10 Multi-Level Capacitors

The Multi-Level Capacitor has four model levels. As the level increases, additional parasitic circuit
elements are added. This capacitor, available with Version 8.0 or later, is used to model a wide variety of
capacitor types where the number and type of parasitic circuit elements can be configured.

Model Name: Multi-Level Capacitor (Level 0-3 w/Quantity)

Simulator: This device is compatible with both the SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
simulators
Parts Selector Menu Passives | Capacitors | Multi-Level Capacitor, US Style,
Location (SIMetrix): (V8+)
Parts Selector Menu Passives | Capacitors | Multi-Level Capacitor, EUR Style,
Location (SIMetrix): (V8+)
Parts Selector Menu Passives | Capacitors | Multi-Level Capacitor,
Location (SIMetrix): Non-Polarised, (V8+)
Parts Selector Menu Commonly Used Parts | Multi-Level Capacitor (Level 0-3
Location (SIMPLIS): w/Quantity)(Version 8.0+)
Symbol Library: passives.sxslb
Model File (SIMetrix): preproc.lb
Model File (SIMPLIS): simplis_param.lb
Subcircuit Name: MULTI_LEVEL_CAP_QTY
Multiple Selections: Multiple devices can be selected and edited simultaneously

Editing the Multi-Level Capacitor

To configure the Multi-Level Capacitor, follow these steps:

1. Double click the symbol on the schematic to open the editing dialog to the Parameters tab.
2. Choose a model level, and then make the appropriate changes to the fields described in the table
below the image.

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Label Levels Units Description

Capacitance 0,1,2,3 F Capacitance value
Leakage resistance 1,2,3 Ω Leakage resistance across the capacitor
Series resistance (ESR) 2,3 Ω The equivalent series resistance (ESR)
Series inductance (ESL) 3 H The equivalent series inductance (ESL)
ESL Shunt resistance 3 Ω The shunt resistance in parallel with the ESL. This
resistance is included to limit the maximum frequency
response of the parasitic ESL, which maximizes the
simulation speed in SIMPLIS mode. Click Calc... to
calculate this value.
Use IC? all n/a
• If checked, the model uses the specified Initial
condition.
• If unchecked, the capacitor initial condition is an
open circuit.

Initial condition all V Initial voltage of the capacitor at time=0

Use Quantity? all n/a If checked, the model uses the specified Quantity of
capacitors in parallel.
Quantity all n/a Number of capacitors in parallel.
Note: To maximize simulation speed when using
SIMPLIS, place a single symbol and specify a value for
this parameter instead of placing multiple
capacitors.
The model has built-in provisions for setting the Monte Carlo Parameters for all parameters except the
ESL Shunt resistance. The Monte-Carlo Parameters are entered on theMonte Carlo Parameters tab
shown below. To define the Monte Carlo Parameters follow these steps:
1. Click on the Monte Carlo Parameters tab.
2. Make the appropriate changes to the fields described in the table below the image.

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Label Levels Units Description

Capacitance 0,1,2,3 % 3-sigma tolerance for the capacitance value
Leakage resistance 1,2,3 % 3-sigma tolerance for the leakage resistance across the
capacitor
Series resistance (ESR) 2,3 % 3-sigma tolerance for the equivalent series resistance
(ESR)
Series inductance (ESL) 3 % 3-sigma tolerance for the equivalent series inductance
(ESL)
Probability Distribution all n/a The choices for this function for each available parameter
Function are the following:
• None The parameter has no tolerance and the value
is fixed for Monte Carlo simulations.
• Gauss The parameter has a Gaussian distribution
with the specified 3 sigma tolerance. Can return
values greater than or less than the 3 sigma
tolerance.
• Truncated Gauss As with Gauss but truncates all
values outside the +/- 3 sigma tolerance.
• Uniform The parameter has a Uniform distribution
within the specified 3 sigma tolerance.
• Worst Case The parameter has random values at the
nominal value +/- the specified 3 sigma tolerance.

Multi-Level Capacitor Model Levels

The Multi-Level capacitor has four levels: 0, 1, 2, and 3. As the model level increases, additional parasitic
circuit elements are added to the model.
The diagram below shows the circuit used for each of the four levels:

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The following table summarises the model parameters:

Parameter Levels Description

CAP all Linear capacitance
RLK 1,2,3 Leakage resistance
RESR 2,3 Equivalent series resistance
LESL 3 Equivalent series inductance
RESL 3 ESL shunt resistance

Quantity Implementation - SIMPLIS Mode

The Multi-Level Capacitor model has two quantity parameters, USE_QTY and QTY, which specify the
number of capacitors in parallel.
Configuring these parameters minimizes the number of reactive circuit elements in the model and,
therefore, provides a maximum simulation speed.
The implementation of the quantity parameter uses a "DC Transformer" technique where the capacitor’s
terminal current is multiplied by a constant using a Current Controlled Current Source (CCCS). This
technique effectively divides all resistance and inductance values by the quantity parameter (QTY) and

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multiplies the capacitance by that same value. This circuitry is added if the USE_QTY parameter is set to
1.
A schematic of the quantity implementation for a Level 0 Multi-Level Capacitor is shown below:

Quantity Implementation - SIMetrix Mode

In SIMetrix, the quantity parameter is implemented with the "M" parameter which is common to the
primitive SPICE components. This improves SIMetrix simulation speed and correctly scales resistances
for noise analysis.

8.7.11 Electrolytic Capacitors

The electrolytic capacitor model has been superseded by the “Multi-level Capacitor” on page 156. The
electrolytic capacitor is still available from the parts selector at locations Passives -> Capacitors,
Simple (Legacy) and Passives -> Capacitors, Detailed (Legacy)
Electrolytic capacitor models are shown below:

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Simple Model

Detailed Model

Passives -> Capacitors, Simple (Legacy)

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8.7.12 Potentiometer

The potentiometer may be used in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes. To place, select the menu Place |
Passives | Potentiometer. This device can be edited in the usual manner with F7/Edit Part... popup.
This will display:

Enter Resistance and Wiper position as required.

Check Run simulation after position change if you wish a new simulation to be run immediately after
the wiper position changes.
The potentiometer’s wiper position may also be altered using the shift-up and shift-down keys while the
device is selected. Edit Inc/dec step size to alter the step size used for this feature.

8.7.13 Lossless Transmission Line

Select from menu Place | Passives | Trans. Line (Lossless) or press hot key ‘T’. Editing in the usual
way will display:

Enter the Characteristic Impedance (Z0) and Delay as indicated.

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8.7.14 Lossy Transmission Line

Select from menu Place | Passives | Trans. Line (Lossy RLGC). Editing in the usual way will
display:

Lossy lines must be defined in terms of their per unit length impedance characteristics.
The lossy line model is implemented in a subcircuit that uses the Laplace transfer device. See “Laplace
Transfer Function” on page 198 for details.

8.7.15 Fixed Voltage and Current Sources

See “Circuit Stimulus” on page 131.

8.7.16 Controlled Sources

There are four types which can be found under menu Place | Controlled Sources:
Voltage controlled voltage source or VCVS
Voltage controlled current source or VCCS
Current controlled voltage source or CCVS
Current controlled current source or CCCS
These have a variety of uses. A VCVS can implement an ideal opamp; current controlled devices can
monitor current; voltage controlled devices can convert a differential signal to single ended.
They require just one value to define them which is their gain. Edit value in the usual way and you will be
presented with a dialog similar to that used for resistors, capacitors and inductors but without the
Parameters... button.

8.7.17 Voltage Controlled Switch

This is essentially a voltage controlled resistor with two terminals for the resistance and two control
terminals. Place one on the schematic with Place | Analog Functions | Switch. Editing using F7 or
equivalent menu displays:

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If On Voltage > Off Voltage

If control voltage > On Voltage
Resistance = On Resistance
else if control voltage < Off Voltage
Resistance = Off Resistance

If Off Voltage > On Voltage

If control voltage > Off Voltage
Resistance = Off Resistance
else if control voltage < On Voltage
Resistance = On Resistance

If the control voltage lies between the On Voltage and Off Voltage the resistance will be somewhere
between the on and off resistances using a law that assures a smooth transition between the on and off
states. Refer to Simulator Reference Manual/Analog Device Reference/Voltage Controlled Switch

8.7.18 Switch with Hysteresis

An alternative switch device is available which abruptly switches between states rather than following a
continuous V-I characteristic. This device can be used with both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS although the
behaviour is slightly different in each. The switching thresholds are governed by an hysteresis law and,
when used with the SIMetrix simulator, the state change is controlled to occur over a defined time period
which can be edited.
This device can be placed on a schematic with the menu Place | Analog Functions | Switch with
Hysteresis.
Parameters are:

Parameter Description
Off Resistance Switch resistance in OFF state.
On Resistance Switch resistance in ON state.
Threshold Average threshold. Switches to on state at this value plus half the
hysteresis. Switch to off state at this value less half the hysteresis.
Hysteresis Difference between upper and lower thresholds.
Switching Time Time switch takes to switch on. Note that this is the total time from the
point at which the switch starts to switch on to the point when it is fully
switched on.
Initial condition Sets the initial state of the switch at the start of the simulation.

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If you need to control switch on times and switch off times independently, you can use the delayed switch
model. See “Delayed Switch” on page 165.

8.7.19 Delayed Switch

Implements a voltage-controlled switch with defined on and off delay. This model can be used to
implement relays. Switch action is similar to the Switch with Hysteresis described above. The delayed
switch model has all the functionality of the hysteresis switch with the addition of time delay parameters
and separate parameters for switch on and switch off times. Unlike the hysteresis switch, this device does
not have an exact SIMPLIS equivalent.
This device can be placed on a schematic with the menu Place | Analog Functions | Delayed Switch.
Parameters are:

Parameter Description
Off Resistance Switch resistance in OFF state
On Resistance Switch resistance in ON state
Threshold Low Switch switches off when control voltage drops below this
threshold
Threshold High Switch switches on when control voltage rises above this threshold
On Delay Delay between high threshold being reached and switch starting to switch
on
Off Delay Delay between low threshold being reached and switch starting to switch
off
Switching Time (On) Total time switch takes to switch on
Switching Time (Off) Total time switch takes to switch off

Older versions of this model did not include the switching time parameters. If you wish to update a
delayed switch already placed on a schematic to include this parameter, use the Edit/Add Properties
menu to change the PARAM_MODEL_NAME property to delayed_switch_V4.

8.7.20 Parameterised Opamp

Implements an operational amplifier and is available from menu This is available from menu Place |
Analog Functions | Parameterised Opamp. It is defined by the parameters listed below.

Parameter units Description

Offset Voltage V Input voltage needed for zero output
Bias Current A Average of input currents when out=0
Offset Current A Difference between input currents when out=0
Open-loop gain Vout/(Vin+ - Vin-) (Simple ratio - not dB)
Gain-bandwidth Hz Gain x bandwidth product
Pos. Slew Rate V/s Slew rate for positive output transistions
Neg. Slew Rate V/s Slew rate for negative output transistions(SIMPLIS only.
In SIMetrix the negative slew rate is the same as the
positive slew rate)

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Parameter units Description

CMRR Common mode rejection ratio. Expressed as straight ratio
- not in dB
PSRR Power supply rejection ratio. Expressed as straight ratio -
not in dB
Input Resistance Ω Differential input resistance
Output Res. Ω Series output resistance. For SIMetrix this interacts with
the quiescent current; The output resistance must
satisfy:
Rout > 0.0129/IQ

Where IQ is the Quiescent current. If the above is not

satisfied, there is a high risk that the model will not
converge. This limitation is a consequence of the way the
output stage is implemented. The limitation does not
apply to SIMPLIS
Quiescent Curr. A Supply current with no load. This must satisfy the relation
shown in Output Res. above
Headroom Pos. V Difference between positive supply voltage and maximum
output voltage
Headroom Neg. V Difference between minimum output voltage and negative
supply rail.
Offset V. (Statistical) V For Monte-Carlo analysis only. Specifies the 1-sigma
offset voltage tolerance. (SIMetrix only)

8.7.21 Parameterised Opto-coupler

Implements a 2-in 2-out optically isolated coupler. This is available from menu Place | Analog
Functions | Parameterised Opto-coupler. It is defined by just two parameters described in the
following table:

Parameter Description
Current transfer ratio Ratio between output current and input current
Roll-off frequency -3dB point

8.7.22 Parameterised Comparator

Implements a simple differential comparator. This is available from menu Place | Analog Functions |
Parameterised Comparator. Its parameters are defined in the following table:

Parameter Description
Input Resistance Differential input resistance.
Output Resistance Series output resistance.

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Parameter Description
Hysteresis Difference between switching tresholds. The output will switch from
low-high when the differential input voltage rises above half the
hysteresis. The output will switch from high-low when the differential
input voltage falls below half the hysteresis.
Output Low Voltage Unloaded output voltage in low state.
Output High Voltage Unloaded output voltage in high state.
Delay Delay between threshold crossing and start of the output changing
state.
Rise/Fall Time Output rise and fall time.

8.7.23 VCO

Implements a simple voltage controlled oscillator with a digital output. You can place a VCO on the
schematic using menu Place | Digital Generic | VCO (Analog in, digital out). Its parameters are:

Parameter Description
Frequency at VC=0 Output frequency for a control voltage of zero
Gain Hz/V Change in frequency vs change in input voltage

8.7.24 Verilog-A Library

If you have a SIMetrix Pro or SIMetrix Elite you may also use one of the Verilog-A implemented devices
available under the Place | Analog Functions | Verilog-A Library. These devices are defined using
the Verilog-A language. The Verilog-A code for these devices may be found in the support\valibrary
directory under the SIMetrix root.
Currently there are 4 Verilog-A library devices as described in the following paragraphs.

Voltage Controlled Delay

Implements a variable analog delay.

This device has three parameters as defined in the table below. Double click the device to edit its
parameters.

Parameter Description
Max delay The maximum delay that the device may provide in seconds.
Voltage for minimum delay Input voltage for minimum delay (i.e. zero)
Voltage for maximum delay Input voltage for maximum delay. The delay when between the minimum
and maximum voltages will be calculated following a linear
characteristic.

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Fixed Delay

Implements a fixed analog delay

This device has just a single parameter defining its delay in seconds. Double click the device to edit.

Sinewave VCO

Implements a sinewave voltage controlled oscillator. This has four parameters as defined below:

Parameter Description
Amplitude Peak amplitude of sine wave.
Centre Frequency Frequency for zero volts input.
Gain Hz/Volt Change in frequency for each volt change in the input.
Minimum steps per cycle Minimum number of time points per cycle. The simulator will force time
points to ensure that each cycle has at least the number specified.

Pulse Width Modulator

Implements a voltage controlled pulse width. Defined by 6 parameters as follows:

Parameter Description
Frequency Frequency of pulse
Input low voltage Voltage for zero duty cycle
Input high voltage Voltage for maximum duty cycle
Output low voltage Low voltage of output pulse
Output high voltage High voltage of output pulse
Maximum duty cycle Maximum duty cycle. This may not be higher than 0.999

8.7.25 Generic ADCs and DACs

Generic data conversion devices are available from the menus Place | Digital Generic | ADC... and
Place | Digital Generic | DAC...

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These devices are implemented using the simulator’s ADC and DAC models. For details of these refer to
Simulator Reference Manual/Digital Mixed Signal Device Reference/Analog-Digital Converter and
Simulator Reference Manual/Digital Mixed Signal Device Reference/Digital-Analog Converter
The controls in these boxes are explained below.

Number of bits

Resolution of converter. Values from 1 to32

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Convert time (ADC)

Time from start convert active (rising edge) to data becoming available

Max conversion rate (ADC)

Max frequency of start convert. Period (1/f) must be less than or equal to convert time.

Output slew time

Whenever the input code changes, the output is set on a trajectory to reach the target value in the time
specified by this value.

Offset voltage

Self-explanatory.

Range

Full scale range in volts.

8.7.26 Generic Digital Devices

A number of generic digital devices are provided on the Place | Digital Generic menu. Each will
automatically create a symbol using a basic spec. provided by your entries to a dialog box. Functions
provided are, counter, shift register, AND, OR, NAND and NOR gates, and bus register.

8.7.27 Arbitrary Non-linear Passive Devices

Each of these will place a part which looks exactly like its linear counterpart. The difference is that when
you try and edit its value with F7 or menu Edit Part... you will be prompted to enter an expression. In
the case of the resistor and capacitor, this relates its value to the applied voltage and for inductor the
expression relates its inductance to its current. For resistors and capacitors, the terminal voltage is referred
in the equation as ‘V(N1)’ and for inductors the device’s current is referred to as ‘I(V1)’.

8.8 Creating Models

8.8.1 Overview

SIMetrix provides a soft recovery diode model for use in power electronics circuits. As this model is not a
SPICE standard, there are no models available from device manufacturers or other sources. So, we
therefore also developed a soft recovery diode “parameter extractor” that allows the creation of soft
recovery diode models from data sheet values.
The parameter extraction tool works directly within the schematic environment and may be used in a
similar manner to other parameterised devices such as the parameterised opamp. However, there is also an
option to save a particular model to the device library and so making it available as a standard part.
In addition, SIMetrix offers a tool for creating a saturating inductor model from a data sheet Inductance vs
Current curve.

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8.8.2 Creating Soft Recovery Diode Models

1. Select menu Place | Create Model | Soft Recovery Diode... . You will see this dialog box:

2. Enter the required specification in the DC Forward bias spec, Reverse recovery specification
and Capacitance sections. See below for technical details of these specifications.
3. Select Save to schematic symbol if you wish to store the specification and model parameters on
the schematic symbol. This will allow to you to modify the specification later. If you select Save to
model library, then the definition will be written to a library file and installed in the parts library.
This will make the new model available as a standard part, but you will not be able to subsequently
modify it other than by re-entering the specification manually. If you choose this option, you must
specify a device name in the box below.
4. Click Ok to place diode on the schematic. If you selected Save to model library, the model file for
the device will also be created at this point. The file will be saved in your user models directory.
This is located at “My Documents\SIMetrix\Models”.

Soft Recovery Diode Specification

The parameter extractor allows the specification of three important characteristics of the diode. These are
the DC forward bias voltage, reverse recovery and capacitance. Currently, reverse leakage and breakdown
characteristics are not modelled.
To specify the forward bias characteristics, simply enter the coordinates of two points on the graph
showing forward drop versus diode current which is found in most data sheets. You should choose values
at the extremes. The low current value will essentially determine the value of the IS parameter while the
high current value defines the series resistance of the device.
The reverse recovery characteristics are explained in the following diagram.

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The values quoted in data sheets vary between manufacturers. The value given for Tr is sometimes taken
from the reverse peak rather than the zero crossing. If this is the case you can calculate the time from the
zero crossing to the reverse peak using the values for IRM and dIf/dt and so arrive at the value of Tr as
shown above.
Some data sheets do not give the value of IRM. In these cases the best that can be done is to enter an
intelligent guess.
Capacitance is the measured value at zero bias. Unfortunately this is not always quoted in data sheets in
which case you can either enter zero (which may speed simulation times) or enter an estimated value. Of
course an alternative would be to measure the capacitance of an actual device.

Notes of Soft Recovery Diode Model

The soft recovery diode does not use the standard SPICE model but a model based on work at the
University of Washington. Full details of the model can be found in the Simulator Reference Manual.

8.8.3 Creating Power Inductor Models

The power inductor model models these effects:

• Saturation
• Series and shunt resistance
Saturation effects are entered as a lookup table and may optionally be defined by digitising a graph image.
For technical details about the underlying simulation model please refer to Simulator Reference
Manual/Analog Device Reference/Inductor (Table lookup)

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Power Inductor Specification

To create a power inductor model, select menu Place | Create Model | Power Inductor. This will
show the following dialog box:

The various elements of the dialog box are explained below

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Dialog element Description

IL Table Table of values that defines the inductance vs current. The table
should only define a single quadrant; the power inductor model
implementation will automatically generate inductance values
for negative current. You can enter these values manually, paste
the values from an external source or you can digitise a graph
image. To digitise a graph image, click on Load From Image.
This will invoke the data sheet curve digitiser. See “Digitising
Data Sheet Curves” on page 175. When complete the data from
the data sheet curve digitiser will be entered into the IL
Table.
Series resistance Series resistance of the inductor
Shunt resistance Parallel resistance applied across the inductor
Initial condition If enabled the inductor will behave like a current source during
the DC operating point calculation with the current specified
here. If disabled the inductor will be a short circuit during the
operating point calculation
Smoothing Sets the smoothing function of the inductor model. The points
entered in the IL Table may optionally be smoothed using a
mathematical function. Options are:
No smoothing The points defined by the table
are joined by straight
lines
Local cubic Fits a cubic between all points
with derivative average of slope
either side of points. This is not
continuous in the second
derivative
Cubic spline Cubic spline with boundary
option 1 conditions: lower dL/di=0,
upper d2L/di2 = 0. Continuous
in second derivative
Cubic spline Cubic spline with boundary
option 2 conditions: lower dL/di=0,
upper dl/di = slope of final
segment. Continuous in second
derivative
Cubic spline option 1 usually produces the best results but can
sometimes fail during the simulation with error
message:
“***ERROR*** instance <ref>: Cannot fit
spline to table using SMOOTH=2 strategy.
Try using SMOOTH=1 or SMOOTH=3”
In this case try either Cubic spline option 2 or Local
cubic

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Dialog element Description

Save options Use Save to schematic symbol to save model parameters
directly on the schematic symbol. Use Save to model library
and enter a model name to save a model in the model library.
This will be available to be placed in other schematics using the
menu Place | From Model Library.... Note that you will not
be able to make subsequent edits to the model if using this
option.

8.8.4 Digitising Data Sheet Curves

The graph data extraction tool can be used to extract values from datasheet curves that can be imported for
use within models in Pro and Elite versions of SIMetrix and SIMetrix/SIMPLIS. One such use is in the
“Power Inductor Model” on page 172. It also available as free-standing tool to digitise any graph found in
an image file. The free standing version can be initiated using the schematic menu Tools | Digitise Data
Sheet Curve or directly with the script command GraphImageCapture.
To use the tool, first an image of a graph is required. These graphs will often come from manufacturer data
sheets or websites. In some cases you may be able to copy the images direct from the website or you may
need to use a screen capture from a PDF image and save that image to file. The tool supports images in
PNG, JPG, BMP and GIF formats, where PNG is the preferred format.

Image Requirements

The tool is designed to handle many different layouts of graphs and quality of images. The tool can accept
graphs with:
• Single or multiple plotted data series
• Linear or logarithmic axes
• Grid marker lines
• Poor quality text (text labels are not required for the tool to operate)
• Graphs on light or dark backgrounds
The tool will perform poorly and may fail to give reasonable values for graphs that are at an angle.

Step 1: Grid and Boundary Detection

The first step of the tool is to determine the boundary of the graph along with any grid lines. For this
demonstration, we will use the following image:

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The graph we want to capture data from, with grid lines and a single data series.

When the image is loaded, the tool will make an initial estimate of where the graph bounds are and any
grid lines there might be. The bounds will be highlighted in blue, whilst the grid lines will be highlighted
in red, as shown in the next figure.

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View of the first step window after the example image is first loaded.

In many cases no action on the users part will be required in Step 1. Before continuing to step 2, ensure
that the boundary of the graph is highlighted in blue, as many grid lines as possible are highlighted red and
that if the image is on a black background, the colour inversion tick box is unchecked. Of these
requirements, ensuring the bounds of the graph are correct is the most important as this is used by the final
data point extraction. Getting the grid lines fully identified is not essential, this just makes the user
interaction in step 2 easier. To make adjustments to the boundary and grid line identification, there are a
number of sliders to the right of the window.
For Grid Line Identification, you can control how sensitive the selection of grid lines are in the horizontal
and vertical plane. By moving the sliders the to left, their selection becomes more sensitive and a greater
number of lines will be detected, whilst moving to the right will cause less grid lines to be identified.
Adjusting these sensitivity bars can lead to grid lines not being detected or false detections from occurring.
For Graph Boundary, you control the position of the boundary lines and consequently the region of
interest within the graph. This can be useful for not only correcting issues where the boundary detection
has failed, but also for restricting the part of the graph that you are interested in generating data from if you
only want to extract data from part of a graph.
Note: If there are lines not displaying, try resizing the window horizontally as due to image compression
in displaying the resulting images.
Once this step is complete, press Continue.

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Step 2: Plot Detection

The second step is to pick out the curve that you want to extract the data from. If any grid lines were all
successfully detected and the bounds set, you will begin with a preview similar to that shown in the next
figure.

View of the second step window after completing step 1. Currently no curve has been
marked out for use.

To mark out the curve to use, press the button Add Points and click along the line you want to use, a red
square will be placed for each point added. By default the points will snap to the curve nearest where you
have clicked, so you should not need to be highly precise in where you click. To disable the snapping
behaviour, uncheck the Snapped check box. As you add points, a red line will preview the line that will
be used to generate data from, as shown in the next figure. This red line will not snap to a curve, because
although the solution may look obvious for full automatic-detection in the single line case presented, in
cases where there are multiple lines of the image is of a lower quality, such automation would be highly
error prone. Instead, after adding a few initial points, add further points in places where the red line does
not match the curve you want to capture.

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Line detection after three points have been added. The red line shows the line that data
will be obtained from in the final step. This line does not currently match the actual curve
that was on the graph shown in white, meaning further points are required to be added in
places where the curves do not match.

Generally you will not require many points to be placed to obtain a red line that well resembles the curve
you want to capture. As shown in the next figure, you many not need to place many points along regions of
the graph with consistent behaviour, such as continuous curves or straight regions. In areas where greater
precision is required, you may require several closely positioned points.

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A completed line detection. Points are spaced out for the majority of the curve but are
more dense at the ends of the curve due to the curve levelling out at those regions.

If a point is added erroneously, press the Stop Adding button then press the Remove Point button and
click on the point you want to remove. The remove point behaviour only works for one point at a time. If
multiple points are to be removed, the Remove Point button will need to be pressed each time.
Whilst the curves produced by this method should generally provide a good representation through simply
adding points alone, there may be situations where the red curve generated is not smooth enough to fit
those points. In these cases the Curve smoothness slider can be used to make the curve smoother. For
most usage the slider can remain in the it’s default position of fully to the left. Moving the slider fully to
the right will make the curve become more smooth and with the slider fully to the right the curve will
become a straight line.
When the curve detection is complete, press continue.

Step 3: Axis Settings

Now that the bounds of the graph and a curve has been selected, the final step is to determine the values of
the axes. As shown in the next figure, the final step will show the originally loaded graph image, along
with the graph bounds highlighted in blue and the selected curve in red. If either the bounds or curve do
not appear to be correct, you can go back to the previous stages and update them.

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A completed line detection. Points are spaced out for the majority of the curve but are
more dense at the ends of the curve due to the curve levelling out at those regions.

To submit values for the axes, set the minimum and maximum values for the graph bounds in the text
boxes to the right of the graph image. In this example the minimum value on the horizontal axis is at 0,
with maximum at 100. For the vertical we have minimum of 0 and maximum of 1. If either of the graphs
are a logarithmic axis, select the logarithmic scale check box.
Finally you can determine the granularity of the points generated by adjusting the Generated Points
slider. Moving the slider to the left increases the number of points. An indication of where the samples
will be taken from can be seen by the blue ticks on the horizontal axis.
When all stages are complete, press the Complete button. If the button is disabled, messages will appear
stating what stages have not been completed that are required. When the Complete button is pressed, the
dialog will return vectors of data points that have been extracted from the curve.

8.9 Subcircuits

8.9.1 Overview

Subcircuits are a method of defining a circuit block which can be referenced any number of times by a
single netlist line or schematic device. Subcircuits are the method used to define many device models such
as op-amps. It is also the underlying mechanism of the hierarchical schematic entry system.
You don’t need to know anything about subcircuits unless you wish to define you own device models,
perhaps to build up a library of tested blocks for general distribution. If you just wish to enter your circuit

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in a modular manner, hierarchical schematic entry is probably the more appropriate method. See
“Hierarchical Schematic Entry” on page 65 for details.
This section explains how to create a subcircuit from a schematic and how to reference one in netlist or
schematic. For the .SUBCKT control syntax see the “Command Reference” chapter of the Simulator
Reference Manual.

8.9.2 Creating a Sub-circuit from a Schematic

Subcircuits must be defined in text form as a netlist. However the schematic editor can be used to generate
the netlist. To create a sub-circuit from a schematic, you need to identify which nodes are to be connected
externally. This is done using the same Module Port symbol used for hierarchical schematic entry (see
“Hierarchical Schematic Entry” on page 65).
The procedure for defining a subcircuit is as follows:
1. Draw circuit using schematic editor including module port symbols to identify external connections.
2. Create netlist for circuit.
To describe the procedure, we will use an example.

Stage 1 - Draw Schematic

This is circuit of a simple op-amp. In fact it is the circuit of our fictitious SXOA1000 op-amp used in
“Tutorial 3” on page 27.

The five terminal symbols, e.g.

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are the connections to the outside world. This is a module port symbol which can be found in the
schematic menu Hierarchy | Place Module Port. Important - do not use the normal Terminal symbol.
It is recommended that any model definitions are included in the subcircuit definition. This makes the
subcircuit self-contained. If you have referenced models in the device library, you can import them into the
schematic automatically using the schematic menu Simulator | Import Models... They will be placed
in the simulator command window which can be opened by pressing F11. Alternatively you can enter
them in the command window manually.

Stage 2 - Netlist Circuit

To create a subcircuit netlist, select schematic menu Simulator | Create Netlist as Subcircuit....
You will be first be prompted for a subcircuit name. This name will also be used for the file name with
extension .MOD.
After entering the name, you will be asked to specify the subcircuit pin order:

When you close this box, the subcircuit will be created and its text will be displayed.

8.9.3 Calling a Sub-circuit in a Schematic

To call a sub-circuit in a schematic, you must choose or create a symbol for it. The symbol must have the
same number of pins and, ideally, it would also have the same pin order. In other words, the order of the
nodes in the .SUBCKT line would be the same as the pin order of the symbol. The matching of .SUBCKT
node order and symbol pin order is not absolutely essential, but it makes things much easier. If they are not
the same there is method of overcoming the problem using the MAPPING property. This is explained in
the section “Properties” on page 88.
Creating symbols for the schematic is covered in “Creating Schematic Symbols - Overview” on page 112.
The symbol must have the following properties (see “Properties” on page 88).

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Property name Property value Purpose

Model X Ensures netlist line starts with X.
Identifies part as a subcircuit. Should be
hidden and protected
Value subcircuit_name Name used to reference subcircuit
definition. Can be changed by user after
placing on schematic.
Ref component_reference E.g. U?. Automatically allocated when
placing symbol on schematic.

Most symbols possess these properties anyway, the important fact is that the MODEL property must be set
to X. When defining a symbol from scratch, these properties can be defined in one go in the graphical
symbol editor with Property/Pin | Add Standard Properties....
To use the sub-circuit definition, SIMetrix must be able to find it. There are various places where it can be
put and means of telling SIMetrix of the location. These are the choices.
1. Place the definition directly in the simulator command - or F11 - window (see “Manual Entry of
Simulator Commands” on page 43). If placed at that location, it will be read in unconditionally and
SIMetrix will not need to search for it.
2. Put in a separate file and pull in to the schematic with .INC control (see Simulator Reference
Manual/Command Reference/.INC) placed in simulator command (F11) window. As 1., this will be
read in unconditionally.
3. Put in a library file and reference in schematic with .LIB control (see Simulator Reference
Manual/Command Reference/.LIB) placed in simulator command (F11) window. Similar to 2. but
more efficient if library has many models not used in the schematic. Only the devices required will
be read in.
4. Put in a library file and install it using the procedure described in “Full Model Installation
Procedure” on page 210. This will make the device globally available to all schematics. You can
also install it into the model library browser system. These topics are covered in “Device Library
and Parts Management” on page 209 and are also the subject of “Tutorial 3” on page 27.
To place the device on the schematic, find the symbol in menu Place | From Symbol Library... and
place in the normal way. After it is placed, select the device and press Shift-F7 and enter the subcircuit’s
name.
If you installed the device into the model library browser system, as mentioned in choice 4 above, you will
be able to place the device by pressing control-G and selecting the device from the appropriate category.
The model library browser system also provides a simple to use means of overcoming the problem
mentioned above that occurs if the symbol’s pin order does not match the subcircuit’s node order. This is
explained in “Associating Multiple Models with Symbols” on page 216.

Passing Parameters

You can pass parameters to a subcircuit. This subject is covered in detail in the Simulator Reference
Manual/Simulator Devices/Subcircuits/Passing Parameters to Subcircuits. To specify the parameters for a
sub-circuit device in a schematic, you must enter the values manually using Shift-F7. Enter the values
after the subcircuit name. E.g. suppose you wished to specify the parameters: ‘FREQ=12k Q=15’. To
enter these, select the sub-circuit, press shift-F7 and append the sub-circuit name with:
FREQ=12k Q=15

You can add ‘params:’ to emphasise where the parameters start and also for compatibility with some other
simulators. E.g:

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params: FREQ=12k Q=15

Note for information about passing parameters to a hierarchical block, please refer to “Passing Parameters
Through a Hierarchy” on page 70.

8.10 Special Parts

8.10.1 Initial Conditions

Initial conditions force a node to a fixed voltage or current during the calculation of the DC bias point.
There are two types of initial condition namely soft and hard. Soft initial conditions apply a voltage
through a fixed resistance. Hard initial conditions, apply a voltage directly without any resistance.

To Place a Soft Initial Condition

1. Select menu Place | Connectors | Initial Condition.

2. Place device at the desired location then select and press F7. Enter a suitable voltage.

To Place a Hard Initial Condition

1. Select menu Place | From Symbol Library

2. Select device Connections → Ics and Nodesets → Initial Condition (Hard).
3. Place device at the desired location then select and press F7. Enter a suitable voltage.

Notes

Soft initial conditions are implemented using the .IC control and will also correctly apply an initial
condition when Skip DC bias point is specified for a transient analysis. The driving resistance for a soft
initial condition is 1 by default but can be altered using the ICRES simulator option. To do this, add
.OPTIONS ICRES=nnn to the F11 window (see “Manual Entry of Simulator Commands” on page 43).
Hard Initial conditions are implemented using a voltage source with the DCOP parameter specified. This
feature is proprietary to SIMetrix and is not compatible with other SPICE simulators. Refer to the
Simulator Reference Manual/Analog Device Reference/Voltage Source for more information on voltage
sources and the DCOP parameter.

8.10.2 Nodesets

Nodesets are used to help convergence and also to coerce a particular state for circuits that have more than
one possible DC solution. More information about nodesets is given in the Simulator Reference
Manual/Command Reference/.NODESET.

To Place a Nodeset

1. Select menu Place | Connectors | Nodeset

2. Place device at the desired location then select and press F7. Enter a suitable voltage.

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8.11 Parameters and Expressions

You can specify both device and model parameters using an arithmetic expression containing user defined
variables. The variables may be defined using the .PARAM simulator control, which must be placed in the
netlist, or globally in a script using the Let command. A variable may also be swept using the parameter
sweep mode for the swept analyses and stepped for multi-step analyses. Complete documentation on this
subject can be found in the “Simulator Devices” chapter of the Simulator Reference Manual. Below are
brief details of how to use expressions with a schematic based design. We explain this with an example.

8.11.1 Example

The above circuit is that of a two pole low-pass filter. C1 is fixed and R1=R2. The design equations are:
R1=R2=2/(2*pi*f0*C1*alpha)
C2=C1*alpha*alpha/4

where freq is the cut off frequency and alpha is the damping factor.
Expressions for device values must be entered enclosed in curly braces (‘’ and ‘’).
Before running the above circuit you must assign values to the variables. This can be done by one of three
methods:
1. With the .PARAM control placed in the netlist.
2. With Let command from the command line or from a script. (If using a script you must prefix the
parameter names with ‘global:’)
3. By sweeping the value using the parameter mode of a swept analysis or multi-step analysis.
Expressions for device values must be entered enclosed in curly braces (‘{’ and ‘}’).
Suppose we wish a 1kHz roll off for the above filter.
Using the .PARAM control, add these lines to the netlist (using the F11 window - see “Manual Entry of
Simulator Commands” on page 43):
.PARAM f0 1k
.PARAM alpha 1
.PARAM C1 10n

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Using the Let command, you would type:

Let f0=1k
Let alpha=1
Let C1=10n

If you then wanted to alter the damping factor to 0.8 you only need to type in its new value:
Let alpha=0.8

then re-run the simulator.

To execute the Let commands from within a script, prefix the parameter names with ‘global:’. E.g. ‘Let
global:f0=1k’.
In many cases the .PARAM approach is more convenient as the values can be stored with the schematic.

Example passing parameters to subcircuits

If the filter example above was implemented as a subcircuit, different values of the parameters freq, alpha
and C1 could be passed to each instance of the subcircuit. This allows several filters with differing roll-off
frequencies and damping factors to be quickly drawn.

You can set the values of the parameters for each instance of the above subcircuit by appending the
expressions to the VALUE property of the symbol in the main circuit separated by a ‘:’. E.g.:-

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Chapter 9

Analog Behavioural Modelling

9.1 Introduction

Analog Behavioural Modelling is the process of creating an analog device from a description of its
behaviour rather than its low-level design.
SIMetrix offers three way to create Analog Behavioural Models:
• Verilog-A Modelling. Verilog-A is a compiled language that can be used to create sophisticated
analog devices defined using non-linear equations, frequency domain definitions, time-domain
events and other features. For further information refer to the Verilog-A Manual
• Non-linear Transfer Function. This is a single device with a single-ended or differential output
which generates a voltage or current expressed as a function of an arbitrary number of voltage and
current inputs. See “Non-linear Transfer Function” on page 188
• Laplace Transfer Function. This defines a linear device in the frequency domain using a Laplace
transform with the ‘s’ variable.. See “Laplace Transfer Function” on page 198

9.2 Non-linear Transfer Function

Select menu Place | Analog Behavioural | Non-linear Transfer Function. This displays:

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You may specify an equation that defines an output voltage or current in terms of any number of input
voltages and currents. Input voltages are specified in the form V(a) or V(a,b) where a and b may be any
arbitrary name of your choice. Input currents are specified in the form I(a). On completion, SIMetrix will
generate a schematic symbol complete with the input voltages and/or currents that you reference in the
equation. There is no need to specify how many input voltages and currents you wish to use. SIMetrix will
automatically determine this from the equation.
As well as input voltage and currents, you can also reference the output voltage or current in your
equation. A single ended output voltage is accessed using V(out) while a differential output voltage is
accessed using V(outp,outn). If you specify an output voltage, you may also access the current flowing
through it using I(out).
In the example above, the expression shown - V(vina,vinb)*I(iin) - multiplies a voltage and current
together. This could be used to monitor the power in a two terminal device as shown in the following
schematic.:

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In the above, ARB1 is the device created from the Non-linear Transfer Function menu. ARB1-OUTP will
carry a voltage equal to the power dissipation in R1.

9.2.1 Expression

The expression entered defines the output of the device in terms of its inputs. Expressions generally
comprise the following elements:
• Circuit variables
• Parameters
• Constants.
• Operators
• Functions
• Look up tables
These are described in the following sections.

Circuit Variables

Circuit variables allow the expression to reference input voltages and currents.
Voltages are of the form:

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V(node_name1)

OR
V(node_name1, node_name2)

Where node_name1 and node_name2 are input connections.The second form above returns the difference
between the voltages on node_name1 and node_name2. The special names out, outp and outn may be used
to access the voltage on the output. Use out for the single ended output configuration and outp and/or outn
for the differential output configuration.
Currents are of the form:
I(source_name)

Where source_name is the name of an input current. For output voltage configurations, you can use I(out)
to access the output current of the device itself. For example
100*I(OUT)

Implements a 100 ohm resistor for a device configured with a differential output voltage.

Parameters

The expression may use any number of parameters. These can be local or global. Local parameters are
defined in the Local parameters edit box on the right hand side. Global parameters must defined within
the schematic, usually in the F11 window.
To enter local parameters, enter one or more definitions in the form name=expression in the Local
parameters edit box. expression may be a constant or an expression referring to other local or global
parameters. expression may not contain circuit variables. (E.g. V(in1)). Comment lines may be entered
and must start with a ‘*’.

Built-in Parameters

A number of parameter names are assigned by the simulator. These are:

Parameter Description
name
TIME Resolves to time for transient analysis. Resolves to 0 otherwise including
during the pseudo transient operation point algorithm
TEMP Resolves to current circuit temperature in Celsius
HERTZ Resolves to frequency during AC sweep and zero in other analysis
modes
PTARAMP Resolves to value of ramp during pseudo transient operating point
algorithm. Otherwise this value resolves to 1.

Constants

Apart from simple numeric values, arbitrary expressions may also contain the following built-in constants:

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Constant name Value Description

PI 3.14159265358979323846 π
E 2.71828182845904523536 e
TRUE 1.0
FALSE 0.0
ECHARGE 1.6021918e-19 Charge on an electron in coulombs
BOLTZ 1.3806226e-23 Boltzmann’s constant

Operators

These are listed below and are listed in order of precedence. Precedence controls the order of evaluation.
So 3*4 + 5*6 = (3*4) + (5*6) = 42 and 3+4*5+6 = 3 + (4*5) + 6 = 29 as ‘*’ has higher precedence than ‘+’.

Operator Description
~! - Digital NOT, Logical NOT, Unary minus
ˆ or ** Raise to power.
*/ Multiply, divide
+- Plus, minus
>= <=, > < Comparison operators
== != or <> Equal, not equal
& Digital AND (see below)
| Digital OR (see below)
&& Logical AND
|| Logical OR
test ? true_expr : false_expr Ternary conditional expression (see below)

Comparison, Equality and Logical Operators

These are Boolean in nature either accepting or returning Boolean values or both. A Boolean value is either
TRUE or FALSE. FALSE is defined as equal to zero and TRUE is defined as not equal to zero. So, the
comparison and equality operators return 1.0 if the result of the operation is true otherwise they return 0.0.
The arguments to equality operators should always be expressions that can be guaranteed to have an exact
value e.g. a Boolean expression or the return value from functions such as SGN. The == operator, for
example, will return TRUE only if both arguments are exactly equal. So the following should never be
used:
v(n1)==5.5
v(n1) may not ever be exactly 5.0. It may be 5.4999999999 or 5.50000000001 but only by chance will it
be 5.5.
These operators are intended to be used with the IF() function described in “Ternary Conditional
Expression” on page 193.

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Digital Operators

These are the operators ‘&’, ‘|’ and ‘~’. These were introduced in old SIMetrix version as a simple means
of implementing digital gates in the analog domain. Their function has largely been superseded by gates in
the event driven simulator but they are nevertheless still supported.
Although they are used in a digital manner the functions implemented by these operators are continuous in
nature. For more information about digital operators refer to: Simulator Reference Manual/Simulator
Devices/Using Expressions/Expression Syntax/Digital Operators

Ternary Conditional Expression

This is of the form:

test_expression ? true_expression : false_expression

The value returned will be true_expression if test_expression resolves to a non-zero value, otherwise the
return value will be false_expression. This is functionally the same as the IF() function described in the
functions table below.

Functions

Function Description
ABS(x) |x|
ACOS(x), ARCCOS(x) cos−1 (x)
ACOSH(x) cosh−1 (x)
ASIN(x), ARCSIN(x) sin−1 (x)
ASINH(x) sinh−1 (x)
ATAN(x), ARCTAN(x) tan−1 (x)
ATAN2(x,y) tan−1 (x/y). Valid if y=0
ATANH(x) tanh−1 (x)
COS(x) cos(x)
COSH(x) cosh(x)
DDT(x) dx/dt
EXP(x) ex
FLOOR(x), INT(x) Next lowest integer of x.
IF(cond, x, y[, maxslew]) if cond is TRUE result = x else result = y. If maxslew > 0 the
rate of change of the result will be slew rate controlled. See “IF()
Function” on page 195.
IFF(cond, x, y[, maxslew]) As IF(cond, x, y, maxslew)
LIMIT(x, lo, hi) if x < lo result = lo else if x > hi result = hi else
result = x
LIMITS(x, lo, hi, sharp) As LIMIT but with smoothed corners. The ‘sharp’ parameter defines
the abruptness of the transition. A higher number gives a sharper
response. LIMITS gives better convergence than LIMIT. See
“LIMITS() Function” on page 195. below
LN(x) ln(x) If x < 10−100 result = −230.2585093

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Function Description
R
LNCOSH(x) ln(cosh(x)) = tanh(x)dx
LOG(x) log10 (x). If x < 10−100 result = −100
LOG10(x) log10 (x). If x < 10−100 result = −100
MAX(x, y) Returns larger of x and y
MIN(x,y) Returns smaller of x and y
PWR(x,y) xy
PWRS(x,y) x >= 0: xy , x < 0: −xy
R
SDT(x) xdt
SGN(X) x > 0: 1, x < 0: -1, x = 0: 0
SIN(x) sin(x)
SINH(x) sinh(x)
√ √
SQRT(x) x >= 0: x, x < 0: −x
STP(x) x <= 0: 0, x > 0: 1
TABLE(x,xy_pairs) lookup table. Refer to “Lookup tables” on page 196
TABLEX(x,xy_pairs) Same as TABLE except end points extrapolated. Refer to “Lookup
tables” on page 196
TAN(x) tan(x)
TANH(x) tanh(x)
U(x) as STP(x)
URAMP(x) x < 0: 0, x >= 0: x

Monte Carlo Distribution Functions

The following functions return a randomly generated value when running a Monte Carlo analysis. They
can be used to define component tolerances.

Name Distribution Lot?

DISTRIBUTION User defined distribution No
DISTRIBUTIONL User defined distribution Yes
UD Alias for DISTRIBUTION() No
UDL Alias for DISTRIBUTIONL() Yes
GAUSS Gaussian No
GAUSSL Gaussian Yes
GAUSSTRUNC Truncated Gaussian No
GAUSSTRUNCL Truncated Gaussian Yes
UNIF Uniform No
UNIFL Uniform Yes
WC Worst case No
WCL Worst case Yes
GAUSSE Gaussian logarithmic No

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Name Distribution Lot?

GAUSSEL Gaussian logarithmic Yes
UNIFE Uniform logarithmic No
UNIFEL Uniform logarithmic Yes
WCE Worst case logarithmic No
WCEL Worst case logarithmic Yes

A full discussion on the use of Monte Carlo distribution functions is given in Simulator Reference
Manual/Monte Carlo Analysis/Specifying Tolerances.

IF() Function

IF(condition, true-value, false-value[, max-slew])

The result is:

if condition is non-zero, result is true-value, else result is false-value.
If max-slew is present and greater than zero, the result will be slew-rate limited in both positive and
negative directions to the value of max-slew.
In some situations, for example if true-value and false-value are constants, the result of this function will
be discontinuous when condition changes state. This can lead to non-convergence as there is no lower
bound on the time-step. In these cases a max-slew parameter can be included. This will limit the slew rate
so providing a controlled transition from the true-value to the false-value and vice-versa.
If the simulator setting .OPTIONS DISCONTINUOUSIFSLEWRATE=max-slew, is provided,
SIMetrix will automatically apply a max-slew parameter to all occurrences of the IF() function if both
true-value and false-value are constants. This provides a convenient way of resolving convergence issues
with third-party models that make extensive use of discontinuous if expressions. Note that the
DISCONTINUOUSIFSLEWRATE option is also applied to conditional expressions using the C-style
condition ? true-value : false-value syntax.
LIMITS() Function

LIMITS(x, low, high, sharp)

The LIMITS() function is similar to LIMIT but provides a smooth response at the corners which leads to
better convergence behaviour. The behaviour is shown below

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The LIMITS function follows this equation:

LIMITS(x, low, high, sharp) = 0.5 ∗ ((ln(cosh(v1)) − ln(cosh(v2)))/v3 + (low + high))
Where
v1 = sharp/(high-low)*(x-low)
v2 = sharp/(high-low)*(x-high)
v3 = sharp/(high-low)

Look-up Tables

Expressions may contain any number of look-up tables. This allows a transfer function of a device to be
specified according to - say - measured values without having to obtain a mathematical equation. Look-up
tables are specified in terms of x, y value pairs which describe a piece-wise linear transfer function. There
are three ways to create a lookup table:

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Method 1 Syntax in form: TABLE[xy_pairs](input_expression).

xy_pairs A sequence of comma separated pairs of constant
values that define the input and output values of the
table. For each pair, the first value is the x or input
value and the second is the y or output value. Only
explicit numeric constants may be used. Even
internal constants such as PI may not be used.
input_expression Expression defining the input or x value of the
table.
Method 2 Syntax in form: TABLE(input_expression, xy_pairs).
input_expression Expression defining the input or x value of the
table.
xy_pairs A sequence of comma separated pairs of values that
define the input and output values of the table. For
each pair, the first value is the x or input value and
the second is the y or output value. Unlike method 1,
values do not need to be literal constants and may be
expressions containing parameters and “circuit
variables” on page 190 that reference input voltages
and currents.
The TABLE function retains the value of the end
point for x values beyond the range of the table. For
example, if the last point for the TABLE function is
(10,5) then any input greater than 10 will give an
output of 5.
If any value references a circuit variable, the
expression in which the TABLE function is used
must ultimately be evaluated in an arbitrary
source
Method 3 Syntax in form: TABLEX(input_expression, xy_pairs).
input_expression Expression defining the input or x value of the
table.
xy_pairs Same as method 2 except that out-of-range points are
extrapolated from the final segment. See “Table
Lookup Example” on page 197

Method 1 is more efficient at handling large tables (hundreds of values). However, method 2 is generally
more flexible and is the recommended choice for most applications. Method 2 is also compatible with
other simulators whereas method 1 is proprietary to SIMetrix.
For an example see “Table Lookup Example” on page 197

9.2.2 Examples

Table Lookup Example

The following arbitrary source definition implements a soft limiting function

Using method 1:
table[-10, -5, -5, -4, -4, -3.5, -3, -3, 3, 3, 4, 3.5, 5, 4, 10, 5](v(N1))

Using method 2:

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TABLE(v(N1), -10, -5, -5, -4, -4, -3.5, -3, -3, 3, 3, 4, 3.5, 5, 4, 10, 5)

Using method 3:
TABLEX(v(N1), -10, -5, -5, -4, -4, -3.5, -3, -3, 3, 3, 4, 3.5, 5, 4, 10, 5)

The resulting transfer functions are illustrated in the following picture:

9.2.3 Verilog-A Implementation

If you have SIMetrix Pro or SIMetrix Elite you may select the Compile to binary using Verilog-A option.
This will build a definition of the device using the Verilog-A language then compile it to a binary DLL.
This process takes place when you run the simulation. The benefit of using Verilog-A is that there is a
wider range of functions available and for complex definitions there will also be a performance benefit.
Refer to the Verilog-A Manual for details of available functions.

9.3 Laplace Transfer Function

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9.3.1 Overview

The Laplace transfer function device implements a linear device defined in the frequency domain by a
1
Laplace transform. For example the Laplace transform s+1 defines a first order low pass filter while
exp(−s) defines a 1 second delay.
The SIMetrix Laplace transfer function device features two different methods of implementation, namely
"lumped network" and "convolution". The lumped network implementation is fast and efficient and may
be used for transfer functions that can be represented in polynomial form. The convolution method is more
general purpose and can model a wide range of transfer functions. High performance is achieved by using
a fast FFT-based convolution method.

9.3.2 User Interface

Selecting the menu Place | Analog Behavioural | Laplace Transfer Function brings up the
following dialog

The operation of the various controls is described below.

Definition See “Laplace expression” on page 201

Delay Adds delay in seconds. Requires convolution method. Equivalent to
multiplying transfer functions by exp(−delay.s)
Frequency scale factor Multiplier for frequency
Device type
Transfer function Expression defines
output/input.
Impedance V/I Two terminal device, expression defines
voltage/current.
Admittance I/V Two terminal device, expression defines
current/voltage.
Input Input configuration for transfer function

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Output Output configuration for transfer function

Implementation See “Implementation” on page 204
Convolution Options Convolution size. Increase this value to increase the upper frequency
limit. This will slow down the simulation and increase memory
consumption. Memory usage for a single device is approximately
96 ∗ 2N bytes where N is the value entered here. Note that memory
is partly shared for multiple devices. The upper frequency is of the
order of 2N −1 /T where T is the simulation time. So for example,
with a simulation time of 1ms and N=15, the upper frequency limit
will be in the region of 16MHz. Higher frequencies will be gradually
attenuated. As well as increasing memory consumption, higher
values of convolution size will slow the simulation. This does not
become significant until N exceeds about 17 to 18 but increases
markedly for higher values.

The Advanced Options tab displays the following:

Error control Configures time-step control algorithm. For rapidly changing inputs
the time step must be kept small to retain good accuracy. The
parameters entered here control this mechanism.
Diagnostics Check box to enable some diagnostic run-time messages. These
provide information on the extraction of the impulse
response.

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Impulse extraction Parameters controlling extraction of the impulse response.

method Try all methods All methods attempted in
sequence
Analytic Attempt analytic method only
Inverse FFT Attempt inverse FFT method only
Stehfest Attempt Stehfest method only
Size of inverse FFT as Using a longer inverse FFT to extract an
power of 2 impulse response can increase the
accuracy of the results especially if the
impulse response decays slowly

9.3.3 Laplace Expression

The Laplace expression defines the behaviour of the device in the frequency domain. For example
‘1/(s+1)’, defines a simple single pole low-pass filter. The expression may contain arithmetic operators
and a number of functions as described in the following sections. Be aware that not any expression is
physically realisable; for example ‘exp(s)’ defines a negative delay, that is a device whose output
responds to an input in the future.

Operators

+ - * / ^

where ˆ means raise to power. For lumped network implementation, the power must be an integer.
Non-integral powers may be entered for convolution implementation.
Constants

Any decimal number following normal rules. SPICE style engineering suffixes are accepted.

s Variable

This can be raised to a power using ˆ, for example sˆ2. If the power is an integer between 0 and 9 the ˆ
may be omitted. For example: s2 is the same as sˆ2.

Functions

The following functions may be used in convolution mode only.

Function Syntax Description

√
sqrt(x) x
exp(x) ex
ln(x) loge (x)
log10(x) log10 (x)
sin(x) sin(x)
cos(x) cos(x)

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Function Syntax Description

tan(x) tan(x)
acos(x) cos−1 (x)
asin(x) sin−1 (x)
atan(x) tan−1 (x)
sinh(x) sinh(x)
cosh(x) cosh(x)
tanh(x) tanh(x)
asinh(x) sinh−1 (x)
acosh(x) cosh−1 (x)
atanh(x) tanh−1 (x)
atan2(x,y) tan−1 ( xy )
pow(x,y) xy

Filter response functions

Filter response functions may be used in both lumped network implementation and convolution
implementation.
These are described in the following table:

Function Syntax Filter Response

BesselLP(order, cut-off) Bessel low-pass
BesselHP(order, cut-off) Bessel high-pass
ButterworthLP(order, cut-off) Butterworth low-pass
ButterworthHP(order, cut-off) Butterworth high-pass
ChebyshevLP(order, cut-off, passband_ripple) Chebyshev low-pass
ChebyshevHP(order, cut-off, passband_ripple) Chebyshev high-pass

Where:

order Integer specifying order of filter. There is no maximum limit but in

practice orders larger than about 50 tend to give accuracy
problems.
cut-off -3dB Frequency in Hertz.
passband_ripple Chebyshev only. Passband ripple spec. in dB.

Lookup tables

The frequency response of a system may be defined in tabular form using lookup tables. The lookup table
consists of a sequence of values arranged in triplets. Each triplet is in the form f requency, value1, value2
where value1 and value2 define the magnitude and phase in various ways as described below.
There are five variants of the lookup table as described below:

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Function Name value1 value2

Table dB phase in degrees
Table_M magnitude phase in degrees
Table_R dB phase in radians
Table_MR magnitude phase in radians
Table_RI real part imaginary part

Example
Table_M(0.01,1,30, 1,1,30, 10,0.1,30, 100,0.01,-30)

The above defines a response with a gain of 1 and a phase shift of 30 degrees from 0.01Hz to 1Hz. From
1Hz to 10Hz the gain falls from 1 to 0.1 with the phase shift remaining at 30 degrees. From 10Hz to
100Hz the gain falls from 0.1 to 0.01 and the phase changes from 30 to -30 degrees.
In real life it is not possible to implement a characteristic with the above behaviour as it is non-causal.
However, it can be implemented if a suitable delay is added to the characteristic. The delay may be added
in the Define Laplace Transfer Function dialog box in the Definition section - see the Delay entry.
Alternatively it may be added to the Laplace expression using exp(−delay.s). E.g:
Table_M(0.01,1,30, 1,1,30, 10,0.1,30, 100,0.01,-30) * exp(-s*2)

The above adds a 2 second delay.

For ease of reading, each triplet in the table may be placed on a separate line by prefixing each line with a
‘+’ character. E.g.
Table_M(
+ 0.01, 1, 30,
+ 1, 1, 30,
+ 10, 0.1, 30,
+ 100, 0.01, -30)

Interpolation Between defined frequency points, the Laplace transfer function finds the magnitude and
phase using interpolation. The interpolation is performed logarithmically on the magnitude data. Values
outside the table frequency range are defined by their respective end points.
For the above example the magnitude and phase are shown below:

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Parameters

Parameters (defined with .PARAM) may be used in Laplace expressions but currently only if convolution
implementation is selected.
For the lumped network implementation you can use parameters in the underlying simulator device if you
define the expression in terms of the numerator and denominator coefficients. Refer to the S-domain
Transfer Function Block in the Simulator Reference Manual for further details.

9.3.4 Device type

Transfer function Expression defines output/input.

Impedance V/I Two terminal device, expression defines voltage/current.
Admittance I/V Two terminal device, expression defines current/voltage.

9.3.5 Implementation

Describes the method the simulator uses to implementation the Laplace expression. There are two choices:

Lumped network The Laplace transform is implemented using a network of

integrators.

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Convolution The Laplace transform is implemented by convolving the

impulse response of the Laplace transform with the input
signal.

See below for further details.

Lumped Network

The diagram below shows the configuration used for a third order network.

This method can implement a quotient of polynomials in the s variable and any expression that can be
reduced to a quotient of polynomials. For such expressions it is fast and efficient.
This method cannot implement expressions containing arbitrary functions such as square-root or
exponentials. Such Laplace expressions must be implemented using the convolution method.

Convolution

This is a general purpose method and can implement a wide range of Laplace transforms.
In the frequency domain, a linear system may be represented by:

V out(s) = V in(s).f (s)

where f (s) is the transfer function.

In the time domain the same system may be represented by:

V out(t) = V in(t) ∗ f (t)

Where f (t) is the impulse response of f (s) and ∗ is the convolution operator.

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This method is challenging to implement as simple convolution applied to simulation data in its raw form
is an O(n2 ) algorithm. This means that the number of computations required at each step is proportional
to the square of the number of steps. In practice this becomes unacceptably slow when there are more than
about 10000 time steps.
SIMetrix overcomes this performance limitation by using an FFT based fast convolution method with a
computation speed of O(n log 2 n). Although dramatically faster, this algorithm requires data to be
presented to it at fixed-interval steps which has the effect of placing an upper frequency limit. The actual
upper frequency limit can be arbitrarily increased by increasing the number of steps (the value of n) at the
expense of speed and the memory consumed. In practice the default settings work well in most
applications and give good performance and accuracy.
To perform the convolution, the simulator must also extract the impulse response of the Laplace transform.
SIMetrix has three methods to do this:

Analytical Matches the Laplace transform to known analytical solutions.

For example √1(s) has the impulse response of 2.π1√t . SIMetrix
will automatically detect this and other known Laplace
transforms.
Inverse FFT Calculates the inverse Fourier transform of the Laplace
expression. This is a general purpose method that can be
applied to a wide-range of Laplace transforms. However, it has
the condition that the impulse response must decay to zero
during the time interval.
Stehfest method A method to calculate the inverse Laplace transform.
Sometimes this method works for slowly decaying transforms
that fail with the inverse FFT method.

9.3.6 Impulse Response

Problems with Impulse Response Extraction

For the convolution method an impulse response of the Laplace transfer function must be extracted. As
mentioned above, three methods are attempted. The inverse FFT method and Stehfest methods are
approximate in nature and for this reason, the result from each method is tested. If the test fails the impulse
response is rejected and another method is attempted. If all methods fail the simulation will abort.
Transfer functions that decay slowly are likely to fail the inverse FFT method as this method requires that
the impulse response decay to zero or nearly to zero. If the Stehfest method also fails, the problem can
sometimes be resolved by increasing the inverse FFT size. This increases the duration over which the
inverse FFT is evaluated so providing a longer time to decay.
In many situations the impulse response extraction fails because the transfer function is non-causal. This
means that it has a response in negative time. Non-causal transfer functions can be made causal by adding
a delay.

Impulse Response Cache

The impulse response is cached to speed up subsequent simulations with the same response. The cache is
located here:
C:\Users\<login-name>\AppData\Roaming\SIMetrix Technologies\SIMetrix810\LaplaceCache
where <login-name> is the name used to log in to your system. This can be deleted at any time. The cache
is size limited to 250Mbytes by default. This can be changed using the option variable

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LaplaceCacheSizeMBytes. Type ‘Set LaplaceCacheSizeMBytes=nnn’ at the command line to set a new

value.

Impulse Response Analytical Extraction

The impulse response analytical extraction attempts to match the transfer function to one of the following
patterns. The parameters a, b, c etc represent constant values.

Laplace expression Impulse response

a a.δ(t)
a/(b.s) a/b
√ √
a/ b.s a/ 2.π.b.t
a/(b.s + c) a/b.e−c/b.t
√ √
a/ b.s + c a ∗ e−c.t/b / b.π.t
p √ √
a/(b.s + c) a ∗ e−c.t/b
√ / b.π.t √
p2 −4q+p) p2 −4q−p)
a −(e−t/2( − et/2(
2
p
b.s + c.s + d p2 − 4q
p = c/b and q = d/b
a.eb.s a.δ(b + t)
a.tc−1
a/(b.sc )
b.Γ(c)
a.s2 + b.s + c t.arg2
−et.arg3 )∗(−p.u+2q+u2 −2v) (u−p)(et.arg2 +et.arg3 )
[ −(e 2arg1 − 2 + δ(t)] ad
d.s2 + g.s + f
p = b/a
q = c/a
u = g/d
v = f /d√
arg1 = u2 − 4v
arg2 = −arg1/2 − u/2
arg3 = arg1/2 − u/2
√
a.s + b a (2q − u)(arg2 − arg3) + u2 − 4v(arg3 + arg2)
. √
c.s2 + d.s + f c 2 u2 − 4v
q = b/a
u = d/c
v = f /c √
u2 −4v/2−u/2)
arg2 = et.( √
2
arg3 = et.(− u −4v/2−u/2)

a.s + b e−d.t/c (b.c − a.d) a.δ(t)

+
c.s + d c2 c
√
a.s + b
√ (α.(I1(α.t) − I0(α.t)) + δ(t)).e−β.t .Y
c.s + d
p
Y = a/c
α = (d/c − b/a)/2
β = (d/c + b/a)/2
I0 and I1 are Bessel functions

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The analytic matching algorithm will attempt to match partial expressions as well as the whole expression
if they are combined by addition, subtraction or multiplication. For example:
(1/(s + 1)) ∗ exp(−s)
will be matched to the product of 1/(s + 1) and exp(−s). Respectively these have impulse responses of
e−t and δ(1 + t) and those two impulse responses will be convolved to yield the final result. Note that this
only succeeds if all partial expressions can be matched analytically.
To exploit this method, ensure that the expression is entered in a manner that keeps each partial expression
distinct. For example, the following would be matched correctly:
1/(s + 1) ∗ 1/(s + 2)
as this would be seen as the two partial expressions 1/(s + 1) and 1/(s + 2) each of which can be resolved
analytically. The final result would be obtained by convolving the two impulse responses.
However the following mathematically identical expression would not be matched:
1/((s + 1) ∗ (s + 2))
The analysis algorithm does not attempt to decompose denominator products so this will not be recognised
analytically. The above would be extracted using inverse FFT which would usually be successful but
might not be if the run time is considerably shorter than the time constant.

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Chapter 10

Device Library and Parts Management

The electrical characteristics for semiconductor devices such as transistors and for more complex devices
such as operational amplifiers are not built in to the simulator program but are defined in separate library
files. These are text files containing .MODEL and .SUBCKT controls. Some libraries have been supplied
with SIMetrix but you can obtain others from device manufacturers (usually at no cost) and other model
vendors. You can also create them yourself using a text editor.
Many vendor libraries may be downloaded from the Internet. Our World Wide Web site carries a page
with links to vendor sites. URL is:
http://www.simetrix.co.uk/app/models.htm
This section explains how to use, install and manage parts libraries.
Important: The library and parts management systems described in this chapter work with discrete
devices defined using subcircuits and .MODEL statements. It currently does not support process corner
selection and process binning used by many models supplied by integrated circuit process foundries. See
“Using Schematic Editor for CMOS IC Design” on page 105 for details on how to handle such libraries.

10.1 Using Model Library Browser

The model library browser provides a convenient method of selecting a part from the model library. Parts
are arranged in categories to allow for rapid searching.
To open the model library browser select schematic menu Place | From Model Library.... All devices
for which models have been installed will be displayed and listed under an appropriate category.
If you can’t find a device under the expected category, select the * All Devices * category. Every single
device currently installed will be displayed here. (Note for large libraries you may have to wait a second or
two to see the list of devices when selecting this category).
If you have installed your own models (see “Parts Management - Installing Models” on page 209) you will
always find them listed under the category ‘* All User Models *’ and, if installed within the last 30 days,
under ‘* Recently Added Models *’.
If you select a part under ‘* All User Models *’ or ‘* Recently Added Models *’ you may be presented
with the Associate Model dialog box. This will happen if SIMetrix is unable to determine what symbol to
use for the model. This is explained in “Placing New Model on Schematic” on page 211.

10.2 Parts Management - Installing Models

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10.2.1 Overview

The process of installing third party SPICE models has always been a fundamentally tricky one.
The difficulty has been associating the SPICE model - which is the electrical definition of the device - with
the schematic symbol - which is the pictorial representation of it.
A model provides an electrical description of the device but not what schematic symbol to use nor what
category it should be in the model library browser. SIMetrix is able to determine this for itself if the device
is implemented using a .MODEL statement as all .MODELs refer to a particular type of device (NPN,
NMOS, Diode etc.). Devices implemented as subcircuits however remain a problem as there is nothing in a
.SUBCKT definition which tells SIMetrix what the device is. For example a three terminal regulator and a
power MOSFET use identical syntax - SIMetrix can’t tell the difference from the syntax alone. To resolve
this SIMetrix is shipped with a database of known part numbers providing a named schematic symbol, part
category and if relevant a pin mapping order. If the part is in the database, no further action is required by
the user and the part will appear in the browser under the correct category and select the correct symbol.
If the model is not in the database and has 2 or 3 terminals, then SIMetrix will attempt to determine the
type of device by performing some tests on the model using simulation. If this process is successful,
SIMetrix will choose an appropriate schematic symbol without further action required.
If SIMetrix cannot determine what the device is then, in order to use the device on a schematic, you will
need to provide the association information. You will be prompted for this information when you place a
part on the schematic for the first time and this is often the most convenient method. However, there is also
a method of providing the association information in bulk which is advantageous in many cases.

10.2.2 Procedure

There are two stages to installing SPICE models.

1. Install the model itself so that the program knows where to look for it. This is simply a matter of
dropping files or folders on the command shell. See “Installing Electrical Model” on page 210.
2. Associate the model(s) with a schematic symbol. This process is often automatic and you don’t need
to do anything - see explanation in the Overview. If this is necessary, you will be prompted for the
information required. See “Placing New Model on Schematic” on page 211.

10.2.3 Full Model Installation Procedure

The following is the full procedure for installing models including association if required.

Installing Electrical Model

1. Open a suitable file manager program such as windows explorer in Windows. Locate the folder
where your model files are located.
2. Select the items you wish to install. You can also install a single file, multiple files an entire folder or
multiple folders. You only thing you can’t do is install files and folders at the same time.
3. Make sure that the SIMetrix command shell is visible. If it is not visible, select menu View | Show
Command Shell.
4. Pick up the items selected in 2. above and drop them into the message window of the command
shell.
5. If you installed individual files, you will see a message box asking you to confirm that you wish to
continue. Just click OK. The model files are now installed.

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6. If you drop folders a search will be made in those folders for SPICE models. The Add/Remove
Models dialog will then be displayed as shown below:

Select the items you wish to install in the lower box and transfer them to the upper box by pressing
the Add button. You can also change the order of the items in the upper box. This affects the search
order when a simulation is run. Click Ok. You will see a message displayed in the command shell
‘Model library changed. Rebuilding catalogs, please wait...’. When finished the message
‘Completed’ will be displayed. The electrical model or models are now installed.

Placing New Model on Schematic

1. You can now place models installed using the model library browser. Select schematic menu Place
| From Model Library.... You will see a dialog box similar to that shown for the “Model Library
Browser” on page 127.
2. On the left hand side select category ‘* Recently Added Models *’ or if the models were installed
more than 30 days ago, select ‘* All User Models *’. You should see the models you have installed
listed on the right hand side. Select the device you wish to place the press Place.
3. At this point, one of two things will happen. Either
A schematic symbol will appear (possibly after a short delay) for you to place on the schematic
sheet. If so, no further action is needed after placing the symbol.
OR
If SIMetrix is unable to identify a suitable schematic symbol for the model, the associate models and
symbols dialog box will open. See next step.

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4. The following dialog box will be displayed:

5. Enter a suitable category for the part under Choose Category for xxx (where xxx is your model
name). You can create a new category if desired by pressing New Category...
6. Using the drop down box under Define Symbol for xxx, select a suitable symbol for your model.
An image of the symbol will be displayed so you can check if it is appropriate. If no suitable symbol
is available, press Auto Create Symbol and one will automatically be created. You can edit this
symbol later if required.
7. If you selected an existing symbol, you must check that the pin order matches that of the model
itself. The model text is displayed under Electrical Model - xxx. If the pin order needs changing,
use the up and down arrow keys to rearrange the pins as appropriate.
8. Click Ok then place symbol as usual.
Steps 4 to 8 above only need to be done once for each model.

Note

If the message
Unknown file type xxx

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is displayed when you drop a file, it means that no valid SPICE models were found in the file. It does not
mean the file has the wrong extension. SIMetrix will accept any extension for model files with the
exception of the extensions used for schematic or graph files (sch, sxsch and sxgph).

10.2.4 Removing Model Libraries

Select File | Model Library | View/Remove Libraries... . A dialog box similar to that shown in
“Installing Electrical Model” on page 210 will be displayed but with the Available Libraries box empty.
Select the devices you wish to remove from the Selected Libraries box.

10.3 Parts Management - Configuring the Part Selector

10.3.1 Overview

The schematic part selector (see “Part Selector” on page 126) can be customised for your own application
and preference. This can be done in two ways:
1. Category editor. This is a GUI tool that allows you to move categories of parts to different positions
in the hierarchy. It can also hide them altogether.
2. Add, edit or remove individual items. There is no GUI to support this, but can be done by editing a
catalog file.

10.3.2 Category Editor

The hierarchical structure of the part selector may be changed using the category editor.
All parts listed in the part selector are assigned category names. The category editor maps these category
names to positions in the part selector hierarchy. For example, the category name NMOS maps to the
location Discretes → MOSFETs - N-channel. So by using the category editor, it is possible to reorganise
how parts are displayed. You can also remove categories from the part selector by moving them to the path
called ** HIDDEN **.
To open the category editor, select menu File | Model Library | Edit Part Selector Categories
(SIMetrix Mode)... or File | Model Library | Edit Part Selector Categories (SIMPLIS Mode)....
This will open the GUI as shown below:

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On the left hand side is a list of part selector paths. These are not individual parts but folders within the
part selector that contain parts. On the right hand side are the category names. All parts displayed in the
category editor have a category name.
With the category editor, you can:
1. Rename folder entries in the part selector. Select the entry then right click menu Rename.
2. Hide categories of parts that you don’t use. Select the category you do not wish to show in the part
selector. Drag and drop to the ** HIDDEN ** category path.
3. Move categories to new locations in the hierarchy. You can move categories to another existing
location by simply dragging and dropping it. You can also create new folders within the category
editor to move categories to. To do this, select an existing category folder or [ROOT] then right click
menu Create New Category Folder...
4. Change order of categories. Select a category or category folder then right click menu Edit Sort
Order. Enter a positive number - the small the number, the earlier in the list the item will be placed.
Items without a defined sort order will be placed below items with a sort order. Items with the same
sort order will be sorted alphabetically.

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5. Delete Categories and category folders. Note: you cannot delete categories and category folders that
are built-in; you can only delete new categories or folders that you have created. If you want to
remove items from the part selector, you can move the category to the ** HIDDEN ** folder. See
item 2 above.

10.3.3 Editing the Part Selector Catalog

It is also possible to add your own parts to the part selector although there is no GUI available to do this.
To add parts to the part selector, create a file called
schematic_generic_parts_tree_journal_simetrix.cat, for SIMetrix mode or
schematic_generic_parts_tree_journal_simplis.cat, for SIMPLIS mode.
Each line of this file defines a single entry in the part selector. The line is a semi-colon delimited list of
fields that define various aspects of the part. See the following table for a definition of each of these fields.

Field number Function Example

0 Name of part as it will appear in the place menu and DC Motor
hyperlink
1 Internal symbol name dc_motor_symbol
2 unused - leave empty
3 Category name Motors
4 Name as it appears in the parts selector hierarchy DC Motor
5 unused leave empty
6 Script name - set to ps_simple ps_simple
7 unused - leave empty
8 Search keywords. Can add additional words to help user electromechanical
search. Separate multiple word with commas
9 Operation. Can be ‘add’, ‘edit’ or ‘delete’. For creating new add
parts this must be ‘add’

Using the example as shown in the above table, the line would be:
DC Motor;dc_motor_symbol;;Motors;DC Motor;;ps_simple;;electromechanical;add
You can create as many lines like the above as you wish, but it is important that each occupies a single line
in the file.
The file should be placed at this location:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\SIMetrix Technologies\SIMetrixnnn\devdb\user\
Where:
username is your login account name
nnn is the SIMetrix version as an integer, e.g. 800 for version 8.
ver is the SIMetrix version in the form 8.00

10.4 Parts Management - Advanced Topics

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10.4.1 Associating Multiple Models with Symbols

The previously described procedure for installing model libraries (see “Full Model Installation Procedure”
on page 210) explains how to install the library and then, if required, associate each model individually as
you place the device on the schematic.
In some situations you might wish to perform the association process in bulk, that is for many devices at
once. To so this, use the File | Model Library | Associate Models and Symbols... menu. This is
what you will see:

Associate Model Dialog Box

In the top left hand group you select the device or devices that you wish to associate. The drop-down box
at the top has a list of categories. Usually you would select a device or devices in the ‘*** Unknown ***’
category but you can also edit the association of known devices in other categories.
Once the category has been selected, a list of devices in that category will be displayed in the list box
below. You should then select a device or devices to associate. To select multiple devices hold the control
key down while selecting. Note that you will not be allowed to select multiple devices that have different
numbers of pins. To help you determine what type of device it is, its electrical model is displayed in the
window that covers most of the lower half of the dialog box. You must now define the Category, symbol
and, if necessary, the pin order for the device. This is done using the top right hand group of controls titled

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Choose Symbol/Category. Select an appropriate category and symbol. Note that only compatible
symbols that have the same number of pins as the selected device will be shown. If an appropriate symbol
is not available, you instruct SIMetrix to create one for you by pressing the Auto Create Symbol button.
The symbol created will be functionally correct but of course its design and labelling may not be exactly
what you would like. You can edit the pin names of the new symbol by pressing Edit Pin Names... . If
other changes are required, you can edit the symbol using the graphical symbol editor at a later time.
The next list box allows the pin order to be changed. If you used the auto create symbol described in the
above paragraph, you will not need to change the pin order. Even if you used an existing symbol from the
drop down box you probably won’t need to change the default as most devices such as opamps and
MOSFETs use a de-facto standard pin order. Usually you can check the pin order from the Electrical
Model display at the bottom of the dialog box. Many subcircuit definitions are preceded by text which
identifies each connection to the sub circuit. This must correspond exactly to the pin order of the symbol.
The names of symbol pins and the names used for the subcircuit terminations do not need to match; only
the order is important. If the pin order does not match you can change it using the up and down arrow
buttons. Simply select a pin in the list box then move it up or down the list. Note that the change will only
apply to the device(s) you are currently editing; other devices associated with the same symbol will be
unaffected.
Once you have finished selecting the category, symbol and pin mapping you must select the Apply
Changes button. Your edits will be lost if you don’t, but you will be warned about this before closing the
box.

10.4.2 Embedded Association

It is possible to embed association information within the model file itself. This is useful if you wish to
prepare a model to distribute to other users and wish to spare them the burden of performing the
association process themselves. Models with embedded association can be installed by dropping their files
in the command shell with no other action being required.
Only subcircuit devices may receive embedded association information. The information is placed in a
specially formatted comment line after the .SUBCKT line but before the first device or command. The line
is in the form:
*#ASSOC Category=category Symbol=symbol [Mapping=mapping]

category Category for part. If it has spaces this must be enclosed in double
quotation marks.
symbol Internal symbol name to be used for part.
mapping Mapping information. This changes the mapping between the subcircuit
terminals and the symbol pin order. Usually, it’s easiest simply to arrange
the subcircuit pin order to match the symbol pin order in which case this is
not required. If however there is some reason why rearranging the
subcircuit pins is not desirable, you can instead specify the pin order using
the mapping value.
The mapping value is a list of symbol pin numbers that match to the
corresponding subcircuit terminal. So a mapping value of 2,3,1 says that
the first subcircuit terminal connects to pin 2 of the symbol, the second
subcircuit terminal connects to pin 3 and the third to pin 1.

Example

.SUBCKT IRF530 D G S
*#ASSOC Category=NMOS Symbol=nmos_sub

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...
.ENDS

Priorities

Its possible that association information could be provided from multiple sources in which case the
possibility of conflict arises. If this is the case the following priorities apply:
1. User supplied association (e.g. using the associate symbols and models dialog) takes precedence
over embedded association.
2. Embedded association takes precedence over pre-defined association. Pre-defined association is
what is stored in the all.cat catalog file supplied with SIMetrix.

10.4.3 Catalog Files

The data for model and symbol associations are stored in catalog files. There are three catalog files as
follows:

ALL.CAT Resides in support\devdb under the SIMetrix root directory. Stores catalog
data supplied with SIMetrix. SIMetrix never modifies this file.
USER_V2.CAT Resides in devdb/user under the application data directory (see
“Application Data Directory” on page 431). Stores catalog data supplied
by the user. Data in this file overrides data in ALL.CAT. The Associate
Models dialog box writes to this file. In SIMetrix versions 5.2 and earlier
this file was called USER.CAT. SIMetrix will automatically import data
from USER.CAT to USER_V2.CAT if USER.CAT is present.
OUT.CAT Resides in devdb/working under the application data directory (see
“Application Data Directory” on page 431). This is what is actually used
by the model library browser to select and place parts. It is generated by
the associate model dialog box from information in ALL.CAT,
USER_V2.CAT and installed models. It will also be automatically created
by the model library browser if it does not already exist. You can also
force it to be rebuilt at any time by selecting menu File | Model Library
| Re-build Catalog.

File Format

Catalog files are text files. Each line provides data about a single device in semi-colon delimited fields.
The fields are as follows:

Field 1 Device name as it appears in browser. This may optionally be followed by

a comma followed by the number of terminals for the model.
Field 2 Symbol name
Field 3 MODEL property - X for subcircuits, as appropriate for other devices.
(This field is empty in ALL.CAT and USER_V2.CAT it is determined
automatically from electrical model when OUT.CAT is built).
Field 4 Category
Field 5 Sub-category (currently not used)
Field 6 Pin mapping order
Filed 7 Not used

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When you select OK your edits will be written to the USER_V2.CAT file (see above table). This is in the
same format as ALL.CAT in the root folder. ALL.CAT is never modified. Also another file is updated
called OUT.CAT. This is the file used by the model library browser. The process of building OUT.CAT
may take a few seconds if the model library is large.

10.4.4 Importing Models to a Schematic

SIMetrix provides a means to automatically import all models needed for a schematic into that schematic.
The models are placed in the simulator command window (opened with F11 see “Manual Entry of
Simulator Commands” on page 43). Once the models are imported to a schematic, it will no longer be
necessary for SIMetrix to locate the models in the library when a simulation is run. This has the following
benefits:
• It makes the schematic completely self-contained. This is useful for archiving or if you wish to pass
the schematic to a third party.
• You can edit the models locally without affecting the global library.
To import models to a schematic, select the schematic menu Simulator | Import Models.... You will be
provided with two options: Import Direct Copy and Import by Reference. The first will import the
model text directly into the schematic. The second will put the model text into a file. This will be
referenced in the schematic’s simulator command window using a .INC control. See Simulator Reference
Manual/Command Reference/.INC.

10.5 Sundry Topics

10.5.1 .LIB Control

The .LIB netlist control allows the local specification of model library for a particular circuit.
Syntax:
.LIB pathname

pathname File system path name specifying a single file or, by using a wildcard (* or
?), a group of files. If the path name contains spaces, it must be enclosed
in quotation marks (").

This control specifies a pathname to be searched for model and subcircuit libraries. Any number of .LIB
controls may be specified and wild-cards (i.e. * and ? ) may be used.
If a model or subcircuit is called up by a device line but that definition was not present in the netlist,
SIMetrix will search for it in files specified using the .LIB control.
SIMetrix also supports another form of .LIB used by model files designed for Hspice ®. See the Simulator
Reference Manual/Command Reference/.LIB/Hspice Form for details.

10.5.2 Drag and Drop to Schematic

You can install a model file to a schematic by picking it up in windows explorer and dropping it onto the
schematic window. This will insert a .LIB control (see above) with a path to the file you dropped. This
installs the model file to be local to that schematic.

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10.5.3 Library Diagnostics

When enabled, library diagnostics display messages showing the progress of the location of device
models. To enable/disable select File | Options | General... then Model Library tab.

10.5.4 Local Models

You can also enter a model or subcircuit definition in the schematic’s F11 window. However if you enter a
model in this manner it will only be available to that schematic.

10.5.5 Library Indexing Mechanism

This is a technique used to speed the search for models and subcircuits. It is completely transparent and
requires no action from the user. SIMetrix creates an index file for each library specification it encounters
either installed globally or referenced using .LIB. This index files contain details of the file locations of
models and subcircuit definitions referenced by the library specification. These index files can then be
used for later simulation runs to speed the search for models and subcircuits. Index files are automatically
rebuilt if any of the library files referenced are modified. (Modifications are detected by comparing file
dates). All index files are stored in
app_data_dir/INDEXES
where app_data_dir is the location of the application data directory. See “Application Data Directory” on
page 431 for the location of this directory. The files are named SXn.sxidx, where n is some number.
Note that if you add a new model file to a directory while SIMetrix is running, SIMetrix won’t know of the
new file and any relevant indexes won’t be updated. In this situation, select the menu File | Model
Library | Rebuild Catalog to update the indexes.

10.5.6 Duplicate Model Names

Models of some common parts are available from different sources. Sometimes these have different
names, e.g LF356 and LF356/NS - the latter available from the National Semiconductor library. In some
cases the model names from different sources are identical. This poses a problem as models have to be
uniquely identified by their name.
SIMetrix has a built-in utility that can automatically rename models with duplicate names. The devices are
renamed by adding a user specified suffix to the model name. The rename utility is not accessible via the
menus but must be invoked by typing a command at the command line. Proceed as follows:
1. First ensure that all the model library files you wish to process are installed as global libraries.
2. Make backup copies of your model files. This is optional, the utility makes backups anyway.
3. Type the following at the command line. The command line is the edit box at the top of command
shell. If this is not visible, select menu View | Show Command Shell:
rename_libs

4. A list of currently installed libraries will be displayed. Double click on any that you wish to be
processed for renaming and supply a suffix. The suffix must not contain spaces and should start with
a non-alphanumeric character such as ‘/’ or ‘-’. Note that only models found to have duplicates will
be renamed. SIMetrix will not rename unique models. If you do not supply a suffix for a library, no
devices within it will be renamed.
5. Press OK. The operation can take a long time; possibly a few minutes if the library is large. On
completion the message:

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*** RENAME COMPLETE. See ???/RENAME.LOG for details

will be displayed in the command shell. The RENAME.LOG file will contain full details of the
rename process. This includes details of all models that were renamed.

Notes

• If the device being renamed is implemented as a subcircuit, the rename utility will copy any
symbol/model association for that device with the new name.
• Devices that are used locally, i.e. within the model file itself, will be excluded from the rename
procedure. These devices will not be renamed nor will they added to the list that is searched to
identify duplicate names.
• You can perform a test run which creates the log file but does not actually perform the renaming. To
do this, type the command:
rename_libs_check

Note that messages output to the log file and to the command shell will report the renaming of
models but no renaming will actually take place.

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Chapter 11

Analysis Modes

In this chapter we describe the various analysis modes available and how to set them up from the
schematic editor. There is more information on analysis modes including full details of the netlist
commands to invoke them, in Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference.
Most of the analyses can be setup using the Choose Analysis Dialog Box which is opened with the
schematic menu Simulator | Choose Analysis....

You can also enter the ‘raw’ netlist commands in the F11 window. The contents of this window remain
synchronised with the Choose Analysis dialog box settings so you can freely switch between the two
methods. The Choose Analysis dialog box does not support sensitivity and pole-zero analysis so these

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methods must be set up using the F11 window.

11.1 Running Simulations

11.1.1 Overview

Once an analysis has been set up using the procedures described in this chapter, a simulation would
normally be run in synchronous mode perhaps by selecting the Simulator | Run Schematic menu. In
synchronous mode, you cannot use any part of the program while the simulation is running.
There are also other methods of running a simulation. You can run a simulation for a netlist directly and
you can also run in asynchronous mode. These are explained in the following sections.

11.1.2 Starting, Pausing and Aborting Analyses

Starting an Analysis

To start a simulation in normal (synchronous) mode, use the Simulator | Run menu, press the F9 key or
press the Run button on the Choose Analysis Dialog box shown above. A dialog box will show the status
of the simulation.

Pausing an Analysis

You can pause the simulation by selecting the Pause button on the simulator status dialog box. To restart
select the Resume button (the Pause button changes name when simulation pauses) or the Simulator |
Resume menu item.
When a simulation is paused, you can carry on using the program as if the simulation had completed. This
includes plotting results of the simulation completed so far. If you decide you do not wish to continue the
run, there is no need to explicitly abort it. You can just start a new run in the normal way. If you do this
you will be asked if you would like to resume the pending run. If you answer ‘No’, the pending run will be
automatically aborted and the new run started.

Aborting an Analysis

There is actually never a need to explicitly abort an analysis. If you decide you do not wish to continue a
run, just pause it as described above. Pause is the same as abort except that you have the option to change
your mind and restart.
Nevertheless there is an abort facility. Simply select the Simulator | Abort menu. When you abort a run,
you will not be able to restart it.
There is just one benefit of aborting a run instead of pausing it. When an analysis is aborted, the simulator
frees up the memory it needed for the run. Note that this does not happen after a run completes normally.
If you need to free up simulator memory after a normal run completes, type Reset at the command line.
(Not available with SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elements).

Working while an Analysis is Running

Some operations can be performed while a simulation is running. For example, you can zoom in and out
of graphs and many schematic editing operations can also be performed. However, some operations are
blocked and full functionality will not be available until the simulation has completed or has been paused.

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If you need full GUI functionality while a simulation is running, you can run the simulation in the
background. See “Running Analyses in Asynchronous Mode” on page 224.

11.1.3 Running Analyses in Asynchronous Mode

In asynchronous mode, the simulation runs in the background and you are free to carry on using the
SIMetrix environment for entering schematics or viewing results from previous analyses. Because, the
simulation is running in the background, it is necessary for the simulation process to be detached from the
front end environment and for this reason it is not possible to use .GRAPH or fixed probes to plot
simulation results during the course of the run. Also you must manually load the simulation data when the
run is complete.

Starting an Asynchronous Run

1. Select menu Simulator | Run Asynchronous.... Note a simulation status box appears similar to
the box used for synchronous runs but with an additional Activity box at the bottom. Any messages
generated by the simulator will be displayed here.
2. When the simulation is complete, you must load the data manually. The name of the file to load will
be displayed in the command shell when the simulation starts. Select menu File | Data | Load
Temporary Data... to load data file. You will be able to cross probe the schematic used to run the
analysis in the normal manner once this file is loaded.

Pausing and Aborting Asynchronous Runs

To pause, press the Pause button. Note that you can load the data generated so far after pausing the run as
described above.
To abort a run, press the Close button.

11.1.4 Running an Analysis on a Netlist

You can run an analysis on a netlist created by hand or perhaps with a third party schematic entry program.
To run a netlist in synchronous mode, select the command shell menu Simulator | Run Netlist... then
locate the netlist file.
To run a netlist in asynchronous mode, select the command shell menu Simulator | Run Netlist
Asynchronous... then locate the netlist file. See “Running Analyses in Asynchronous Mode” on
page 224 for further information about running asynchronous analyses.

11.1.5 Simulation and Multi-core Processors

If your license permits it, SIMetrix will create multiple threads running on individual cores to help speed
up the simulation. Please note the following in relation to multiple core operation:
1. Not all products support multiple core operation. See list below:

Product Name Number of cores supported

SIMetrix Classic 1
SIMetrix/SIMPLIS 1
SIMetrix Pro 4

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Product Name Number of cores supported

SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Pro 4
SIMetrix Elite 16
SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elite 16
SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elements (free version) 1

2. If you are running a Multi-step analysis such as Monte Carlo, the greatest benefit from multiple
cores is achieved by using Multi-core Multi-step mode. See “Using Multiple Cores for Multi-step
Analyses” on page 260.
3. SIMetrix will only use a single core for small circuits even if you have multiple physical cores and a
SIMetrix product that supports multiple core operation. Below a certain circuit size, multiple core
operation can actually slow down the simulation.
4. Speeding up simulations by employing multiple cores is analogous to speeding up human projects
by allocation more people to them. That is, results vary enormously according to the circuit being
simulated. Circuits that benefit the most from multiple core operation are large and typically contain
many of the same type of device. This is typical for integrated circuit design. Smaller circuits that
contain a variety of different types of device don’t benefit nearly as much.
5. If you have a system fitted with multiple chips (referred to as physical processors), SIMetrix will
only use the cores from one of the physical processors by default. For example, you may have an 8
core system with two physical processors of 4 cores each. In this situation, SIMetrix will use the 4
cores from the first physical processor and not use the second physical processor. This is a
consequence of the cached hierarchical memory systems used on modern systems. You can force
SIMetrix to use all available cores in all physical processors using the mpnumthreads option. See
below.
6. Many systems use hyperthreading to make a single core behave like two cores. The resulting cores
are referred to as logical cores. The actual hardware cores are referred to as physical cores. SIMetrix
will only use physical cores for multiple core operation.
7. See Help | About... to find the specification of your system. The number that is most important is
the Number of physical cores.
8. The SIMPLIS simulator does not currently exploit the use of multiple cores for single step runs. It
can, however, run multi-step analyses using multiple cores. See “Multi-core Multi-step SIMPLIS
Analyses” on page 276.
9. You can manually control the number of cores used for a single step simulation using the
mpnumthreads option. Enter this line into the netlist or F11 Window:
.option mpnumthreads=n

Where n is the number of cores you wish to use. SIMetrix will not use more than the number of
physical cores fitted to your system regardless of what you set for n.

11.2 Transient Analysis

In this mode the simulator computes the behaviour of the circuit over a time interval specified by the stop
time. Usually, the stop time is the only parameter that needs specifying but there are a number of others
available.

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11.2.1 Setting up a Transient Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select Transient check box on the right.
3. Select Transient tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

Transient Parameters

Enter the stop time as required. Note that the simulation can be paused before the stop time is reached
allowing the results obtained so far to be examined. It is also possible to restart the simulation after the
stop time has been reached and continue for as long as is needed. For these reasons, it is not so important
to get the stop time absolutely right. You should be aware, however, that the default values for a number of
simulator parameters are chosen according to the stop time. (The minimum time step for example). You
should avoid therefore entering inappropriate values for stop time.

Data Output Options

Sometimes it is desirable to restrict the amount of data being generated by the simulator which in some
situations can be very large. You can specify that data output does not begin until after some specified time
and you can also specify a time interval for the data.
Output all data/Output at .PRINT step
The simulator generates data at a variable time step according to circuit activity. If Output all data is
checked, all this data is output. If Output at .PRINT step is checked, the data is output at a fixed time step
regardless of the activity in the circuit. The actual interval is set by the .PRINT step. This is explained
below.
If the Output at .PRINT step option is checked, the simulator is forced to perform an additional step at the
required interval for the data output. The fixed time step interval data is not generated by interpolation as is
the case with generic SPICE and other products derived from it.
Start data output @
No simulation data will be output until this time is reached.
.PRINT step
.PRINT is a simulator command that can be specified in the netlist to enable the output of tabulated data in
the list file. See Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.PRINT for details of .PRINT.
The value specified here controls the interval used for the tabulated output provided by .PRINT but the
same value is also used to determine the data output interval if Output at .PRINT step is specified.

Real Time Noise

See “Real Time Noise” on page 245.

Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis

See “Multi-step Analyses” on page 258

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Advanced Options

Opens a dialog as shown below

Time Step

The simulator always chooses the time step it uses but it will not rise above the maximum time step
specified here.
If the simulator needs to use a time step smaller than the minimum specified, the simulation will abort.
Reduce this value if the simulation aborts with the message “Time step too small”. This might
happen for long runs on circuits that have very small time constants.

Integration Method

Set this to Gear if you see an unexplained triangular ringing in the simulation results. Always use
Trapezoidal for resonant circuits. A full discussion on integration methods is given in the Simulator
Reference Manual:Convergence, Accuracy and Performance/Accuracy and Integration
Methods/Integration Methods - METHOD option.

Skip DC bias point

If checked, the simulation will start with all nodes at zero volts. Note that unless all voltage and current
sources are specified to have zero output at time zero, the simulation may fail to converge if this option is
specified.

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Fast start

The accuracy of the simulation will be relaxed for the period specified. This will speed up the run at the
expense of precision.
This is a means of accelerating the process of finding a steady state in circuits such as oscillators and
switching power supplies. Its often of little interest how the steady state is reached so precision can be
relaxed while finding it.
Note that the reduced precision can also reduce the accuracy at which a steady state is found and often a
settling time is required after the fast start period.

11.2.2 Restarting a Transient Run

After a transient analysis has run to completion, that is it has reached its stop time, it is still possible to
restart the analysis to carry on from where it previously stopped. To restart a transient run:
1. Select the menu Simulator | Restart Transient....
2. In the New Stop Time box enter the time at which you wish the restarted analysis to stop. Click Ok
to start run.

See Also

Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.TRAN.

11.2.3 Transient Snapshots

Overview

There is often a need to investigate a circuit at a set of circuit conditions that can only be achieved during a
transient run.
For example, you might find that an amplifier circuit oscillates under some conditions but these conditions
are difficult or impossible to create during the bias point calculation that usually precedes a small-signal
AC analysis.
Transient snapshots provide a solution to this problem. The state of the circuit at user specified points
during a transient run may be saved and subsequently used to initialise a small-signal analysis. The saved
state of the circuit is called a snapshot.
Snapshots can be created at specified intervals during a transient run. They can also be created on demand
at any point during a transient run by first pausing the run and then manually executing the save snapshot
command. So, for example, if you find your amplifier reaches an unstable point during a transient analysis,
you can stop the analysis, save a snapshot and then subsequently analyse the small signal conditions with
an AC sweep.
An option is also available to save the DC operating point data to the list file at the point at which
snapshots are saved.

Defining Snapshots Before a Run Starts

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. In the Transient Sheet select button Define Snapshots...
3. You will see the following dialog

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Select either Linear sequence or List to define the time points at which the snapshots are saved. In the
Snapshot mode box select one of the three options:
• Write bias info to list file. Instructs the simulator to write the DC operating point data to the list
file. Does not save snapshot data.
• Save state for AC/TF/Noise analysis. Instructs the simulator to save snapshot data only. No bias
point information will be output to the list file.
• Write bias info and save state. Performs both operations described in 1 and 2 above.

Creating Snapshots on Demand

You can create a snapshot of a transient run after it has started by executing the SaveSnapShot script
command. Proceed as follows:
1. Pause the current transient analysis or allow it to finish normally. You must not abort the run as this
destroys all internal simulation data.
2. Type at the command line (the edit box at the top of the command shell):
SaveSnapShot

That is all that is needed. You can now start a new small signal analysis using the snapshot created.

Applying Snapshots to a Small Signal Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select AC, TF or Noise analysis
3. Press Define Multi-step Analysis for the required analysis mode.
4. Select Snapshot mode.
The analysis will be repeated for all available snapshots.

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Important Note

Snapshot data can only be applied to an identical circuit to the one that created the snapshot data. So, you
must make sure that any parts needed for a small-signal analysis that uses snapshot data are already
present in the circuit before the transient run starts. In particular, of course, you must make sure that an AC
source is present.
An error message will be output if there are any topological differences between the circuit that generated
the snapshot data and the circuit that uses it. If there are only part value or model parameter differences,
then the snapshot data may be accepted without error but at best the results will need careful interpretation
and at worst will be completely erroneous. Generally, if you change a part that affects the DC operating
point then the results will not be meaningful. If you change only an AC value, e.g. a capacitor value, then
the results will probably be valid.

How Snapshots are Stored

The snapshot data is stored in a file which has the default name of netlist.sxsnp where netlist is the name of
the netlist used for the simulation. When using the schematic editor, this is usually design.net so the usual
name for the snapshot file is design.sxsnp. You can override this name using the SNAPSHOTFILE
OPTIONS setting although there is rarely any reason to do this.
The snapshot file is automatically deleted at the start of every transient run. The SaveSnapShot command
always appends its data to the snapshot file so that any pre-defined snapshots are preserved.
When snapshot data is applied to a subsequent small-signal analysis, the snapshot file is read and checked
that it is valid for the circuit being analysed.

11.3 Operating Point

To specify a DC operating point analysis check DCOP. Note that an operating point is performed
automatically for all analysis modes and this is only useful if it is the only analysis specified.
Operating point analysis does not have any additional parameters so there is no tab sheet for it.
See Also
Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.OP
“Viewing DC Operating Point Results” on page 370

11.4 Sweep Modes

Each of the analysis modes DC, AC, AC Noise and Transfer Function are swept. That is they repeat a
single analysis point while varying some circuit parameter. There are 6 different sweep modes that can be
applied to these analyses. These modes are also used to define multi step analyses which are explained in
“Multi-step Analyses” on page 258. The 6 modes are:
• Device
• Temperature
• Parameter
• Model parameter
• Frequency (not applicable to DC)
• Monte Carlo

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As well as 6 different modes there are 3 different sweep methods

• Linear
• Decade
• List
Dialog support for the List method is only available for the definition of Multi-step analyses. The
simulator also offers an Octal sweep method but this is not supported by the Choose Analysis Dialog.
Each of the sweep modes is explained in more detail below.

11.4.1 Device Sweep

In this mode the principal value of a single device is swept. The analysis definition must specify the part
reference for the device. The following types of device may be used.

Device Value swept

Capacitor Capacitance
Diode Area
Voltage controlled voltage source Gain
Current controlled current source Gain
Voltage controlled current source Transconductance
Current controlled voltage source Transresistance
Current source Current
JFET Area
Inductor Inductance
Bipolar Transistor Area
Resistor Resistance
Lossless Transmission Line Impedance
Voltage source Voltage
GaAs FET Area

11.4.2 Temperature

Global circuit temperature is swept.

11.4.3 Model Parameter

Similar to device sweep except applied to a named model parameter. Both the model name and the
parameter name must be specified.

Special Note

It is recommended that any model parameter being swept is also specified in the .MODEL parameter list.
In most cases it isn’t actually necessary but there are a few instances - such as for terminal resistance
parameters - where it is necessary.

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11.4.4 Parameter

A user named variable that can be referenced in any number of expressions used to define model or device
parameters. Here is an example. (See Examples/Sweep/AC_Param.sxsch)

This is a simple long tailed pair. The above circuit resistors R1 and R2 have been given the values
{restail}. restail is a parameter that is swept in an AC sweep to plot the gain of the amplifier vs tail
resistance at 100kHz. Here is the result of the run:

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Note that this analysis mode is not available in standard SPICE or the majority of its derivatives. Most
offer parameter sweeping, but only for DC analysis.

11.4.5 Frequency

Sweeps frequency for the small signal analysis modes namely AC, AC Noise and Transfer Function. In
standard SPICE it is the only sweep mode available for AC and Noise while Transfer Function can not be
swept at all.

11.4.6 Monte Carlo

Repeats analysis point for a specified number of times with device tolerances enabled. The following
graph show the result for the same circuit as shown above but with restail=1k and with a 1000 point Monte
Carlo AC sweep. This run takes a fraction of a second on any modern machine:

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The graph shows the variation in gain for 1000 samples. Using the histogram feature a statistical
distribution of the above can easily be plotted.

11.4.7 Setting up a Swept Analysis

In the AC, DC, Noise or Transfer Function analysis sheets, select the Define... button in the Sweep
Parameters box. This will bring up the following dialog

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Select the desired mode on the left then enter the necessary parameters on the right. The parameters
required vary according to the mode as follows:

Mode Parameters
Device Device part reference (e.g. V1)
Frequency (AC, Noise and TF only)
Parameter Parameter name
Frequency (AC, Noise and TF only)
Model Parameter Model name
Model parameter name
Frequency (AC, Noise and TF only)
Temperature Frequency (AC, Noise and TF only)
Frequency (not available for DC) None
Monte Carlo Number of points
Frequency (AC, Noise and TF only)

11.5 DC Sweep

Operates in any of the sweep modes described in “Sweep Modes” on page 230, except Frequency. Repeats
a DC operating point calculation for the range of circuit parameters defined by the sweep mode.

11.5.1 Setting up a DC sweep

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select DC sweep check box on the right.
3. Select DC tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

Sweep Parameters

Start value, Stop Defines sweep range stop and start values.
value
Points per decade, Defines sweep range. The number of points of the sweep is defined per
Number of points decade for a decade sweep. For a linear sweep you must enter the total
number of points.
Device/Parameter/Model The device name for a device sweep, parameter name for a parameter
Name sweep or the model name for a model parameter sweep may be entered
here. It may also be entered in the sweep mode dialog opened by pressing
Define....
Define... Sets up desired sweep mode. See “Setting up a Swept Analysis” on
page 234.

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Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis

See “Multi-step Analyses” on page 258.

See Also

Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.DC.

11.5.2 Example

Using the example circuit (used previously):

The following is the result of a DC sweep of V3 with restail set to 1K. Analysis parameters were as
follows:
Sweep mode: Device, V3
Sweep range: -0.1 to 0.1, linear sweep with 50 points.

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11.6 AC Sweep

An AC analysis calculates the small signal response of a circuit to any number of user defined inputs. The
small signal response is computed by treating the circuit as linear about its DC operating point.
Like DC, AC Noise and Transfer Function analyses, AC analysis is a swept mode and can operate in any
of the 6 modes documented in “Sweep Modes” on page 230. With some of these modes - e.g. sweeping a
resistor value - it will be necessary for the DC operating point to be recalculated at each point while with
others - such as frequency sweep - it is only necessary to calculate it at the start of the run.
For AC analysis to be meaningful at there must be at least one voltage or current source on the circuit with
an AC specification. To find out how to set one up see “AC Source” on page 133.

11.6.1 Setting up an AC sweep

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select AC check box on the right.
3. Select AC tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

Sweep Parameters

Start value, Stop value

Defines sweep range stop and start values

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Points per decade, Number of points

Defines sweep range. The number of points of the sweep is defined per decade for a decade sweep. For a
linear sweep you must enter the total number of points.
Define... Sets up desired sweep mode. See “Setting up a Swept Analysis” on page 234.

Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis

See “Multi-step Analyses” on page 258.

Data output

Check the Save all currents check box to enable the output of all current data including semiconductor
devices. If this box is not checked the current into devices such as transistors and diodes will not be saved.
In AC analysis the CPU time required to output data can be very significant relative to the solution time, so
you should be aware that checking this box may slow down the simulation significantly.
Note that this check box only affects AC analyses.

See Also

Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.AC.

11.6.2 Example

Both the examples shown in “Sweep Modes” on page 230 are AC analyses. The following is a frequency
sweep which is the traditional AC analysis mode. This was performed on the circuit shown below with
restail = 1k.

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11.7 Noise Analysis

Like AC analysis, AC Noise analysis is a small signal mode. The circuit is treated as linear about it’s DC
operating point and the contribution of all noisy devices to a designated output is computed. The total
noise at that output is also calculated and optionally the noise referred back to an input source may also be
computed.
Like DC, AC and Transfer Function, it is a swept mode and can be operated in any of the 6 modes
described in “Sweep Modes” on page 230. With some of these modes - e.g. sweeping a resistor value - it
will be necessary for the DC operating point to be recalculated at each point while with others - such as
frequency sweep - it is only necessary to calculate it at the start of the run.
Note that it is not necessary to apply an AC specification to any source - including the optional input
referred source - as it is with standard SPICE and many (if not all) of its derivatives.

11.7.1 Setting up an AC Noise Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select Noise check box on the right.
3. Select Noise tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

Sweep Parameters

Start value, Stop value Defines sweep range stop and start values

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Points per decade, Number of Defines sweep range. The number of points of the sweep is
points defined per decade for a decade sweep. For a linear sweep you
must enter the total number of points.
Define... Sets up desired sweep mode. See “Setting up a Swept Analysis”
on page 234.

Noise Parameters

Output node This is compulsory. It is the name of the circuit node as it

appears in the netlist. Usually the schematic’s netlist generator
chooses the node names but we recommend that when running
a noise analysis that you assign a user defined name to your
designated output node. To find out how to do this see “Finding
and Specifying Net Names” on page 65.
Reference node Optional. Output noise is referred to this node. This is assumed
to be ground if it is omitted.
Source name Optional. Voltage or current source to which input source is
referred. Enter the part reference of either a voltage or current
source.

Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis

See “Multi-step Analyses” on page 258.

See Also

Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.NOISE.

11.7.2 Plotting Results of Noise Analysis

Refer to “Plotting Noise Analysis Results” on page 322.

11.7.3 Example 1

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Frequency Sweep

The result of a noise analysis on the above circuit using a frequency sweep

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11.7.4 Example 2

Noise with a Parameter Sweep

In the following circuit we wish to find the optimum value of tail current for a source impedance of 1KÎl’.
To do this we sweep the parameter taili which is used to set the current as well as the values for R1, R2,
R3 and R4. As can be seen from the graph about 300ÎijA would seem to be best. The noise analysis was
setup with the following parameters:
Sweep parameter taili from 1µ to 10m, 25 points per decade
Output node: VPos
Reference node: VNeg
Input source: V3
sourceR = 1000 (set with .PARAM control)

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The result:

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11.8 Real Time Noise

This is an extension of transient analysis rather than a separate analysis mode. When activated, real time
noise sources are added to all noisy devices with a magnitude and frequency distribution calculated using
the same equations used for AC noise analysis. This allows noise analysis to be performed on sampled
data systems and oscillators for which AC noise analysis is not appropriate.
Real time noise is not available with all versions of the product. Contact sales for details.

11.8.1 Setting Up a Real Time Noise Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select Transient check box on the right.
3. Select Transient tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.
4. Set up transient analysis parameters as detailed in “Transient Analysis” on page 225.
5. Check Enable real-time noise. Select Define... to set up real time noise parameters. Enter values
as explained below.

Interval

This specifies the sampling interval of the noise generators. You should set this to a maximum of about 1/3
of the highest noise frequency of interest. Note that the interval also forces a maximum time step so short
intervals can result in long simulation times.

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Start time

The time at which the noise generators are switched on. Defaults to 0.

Stop time

The time at which the noise generators are switched off. This defaults to the stop time of the transient run.
If you think you may wish to restart the transient run after it has completed and you wish the noise
generators to continue to be enabled after the restart then you must specify this time beyond the initial stop
time before starting the analysis. You should avoid, however, using inappropriately large values for this
stop time as this may noticeably slow the simulation and in extreme cases could cause an out of memory
condition.

RTN Mode

This affects how the noise sources are handled between noise steps. The choice is between Mode 0 and
Mode 1. Mode 0 is nearly always the best mode but this can underestimate the noise is some cases. The
difference between these modes is explained as follows:
Real time noise, introduces current sources across all noisy junctions. The magnitude of these sources is
determined at each noise step according to the operating point of the device and a randomly generated
value whose magnitude is determined from the noise equations.
The RTN mode affects how this current source is set between noise steps. This is not a problem if the
operating point of the device is unchanged; the source simply ramps linearly to the next noise step. The
problem occurs when the operating point changes, especially if it changes profoundly as would be the case
if a transistor switches rapidly from an on-state to an off-state. In this scenario, the magnitude of the noise
current would be high in the on-state but fall away to near zero in the off-state. At the same time the switch
moves from a strongly conducting state to a non-conducting state.
In Mode 1, the source ramps linearly between noise steps and the operating point of the device is not
considered until a new noise step is reached. This method can in some cases grossly over-estimate the
noise. In Mode 0, the noise source is recalculated at each time step and adjusted according to the operating
point of the device. This method tends to underestimate the noise but not by the same excessive amount
that Mode 1 overestimates.
In general, we can’t think of a good reason to use Mode 1 except as a confidence check. Both methods
should give similar results if the noise step is small enough so a useful check is to run a circuit for a small
time using each mode but with a very small noise step. The results for each should be similar.

See Also

Real Time Noise analysis in the Simulator Reference Manual. This includes the results of some
comparisons between AC noise and real time noise.

11.9 Transfer Function

Transfer function analysis is similar to AC analysis in that it performs a swept small signal analysis.
However, whereas AC analysis calculates the response to all circuit nodes from a (usually) single input
source, transfer function analysis calculates the individual responses from each source in the circuit to a
single specified output node. This allows, for example, the series mode gain, common mode gain and
power supply rejection of an amplifier to be measured in one analysis. The same measurements could be

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performed using AC analysis but several of them would need to be run. Transfer function mode also
calculates output impedance or admittance and, if an input source is specified, input impedance.

11.9.1 Setting up a Transfer Function Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select TF check box on the right.
3. Select TF tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

Sweep Parameters

Start value, Stop value Defines sweep range stop and start values.
Points per decade, Number of Defines sweep range. The number of points of the sweep is
points defined per decade for a decade sweep. For a linear sweep you
must enter the total number of points.
Define... Sets up desired sweep mode. See “Setting up a Swept Analysis”
on page 234.

Transfer Function Parameters

Voltage/Current Specify whether the output is a node voltage or device

current.
Output node/Output source This is compulsory. If voltage mode is selected it is the name of
the circuit node to which the gain of all circuit sources will be
calculated It is the node name as it appears in the netlist.
Usually the schematic’s netlist generator chooses the node
names but we recommend that when running a transfer function
analysis that you assign a user defined name to your designated
output node. To find out how to do this see “Finding and
Specifying Net Names” on page 65.
If current mode is selected it is the name of a voltage source
through which the output current is measured. The simulation
will calculate the gain for every circuit source to this
current.
Reference node Optional and only available in voltage mode. Output voltage is
referred to this node. This is assumed to be ground if it is
omitted.
Source name Optional. Input impedance to this source will be calculated if
specified.

Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis

See “Multi-step Analyses” on page 258.

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See Also

Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.TF.

11.9.2 Plotting Transfer Function Analysis Results

See “Plotting Transfer Function Analysis Results” on page 322.

11.9.3 Example

Perform transfer function frequency sweep on the following circuit

The results:

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 11.10. Sensitivity

All of the above waveforms were created with a single analysis.

11.10 Sensitivity

This control instructs the simulator to perform a DC sensitivity analysis. In this analysis mode, a DC
operating point is first calculated then the linearised sensitivity of the specified circuit voltage or current to
every model and device parameter is evaluated. The results are output to a file (SENS.TXT by default but
can be changed with SENSFILE option) and they are also placed in a new data group. The latter allows the
data to be viewed in the message window (type Display) at the command line and can also be accessed
from scripts for further analysis.

11.10.1 Setting up a Sensitivity Analysis

Place a control of the following form in the F11 window:

.SENS V(nodename [,refnodename])| I(sourcename)

nodename Output node to which sensitivities are calculated

refnodename Reference node. Ground if omitted
sourcename Voltage source to measure output current to which sensitivities are
calculated.

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11.11 Convergence

Simulations sometimes fail to converge - that is the simulation aborts before completion with one of these
messages:
• No convergence in transient analysis
• No convergence in DC analysis
• Cannot find DC operating point - Iteration limit exceeded in pseudo transient analysis
• Cannot find DC operating point - No convergence in pseudo transient analysis
Convergence failures can be fixed by setting appropriate simulation options or by making changes to the
circuit or by making changes to the models. Sometimes a combination of all three is required. See the
following sections for more information:
• “Convergence Options” on page 250
• “Convergence Failure Report” on page 253
• “Convergence Static Analysis” on page 253

11.11.1 Convergence Options

Select menu Simulator | Convergence Options. You will be presented with this dialog box:

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This dialog allows to set a number of simulation options that can help simulation convergence. These
options sometimes have a penalty, either they slow down the simulation or in some way degrade accuracy.
These are described below

Item Description
Iteration mode Selects solver iteration and mode. Each of these options improves
convergence at the expense of simulation speed. Extended
precision mode provides a worthwhile convergence improvement
with only a modest speed loss.

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Item Description
Tolerances Setting current tolerance to 1n sometimes fixes convergence
problems. You should not increase this setting if your circuit has very
small currents
Time step The Minimum Time step has a default value that will not exceed
1fs. Lower values sometimes help transient analysis especially if
using quad precision iteration modes. Increasing this value does not
improve simulation speed.
Slew rate for discontinuous This will only have an effect if you use models that contain
sources discontinuous sources. These are common in switching power
controllers
Shunt capacitance This is often effective especially if the Apply shunt capacitance
globally box is checked. However, this option is effectively
modifying your circuit so should always be used with care. Note that
this option will only benefit transient analysis

Iteration Mode

The iteration mode trades off simulation speed with numerical noise. Numerical noise is one of the major
causes of simulation failure in transient analysis. Numerical noise is the noise induced as a result of
uncertainly in a calculation due to the limited precision of the arithmetic and is sometimes referred to as
round-off error. It is similar in concept to quantization noise that is prevalent in data converters. Numerical
noise increases as the time step reduces due to the behaviour of reactive components and can reach levels
that exceed the tolerance parameters that determine when convergence has been reached.
SIMetrix provides a range of iteration modes that reduce numerical noise by employing a higher precision
in its numerical calculations. In addition SIMetrix offers an advanced iteration mode which lowers
numerical noise by employing a more efficient iterative equation.

Mode Typical numerical Typical simulation Advanced Precision

noise factor run time iteration
factor
Normal 1x 1x No Double/Extended
Advanced ÷ 100 + 5% Yes Double/Extended
iteration
Extended ÷ 10000 + 10%-30% Yes Extended
precision
Extended/quad ÷ 1e18 2x to 8x Yes Extended/Quad
precision
Quad ÷ 1e18 4x to 10x Yes Quad
precision

Double precision has a decimal resolution of approximately 16 digits. Extended precision has a decimal
resolution of approximately 19 digits. Quad precision has a decimal resolution of approximately 34 digits

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11.11.2 Convergence Failure Report

The convergence failure report provides details of items that caused the convergence failure. To create a
convergence report, select menu Simulator | Convergence Report. The report is divided into the
following sections:

Nodes which failed Lists circuit nodes whose failure to converge led to the
to converge on the final step simulation aborting. These should usually be the initial
focus for investigation. These nodes will be highlighted on
the schematic if at the top level of the hierarchy and this
often shows the general area that is giving trouble
Devices which failed Devices whose failure to converge led to the simulation
to converge on the final step aborting
Items which failed The items listed here did not necessarily lead to the
to converge earlier in the run failure. However, devices or nodes that often fail during a
run may be worth investigating. The Count value
indicates how often the item failed.
Nodes which overflowed If a node voltage exceeds a preset limit, the iteration is
during the run aborted and then repeated with a smaller step. This is not
necessarily a cause for concern but if the same node
frequently overflows, this could be indicative of some
problem
Static audit of circuit Result of a static analysis of the circuit. See below for
further details

11.11.3 Convergence Static Analysis

The convergence static analysis feature performs an analysis of the circuit to identify items that can give
trouble and could lead to convergence failure. The static analysis is automatically performed as part of the
convergence failure report but may also be run on its own before or after a simulation using the menu
Simulator | Convergence Static Audit. If run before a simulation, a dummy run of the simulation
will be required and you will be prompted whether you would like this to be performed. This will load the
circuit into the simulator but not actually start the run.
The static analysis will identify the following potential problems:

Code Description
IfDiscontinuity Arbitrary source expression in the form
IF(expression, constant, constant). These
are discontinuous as they switch abruptly from one value
to another with no time definition. This can lead to
convergence failure
SgnDiscontinuity Use of Sgn (sign) function in an arbitrary source. These
can be discontinuous although it depends on how they are
used. If this is reported in an Infineon MOSFET or IGBT
model then it can be safely ignored
StpDiscontinuity Use of U() or Stp() functions in an arbitrary source. Can
be discontinuous but depends on how they are used
FloorDiscontinuity Use of floor function in an arbitrary source. This is
discontinuous and often gives convergence
problems

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Code Description
DivideByZero A divide by zero condition was detected in an arbitrary
source
DivideByVar This means something of the form expression/V(n1) or
expression/(V(n1,n2) or expression/(V(n1)-V(n2)) or
expression/I(v). In each case the V() or I() access function
can - and usually does - return zero at some point leading
to a divide-by-zero error
ValueTooSmall A model or device parameter was set to a value that is too
small. An example is the N parameter for a diode model.
Small values are often used in models in order to make a
diode with a small voltage drop but this can lead to
difficulty in some situations.
ValueTooLarge A model or device parameter was set to a value that is too
small. Large capacitors trigger this failure for
example

11.12 Data Handling and Keeps

Keeps form part of a system to limit the amount of data that is output during a simulation. For some
designs the data output can be too great to fit in the available disk space. In the case of multi-core
multi-step runs, it is possible for the rate at which data is generated to exceed the write speed of the disk
system leading to slow run times. In these situations, the data output needs to be restricted.
By default, all voltage and currents shown in schematics are saved. This includes data from child
schematics in hierarchical designs but excludes signals inside ASCII subcircuit models.
To restrict data output you can use the Data tab within the choose analysis dialog box:
1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...
2. Click on the Data tab. This will show the following:

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11.12.1 Scope Options

In the following description, ASCII Subcircuits means subcircuits that are not created by the SIMetrix
hierarchical schematic editor. The SIMetrix hierarchical schematic editor uses SPICE subcircuits (using
.SUBCKT) as its base but decorates the subcircuit definitions with a special comment to distinguish them
from subcircuits from other sources. ASCII subcircuits would typically include models for devices such as
opamps along with foundry models for integrated circuit processes.

Everything All data will be saved including signals inside ASCII

subcircuits.
Top level & hierarchy Data from the root schematic and all hierarchical child
schematics will be saved. Data for fixed probes and keeps (see
below) will also be saved. Data inside ASCII subcircuits will
not be saved.
Top level only Only signals from the root schematic will be saved. Data for
fixed probes and keeps (see below) will also be saved.
Probes and keeps only Only signals attached to fixed probes or keeps (see below) will
be saved.

11.12.2 Signals Options

Signals are classed as voltages, currents or digital. Digital signals are those created by the event driven
simulator and in some cases by the Verilog-HDL interface. Digital signals generally take up much less

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space as data is only stored when they change state whereas for analog signals data is stored on every time
step.
In most applications disabling the saving of currents will reduce the amount of data saved by a very
significant amount and this may be sufficient to resolve any problems caused by large amounts of data
being saved. In this case current keeps may be used to save specific currents as required.
With some or all data output inhibited the options described above, you can add keep symbols to the
schematic to select specific voltages or currents to be saved.
Keep symbols use the underlying simulator statement .KEEP. For information on the comprehensive
features of .KEEP, please refer to the Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.KEEP.

11.12.3 To Add a Voltage Keep to a Schematic

1. From the “Part Selector” on page 126 navigate to Probes and Connectors → Keeps → Voltage
Keep.
2. Place device on desired schematic net.

11.12.4 To Add a Current Keep to a Schematic

1. From the “Part Selector” on page 126 navigate to Probes and Connectors → Keeps → Current
Keep.
2. Place device directly on a device pin.

11.13 Simulator Options

The simulator features a large number of option settings although, fortunately, the vast majority can be left
at their default values for nearly all applications. A few option settings can be set via the Choose Analysis
dialog box and these are described in the following sections. The remainder can be controlled using the
simulator’s .OPTIONS control details of which may be found in the Simulator Reference
Manual/Command Reference/.OPTIONS.

11.13.1 Setting Simulator Options

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select Options tab. The following will be displayed:

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Note that the Verilog-HDL group will only be displayed in versions with the Verilog-HDL feature

Tolerances

Relative Tolerance Controls the overall accuracy of the simulation. The default
value is 0.001 and this is adequate for most applications. If you
are simulating oscillator circuits it is recommended to reduce
this to 0.0001 or lower.
Increasing this value will speed up the simulation but often
degrades accuracy to an unacceptable level.
Current Tolerance Sets the minimum tolerance for current. It may be beneficial to
increase this for circuits with large currents.
Voltage Tolerance Sets the minimum tolerance for voltage. It may be beneficial to
increase this for circuits with large voltages.

Circuit Conditions

Temperature Circuit temperature in °C.

Initial Condition Force Resistance Initial conditions apply a voltage to a selected node with a force
resistance that defaults to 1Ω. This option allows that force
resistance to be changed.

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List File Output

Expand subcircuits If checked, the listing of expanded subcircuits will be output to

the list file. This is sometime useful for diagnosing
problems.
Parameters Controls the level
of model and device parameter output to the list file. Options are:
None No Output
Brief Only values defined by an expression are output
Given The default. Values that are explicitly defined are output

Monte Carlo Seed

Seed for pseudo random number generator used to generate random numbers for tolerances. See
“Multi-step Analyses” on page 258. If Enable check box is unchecked, a seed value will be chosen by the
simulator.

Verilog-HDL Options

This section will only show if Verilog-HDL simulation is available for your version of SIMetrix.

Open console for Verilog When the Verilog simulator runs, a console window will be
process displayed showing any output messages from the simulator. See
“Open Console for Verilog Process” on page 419 for
details.
Verilog simulator Simulator that will be used to run Verilog-HDL. See “Verilog
Simulator” on page 419 for details.
Timing resolution Time resolution in Verilog simulator. See “Timing Resolution”
on page 419 for details.

11.14 Multi-step Analyses

The analysis modes, Transient, AC, DC, Noise and Transfer Function can be setup to automatically repeat
while varying some circuit parameter. Multi-step analyses are defined using the same 6 sweep modes used
for the individual swept analyses in addition to snapshot mode. See “Transient Snapshots” on page 228 for
details of snapshots. The 6 modes are briefly described below. Note that Monte Carlo analysis is the
subject of a whole chapter see “Monte Carlo Analysis” on page 409.
• Device. Steps the principal value of a device. E.g. the resistance of a resistor, voltage of a voltage
source etc. The part reference of the device must be specified.
• Model parameter. Steps the value of a single model parameter. The name of the model and the
parameter name must be specified.
• Temperature. Steps global circuit temperature.
• Parameter. Steps a parameter that may be referenced in an expression.
• Frequency. Steps global frequency for AC, Noise and Transfer Function analyses.
• Monte carlo. Repeats run a specified number of times with tolerances enabled.

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As well as 6 different modes there are 3 different sweep methods which can be applied to all modes except
Monte Carlo. These are:
• Linear
• Decade
• List
The simulator also offers an Octal sweep method but this is not supported by the Choose Analysis Dialog.

11.14.1 Setting up a Multi-step Analysis

Define Transient, AC, DC, Noise or Transfer Function as required then check Enable Multi-step and
press Define... button. For transient/DC analysis you will see the following dialog box. Other analysis
modes will be the same except that the frequency radio button will be enabled.

Enter parameter as described below. Only the boxes for which entries are required will be enabled. In the
above example, only the Number of steps box is enabled as this is all that is required for Monte Carlo
mode.

Sweep Mode

Choice of 6 modes as described above.

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Step Parameters

Define range of values. If Decade is selected you must specify the number of steps per decade while if
Linear is specified, the total number of steps must be entered. If List is selected, you must define a
sequence of values by pressing Define List....

Number of cores On multi-core computers, the work for multi-step analyses may
be split between multiple cores to speed up the simulation. See
“Using Multiple Cores for Multi-step Analyses” on page 260
for more information.

Parameters

The parameters required vary according to the mode as follows:

Mode Parameters
Device Device name (e.g. V1)
Parameter Parameter name
Model Parameter Model name Model parameter name
Temperature None
Frequency (not DC or transient) None
Monte Carlo None
Snapshot See “Transient Snapshots” on page 228

11.14.2 Using Multiple Cores for Multi-step Analyses

The work for multi-step analyses can be split between multiple processor cores to speed up the simulation.
The maximum number cores that may be used is dependent on your license and on the number of
processor cores that your system is equipped with. The speed improvement that can achieved by this
method can vary due to a number of factors but is typically of the order of 75% of the core count. E.g. if
you have 4 cores, the speedup may be about 3 fold.

Setting up a Multi-core Multi-step Simulation

Set up a multi-step simulation in the normal way but set the Number of Cores edit box to the number of
cores you wish to use. You will not be able to set the number of cores to larger than a certain value
depending on your system and your license. These values are shown below the number of cores selector.

Running a Multi-core Multi-step Simulation

Run the simulation in the normal way. The simulator status box will show a single entry for each core
being used. See below

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The above shows the status box showing for a 1000 step Monte Carlo analysis using 8 cores. Each line
shows the status for each of the 8 processes. Apart from sending back status information, each of the 8
processes runs completely independently and writes to its own data file. When the run is complete the data
from each processes will be linked to the main data file. Subsequently you can plot and analyse the results
in exactly the same way as you would a single core run.

Using Fixed Probes with Multi-core Multi-step Simulation

Fixed probes usually plot the simulation results incrementally, that is the plots are updated as the
simulation proceeds. With Multi-core Multi-step runs, only the curves created by the primary process are
plotted during the run. The remaining curves will be plotted automatically once the run is complete.

Data Handling with Multi-core Multi-step

With multiple processes running in parallel all writing data to a single disk, it is possible in some cases for
a disk write bottleneck to develop whereby the simulation appears to hang temporarily. This problem is
particularly acute with large circuits where a large number of signals are being saved. Each signal being
saved is allocated a buffer in main memory and that buffer is written to disk when it is full. This works
well if the buffers are large enough but with large circuits and many cores the buffers will be smaller and
the time taken to write them out will become dominated by disk seek times.

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It is not easy to predict in a given situation whether the problem will arise. If you are running a medium to
large circuit (over 2000 nodes) and are using 8 or more cores you should consider restricting the data
saved. See “Data Handling and Keeps” on page 254.

11.14.3 Example 1

Refer to circuit in “Plotting Results of Noise Analysis, Example 2” on page 243. In the previous example
we swept the tail current to find the optimum value to minimise noise for a 1K source resistance. Here we
extend the example further so that the run is repeated for a range of source resistances. The source
resistance is varied by performing a parameter step on sourceR. Here is what the dialog settings are for the
multi-step run:

This does a decade sweep varying sourceR from 1K to 100k with 2 steps per decade. This is the result we
get:

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11.14.4 Example 2

The following circuit is a simple model of a full bridge switching amplifier used to deliver a controlled
current into an inductance.

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Sources V2 and V3 have been defined to be dependent on a parameter named duty which specifies the duty
cycle of the switching waveform. See EXAMPLES/BRIDGE/BRIDGE.sxsch.
This was setup to perform a multi step analysis with the parameter duty stepped from 0.1 to 0.9. This is the
result:

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11.15 Safe Operating Area Testing

11.15.1 Overview

Safe Operating Area (SOA) is not a separate analysis mode, but a feature that can be enabled with DC or
Transient analyses. With SOA testing, you can set maximum and minimum limits for any simulation
quantity and the simulator will display when those limits are violated.
To use SOA testing, you must do two things:
1. Define the SOA limits for the models or devices you are using.
2. Enable and configure SOA testing.
Item 1 above is covered in detail in the Simulator Reference Manual - see section titled Simulator
Reference Manual/Command Reference/.SETSOA and also the LIMIT parameter described in the section
titled Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.MODEL. Setting up simple limit tests using
some simple schematic symbols is described below.

11.15.2 Defining Simple Limit Tests

Schematic Symbols

Three schematic symbols are provided that allow the definition of simple limit tests that report the
following:
1. Over and under voltage on a single node.

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2. Over and under current on a single device pin.

3. Over and under differential voltage on a node pair.
Use the following menus to place these devices:
Place | Probe | Watch Voltage
Place | Probe | Watch Current
Place | Probe | Watch Differential Voltage
Each of these symbols can be edited in the usual way. Each has three parameters that specify
1. The minimum limit. Use a large negative number (e.g. -1e100) if you don’t wish to specify a
minimum limit.
2. The maximum limit. Use a large positive number (e.g. 1e100) if you don’t wish to specify a
maximum limit.
3. A label. The default value is %REF% that will resolve to the device’s part reference. You can enter
any literal value instead.

Setting Up SOA Testing

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select the SOA tab.
3. Under SOA mode choose either Summary output or Full output. In summary output mode, only
the first violation for each SOA device will be reported. In full output mode, all violations are
reported.
4. In Results to: choose where you would like the results reported. Note that writing results to the
message window is a time consuming operation and you avoid selecting this option if you are
expecting a large number of violations.

Running Simulation

Run the simulation in the normal way. If there are any violations, the results will be reported in the
location or locations specified in the Results to: section.

11.15.3 Advanced SOA Limit Testing

The simulator control .SETSOA allows much more sophisticated definitions for SOA limits. In particular,
you can define limits for all devices belonging to a specified model. Suppose that you are using a BJT
model that has a Vcb limit of 15V. While you could place a differential voltage watch device across each
instance of this model, this would be time consuming and error prone. Instead, you can define a single
.SETSOA control that refers to the model name of the device. The simulator will then automatically set up
the limit test for every instance of that model.
You would usually enter a .SETSOA control in the schematic editor’s F11 window. See “Manual Entry of
Simulator Commands” on page 43 for details. Refer to Simulator Reference Manual/Command
Reference/.SETSOA for details about .SETSOA .
It is also possible to set up an SOA specification for a model within the .MODEL control. Again, see
Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.MODEL.

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Chapter 12

SIMPLIS Analysis Modes

The SIMPLIS simulator is supplied with the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS product. For information on SIMPLIS see
“What is SIMPLIS?” on page 3.
In this chapter we explain the analysis modes available with the SIMPLIS simulator. There is more
information on SIMPLIS analysis modes including full details of the netlist commands required to invoke
them, in the SIMPLIS Reference Manual.
To setup a SIMPLIS simulation, you must first set the schematic editor to SIMPLIS mode. See
“Simulation Modes - SIMetrix or SIMPLIS” on page 32 for details. To set up a SIMPLIS analysis select
menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... You will see this dialog box:

SIMPLIS offers three analysis modes namely Transient, AC and Periodic Operating Point or POP. These

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analysis modes are described in detail in the SIMPLIS Reference Manual. The meaning of each of the
controls is described in this chapter.
As with SIMetrix, you can also enter the raw netlist command in the F11 window. The contents of this
window remain synchronised with the Choose Analysis dialog box settings so you can freely switch
between the two methods.

12.1 Transient Analysis

SIMPLIS transient analysis is similar to SIMetrix transient analysis.

12.1.1 Setting up a Transient Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select Transient check box on the right.
3. Select Transient tab at the top. Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

Analysis Parameters

Stop Time The finish time of a transient analysis.

Start Saving Data The data required to create plots will start being output at this time. (Start
@ plotting data @ under Plot data output has a similar function but is subtly
different. See below for details)

Plot data output

Number of Plot The total number of points to be generated. These will be evenly spaced
Points within the start and stop times.

Advanced...

Pressing the Advanced button opens the following dialog

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Snapshot output

SIMPLIS has the ability to save its internal state in order to allow a run to be repeated from a certain time
point. This allows a run to be continued from where it previously left off. (Similar to SIMetrix transient
restart facility). The internal saved states are known as snapshots.
SIMPLIS always saves a snapshot at the end of every run so if you start a new run of the same circuit with
a start time (Start saving data at t= ) equal to the stop time of the previous run, SIMPLIS will not need to
rerun the start and instead will load the snapshot state. SIMPLIS will do this automatically.
The entries in this dialog section allow you to specify the saving of snapshots at other times as well as the
end of a run. This might be useful if you wanted to restart a run at some before the end of the previous run.

Enable snapshot output Check this box to enable saving of snapshot data. (Snapshots
are always saved at the end of a run)
Snapshot interval This is the minimum duration between snapshots.
Max snapshots This is the maximum number of snapshots that will be saved.
This setting overrides Snapshot interval if there is a
conflict.

Average Topology Duration

SIMPLIS calculates the average time it spends in each topology over a defined number of topologies. If
this value falls below a minimum value the simulation aborts. The entries in the Average Topology
Duration group define the parameters for this feature as follows:

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Minimum If the average time falls below this threshold the simulation will
abort
Measurement window Number of windows over which the average time will be
calculated

The purpose of this is to resolve problems with the simulation apparently getting ‘stuck’ in situations
where there are unexpected very high speed oscillations. If this happens you may wish to increase the
minimum time or reduce the measurement window as appropriate.

12.2 Periodic Operating Point (POP)

Periodic Operating Point (POP) finds a steady state operating point of switched systems that are
periodically driven or self-oscillating. The predominant application of this analysis mode is to rapidly find
the settled condition of a switching power supply without having to simulate the entire power up sequence.
This dramatically speeds up the analysis of design’s behaviour under different load conditions.
For further details of POP analysis see the SIMPLIS Reference Manual.

12.2.1 Setting up a POP Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select POP check box on the right.
3. Select POP tab at the top:

Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

POP Parameters

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Triggering - Use “POP Trigger” POP analysis requires a trigger signal to indicate the start of
Schematic Device each periodic cycle. The best way to define this is using a
special schematic part. To place this select menu Place |
Analog Functions | POP Trigger. You should check this
box if you are using this part.
Trigger gate If you do not use the schematic POP trigger device (see above)
you must specify a suitable part in this edit box. Enter the full
part reference of the device.
Trigger Condition The polarity of the trigger edge.

Conditions

Max. period You should set this to a value that is larger than the expected
period of your circuit’s switching cycle. During each run
SIMPLIS expects to see valid trigger conditions. However, if
there is a fault in the design of the circuit or a fault in the
definition of the trigger conditions, it is possible that none will
be detected. The Max. period prevents SIMPLIS from carrying
on indefinitely in such an event.
Cycles before launching POP SIMPLIS will run a number of switching cycles in a normal
transient analysis before starting the periodic point algorithm.
This can speed up convergence of POP or in some cases make
the difference between POP converging and not converging. If
you find POP does not converge, increasing this value can
sometimes help.

Advanced - POP Options

Press the Advanced... button for more POP options:

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Convergence Sets the convergence criteria for the periodic operating point
analysis. The convergence criteria is satisfied when the relative
change in each state variable, between the start and end of a
switching cycle, is less than this parameter.
Iteration limit Sets the maximum number of iterations for the periodic
operating point analysis.
Number of cycles output After a successful POP analysis, and if there is no transient
analysis specified, SIMPLIS will generate the steady-state
time-domain waveforms for an integral number switching
cycles. This option sets the number of cycles.
Use snapshot from previous transient If checked, POP is instructed to take advantage of the last data
analysis point of a previous transient simulation, assuming the circuit
and the initial conditions remained the same between the two
simulation runs.
Output POP progress If checked the progress of the POP solution will be output to the
data file for plotting etc. This is useful for debugging.
Enable automatic transient analysis If POP fails, a transient analysis automatically follows. This is
after a failed POP to help diagnose the cause of POP failure but is also useful in
some cases where a subsequent transient may settle sufficiently
to perform a study of load transient behaviour. For further
details, refer to the SIMPLIS Reference Manual. See SIMPLIS
Reference Manual/Simplis-POP/tatements Relating to POP
Analysis/.POP/Statement for POP Analysis/Behaviour of POP
Analysis after POP Convergence Failure.
Use default transient Run time after failed POP. See above.
runtime/Specify

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12.3 AC Analysis

AC is a small signal frequency domain analysis mode applied to a switching circuit. Please refer to the
SIMPLIS Reference Manual for full details of this analysis mode. Note that AC analysis requires a POP
analysis (see above) to be also defined.

12.3.1 Setting up an AC Analysis

1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...

2. Select AC check box on the right. Note that the POP check box is automatically checked when AC
is checked.
3. Select AC tab at the top:

Enter parameters as described in the following sections.

AC Sweep Parameters

Start frequency Enter the start frequency for the AC sweep

Stop frequency Enter the stop frequency for the AC sweep
Points per decade/Number of points If a decade sweep is selected enter the number of points
required for each decade. If a linear sweep is selected enter the
total number of points for the analysis.
Decade/Linear Select type of sweep.

12.4 SIMPLIS Options

Save options

All If selected, all voltages and currents will be saved.

Voltages only If selected, only node voltages will be saved
Probes only If selected only voltages and currents that are explicitly probed will be
output.

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Other Options

Force New This tells SIMPLIS to ignore any state information that it may have stored
Analysis and which could be used to speed up the run. For example, any stored
snapshots (see above) will not be used if this is selected.
No Forced Output If checked, SIMPLIS will not force a data point before and after every
Data switching instant.
Under most circumstances, this option should remain turned OFF. For
very long simulations that generate extremely large data sets, the
waveform viewer may be slow responding to user commands. In such
cases, turning ON the NO_FORCED_DATA option will reduce the
number of simulation data points displayed in the waveform viewer during
each switching cycle. For long simulations that involve many switching
instants in one switching cycle this reduction can be significant. Enabling
this option in no way degrades the accuracy of the SIMPLIS solution, but
it can potentially reduce the fidelity of the displayed waveforms within
each switching cycle.

12.5 Multi-step and Monte Carlo Analyses

12.5.1 Overview

The SIMetrix environment provides a facility to run automatic multiple SIMPLIS analyses. Two modes
are available namely parameter step and Monte Carlo.
In parameter step mode, the run is repeated while setting a parameter value at each step. The parameter
may be used within any expression to describe a device or model value.
In Monte Carlo mode runs are simply repeated the specified number of times with random distribution
functions enabled. Distribution functions return unity in normal analysis modes but in Monte Carlo mode
they return a random number according to a specified tolerance and distribution. Any model or device
parameter may be defined in terms of such functions allowing an analysis of manufacturing yields to be
performed.

12.5.2 Comparison Between SIMetrix and SIMPLIS

The multi-step analysis modes offered in SIMetrix simulation mode achieve the same end result as the
SIMPLIS multi-step modes but their method of implementation is quite different.
SIMetrix multi-step analyses are implemented within the simulator while the SIMPLIS multi-step analyses
are implemented by the front end using the scripting language. The different approaches trade off speed
with flexibility. The approach used for SIMPLIS is more flexible while that used for SIMetrix is faster.

12.5.3 Setting up a SIMPLIS Multi-step Parameter Analysis

An Example

We will begin with an example and will use one of the supplied example schematics. First open the
schematic Examples/SIMPLIS/Manual_Examples/Example1/example1.sxsch. We will set up the system
to repeat the analysis three times while varying R3. Proceed as follows:
1. First we must define R3’s value in terms of an expression relating to a parameter. To do this, select
R3 then press shift-F7. Enter the following:

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{r3_value}

r3_value is an arbitrary parameter name. You could also use ‘R3’.

2. Select menu Simulator | Select Multi-step...
3. Enter ‘r3_value’ for Parameter Name and set Start value to 20, Stop value to 100 and Number
of steps to 3. This should be what you see:

4. Press Run.
The analysis will be repeated three times for values of r3_value of 20, 60 and 100. The resistor value R3 is
defined in terms of r3_value so in effect we are stepping R3 through that range.
In most cases you will probably want to step just one part in a similar manner as described above. But you
can also use the parameter value to define any number of part or model values.
If you now run a normal single analysis, you will find that SIMPLIS reports an error as it is unable to
resolve the value for R3. This can be overcome by specifying the value using a .VAR control. Add this

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line:
.VAR r3_value=100

to the F11 window. This line defines the value of R3 when a normal single step analysis is run.

Options

The above example illustrates a linear multi-step parameter run. You can also define a decade
(logarithmic) run and also a list based run that selects parameter values from a list. To set up a list run,
select the List radio button, then press Define List... Enter the values for the list using the dialog box.

12.5.4 Setting Up a SIMPLIS Monte Carlo Analysis

An Example

To set up a Monte Carlo analysis. you must first define part tolerances. This is done by defining each value
as an expression using one of the functions Gauss(), Unif or WC(). Here is another example. Open the
same example circuit as above then make the following changes:
1. Select R3, press shift-F7 then enter the value
{100*GAUSS(0.05)}

2. Select C2, press shift-F7 then enter the value

{100u*GAUSS(0.2)}

3. Delete the fixed probes on the V1 input and on R1. (This is just to prevent too many unnecessary
curves being plotted)
The above will give R3 a 5% tolerance and C2 a 20% tolerance with a 3 Sigma Gaussian distribution. Now
set up the Monte Carlo run:
1. Select menu Monte Carlo | Setup Monte Carlo...
2. Enter the desired number of steps in Number of steps. To demonstrate the concepts, 10 will be
sufficient, but usually a Monte Carlo run would be a minimum of around 30 steps
3. Press Run
You should see a series of curves build up as the run progresses.

12.5.5 Multi-core Multi-step SIMPLIS Analyses

If your system and your license permit, you can specify multiple processor cores to be employed for
multi-step analyses. This can substantially speed up the run. For example, suppose you have a 4 core
system and wish to run a 100 step Monte Carlo analysis. The 100 steps may be split across the 4 cores
each doing 25 steps each. In most cases this improve the run time by at least a factor of 3.
In this mode of operation, multiple SIMPLIS processes run independently with each one creating its own
data file.

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To setup a Multi-core Multi-step SIMPLIS Analysis

Setup the multi-step analysis as normal. In the Define SIMPLIS Multi Step Analysis dialog box set the
Number of cores to the desired value as shown below. Note that the maximum value you can set is
determined by your license and system. For allowed number of cores for each product type, see
“Simulation and Multi-core Processors” on page 224.

Running a SIMPLIS multi-core multi-step analysis

Start the run in the usual way for a multi-step run. You will see the usual SIMPLIS status box but with the
difference that there will be multiple tabs, one for each process running as shown below:

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You can watch the progress of each process using the tabs at the top of the status box.

Using Fixed Probes with SIMPLIS Multi-core Multi-step Analyses

Fixed probes usually update the waveform viewer incrementally. That is, the display is updated while the
simulation proceeds. This does not happen for multi-core multi-step runs. Instead, the graphs will be
updated when the run is complete.

12.5.6 Tolerances and Distribution Functions

Distribution Functions

Tolerances are defined using distribution functions. For SIMPLIS Monte Carlo there are just three
functions available. These are defined below.

Function Name Description

GAUSS(tol) Returns a random with a mean of 1.0 and a standard deviation of tol/3. Random
values have a Gaussian or Normal distribution.
UNIF(tol) Returns a random value in the range 1.0 +/- tol with a uniform
distribution
WC(tol) Returns either 1.0-tol or 1.0+tol chosen at random.

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The ‘L’ and ‘E’ suffix functions available in SIMetrix Monte Carlo analysis are not available for SIMPLIS
operation.

Lot and Device Tolerances

No special provision has been made to implement so called ‘Lot’ tolerances which model tolerances that
track. However, it is nevertheless possible to implement Lot tolerances by defining a parameter as a
random variable. Suppose for example that you have a resistor network consisting of 4 resistors of 1k with
an absolute tolerance of 2% but the resistors match to within 0.2%. The absolute tolerance is the ‘lot’
tolerance. This is how it can be implemented:
1. Assign a random variable using the .VAR preprocessor control. (You cannot use .PARAM in
SIMPLIS simulations). E.g.:
.VAR rv1 = {UNIF(0.02)}

2. Give each resistor in the network a value of:

{1K * rv1 * UNIF(0.002)}

rv1 will be updated on each Monte Carlo step but will always have the same value in each place where it is
used.

12.5.7 Monte Carlo Log File

When a Monte Carlo analysis is run a log file is created which details which device values were changed
and what they were changed to. Two versions of the log file are created; one is plain text and is called
simplis_mclog.log and the other is in HTML format and called simplis_mclog.html.
To view the HTML log file, select menu Monte Carlo | View Log File
An example is shown below:

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12.5.8 Monte Carlo Seed Values

Introduction

The random values used in Monte Carlo analysis are generated using a pseudo-random number generator.
This generates a sequence of numbers that appear to be random and have the statistical properties of
random numbers. However, the sequence used is in fact repeatable by setting a defined seed value. The
sequence generated will always be the same as long as the same starting seed value is used.
This makes it possible to repeat a specific Monte Carlo step as long as the seed value is known.
SIMetrix/SIMPLIS explicitly sets a random seed value at the start of each Monte Carlo run and records
this in a file. A facility exists to explicitly set the seed value instead of using a random seed and this makes
it possible to repeat a specific step. This is useful in cases where one or more Monte Carlo steps show
unexplained behaviour and further investigation is needed.
This is also useful if you wish to find the values of the parts used for a particular Monte Carlo step.

Finding the Seed Value

To find the seed value of a particular step, follow this procedure:

1. Run normal Monte Carlo without seed definition if you have not done so already.
2. Find the run number of the result whose seed you require (so that you can repeat that step). You can
find the run number from a plotted waveform from the Monte Carlo run. Plot a result as normal then
position the small cursor on the curve of interest. The run number will be displayed in the status bar
on the right.

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3. Select menu Monte Carlo | View Log File to show the log file. The seed value is shown against
the run number. See “Monte Carlo Log File” on page 279

Using the Seed Value

You can use the seed value to repeat the run associated with it. Follow this procedure:
1. Select menu Simulator | Setup Multi-step. In the Monte Carlo Seed group check the Enable
box and enter the seed value obtained from step 3 in the above section. Set the Number of steps to
1.
2. Run the simulation as normal.

Finding Part Values Used

The part values used for a particular step can be found by studying the .deck file that is created for every
SIMPLIS run. To do this, follow the procedure for finding and using the seed value as described above.
Then after the single run is complete locate the file with the .deck extension. This will be located in the
SIMPLIS_DATA folder and will have a name the same as the top level schematic but with the extension
.deck. So if your schematic is called DC-DC-Converter.sxsch, the deck file will be called
DC-DC-Converter.deck and will be located in the SIMPLIS_DATA folder.
The .deck file is an ASCII file that list the parts in the design with their connections and values. Its format
is similar to a SPICE netlist. The picture below illustrates the process of matching a part in the schematic
to an entry in the .deck file:

In the above diagram, note the line for C5 shows a value of 2.2797033192142e-008 in the .deck file

12.5.9 Performance Analysis and Histograms

Once a SIMPLIS multi-step or Monte Carlo analysis is complete, the data can be analysed in exactly the
same way as for SIMetrix multi-step analyses. This includes the performance analysis and histogram
features. For more information, see “Performance Analysis and Histograms” on page 372.

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12.6 Initial Condition Back-annotation

12.6.1 Overview

On each run, SIMPLIS generates a file called the initial condition file. This contains a sequence of
SIMPLIS netlist commands that initialises a circuit to the state achieved at the end of the run. This allows
a new run to continue from where a previous run completed.
The initial condition file can be applied by including it in the netlist for a new run and in some instances
this may be the most convenient method. However, it is also possible to annotate the schematic with the
initial condition information. This has some advantages:
1. The initial conditions back annotated to top level capacitors and inductors will also be recognised in
SIMetrix simulation mode.
2. Back annotated initial conditions are attached to schematic instances and will be faithfully
reproduced if, for example, a schematic block is copied and pasted to another schematic.
Please read all of the sections below on back-annotation and ensure you correctly understand all the issues
involved.

12.6.2 How to Back-annotate a Schematic

Simply select menu Simulator | Initial Conditions | Back-annotate. You will notice a second or two of
activity in the schematic and then the operation is complete.
You should note that SIMetrix/SIMPLIS does not distinguish between initial conditions that are
back-annotated and initial conditions that are applied manually. After running the back-annotation
algorithm, you will not be able to restore the initial condition value to those set before. You can, however,
use Undo in the normal way and in fact the back-annotation operation will be reversed with a single Undo
operation.

12.6.3 Disable/Enable Initial Conditions

To disable initial conditions select menu Simulator | Initial Conditions | Disable. Note that this will
disable all initial conditions defined at the top level, not just ones that are back-annotated. To re-enable use
the menu Simulator | Initial Conditions | Enable.

12.6.4 Back-annotation Errors

If you get the error message “The following instances have initial condition
values but do not support back annotation” it means that the SIMPLIS_TEMPLATE
property is protected for the instances listed. To fix the problem remove the protection on this property.
You will need to open the symbol in the symbol editor to do this.
In order to apply back-annotation in a generic fashion, SIMetrix needs to modify the
SIMPLIS_TEMPLATE property, but cannot do so if it protected hence the error message. You shouldn’t
get this error with any standard symbols from the SIMetrix v5 library or later, but you may get it with your
own symbols or symbols from an earlier library.

12.6.5 Editing Back-annotated Initial Conditions

How you change the value of an back-annotated initial condition depends on the device. If the device
already has a user editable initial condition, then simply use the standard method. With capacitors and

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inductors, this is simply done using F7 or the Edit Part... menu. With some other devices, the initial
condition value may be found in the Edit Additional Parameters menu.
For devices that do not have user editable initial conditions, you should use the Edit Additional Parameters
menu. This applies to most subcircuit models and to all hierarchical blocks.

12.6.6 How Does it Work?

The initial condition file specifies the value of initial conditions for each device that requires them. This
information must then be applied to each schematic instance in an appropriate manner. Two basic
approaches are used to apply the initial condition values depending on the device namely the specialised
method and the generic method.
In the specialised method, a special script is called which edits one or more properties of the schematic
instance. With a capacitor for example, the VALUE property is edited so that the IC parameter is specified
or modified. Something similar is done for inductors. This action is done using a special script specified
by the INIT_SCRIPT property. In the case of the capacitor, the script ‘ic_reactive’ is called. The
advantage of the specialised method is that the device can be modified in a manner that is consistent with
its existing user interface. Capacitors already have user editable initial conditions and the application of
back-annotated initial conditions is compatible with this.
The disadvantage of the specialised method is that a method of applying the back annotated value needs to
be developed for every different type of device. This would not be acceptable for most users who develop
their own symbols. The generic method overcomes this difficulty. The generic method modifies the
properties so that additional netlist lines are created containing the .INIT simulator command that defines
the initial conditions. To achieve this the SIMPLIS_TEMPLATE property needs to be modified and as
long as this isn’t protected , the generic method will always work.

12.6.7 Hierarchical Blocks and Subcircuits

All back-annotated initial conditions are applied at the top level and no child schematics or subcircuits will
be modified.
This introduces a potential problem in that once back-annotated initial conditions are applied, you will no
longer be able to modify individual initial conditions within a hierarchical block. You will only be able to
edit them on the top level device using the Edit Additional Parameters... menu.
You will be able to use initial conditions defined within a hierarchy or subcircuit if you first disable top
level initial conditions using the Initial Conditions | Disable menu. This will of course disable all initial
conditions specified at the top level.
To disable initial conditions for a single hierarchical block, use the Edit Properties menu to set the USEIC
property to 0. Note that the Enable and Disable menus will reset this property.

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Chapter 13

Graphs, Probes and Data Analysis

The basics of how to create graphs of your circuit’s signals were explained in “Getting Started” on
page 32. This chapter provides a full reference on all aspects of probing and creating graphs.

13.1 Elements of the Graph Window

13.1.1 Main Window

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13.1.2 Windows and Tabbed Sheets

Normally new graphs are created within the same window as a tabbed sheet. A row of tabs will appear at
the top of the graph window allowing you select which graph you wish to view. You can also create a new
graph window using the menu Probe | New Graph Window. This will create an empty window to
which you may add new graphs.

13.1.3 Graph Toolbar

The above shows the function of each of the buttons on the graph toolbar. These are referred to in the
following sections.

13.2 Probes: Fixed vs. Random

Much of this section and some of the next have already been covered in “Plotting Simulation Results” on
page 44. It is repeated here for convenience.
SIMetrix provides two approaches to creating plots of simulated results from a schematic.
The first approach is to fix voltage or current probes to the schematic before or during a run. SIMetrix will
then generate graphs of the selected voltages and/or currents automatically. Normally the graphs for fixed
probes are opened and updated while the simulator is running. The probes have a wide range of options
which allow you to specify - for example - how the graphs are organised and when and how often they are
updated. These probes are known as fixed probes.
The second approach is to randomly probe the circuit after the run is complete. (You can also do this
during a run by pausing first). With this approach, the graph will be created as you point the probe but will
not be updated on a new run. These probes are known as random probes.
You do not need to make any decisions on how you wish to probe your circuit before starting the run. You
can enter a circuit without any fixed probes, run it, then randomly probe afterwards. Alternatively, you can
place a single fixed probe on an obvious point of interest, then randomly probe to investigate the detailed
behaviour of your circuit. Note that you can add fixed probes after a run has started but the run must be
paused first.
There are many types of fixed probe to suit a range of applications. The random probing method allows
you to plot anything you like including device power, FFTs, arbitrary expressions of simulation results and
X-Y plots such as Nyquist diagrams. The arbitrary fixed probe provides the same flexibility for fixed
probes. See “Arbitrary Fixed Probe” on page 317 for details.

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13.3 Fixed Probes

There are many types of fixed probe as described in the following table

Probe Type Description To Place

Voltage Single ended voltage. Hint: If you Menu: Probe | Place Fixed
place the probe immediately on an Voltage Probe...
existing schematic wire, it will
Hot key: B
automatically be given a meaningful
name related to what it is connected
to
Current Device pin current. A single terminal Menu: Probe | Place Fixed
device to place over a device Current Probe...
pin
Hot key: U
Inline current In line current. This is a two terminal Menu: Probe | Place Inline
device that probes the current Current Probe...
flowing through it.
Differential voltage Probe voltage between two Menu: Probe | Place Fixed Diff.
points Voltage Probe...
dB Probes db value of signal voltage. Menu: Probe AC/Noise | Fixed
Only useful in AC analysis dB Probe...
Phase Probes phase of signal voltage. Only Menu: Probe AC/Noise | Fixed
useful in AC analysis phase Probe...
Bode plot with Measurements Plots db and phase of vout/vin. Menu: Probe AC/Noise | Bode
Connect to the input and output of a Plot Probe - with
circuit to plot its gain and phase. Measurements
Includes optionsl measurements for
phas margin, gain margin and gain
crossover frequency
Bode plot - basic version Plots db and phase of vout/vin. Menu: Probe AC/Noise | Bode
Connect to the input and output of a Plot Probe - Simple
circuit to plot its gain and
phase.
Bus plot Plots bus signal in ‘logic analyser’ Menu: Probe | Place Fixed Bus
style Probe
Power plot Plots the power in a device. The Menu: Probe | Place Fixed
power probe must be attached to a Power Probe...
single pin of the device. It doesn’t
matter which pin - the power plotted
in the instantaneous power in the
whole device
Per Cycle Plot a graph based on a calculation Available from Parts Selector
performed for each complete cycle
of a repetitive waveform. See “Per
Cycle Probes” on page 294
X-Y Plot a graph of one signal on the Menu: Probe | Place XY
y-axis with respect to a second signal Probe
on the x-axis. See “X-Y Probes” on
page 294

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Probe Type Description To Place

Fourier Probe Create a Fourier plot. See “Fourier Menu: Probe | Place Fourier
Analysis” on page 314 Voltage Probe
Arbitrary Probe Create a custom probe with any Menu: Probe | Create and Place
number of voltage or current inputs Arbitrary Fixed Probe
related by a user-entered expression.
See “Custom Fixed Probe” on
page 317

These probes are schematic symbols with special properties. When you place a fixed probe on the
schematic, the probed value at the point where you place the probe will be plotted each time you run the
simulation.
Current probes and power probes must be placed directly over a part pin. They will have no function if
they are not and a warning message will be displayed.

13.3.1 Fixed Probe Options

All probe types have a large number of options allowing you to customise how you want the graph plotted.
For many applications the default settings are satisfactory. In this section, the full details of available probe
options are described. Select the probe and press F7 or menu Edit Part... The following dialog will be
displayed for voltage, current, power, db and phase probes:

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The elements of each tabbed sheet are explained below.

Probe Options Sheet

Curve Label Text displayed by the probe on the schematic and also used to label the
resulting curves

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History Controls the number of curves from previous runs that will be displayed.
If set to 1, only the latest result will be shown. If set to a value greater than
one, the current result and a number of previous results equal to the history
depth less one will be shown. The old results will be shown in broken
lines.
If default is checked, the number of curves will be based on the values
specified in the general options.

To set the history depth value in general options, follow these steps:
1. From the menu bar, select File | Options | General..., and then
select the Graph/Probe/Data Analysis tab
2. In the Fixed probe global options section, enter a value in the
Default history depth field, and then click Ok
If Separate curves is checked the history depth setting is ignored. In this
case a new curve is created for each new run.
See “Curve History” on page 292 for more information

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Axis type Specifies how the grid and y-axis are chosen for the plotted data.
Auto Select Chooses the most suitable grid and y-axis based
on the physical units of the plotted data. So
voltages will be plotted on the same y-axis as
other voltages and currents will be plotted on
the same y-axis as other currents. Separate
grids will be used if the x-axis are
incompatible. For example, if an AC analysis
and transient analysis are performed in the
same run and the same graph sheet is forced
(See Use named graph below) the results for
the two analyses will automatically be placed
on independent grids.

If the signal is digital, a digital axis (see below)

will be used for this probe.
Use dedicated grid The results for this probe will be placed on its
own grid which will not be shared with any
other probe
Use named grid Similar to above but grid will be shared with
other probes that specify the same grid name.
See diagram in section “Graph Layout -
Multiple Y-Axis Graphs” on page 338.
Use named Y-axis Uses a separate y-axis. The y-axis may be
shared with other probes that specify the same
axis name. This name is not used as a label for
display purposes but simply as a means of
identification.

Axes can be labelled using the Axis Labels

sheet as explained below.
Digital Use a digital axis. Digital axes are placed at the
top of the window and are stacked. Each one
may take only a single curve. As the name
suggests, these are intended for digital traces
but can be used for analog signals if
required.
Graph Check Use Separate Graph to create a new graph sheet for the probe.
You may also supply a graph name, in which case other probes using the
same name will be directed to the same graph. The graph name may also
be used to force curves to the same graph when the default action would
be to create a new graph. This will happen for example for a new analysis
type. The results from a Transient analysis, would usually be placed on a
different graph sheet to the results from an AC analysis. Specifying this
option with a name will override this.
Check the Set tab/caption to name box to show the graph name in the
caption bar and tab of the associated graph sheet.
Analyses Specifies for which analyses the probe is enabled.
Note: Other analysis modes such as noise and sensitivity are not included
because these do not support schematic cross probing of current or
voltage. For SIMPLIS mode, a Periodic Operating Point (POP) option is
also available.

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Display order Enter a string to control the grid display order.

The value is arbitrary and will not be displayed. To force the curve to be
placed above other curves that don’t use this value, prefix the name with
‘!’. The ‘!’ character has a low ASCII value. Conversely, use ‘ ’ to force
curve to be displayed after other curves.
Colour Check Use default to minimise duplicate colours on the same graph by
allowing the colour to be chosen automatically. Alternatively uncheck, this
box and then press Edit... to select a colour of your choice. In this case the
trace always has the same colour.
Plot on completion only
• If checked, incremental plotting is disabled; that is, the plot does not
appear until the run is complete.
• If not checked, the curve updates regularly during the course of the
run.
Note: For some expressions, it is not possible to incrementally plot the
data; if this is the case incremental plotting is disabled and this check box
is ignored.

Axis Scales Sheet

Parameter Description

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Lin/Log/Auto Specify whether you want X-Axis to be linear or logarithmic.

• If you select Auto, the axis (X or Y) will be set to log if the x values are
logarithmically spaced.
• For the Y-axis, it is also necessary that the curve values are positive for a log
axis to be selected.

No Change Controls how the axis limits are defined

Auto scale
• If you select No change, the axis scales remain as they are; this is relevant
Defined
only if you are adding to an existing graph.
• If you select Auto scale, the axis scales are based on the minimum and
maximum values of the curve.
• If you select Defined, enter values in the Min and Max fields.

Axis Labels Sheet

This sheet has four edit boxes allowing you to specify, x and y axis labels as well as their units. If any box
is left blank, a default value will be used or will remain unchanged if the axis already has a defined label.

13.3.2 Curve History

Curves created by fixed probes store their history which can be viewed at any time. The picture below
shows how the current result and one previous result are displayed.

By default, the waveform viewer will store the current result and three previous results. How many
previous results are actually displayed may be changed in a number of ways:
1. The history depth setting in the probe dialog

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2. Menus Curve | History | Set Depth - All Curves and Curve | History | Set Depth -
Selected Curves , set the displayed history depth after the curve has already been plotted. These
menus display this dialog box:

Show all Show full history (usually up to 4 deep)

Hide all Hide all history leaving just one curve on display
Show to depth Show history up to specified depth. For example, if you set a depth of
2, the latest result and one previous result will be displayed
Restore to probe Sets the depth that was defined in the fixed probe that created the
setting curve. Note that this sets the depth to whatever the fixed probe
setting was at the time the curve was created, not the current fixed
probe setting

The stored history depth (not the displayed history depth) may be changed using the DataHistoryDepth
option setting. This has a default value of 4 meaning that the current result and three previous results will
be stored. Note that in some circumstances the depth will be restricted to preserve memory.

13.3.3 Fixed Bus Probe Options

Select device and press F7 in the usual manner. A dialog box will show similar to that shown in “Bus
Probe Options” on page 328. But you will notice an additional tabbed sheet titled Probe Options. This
allows you to select an axis type and graph in a similar manner to that described above for fixed voltage
and current probes.

13.3.4 Using Fixed Probes in Hierarchical Designs

Fixed probes may successfully be used in hierarchical designs. If placed in a child schematic, a plot will
be produced for all instances of that child and the labels for each curve will be prefixed with the child
reference.

13.3.5 Adding Fixed Probes After a Run has Started

When you add a fixed single ended voltage or current probe after a run has started, the graph of the probed
point opens soon after resuming the simulation. To do this:
1. Pause simulation.

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2. Place a probe on the circuit in the normal way.

3. Resume simulation

13.3.6 Per-cycle Probes

Per Cycle Probes first calculate a new curve based on a built-in formula and then plot the curve on a graph.
The input can be one of the following:
• Single-ended voltage
• Differential voltage
• Current
• Difference of two currents
As with the other probes, the curve can be output to any graph and axis. Per Cycle Probes are compatible
with both simulators.
The Per-cycle Probe specification is shown in the following table:

Per-cycle Probes
Model Name: Per Cycle Probes
Simulator: The device is compatible with the SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
simulators
SIMetrix Parts Selector Probes | Per Cycle Voltage Probes
Location: Probes | Per Cycle Diff Voltage Probes
Probes | Per Cycle Current Probes
Probes | Per Cycle Diff Current Probes
SIMPLIS Parts Selector Commonly Used Parts | Per Cycle Voltage Probes
Location: Commonly Used Parts | Per Cycle Diff Voltage Probes
Commonly Used Parts | Per Cycle Current Probes
Commonly Used Parts | Per Cycle Diff Current
Probes
Symbol Library: None the symbol is automatically generated when placed

Symbols:
Multiple Selections: Multiple probes can be selected and edited simultaneously.

Per-Cycle Timing Measurements

These advanced probes allow you to visualize subtle behaviour which is not otherwise easy to see. One
example is to visualize how the switching frequency varies over the simulation time window. In this case,
the probe first finds all edges which match the trigger conditions and then calculates a new curve with the
frequency measurements on the vertical axis and the input time vector on the horizontal axis. An example
waveform showing a pulse train and the per cycle frequency of the curve is shown below:

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The following timing measurements are supported on a per-cycle basis:

• Frequency
• Period
• Duty Cycle
• On Time
• Off Time

Per-Cycle Amplitude Measurements

The per-cycle measurement can also be applied to amplitude of an input voltage or current. For example,
you can plot the mean value of a switching power converter output with the mean value being calculated
on a per-cycle basis. This example is show below - the mean value of a converter output voltage is plotted
in a per-cycle manner. The gate voltage is used to determine the timing edge information.

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The following amplitude measurements are supported:

• Mean
• Maximum
• Minimum
• RMS
• Peak to Peak

Editing the Per Cycle Probe

To configure the Per Cycle Probe, follow these steps:

1. Double click the symbol on the schematic to open the editing dialog to the Probe Options tab.
2. Make the appropriate changes on the three tabs as explained below.

Per Cycle Probe Options

The following tab allows you to define general probe options, which are explained in the table below.

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Parameter Description
Measurement Frequency, Period, On-Time, Off-Time, Duty Cycle, Mean Maximum, Minimum,
Peak-to-Peak, or RMS
Edge Rising, Falling or Both
Direction
Curve type Stepped or Smooth
Curve Label Text displayed by the probe on the schematic and also used to label the resulting
curves

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History Controls the number of curves from previous runs that will be displayed. If set to 1,
only the latest result will be shown. If set to a value greater than one, the current
result and a number of previous results equal to the history depth less one will be
shown. The old results will be shown in broken lines.
If default is checked, the number of curves will be based on the values specified in
the general options.

To set the history depth value in general options, follow these steps:
1. From the menu bar, select File | Options | General..., and then select the
Graph/Probe/Data Analysis tab
2. In the Fixed probe global options section, enter a value in the Default
history depth field, and then click Ok
If Separate curves is checked the history depth setting is ignored. In this case a
new curve is created for each new run.
See “Curve History” on page 292 for more information

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Axis type Specifies how the grid and y-axis are chosen for the plotted data.
Auto Select Chooses the most suitable grid and y-axis based
on the physical units of the plotted data. So
voltages will be plotted on the same y-axis as
other voltages and currents will be plotted on
the same y-axis as other currents. Separate
grids will be used if the x-axis are
incompatible. For example, if an AC analysis
and transient analysis are performed in the
same run and the same graph sheet is forced
(See Use named graph below) the results for
the two analyses will automatically be placed
on independent grids.

If the signal is digital, a digital axis (see below)

will be used for this probe.
Use dedicated grid The results for this probe will be placed on its
own grid which will not be shared with any
other probe
Use named grid Similar to above but grid will be shared with
other probes that specify the same grid name.
See diagram in section “Graph Layout -
Multiple Y-Axis Graphs” on page 338.
Use named Y-axis Uses a separate y-axis. The y-axis may be
shared with other probes that specify the same
axis name. This name is not used as a label for
display purposes but simply as a means of
identification.

Axes can be labelled using the Axis Labels

sheet as explained below.
Digital Use a digital axis. Digital axes are placed at the
top of the window and are stacked. Each one
may take only a single curve. As the name
suggests, these are intended for digital traces
but can be used for analog signals if
required.
Graph Check Use Separate Graph to create a new graph sheet for the probe. You may
also supply a graph name, in which case other probes using the same name will be
directed to the same graph. The graph name may also be used to force curves to the
same graph when the default action would be to create a new graph. This will happen
for example for a new analysis type. The results from a Transient analysis, would
usually be placed on a different graph sheet to the results from an AC analysis.
Specifying this option with a name will override this.
Check the Set tab/caption to name box to show the graph name in the caption bar
and tab of the associated graph sheet.
Analyses Specifies for which analyses the probe is enabled.
Note: Other analysis modes such as noise and sensitivity are not included because
these do not support schematic cross probing of current or voltage. For SIMPLIS
mode, a Periodic Operating Point (POP) option is also available.

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Display Enter a string to control the grid display order.

order The value is arbitrary and will not be displayed. To force the curve to be placed
above other curves that do not use this value, prefix the name with ‘!’. The ‘!’
character has a low ASCII value. Conversely, use ‘ ’ to force curve to be displayed
after other curves.
Colour Check Use default to minimise duplicate colours on the same graph by allowing the
colour to be chosen automatically. Alternatively uncheck, this box and then press
Edit... to select a colour of your choice. In this case the trace always has the same
colour.
Plot on completion This option is not available with per-cycle probes and the setting of the check box
only will be ignored.

Axis Scales

The following tab allows you to define the scale for the X-axis and for the Y-axis as explained in the table
below.

Parameter Description

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Lin/Log/Auto Specify whether you want X-Axis to be linear or logarithmic.

• If you select Auto, the axis (X or Y) will be set to log if the x values are
logarithmically spaced.
• For the Y-axis, it is also necessary that the curve values are positive for a log
axis to be selected.

No Change Controls how the axis limits are defined

Auto scale
• If you select No change, the axis scales remain as they are; this is relevant
Defined
only if you are adding to an existing graph.
• If you select Auto scale, the axis scales are based on the minimum and
maximum values of the curve.
• If you select Defined, enter values in the Min and Max fields.

Axis Labels

To specify axis labels and units, click the Axis Labels tab, and enter values as needed.
Note: If any box is left blank, a default value is used or remains unchanged if the axis already has a
defined label.

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13.3.7 XY Probes

XY Probes plot two curves against each other in an XY plot. Each input can be either differential voltage
or inline current, and the curves can be output to any graph and axis. XY probes are available in both
SIMetrix and SIMPLIS. The XY Probe specification is shown in the following table:

XY Probes
Model Name: XY Probe
Simulator: This device is compatible with the SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
simulators.
Part Selector Location: Probes | XY Probes
Symbol Library: connection.sxslb

Symbols:
Multiple Selections: Multiple probes can be selected and edited simultaneously.

Editing the XY Probe

To configure the XY Probe, follow these steps:

1. Double click the symbol on the schematic to open the editing dialog to the Probe Options tab.
2. Make the appropriate changes on the three tabs as explained below.

XY Probe Options

The following tab allows you to define general probe options, which are explained in the table below.

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Curve Label Text displayed by the probe on the schematic and also used to label the resulting
curves

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History Controls the number of curves from previous runs that will be displayed. If set to 1,
only the latest result will be shown. If set to a value greater than one, the current
result and a number of previous results equal to the history depth less one will be
shown. The old results will be shown in broken lines.
If default is checked, the number of curves will be based on the values specified in
the general options.

To set the history depth value in general options, follow these steps:
1. From the menu bar, select File | Options | General..., and then select the
Graph/Probe/Data Analysis tab
2. In the Fixed probe global options section, enter a value in the Default
history depth field, and then click Ok
If Separate curves is checked the history depth setting is ignored. In this case a
new curve is created for each new run.
See “Curve History” on page 292 for more information

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Axis type Specifies how the grid and y-axis are chosen for the plotted data.
Auto Select Chooses the most suitable grid and y-axis based
on the physical units of the plotted data. So
voltages will be plotted on the same y-axis as
other voltages and currents will be plotted on
the same y-axis as other currents. Separate
grids will be used if the x-axis are
incompatible. For example, if an AC analysis
and transient analysis are performed in the
same run and the same graph sheet is forced
(See Use named graph below) the results for
the two analyses will automatically be placed
on independent grids.

If the signal is digital, a digital axis (see below)

will be used for this probe.
Use dedicated grid The results for this probe will be placed on its
own grid which will not be shared with any
other probe
Use named grid Similar to above but grid will be shared with
other probes that specify the same grid name.
See diagram in section “Graph Layout -
Multiple Y-Axis Graphs” on page 338.
Use named Y-axis Uses a separate y-axis. The y-axis may be
shared with other probes that specify the same
axis name. This name is not used as a label for
display purposes but simply as a means of
identification.

Axes can be labelled using the Axis Labels

sheet as explained below.
Digital Use a digital axis. Digital axes are placed at the
top of the window and are stacked. Each one
may take only a single curve. As the name
suggests, these are intended for digital traces
but can be used for analog signals if
required.
Graph Check Use Separate Graph to create a new graph sheet for the probe. You may
also supply a graph name, in which case other probes using the same name will be
directed to the same graph. The graph name may also be used to force curves to the
same graph when the default action would be to create a new graph. This will happen
for example for a new analysis type. The results from a Transient analysis, would
usually be placed on a different graph sheet to the results from an AC analysis.
Specifying this option with a name will override this.
Check the Set tab/caption to name box to show the graph name in the caption bar
and tab of the associated graph sheet.
Analyses Specifies for which analyses the probe is enabled.
Note: Other analysis modes such as noise and sensitivity are not included because
these do not support schematic cross probing of current or voltage. For SIMPLIS
mode, a Periodic Operating Point (POP) option is also available.

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Display Enter a string to control the grid display order.

order The value is arbitrary and will not be displayed. To force the curve to be placed
above other curves that donâĂŹt use this value, prefix the name with ‘!’. The ‘!’
character has a low ASCII value. Conversely, use ‘ ’ to force curve to be displayed
after other curves.
Colour Check Use default to minimise duplicate colours on the same graph by allowing the
colour to be chosen automatically. Alternatively uncheck, this box and then press
Edit... to select a colour of your choice. In this case the trace always has the same
colour.
Plot on completion This option is not available with XY Probes and the check box setting will be
only ignored.

Axis Scales

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Lin/Log/Auto Specify whether you want X-Axis to be linear or logarithmic.

• If you select Auto, the axis (X or Y) will be set to log if the x values are
logarithmically spaced.
• For the Y-axis, it is also necessary that the curve values are positive for a log
axis to be selected.

No Change Controls how the axis limits are defined

Auto scale
• If you select No change, the axis scales remain as they are; this is relevant
Defined
only if you are adding to an existing graph.
• If you select Auto scale, the axis scales are based on the minimum and
maximum values of the curve.
• If you select Defined, enter values in the Min and Max fields.

Axis Labels

To specify axis labels and units, click the Axis Labels tab, and enter values as needed.
Note: If any box is left blank, a default value is used or remains unchanged if the axis already has a
defined label.

13.3.8 Bode Plot Probe with Measurements

The Bode Plot Probe with Measurements generates plots for the gain and phase of the ratio of two
voltages. The probe can be configured to plot only the gain or phase, or both gain and phase.

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Summary - Bode Plot Probe with Measurements

Model Name Bode Plot Probe
Simulator This device is compatible with both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
simulators
Schematic Menu Probe AC/Noise | Bode Plot Probe - with Measurements
Parts Selector Probes | Bode Plot Probe - with Measurements
Symbol Library Connections
Model File none

Symbol
Multiple Selections If multiple Bode plot probes are selected before editing, all properties
except the curve labels can be simultaneously changed for all probes. The
curve label properties will remain unchanged for all selected
probes
Usage This schematic probe symbol plots the magnitude and phase of the ratio of
two complex voltages, OUT/IN. The magnitude can be plotted in db or
volts/volts; the horizontal axis scale is determined by the simulation sweep
type. If the simulation is swept in log frequency steps, the horizontal axis
will automatically be log scaled

Editing the Bode Plot Probe with Measurements

To configure the Bode Plot Probe with Measurements, follow these steps:
1. Double click the symbol on the schematic to open the editing dialog to the Parameters tab.
2. Make the appropriate changes to the fields described in the table below the image.

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Options - Bode Plot Probe with Measurements

Use separate graph Check this option in order to supply an alias for each output graph
tab
Graph name Curves with the same graph name property will be output on the same
graph tab. Graph name be safely ignored unless multiple Bode plot probes
are used. Use separate graph must be checked to supply this name. The
name entered will be used as a label for the tab and the caption bar if the
Set tab/caption to name box is checked
Disable gain/phase Check this box to disable both gain and phase graphs

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Options - Bode Plot Probe with Measurements

History Controls the number of curves from previous runs that will be displayed.
If set to 1, only the latest result will be shown. If set to a value greater than
one, the current result and a number of previous results equal to the history
depth less one will be shown. The old results will be shown in broken
lines.
If default is checked, history depth will be based on the values specified in
the general options.

To set the history depth value in general options, follow these steps:
1. From the menu bar, select File | Options | General..., and then
select the Graph/Probe/Data Analysis tab
2. In the Fixed probe global options section, enter a value in the
Default history depth field, and then click Ok
If Separate curves is checked the history depth setting is ignored. In this
case a new curve is created for each new run.
See “Curve History” on page 292 for more information

Curve label Sets the name of the curve. Note: This field appears in both the Gain and
Phase groups on the dialog
Y axis label Sets the Y axis label for the individual gain and phase axes. When
multiple curves from multiple probes are placed on the same axis, the axis
label properties must be identical or the axis label is blank. If this field is
left blank, the axis label appears with the name specified in the Curve
label field. Note: This field appears in both the Gain and Phase groups
on the dialog
Vertical scale Allows you to select the function to perform on the simulation data.
• Select db to perform the built-in db() vector function.
• Select Linear to perform the mag() function

Curve Selects the Phase curve offset

• Select Phase for no offset.
• Select Phase - 180 degrees to subtract 180 degrees before
plotting the curve.

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Options - Bode Plot Probe with Measurements

Vertical axis This group has two options: Vertical limits
• Check to have the vertical limits automatically set to fit the curve
data.
• Uncheck to enter minimum and maxium values for the limits.
Both minimum and maximum axis limits must be set or auto-calculated as
a group. Grid spacing:
• Check to auto calculate the grid spacing.
• Uncheck to set the grid spacing independent of the axis limits
Note: This field appears in both the Gain and Phase groups on the
dialog.
Colour Defines colours for the curves:
• Check Use default in both the Gain and Phase groups o generate
the curves with the same default colour, which is automatically
selected from a sequence of colours
• Leave Use default unchecked and click Edit... to open a colour
selector dialog box to specify fixed colours for the curves
The change the default sequence of colours from the command shell
menu, select File | Options | Colour For additional information see
“Colours and Fonts” on page 458. Note: This field appears in both the
Gain and Phase groups on the dialog.
Display curves on Allows you to define the number of grids in the output: Single grid or
Two grids
Vertical order Allows you to specify the order of the curves: Phase above Gain or Gain
above Phase.
• If you selected Two grids is in the Display curves on group, the
selection in this group specifies the curve output location
• If you selected Single grid, both curves are on the lower grid with
two axes

Example curve output Example curve output illustrates the relative locations of the two curves.
Note: The curve data here is fixed; these curves are examples and do not
reflect the simulated curves
Save Configuration Click Save Configuration to preserve this information as the default
configuration for all future new Bode plot probes

13.3.9 Bode Plot Probe - Basic Version

Connects to the input and output of a circuit to plot its gain and phase. A more sophisticated bode plot
probe which provides a wide range of options along with the display of useful measurements is also
available and is recommended for most applications. See “Bode Plot Probe with Measurements” on
page 307
This basic version is useful for quick checks and for compatibility with versions 7.0 or earlier.

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Summary - Bode Plot Probe - Basic

Model Name Bode Plot Probe - Basic
Simulator This device is compatible with both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS
simulators
Schematic Menu Probe AC/Noise | Bode Plot Probe - Basic
Parts Selector Probes | Bode Plot - Gain/Phase
Symbol Library Connections
Model File none

Symbol
Multiple Selections If multiple Bode plot probes are selected before editing, all properties
except the curve labels can be simultaneously changed for all probes. The
curve label properties will remain unchanged for all selected
probes
Usage This schematic probe symbol plots the magnitude and phase of the ratio of
two complex voltages, OUT/IN. The magnitude can be plotted in db or
volts/volts; the horizontal axis scale is determined by the simulation sweep
type. If the simulation is swept in log frequency steps, the horizontal axis
will automatically be log scaled

Editing Bode Plot Probe

To configure the Bode Plot Probe, follow these steps:

1. Double click the symbol on the schematic to open the editing dialog to the Parameters tab.
2. Make the appropriate changes to the fields described in the table below the image.

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Options - Bode Plot Probe

Curve labels Sets labels for plots
• Gain label: Label used for gain plot
• Phase label: Label used for phase plot

Properties Set additional properties on probe:

• History: Controls how many plots are retained. 0 means use global
default setting
• Multiplied by -1: Inverts the sense of the phase
• Disable: Disable probe. If checked no plots will be created

Vertical Limits Divided into two parts to allow setting of axis limits for phase and gain
plots.
• Use db auto limits: If checked the gain plot will automatically
scale. Otherwise manual limits can be entered in Maximum limit -
dB and Minimum limit - dB
• Use phase auto limits: If checked the phase plot will
automatically scale. Otherwise manual limits can be entered in
Maximum limit - phase and Minimum limit - phase

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13.3.10 Fourier Analysis

A fixed Fourier probe is available which will perform a spectral analysis on a node voltage. To place this
probe, select menu Probes | Place Fourier Voltage Probe.
Double click the probe to edit it. You will see this dialog box:

The settings are similar to that for random Fourier probe plotting as described here: “Fourier Analysis” on
page 323. The documentation is repeated here for convenience.

Method

SIMetrix offers two alternative methods to calculate the Fourier spectrum: FFT and Continuous Fourier.

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The simple rule is: use FFT unless the signal being examined has very large high frequency components as
would be the case for narrow sharp pulses.
A description of the two techniques and their pros and cons follows.

FFT Fast Fourier Transform. This is an efficient algorithm for calculating a

discrete Fourier transform or DFT. DFTs generally operate on evenly
spaced sampled data. Unfortunately the data generated by the simulator is
not evenly spaced so it is therefore necessary to interpolate the data before
presenting it to an FFT algorithm. The interpolation process is in effect the
sampling process and the Nyquist sampling theorem applies. This states
that the signal can be perfectly reproduced from the sampled data if the
sampling rate is greater than twice the maximum frequency component in
the signal. In practice this condition can never be met perfectly and any
signal components whose frequency is greater than half the sampling rate
will be aliased to a different frequency.
So if the number of interpolated points is too small there will be errors in
the result due to high frequency components being aliased to lower
frequencies. This is the Achilles heel of FFTs applied to simulated
data.
The Continuous Fourier technique, described next, does not suffer from
this problem. It suffers from other problems the main one being that it is
considerably slower than the FFT.
Continuous Fourier This calculates the Fourier spectrum by numerically integrating the Fourier
integral. With this method, each frequency component is calculated
individually whereas with the FFT the whole spectrum is calculated in one
- quite efficient - operation. Continuous Fourier does not require the data
to be interpolated and does not suffer from aliasing.
The problem with continuous Fourier is that compared to the FFT it is a
slow algorithm and in many cases an FFT with a very large number of
interpolated points can be calculated more quickly and give just as
accurate a result.
However, in cases where a signal has a very large high frequency content -
such as narrow pulses - this method is superior and it is recommended that
it is used in preference to the FFT in such situations. The continuous
Fourier technique has the additional advantage that it can be applied with
greater confidence as the aliasing errors will not be present. It does have
its own source of error due to the fact that simulated data itself is not truly
continuous but represented by unevenly spaced points with no information
about what lies between the points. This error can be minimised by
ensuring that close simulation tolerances are used. See Simulator
Reference Manual/Convergence, Accuracy and Performance for
details.

Plot (Phase or Magnitude)

The default is to plot the magnitude of the Fourier spectrum. Select Phase if you require a plot of phase
or dB if you need the magnitude in dBs.

Frequency Display

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Resolution/Hz Available only for the continuous Fourier method. This is the frequency
interval at which the spectral components are evaluated. It cannot be less
than 1/T where T is the time interval over which the spectrum is
calculated.
Start Freq./Hz Start frequency of the display.
Stop Freq./Hz Stop frequency of the display.
Log X-Axis Check this to specify a logarithmic x-axis. This will force a minimum
value for the start frequency equal to 1/T where T is the time interval
being analysed.

Signal Info

If the signal being analysed is repetitive and the frequency of that signal is known exactly then a much
better result can be obtained if it is specified here. Check the Know fundamental frequency box then
enter the frequency. The Fourier spectrum will be calculated using an integral number of complete cycles
of the fundamental frequency. This substantially reduces spectral leakage. Spectral leakage occurs
because both the Fourier algorithms work on an assumption that the signal being analysed is a repetition of
the analysed time interval from t = −∞ to t = +∞. If the analysed time interval does not contain a
whole number of cycles of the fundamental frequency this will be a poor approximation and the spectrum
will be in error. In practice this problem is minimised by using a window function applied to the signal
prior to the Fourier calculation, but using a whole number of cycles reduces the problem further.
Note that the fundamental frequency is not necessarily the lowest frequency in the circuit but the largest
frequency for which all frequencies in the circuit are integral harmonics. For example if you had two sine
wave generators of 1kHz and 1.1KHz, the fundamental is 100Hz, not 1kHz; 1kHz is the tenth harmonic,
1.1KHz is the eleventh.
You should not specify a fundamental frequency for circuits that have self-oscillating elements.

FFT Interpolation

As explained above, the FFT method must interpolate the signal prior to the FFT computation. Specify
here the number of points and the order. The number of points entry may be forced to a minimum if a high
stop frequency is specified in the Frequency Display section.
The number of interpolation points required depends on the highest significant frequency component in the
signal being analysed. If you have an idea what this is, a useful trick to set the number of points to a
suitable value, is to increase the stop frequency value in the Frequency Display section up to that
frequency. This will automatically set the number of interpolation points to the required value to handle
that frequency. If you don’t actually want to display frequencies up to that level, you can bring the stop
frequency back down again. The number of interpolation points will stay at the value reached.
If in doubt, plot the FFT twice using a different number of points. If the two results are significantly
different in the frequency band of interest, then you should increase the number of points further.
Usually an interpolation order of 2 is a suitable value but you should reduce this to 1 if analysing signals
with abrupt edges. If analysing a smooth signal such as a sinusoid, useful improvements can be gained by
increasing the order to 3.

Data Span

Usually the entire simulated time span is used for the Fourier analysis. To specify a smaller time interval
click Specify and enter the start and end times.

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Note that if you specify a fundamental frequency, the time may be modified so that a whole number of
cycles is used. This will occur whether or not you explicitly specify an interval.

Window

A window function is applied to the time domain signal to minimise spectral leakage (See above).
The choice of window is a compromise. The trade off is between the bandwidth of the main spectral
component or lobe and the amplitude of the side-lobes. The rectangular window - which is in effect no
window - has the narrowest main lobe but substantial side-lobes. The Blackman window has the widest
main lobe and the smallest side lobes. Hanning and Hamming are something in between and have similar
main lobe widths but the side lobes differ in the way they fall away further from the main lobe. Hamming
starts smaller but doesn’t decay whereas Hanning while starting off larger than Hamming, decays as the
frequency moves away from the central lobe.
Despite the great deal of research that has been completed on window functions, for many applications the
difference between Hanning, Hamming and Blackman is not important and usually Hanning is a good
compromise.
There are situations where a rectangular window can give significantly superior results. This requires that
the fundamental frequency is specified and also that the simulated signal is consistent over a large number
of cycles. The rectangular window, however, usually gives considerably poorer results and must be used
with caution.

Run time calculation time limit

If using the Continuous Fourier method, you can enter a maximum time limit to calculate the Fourier
spectrum. If the limit is exceeded, the calculation will abort and no display will be made. The Continuous
Fourier calculation time can be excessive but cannot be predicted before the simulation is started as it is
necessary to know the number of simulation time points to be processed.
For the FFT method, the simulation time can be estimated to a reasonable accuracy before the simulation
and this estimate will be displayed labelled Estimated calculation time:.

13.3.11 Arbitrary Fixed Probe

You can create an arbitrary fixed probe to plot an expression of any combination of node voltages and
device currents. To use this feature, select menu Probe | Create and Place Arbitary Probe. You will
see this dialog box:

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Probe expression

Enter an expression to define what you wish to be plotted. Use V(nnn) to access a voltage and I(sss) to
access a current. nnn and sss may be any arbitrary string starting with a letter. When you close the dialog
box a symbol will be created which will reflect what you enter here. It will have single inputs named
according to occurrences of V(nnn) and pairs of inputs named after occurrences of I(sss). For example if
you enter the expression:
V(vin)*I(iin)

The symbol created will look like this:

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The result plotted will be the product of the voltage on vin and the current in iin.
The same behaviour could be achieved using a Non-linear transfer function device (see “Non-linear
Transfer Function” on page 188 ) and a simple single ended probe. This arbitrary probe has some
important advantages over that approach:
1. The arbitrary probe works in SIMPLIS simulations. The Non-linear transfer function device is a
SIMetrix-only device.
2. It can evaluate non-linear functions in AC analysis
3. It is a post-processing operation and does not interfere with the simulation in any way

Multi-step mode

The options in the Multi-step mode group control the behaviour of the probe with multi-step analyses.
1. Multiple curves. This is the normal mode and will create groups of curves.
2. Performance analysis. A performance analysis based on a goal function will be performed. In this
mode a goal function must be entered for the probe expression. A single curve will be created of the
value of the goal function against the swept variable.
3. Histogram. Used for Monte Carlo analyses. In this mode a goal function must be entered for the
probe expression. A histogram plot will be created of the goal function results.
For more information about performance analysis and histograms, see “PerformanceAnalysis and
Histograms” on page 372

Histogram options

Options for creating histograms. See above. Number of bins may be used to force a particular number of
bins of the histogram. The default depends on the size of the sample and is typically half its square-root. A
display of statistical calculations is displayed alongside the histogram including mean and standard
deviation. The Show advanced statistics enables additional statistics such as skewness and kurtosis.

Other Arbitrary Probe Options

The other options are the same as for standard fixed probes. Refer to “Fixed Probe Options” on page 287

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13.3.12 Changing Update Period and Start Delay

The update period of all fixed probes can be changed from the Options dialog box. Select menu File |
Options | General... and click on the Graph/Probe/Data analysis tab. In the Probe update
times/seconds box there are two values that can be edited. Period is the update period and Start is the
delay after the simulation begins before the curves are first created.

13.4 Random Probes

13.4.1 General Behaviour

A wide range of functions are available from the schematic Probe and Probe AC/Noise menus. With a
few exceptions detailed below, all random probe functions have the following behaviour.
• If there are no graph windows open, one will be created.
• If a graph window is open and the currently displayed sheet has a compatible x-axis to what you are
probing, the new curve will be added to that sheet. E.g. if the currently displayed graph is from a
transient analysis and has an x-axis of Time, and you are also probing the results of a transient
analysis, then the new curve will be added to the displayed graph. If, however the displayed curve
was from an AC analysis, its x-axis would be frequency which is incompatible. In this case a new
graph sheet will be created for the new curve.
If you want to force a new graph sheet to be created, press F10. This will create an empty graph sheet.
The menus:
Probe | Voltage (New graph sheet)...
Probe | Current (New graph sheet)...
will always create a new graph.

13.4.2 Functions

The following table shows all available random probe functions. Many of these can be found in the
schematic’s Probe menu while others are only available from Probe | More Probe Functions...

Function
Single Ended Voltage
Single Ended Voltage - AC coupled
Single Ended Voltage - dB
Single Ended Voltage - Phase
Single Ended Voltage - Fourier
Single Ended Voltage - Nyquist
Single Ended Voltage - Normalised dB
Single Ended Voltage - Group delay
Differential Voltage
Differential Voltage - dB
Differential Voltage - Phase
Differential Voltage - Fourier

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Function
Differential Voltage - Nyquist
Differential Voltage - Normalised dB
Differential Voltage - Group delay
Relative Voltage - dB
Relative Voltage - Phase
Relative Voltage - Nyquist
Relative Voltage - Normalised dB
Relative Voltage - Group delay
Single Ended Current - In device pin
Single Ended Current - AC coupled in device pin
Single Ended Current - In wire
Single Ended Current - dB
Single Ended Current - Phase
Single Ended Current - Fourier
Single Ended Current - Nyquist
Single Ended Current - Normalised dB
Single Ended Current - Group delay
Differential Current - Actual
Differential Current - dB
Differential Current - Phase
Differential Current - Fourier
Differential Current - Nyquist
Differential Current - Normalised dB
Differential Current - Group delay
Power
Impedance
Output noise (noise analysis only)
Input noise (noise analysis only)
Device noise (noise analysis only)
Arbitrary expressions and XY plots

13.4.3 Notes on Probe Functions

Impedance

You may plot the AC impedance at a circuit node using Probe | More Probe Functions....This only
works in AC analysis. This works by calculating V/I at the device pin selected.

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Device Power

Device power is available from Probe | Power In Device... . This works by calculating the sum of VI
products at each pin of the device. Power is not stored during the simulation. However, once you have
plotted the power in a device once, the result is stored with the vector name:
device_name#pwr
E.g. if you plot the power in a resistor R3, its power vector will be called R3#pwr. You can use this as part
of an expression in any future plot.
Note that, because SIMetrix is able to find the current in a sub-circuit device or hierarchical block, it can
also calculate such a device’s power. Be aware, however, that as this power is calculated from the VI
product of the device’s pins, the calculation may be inaccurate if the sub-circuit uses global nodes.

13.4.4 Plotting Noise Analysis Results

Small signal noise analysis does not produce voltage and current values at nodes and in devices in the way
that AC, DC and transient analyses do. Noise analysis calculates the overall noise at a single point and the
contribution of every noisy device to that output noise. Optionally the input referred noise may also be
available.

To Plot Output Noise

1. Select menu Probe AC/Noise | Plot Output Noise

To Plot Input Referred Noise

1. Select menu Probe AC/Noise | Plot Input Noise

Note that you must specify an input source for input referred noise to be available. See “Noise Parameters”
on page 241 for details.

To Plot Device Noise

1. Select menu Probe AC/Noise | Probe Device Noise

2. Click on device of interest
Note that noise results are only available for noisy devices such as resistors and semiconductor devices.

13.4.5 Plotting Transfer Function Analysis Results

No cross-probing is available with transfer function analysis. Instead, you must use the general purpose
Define Curve dialog box. With this approach you must select a vector name from a list. Proceed as follows:
1. Select menu Probe | Add Curve...
2. Select a value from the Available Vectors drop down box.

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Transfer Function Vector Names

The vector names for transfer function will be of the form:

source_name#Vgain
source_name#Transconductance
source_name#Transresistance
source_name#Igain
where source_name is the name of a voltage or current source.
The vectors Zout, Yout or Zin may also be available. These represent output impedance, output admittance
and input impedance respectively.
For more information see the Command Reference/.TF chapter of the Simulator Reference Manual.

13.4.6 Fourier Analysis

A Fourier spectrum of a signal can be obtained in a number of ways. You have a choice of using the
default settings for the calculation of the Fourier spectrum or you can customise the settings for each plot.
The following menus use the default settings:
Probe | Fourier | Probe Voltage Quick...
Probe | More Probe Functions...
Graph menu: Plot | Plot Fourier of Curve
Graph menu: Plot | Plot Fourier of Curve (Cursor span)
The following prompt you to customise the settings:
Probe | Fourier | Probe Voltage Custom...
Probe | Fourier | Arbitrary...

Default Settings

The default fourier spectrum settings are:

Setting Default value

Method Interpolated FFT
Number of points Next integral power of two larger than number of points in signal
Interpolation order 2
Span All data except Plot | Plot Fourier of Curve (Cursor span) which
uses cursor span

Custom Settings

With menu Probe | Fourier | Probe Voltage Custom... you will see the dialog below. With the
menus Probe | Fourier | Arbitrary... a dialog box similar to that shown in “Plotting an Arbitrary
Expression” on page 329 will be displayed but will include a Fourier tab. Click on the this tab to display
the Fourier analysis options as shown below.

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Method

SIMetrix offers two alternative methods to calculate the Fourier spectrum: FFT and Continuous Fourier.
The simple rule is: use FFT unless the signal being examined has very large high frequency components as
would be the case for narrow sharp pulses. When using Continuous Fourier, keep an eye on the Estimated
calculation time shown at the bottom right of the dialog.
A description of the two techniques and their pros and cons follows.

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FFT Fast Fourier Transform. This is an efficient algorithm for calculating a

discrete Fourier transform or DFT. DFTs generally operate on evenly
spaced sampled data. Unfortunately the data generated by the simulator is
not evenly spaced so it is therefore necessary to interpolate the data before
presenting it to an FFT algorithm. The interpolation process is in effect the
sampling process and the Nyquist sampling theorem applies. This states
that the signal can be perfectly reproduced from the sampled data if the
sampling rate is greater than twice the maximum frequency component in
the signal. In practice this condition can never be met perfectly and any
signal components whose frequency is greater than half the sampling rate
will be aliased to a different frequency.
So if the number of interpolated points is too small there will be errors in
the result due to high frequency components being aliased to lower
frequencies. This is the Achilles heel of FFTs applied to simulated
data.
The Continuous Fourier technique, described next, does not suffer from
this problem. It suffers from other problems the main one being that it is
considerably slower than the FFT.
Continuous Fourier This calculates the Fourier spectrum by numerically integrating the Fourier
integral. With this method, each frequency component is calculated
individually whereas with the FFT the whole spectrum is calculated in one
- quite efficient - operation. Continuous Fourier does not require the data
to be interpolated and does not suffer from aliasing.
The problem with continuous Fourier is that compared to the FFT it is a
slow algorithm and in many cases an FFT with a very large number of
interpolated points can be calculated more quickly and give just as
accurate a result.
However, in cases where a signal has a very large high frequency content -
such as narrow pulses - this method is superior and it is recommended that
it is used in preference to the FFT in such situations. The continuous
Fourier technique has the additional advantage that it can be applied with
greater confidence as the aliasing errors will not be present. It does have
its own source of error due to the fact that simulated data itself is not truly
continuous but represented by unevenly spaced points with no information
about what lies between the points. This error can be minimised by
ensuring that close simulation tolerances are used. See Simulator
Reference Manual/Convergence, Accuracy and Performance for
details.
Because each frequency component is calculated individually, the
calculation time is affected by the values entered in “Frequency Display”
on page 325.

Plot (Phase or Magnitude)

The default is to plot the magnitude of the Fourier spectrum. Select Phase if you require a plot of phase
or dB if you need the magnitude in dBs.

Frequency Display

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Resolution/Hz Available only for the continuous Fourier method. This is the frequency
interval at which the spectral components are evaluated. It cannot be less
than 1/T where T is the time interval over which the spectrum is
calculated.
Start Freq./Hz Start frequency of the display.
Stop Freq./Hz Stop frequency of the display.
Log X-Axis Check this to specify a logarithmic x-axis. This will force a minimum
value for the start frequency equal to 1/T where T is the time interval
being analysed.

Signal Info

If the signal being analysed is repetitive and the frequency of that signal is known exactly then a much
better result can be obtained if it is specified here. Check the Know fundamental frequency box then
enter the frequency. The Fourier spectrum will be calculated using an integral number of complete cycles
of the fundamental frequency. This substantially reduces spectral leakage. Spectral leakage occurs
because both the Fourier algorithms work on an assumption that the signal being analysed is a repetition of
the analysed time interval from t = −∞ to t = +∞. If the analysed time interval does not contain a
whole number of cycles of the fundamental frequency this will be a poor approximation and the spectrum
will be in error. In practice this problem is minimised by using a window function applied to the signal
prior to the Fourier calculation, but using a whole number of cycles reduces the problem further.
Note that the fundamental frequency is not necessarily the lowest frequency in the circuit but the largest
frequency for which all frequencies in the circuit are integral harmonics. For example if you had two sine
wave generators of 1kHz and 1.1KHz, the fundamental is 100Hz, not 1kHz; 1kHz is the tenth harmonic,
1.1KHz is the eleventh.
You should not specify a fundamental frequency for circuits that have self-oscillating elements.

FFT Interpolation

As explained above, the FFT method must interpolate the signal prior to the FFT computation. Specify
here the number of points and the order. The number of points entry may be forced to a minimum if a high
stop frequency is specified in the Frequency Display section.
The number of interpolation points required depends on the highest significant frequency component in the
signal being analysed. If you have an idea what this is, a useful trick to set the number of points to a
suitable value, is to increase the stop frequency value in the Frequency Display section up to that
frequency. This will automatically set the number of interpolation points to the required value to handle
that frequency. If you don’t actually want to display frequencies up to that level, you can bring the stop
frequency back down again. The number of interpolation points will stay at the value reached.
If in doubt, plot the FFT twice using a different number of points. If the two results are significantly
different in the frequency band of interest, then you should increase the number of points further.
Usually an interpolation order of 2 is a suitable value but you should reduce this to 1 if analysing signals
with abrupt edges. If analysing a smooth signal such as a sinusoid, useful improvements can be gained by
increasing the order to 3.

Advanced Options

Pressing the Advanced Options... button will open this dialog box:

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Data Span

Usually the entire simulated time span is used for the fourier analysis. To specify a smaller time interval
click Specify and enter the start and end times.
Note that if you specify a fundamental frequency, the time may be modified so that a whole number of
cycles is used. This will occur whether or not you explicitly specify an interval.

Window

A window function is applied to the time domain signal to minimise spectral leakage (See above).
The choice of window is a compromise. The trade off is between the bandwidth of the main spectral
component or lobe and the amplitude of the side-lobes. The rectangular window - which is in effect no
window - has the narrowest main lobe but substantial side-lobes. The Blackman window has the widest
main lobe and the smallest side lobes. Hanning and Hamming are something in between and have similar
main lobe widths but the side lobes differ in the way they fall away further from the main lobe. Hamming
starts smaller but doesn’t decay whereas Hanning while starting off larger than Hamming, decays as the
frequency moves away from the central lobe.
Despite the great deal of research that has been completed on window functions, for many applications the
difference between Hanning, Hamming and Blackman is not important and usually Hanning is a good
compromise.
There are situations where a rectangular window can give significantly superior results. This requires that
the fundamental frequency is specified and also that the simulated signal is consistent over a large number
of cycles. The rectangular window, however, usually gives considerably poorer results and must be used
with caution.

13.4.7 Probing Buses

It is possible to probe a bus in which case a plot representing all the signals on the bus will be created.
Usually this will be a numeric display of the digital bus data, but it is also possible to display the data as an
analog waveform. Buses may contain either digital or analog signals; if any analog signals are present then
threshold values must be supplied to define the logic levels of the analog signals.

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To probe bus using default settings

Use the schematic popup menu Probe Voltage... or hot key F4 and probe the bus in the same way as you
would a single wire.
This will plot a numeric trace using decimal values.

To probe bus using custom settings

1. Select menu Probe | Voltage - Bus...

2. Click on desired bus.
3. Enter the desired bus parameters as described in “Bus Probe Options” on page 328.

13.4.8 Bus Probe Options

The following describes the options available for random and fixed bus probes. These options are set using
the dialog box shown below. See “Probing Buses” on page 327 and “Fixed Probe Options” on page 287
for details on plotting buses.

Define Bus

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Label This is how the curve will be labelled in the plot

Start, End Defines which wires in the bus are used to created the displayed data. The
default is to use all wires.

Plot Type

Decimal/Hexadecimal/Binary Each of these specifies a numeric display (see below) showing

the bus values in the number base selected.
Analog waveform Specifies that the bus data should be plotted as an analog
waveform.
Hold invalid states If checked, then and invalid digital states found in the data will
be replaced with the most recent valid state. If not checked,
invalid states will be shown as an ‘X’ in numeric displays. This
option is automatically selected for analog waveform
mode.

Analog Thresholds

These are required if any of the signals on the bus is analog. These define the thresholds for converting to
logic levels.

Threshold Low Analog voltage below which the signal is considered a logic
zero.
Threshold High Analog voltage above which the signal is considered a logic
one.

If a signal is above the lower threshold but below the upper threshold, it will be considered as ‘unknown’.

Define Analog Waveform

Only enabled if Analog waveform is specified in the Plot Type box. Specifies the scaling values and units
for analog waveforms:

Range Peak-peak value used for display.

Offset Analog display offset. A value of zero will result in an analog display
centred about the x-axis.
Units Select an appropriate unit from the drop down box.

13.4.9 Plotting an Arbitrary Expression

If what you wish to plot is not in one of the probe menus, SIMetrix has a facility to plot an arbitrary
expression of node voltages or device currents. This is accessed via one of the menus Probe | Add
Curve.... Selecting one of these menus brings up the Define Curve dialog box shown below.

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Define Curve Sheet

Expression

Y Enter arithmetic expression. This can use operators + - * / and ˆ and

various functions such as log, sin etc. To enter a node voltage, click on a
point on the schematic. To enter a device pin current, hold down the shift
key and click on the device pin in the schematic. Both voltages and
currents may also be selected from the Available Vectors box.
You may also plot an expression based on any curve that is already plotted.
Simply click on the curve itself and you should see a function entered in
the form cv(n) where n is some integer.
Any entries made in this box are stored for future retrieval. Use the drop
down box to select a previous entry.
X Expression for X data. Only required for X-Y plot and you must check
X-Y Plot box. Expression entered in the same way as for Y data.

Available Vectors

Lists values available for plotting. This is for finding vectors that aren’t on a schematic either because the
simulation was made direct from a netlist or because the vector is for a voltage or current in a sub-circuit.

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Refer to “Data Handling and Keeps” on page 254 for more information. Press Edit Filter to alter selection
that is displayed. See below.
The names displayed are the names of the vectors created by the simulator. The names of node voltages
are the same as the names of the nodes themselves. The names for device currents are composed of device
name followed by a ‘#’ followed by the pin name. Note that some devices output internal node voltages
which could get confused with pin currents. E.g. q1#base is the internal base voltage of q1 not the base
current. The base current would be q1#b. For the vector names output by a noise analysis refer to
Simulator Reference Manual/Command Reference/.NOISE.

Edit Filter...

Pressing the Edit Filter... button opens:

This allows you to select what is displayed in the available vectors dialog. This is useful when simulating
large circuits and the number of vectors is very large.

Sub-circuit Filter

All Vectors at all levels are displayed.

Top level Only vectors for the top-level are displayed
Select sub-circuit All sub-circuit references will be displayed in the list box.
Select one of these. Only vectors local to that sub-circuit will be
displayed in Available Vector list.

Signal Type

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All List all signal types

Voltages Only Only voltages will be listed
Currents Only Only currents will be listed
Digital Only Only digital vectors will be listed

Wildcard filter

Enter a character string containing ‘*’ and/or ‘?’ to filter vector names. ‘*’ matches 1 or more occurrences
of any character and ‘?’ matches any single character. Some examples:

* matches anything
X1.* matches any signal name that starts with the three letters:
X1.
X?.* matches any name that starts with an X and with a ‘.’ for the
third letter.
*.q10#c matches any name ending with .q10#c i.e the current into any
transistor called q10
*.U1.vout matches any name ending with .U1.C11 i.e any node called
vout in a subcircuit with reference U1.

Curve Label

Enter text string to label curve

Axis Options

Selections in this group allow you to control where the curve for the probed signal will be placed.

Auto select Select an appropriate axis automatically. See “AutoAxis

Feature” on page 340
Use selected Use currently selected y-axis
Use new Y-axis Create a new y-axis in the selected grid. If there is more than
one grid, the selected grid will have a double vertical line drawn
at the far left. A grid can be selected by clicking in it
Use new Grid Plots the curve in a new grid
Use detached new grid Plots the curve in a new grid with a detached x-axis. A detached
x-axis is independent and may be zoomed independently of
other axes
Digital Create a new digital axis. Digital axes are placed at the top of
the window and are stacked. Each one may only take a single
curve. As their name suggests, they are intended for digital
traces but can be used for analog signals if required
New graph sheet Creates a completely new graph sheet for the plot

Note that you can move a curve to a new axis or grid after it has been plotted. See “Moving Curves to
Different Axis of Grid” on page 341.

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Axis Scales Sheet

Allows you to specify limits for x and y axes.

X-Axis/Y-Axis

Lin/Log/Auto Specify whether you want X-Axis to be linear or logarithmic. If

Auto is selected, the axis (X or Y) will be set to log if the x
values are logarithmically spaced. For the Y-axis it is also
necessary that the curve values are positive for a log axis to be
selected.
No Change Keep axes how they are. Only relevant if adding to an existing
graph.
Auto scale Set limits to fit curves.
Defined Set to limits defined in Min and Max boxes.

Axis Labels Sheet

This sheet has four edit boxes allowing you to specify, x and y axis labels as well as their units. If any box
is left blank, a default value will be used or will remain unchanged if the axis already has a defined label.

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13.4.10 Curve Arithmetic

SIMetrix provides facilities for performing arithmetic on existing curves. For example you can plot the
difference between two plotted curves.
There are two methods:
1. With the menus:
Plot | Sum Two Curves...
Plot | Subtract Two Curves...
Plot | Multiply Two Curves...
Select one of the above menus and follow instructions given.
2. Using the Add Curve... dialog box. With this method, select menu Probe | Add Curve... or Plot |
Add Curve... then enter an expression as desired. To access an existing curve’s data, simply click
on the curve. For more information, see “Plotting an Arbitrary Expression” on page 329.

AC Analysis Notes on Curve Arithmetic

In AC analysis, the results are complex. When plotting a curve from an AC analysis, the magnitude of the
complex data is plotted unless some other explicit function is applied such as phase() or imag(). Although
the magnitude of the data is plotted, the graph system retains the original complex values. So any
arithmetic operation performed directly on complex plotted data will also be complex. For example, if you
have two curves from an AC analysis and you choose the Plot | Subtract Two Curves... menu to subtract
them, the new result will be the magnitude of the complex difference not the difference in the magnitudes
as might be expected. In mathematical terms, you will see |a-b| not |a|-|b|.

13.4.11 Using Random Probes in Hierarchical Designs

Random probes may successfully be employed in hierarchical designs. There are however some
complications that arise and these are explained below.

Closed Schematics

Read the following if you find situations where cross-probing inside hierarchical blocks sometimes fails to
function.
The names used for cross-probing are stored in the schematic itself and are saved to the schematic file.
These netnames are not assigned until the netlist is created and this doesn’t usually happen until a
simulation is run. A problem arises, however, if the schematic is not open. If netnames have never been
created then they won’t be updated during the run as, by default, SIMetrix will not update a closed file.
This problem can be resolved by giving SIMetrix permission to update schematic files that are closed. To
do this, type at the command line:
Set UpdateClosedSchematics

This only needs to be done once. Note that you can only do this with the full versions of SIMetrix.
This problem won’t arise if you always run every schematic at least once while it is open. If you do this,
the netnames will be updated and you will be prompted to save the schematic before closing it.

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Multiple Instances

An issue arises in the situation where there are multiple instances of a block attached to the same
schematic. Consider the following top level circuit.

This has two instances of the block fastamp.sxsch U1 and U2. Suppose you wanted to plot the voltage of a
node inside U1. The schematic fastamp.sxsch is open but to which block does it refer? The answer is that
it will refer to the most recent block that was used to descend into it. The block that a schematic refers to is
always displayed in the schematic’s status bar as illustrated below

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To plot a node in U2, ascend to parent (top.sxsch in the above example) then descend into U2. The same
schematic as above will be displayed but will now refer to U2 instead of U1.

Plotting Currents

In the same way that you can plot currents into subcircuits in a single sheet design, so you can also plot
currents into hierarchical blocks at any level.

13.4.12 Plotting the Results from a Previous Simulation

1. Select the menu item Simulator | Manage Data Groups.... This will open a dialog box similar
to the following:

2. Select the name of the previous run (or group) that you require. The current group will be
highlighted. Note that the AC analysis mode generates two groups. One for the AC results and the
other for the dc operating point results. Transient analysis will do the same if the start time is
non-zero. The names for the groups usually default to the file name of the schematic that generated
them. (They have been edited to be more meaningful in the picture above).
3. Click Set Current Group
4. Click Ok
5. Plot the result you require in the normal way. A word of warning: If the schematic has undergone
any modifications other than part value changes since the old simulation was completed, some of the
netnames may be different and the result plotted may not be of what you were expecting.

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Note By default, only the three most recent groups are kept. This can be changed using the
GroupPersistence option using the Set command - see “Set” on page 394). You can also keep
specify that a particular group is kept permanently using the Data Groups Manager. Proceed as
follows:
1. Select the menu item Simulator | Manage Data Groups.... This will open the Data
Group Manager dialog box. (See “Plotting the Results from a Previous Simulation” on
page 336 for an illustration).
2. Select the group or groups you wish to keep permanently
3. Click Keep Group. You should see the Flags column for each group display keep
4. Click Ok
Although only three groups are held at a time, the data is actually stored on a disc file which
will not necessarily have been deleted. If you wish to access an old run, use File | Data | Load
Temporary Data.... The file will have the same name as the group appended with .SXDAT.
Whether or not the data file is still available depends on a preference setting. See
“Graph/Probe/Data Analysis” on page 434 for details.

Combining Results from Different Runs

There are occasions when you wish to - say - plot the difference between a node voltage for different runs.
You can do this in SIMetrix using the Probe | Add Curve... menu by entering an expression such as
‘vector1 -vector2 ’ in the y-expression box, where vector1 and vector2 are the names of the signals.
However, as the two signals come from different runs we need a method of identifying the run. This is
done by prefixing the name with the group name followed by a colon. The group name is an analysis type
name (tran, ac, op, dc, noise, tf or sens) followed by a number. The signal name can be obtained from the
schematic. For voltages, move the cursor over the node of interest and you will see the name appear in the
status box in the form “NET=???”. For currents put the cursor on a device pin and press control-P. The
group name is displayed in the simulator progress box when the simulation is running. You can also find
the current group by selecting menu Simulator | Manage Data Groups.... The current group is
marked current in the Flags column.
Here is an example. In tutorial 1, the signal marked with the Amplifier Output probe is actually called
Q3_E. The latest run (group) is called tran4. We want to plot the output subtracted from the output for the
previous run. The previous run will be tran3. So we enter in the y-expression box:
tran4:q3_e-tran3:q3_e

For more details on data groups, please refer to the Script Reference Manual/Script Language/Accessing
Simulation Data.

13.5 Plot Journals and Updating Curves

13.5.1 Overview

You can repeat previous plotting operations in one of two ways.

The ‘Update Curves’ feature rebuilds the current graph sheet using the latest available data. This allows
you to randomly probe a schematic and then update the curves with new results for a new simulation run.
The ‘Plot Journal’ feature allows you to save the plots in the current graph sheet for later reconstruction.
This doesn’t save the data, it saves the vector names and expressions used to create the graph’s curves. In
fact this is done by building a SIMetrix script to plot the curves.

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13.5.2 Update Curves

Make sure that no curves are selected then select graph menu Plot | Update Curves. The curves
currently on the graph sheet will be redrawn using the current simulation data. Although this would
usually be the latest simulation run, you can also use this feature to restore the curves back to those from
an earlier run. Use the Simulator | Manage Data Groups... menu to select earlier data. (For more
information see “Plotting the Results from a Previous Simulation” on page 336).

Options

By default all curves are redrawn, that is the older ones are deleted. You can change this behaviour so that
older curves are kept. Select menu Plot | Update Curves Settings... then uncheck the Delete old
curves box.
If there are curves that you would like to remain fixed and so won’t be updated, simply select them first.
This behaviour can be overridden using the menu Plot | Update Curves Settings... Simply uncheck
the Ignore selected curves box.

13.5.3 Plot Journals

First create a plot journal using the menu Plot | Create Plot Journal... then choose a file name. The file
created has a .sxscr extension - its the same extension used by scripts because the file created is a script.
To run the plot journal, you will of course first need to run a simulation or load previous data so that the
journal has some data to work with. The plot journal itself does not store any data. With the simulation
data you wish to work with in place, select graph menu Plot | Run Plot Journal.... This simply runs a
script located in the current directory. Note that the plot journal always creates a new graph sheet.

13.6 Graph Layout

Graphs may have additional Y axes to accommodate plotting results with incompatible scales. This occurs
particularly for plotting dB and phase against each other and also for voltage and current. The additional Y
axes may either be superimposed or stacked. In the user interface and the remainder of this documentation
these are referred to respectively as Axes and Grids. These are illustrated below.

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Current and Voltage plotted on separate Axes

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Current and Voltage plotted on separate Grids

13.6.1 AutoAxis Feature

When you plot a new curve on an existing graph, SIMetrix will select - or if necessary create - a
compatible axis for that curve. The decision is made on the basis of the curve’s Units i.e voltage, current
etc. The rules it follows are:
1. If the currently selected axis or grid (shown by black axis line) has the same units as curve to be
plotted or if it has undefined units (designated by a ‘?’ on label), that axis will be used.
2. If any other axis on the currently selected grid has compatible units (i.e same as curve or undefined)
that axis will be used.
3. If no axes exist with compatible units on the selected grid, a new y-axis will be created to
accommodate the curve.
The above works for all plots made using random probes. For plots created with fixed probes see “Fixed
Probes” on page 286 for more details. For plots created using the Curve command at the command line,
the /AutoAxis switch must be specified e.g:
Curve /AutoAxis L3#P

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13.6.2 Manually Creating Axes and Grids

Two toolbar buttons Create new grid and Create new axis allow manual creation of new axes and grids.
These will be initially empty. Subsequent random probe operations will use the new axis or grid
unconditionally as long as it remains selected (see below).

13.6.3 Selecting Axes

Some operations are performed on the selected axis or grid. The selected y-axis will be displayed with its
vertical axis line a deep black while the remaining axes will be light grey. Selected grids are displayed
with a double vertical line at the far left. Newly created axes and grids are always selected. To select an
axis, click the left mouse button immediately to the left of the vertical axis line.

13.6.4 Stacking Curves to Multiple Grids

The menu Curves | Stack All Curves will place each curve on its own grid.
The menu Curves | Stack Selected Curves will place each selected curve on its own grid.

13.6.5 Moving Curves to Different Axis or Grid

You can freely move curves around from one axis or grid to another. Proceed as follows:
1. Select the curve or curves you wish to move by checking its checkbox next to the coloured legend
which designates the curve.
2. Select the axis you wish to move it to. (See above)
3. Press the Move selected curves to new axis button. The curves will be re-drawn on the new axis.
Any axes that become empty as a result of this operation will be deleted unless it is the Main axis.
See “Deleting Axes” on page 342.

13.6.6 Detached X-Axes

Grids may have attached or detached x-axes. Attached x-axes are shared with other x-axes in the same
graph sheet. That is they zoom in sync - when the limits are changed on one grid, the other grids’ x-axes
are also changed.
Detached x-axes are independent and have their own axis limits. Detached axes may be created in a
number of ways:
• In the Add Curve dialog box (menu Probe | Add Curve...) select the use detached new grid
option in the Axis options group. This will plot the curve on a new grid with a detached x-axis.
• Any existing grid can be converted to detached status using menu Axes | Detach selected
x-axis.
• Holding down the control key while zooming will create a new grid with a detached x-axis. This is a
convenient way to create a new view of some detail of a curve without losing the original wide view
• Detached axes will automatically be created in situations where the existing shared axis is not
compatible with physical type of the new curve being plotted. For example, if you plot an AC
analysis result in a graph sheet containing only time axes, a detached axis will be created to plot it.

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13.6.7 Deleting Axes

To delete an axis, select it then press Erase axis button or menu Axes | Delete Axis/Gris.

13.6.8 Editing Axes

You can edit axis scales, label and units by selecting the graph popup menu Axes | Edit Axis.... This
brings up the following dialog box:

The function of the Axis scales sheet and axis labels sheet is similar to the sheets of the same name in the
define curve dialog box. See “Plotting an Arbitrary Expression” on page 329 for details.

13.6.9 Reordering Grids and Digital Axes

You can change the vertical order of the analog grids and digital axes. To change the analog grid order:
1. Select Axes | Reorder Grids...
2. You will be presented with a list of currently displayed grids identified by their y-axis title. Use the
up and down arrow buttons to arrange them in the order required then click Ok
To change the digital axis order:
1. Select menu Axes | Reorder Digital Axes...
2. Rearrange entries in list as described above for analog grids.

13.7 Curve Operations

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13.7.1 Selecting Curves

Curves may be selected by clicking on the curve. To select multiple curves, hold down the control key.
Curves may also be selected by checking the associated check box in the legend window.

13.7.2 Deleting Curves

To delete a curve (or curves), select it (or them) then press the Erase selected curves button. Any y-axis
that is left empty after deleting curves from it will automatically be deleted. By default any grids left
empty after deleting curves from it will also be deleted. This action can be overridden using an option
setting. Refer to “Graph/Probe/Data Analysis Options” on page 434

13.7.3 Hiding and Showing Curves

A curve may be hidden without it actually being deleted. This is sometimes useful when there are many
curves on a graph but the detail of one you wish to see is hidden by others. In this instance you can
temporarily remove the curves from the graph. To hide a curve (or curves) select it (or them) then press the
Hide selected curves button. To show it (or them) again, press the Show selected curves button.

13.7.4 Re-titling Curves

You can change the title of a curve by selecting it then pressing the Name curve button. This will change
the name of the curve as displayed in the legend panel. (Above main graph area and below toolbar)

13.7.5 Highlighting Curves

You can highlight one or more curves so that they stand out from the others. This is useful if there are
many overlapping curves displayed.

To Highlight Curves

Select the curves you wish to highlight then press ‘H’ or menu Curves | Highlight Selected Curves.

To Highlight Curve Divisions

For grouped curves created from multi-step analyses, you can highlight individual divisions. Position the
small cross cursor over the curve of interest then select right-click menu Highlight | Highlight current
division

To Unhighlight Curves

Select the curves you wish to unhighlight then press ‘U’ or menu Curves | Unhighlight Selected
Curves.

To Unhighlight All Curves

Select menu Curves | Unhighlight All Curves.

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13.7.6 Moving and Copying Curves Between Graphs

The menus Edit | Copy, Edit | Cut and Edit | Paste may be used to move and copy curves between
graph sheets. Note that these operations use an internal clipboard and do not place any data in the system
clipboard.
The internal clipboard uses an efficient method for transferring curves that uses very little memory even if
the curve is large. Also, if you copy a curve, the data itself is not copied internally; the two curves just
reference the same data. This makes copying a memory efficient operation.

To Move a Curve to a New Graph Sheet

1. Select the curve or curves you wish to move.

2. Select menu Edit | Cut.
3. Either create a new graph sheet to receive the new curves (use F10) or switch to an existing graph
sheet.
4. Select menu Edit | Paste.

To Copy a Curve to a New Graph Sheet

1. Select the curve or curves you wish to move.

2. Select menu Edit | Copy.
3. Either create a new graph sheet to receive the new curves (use F10) or switch to an existing graph
sheet.
4. Select menu Edit | Paste.

13.8 Graph Cursors

13.8.1 Overview

Graph cursors can be used to make measurements from waveforms. In their default configuration they
consist of two dimensioned crosshairs as shown below:

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The cursors can be moved horizontally or vertically while tracking an attached curve or they can be picked
up and dragged onto another curve.
Initially there are just two cursors, but there is the facility to add additional cursors without any maximum
limit.

13.8.2 Cursor Operations

Displaying

To switch on/off the cursor display select the graph menu Cursors | Toggle On/Off.

Moving

Cursors can be moved by a number of methods:

1. Left to right. In this mode the x-position of the cursor is varied while the cursor tracks the curve to
which it is attached. To use this method, place the mouse on the vertical crosshair but away from the
intersection with the horizontal crosshair. You should see the mouse cursor shape change to a
left-right arrow. Press left mouse key and drag.
2. Up-down. Similar to 1. above but instead the y-position is varied. To use this method, place the
mouse on the horizontal crosshair but away from the intersection with the vertical crosshair. You
should see the mouse cursor shape change to an up-down arrow. Press left mouse key and drag.
3. Drag and drop. In this mode the cursor is picked up and moved without tracking any curve. It can be
dropped to any location and will then snap to the nearest curve. To use this method, place the mouse
cursor at the intersection of the crosshairs. You will see the cursor shape change to a four-pointed
arrow. Press left key and drag to new location.

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4. The reference cursor can be moved in a left-right mode using the right mouse button.
5. Both cursors can be moved together using the left button while holding down the shift key.

Moving Cursors along a Curve

You can move a cursor to a peak or trough using the hot-key defined in the following table

Key Function
F5 Move main cursor to next peak
shift-F5 Move main cursor to previous peak
F6 Move main cursor to next trough
shift-F6 Move main cursor to previous trough
F7 Move reference cursor to next peak
shift-F7 Move reference cursor to previous peak
F8 Move reference cursor to next trough
shift-F8 Move reference cursor to previous trough

These operations can also be accessed from the graph menu Cursors | Move.

Hiding Cursors

You can temporarily hide all or some of the displayed cursors. Menu Cursors | Hide/Show | All has a
toggle action and will hide all cursors if all cursors are currently displayed and vice-versa. If some cursors
are visible and some are hidden, you will be presented with an option to hide all cursors or show all
cursors.
Menu Cursors | Hide/Show | Select allows you to selectively hide or show some cursors.

Freezing Cursors

You can freeze the cursors so that they can’t be moved accidentally. Select menu Cursors |
Freeze/Unfreeze.

Aligning Cursors

Select menu Cursors | Align to align the two cursors so that they have the same y position.

13.8.3 Additional Cursors

SIMetrix has the ability to display any number of cursors, not just the standard two.

To Add an Additional Cursor

1. Select menu Add Additional Cursor...

2. Enter a suitable label for the cursor. This is displayed at the bottom of the graph and to avoid clutter,
we recommend that you use a short label such as a single letter.

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3. Select to which other cursor you wish the new cursor to be referenced for both horizontal and
vertical dimensions. Select ‘**none**’ if you do not wish it to be referenced to any currently
displayed cursor. Note that you may reference further additional cursors to this one if desired.
4. Click Ok. The new cursor will be initially displayed at the start of the x-axis and attached to the first
curve on the sheet. You may subsequently move it as desired.

To Remove Additional Cursors

1. Select Cursors | Remove Additional Cursors...

2. Select the cursor or cursors to be removed. These are identified by their labels.

13.8.4 Cursor Readout

There are a number of options as to how the cursors’ absolute and relative positions are displayed. Initially
all values are displayed as dimensions on the graph. This can be altered in a number of ways:
• You can opt to have just the absolute or just relative readings displayed
• The actual format of the graph readout can be customised. E.g extra text can be added, perhaps
something like ‘Delay = xxxnS’ where xxx is the relative reading.

Editing Style or/and Format of Cursor Dimension

Double click on one of the displayed values of the cursor dimension. The following dialog will open:

Edit values as described below:

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Label The labels are the three values displayed on the dimension. Label 1 is the value
displayed above the reference cursor, label 2 is the value displayed above the main
cursor and label 3 is the value displayed as the difference. %x1%, %x2% and
%xdiff% are symbolic values that will be substituted with the absolute position of
the reference cursor, the absolute position of the main cursor and the difference
between them respectively. You can add additional text to these. For example, if
you changed label 1 to ‘Pulse Start = %x1%’ the value displayed for the position
of the reference cursor would be prefixed with ‘Pulse Start = ‘.
You can use expressions relating constants and symbolic values enclosed by ‘%’.
Expressions must be enclosed in braces: ‘’ and ‘’. For example, the expression
1/%xdiff% will cause the difference value to be displayed as a reciprocal. This is
useful if you wanted to display a frequency instead of a period. For a detailed
description of this feature, see “Graph Symbolic Values” on page 363.
You can use any arithmetic operator along with many of the functions described in
the Script Reference Manual/Function Reference in these expressions.
Style
Show Absolute Clear check box to disable display of the
absolute positions of the cursors.
Show Difference Clear check box to disable display of
relative positions.
Automatic/Internal/External Style of dimension. Internal means that
the arrows will always be displayed
between the cursors. External means they
will always be displayed outside the
cursors. In automatic mode the style will
change according to the spacing and
position.
Note, if you clear both absolute and difference, you will only be able to restore the
display of the dimension by switching cursors off then on again.
Font Select font used for readout text.
Properties Tab Properties Tab The properties tab lists all available properties of the
CrosshairDimension object. This will probably only be of interest if you are
writing custom scripts to manipulate cursor dimensions. More information on this
subject can be found in the Script Reference Manual/Applications/Grph
Objects.

Show Curve Info

The menu Cursors | Show Curve Info will display in the command shell information about the curve
which currently has the main cursor attached. The following information is listed:

Curve name
Source group The name of the simulation group that was current when the curve was
created.
Curve id Only required when accessing curves using script commands.
Run number If there are multiple curves generated by a Monte Carlo run, this is a number that
identifies the run number that created the curve. This number can be used to plot the
curve alone and also to identify the seed value used for that Monte Carlo step.

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13.8.5 Cursor Functions

There are four functions which return the current positions of the cursors and these can be used in script
expressions. These are
XDatum()
YDatum()
XCursor()
YCursor()
See Script Reference Manual/Function Reference for details.

13.9 Curve Measurements

13.9.1 Overview

A number of measurements can be applied to selected curves. The results of these measurements are
displayed in the measurement window below the main graph drawing area. See “Elements of the Graph
Window” on page 284.
Some of these measurements can be selected from the tool bar while the remainder may be accessed via
the menu Measure | More Functions... or by pressing F3.
Measurement functions may also be applied to “Fixed Probes” on page 286 so that they are automatically
updated when a simulation is repeated. See “Applying Measurements to Fixed Probes” on page 353 for
more details.
In general to perform a measurement, select the curve or curves then select measurement from tool bar or
menu. If there is only one curve displayed, it is not necessary to select it.

13.9.2 Available Measurements

A wide range of measurement functions are available. Select menu Measure | More Functions... to
see the complete list. For more information see “Using the Define Measurement GUI” on page 349.

13.9.3 Using the Define Measurement GUI

The Define Measurement GUI is a general purpose interface to the measurement system and provides
access to all measurement functions along with a means to define custom measurements.
To open the Define Measurement GUI, select menu Measure | More Functions... . You will see the
following dialog box:

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Choose measurement

Lists all available measurement functions. If cursors are not switched on, some of the functions will be
greyed out. These are functions that require you to identify parts of the waveform to be measured. For
example the manual rise and fall time measurements require you to mark points before and after the rising
or falling edge of interest.
When you click on one of the measurements, some notes will appear at the bottom explaining the
measurement and how to use it.

Pre-process

Listed in the pre-process box are three operations that can optionally be performed on the waveform before
the measurement function is applied. These are

Cursor span Truncates the waveform data to the span defined by the current positions of the
cursors. In other words, the measurement is performed on the range defined by the
cursor positions.
Integral cycles Truncates the waveform data to an integral number of whole cycles. This is useful for
measurements such as RMS which are only meaningful if applied to a whole number
of cycles.
AC coupled Offsets the data by the mean value. This is equivalent to ‘ACcoupling’ the
data.

The above operations are performed in the order listed. So for example, the data is truncated to the cursor
span before AC coupling.

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Custom Measurement

If you select the Custom entry in the Choose measurement list, the Custom measurement tab will be
enabled.
The Custom measurement tab allows you to define your own measurement along with an option to add
it to the list of pre-defined measurements. The following explains the entries in the Custom
measurement tab.

Label as displayed on This is the label that will appear alongside the measurement value in the
graph graph legend panel. Usually, this would be literal text, but you may also
enter a template string using special variables and script functions. See
“Templates” on page 353 for details.
Expression Expression to define measurement. Use the variable ‘data’ to access the
data for the curve being measured. The expression must return a single
value (i.e. a scalar). See “Goal Functions” on page 377 for details of
functions that may be used to define measurement expressions.
Format template Defines how the value will be displayed. If you leave this blank, a default
will be used which will display the result of the expression along with its
units if any. See “Templates” on page 353 for details.
Save definition to If checked, the measurement definition will be saved to the list shown in
pre-defined pre-defined measurements. You can optionally enter some further details
measurements under Save definition. Note that the definition will not appear in the
pre-defined list until the dialog is closed an reopened. Further
management of custom measurement definitions can be made using the
“Measurement Definitions Manager” on page 351.
Short description This is what will be displayed in the list box under Choose measurement
in the Pre-defined Measurement tab.
Full description This is what will be displayed below the list box when the item is
selected.

13.9.4 Measurement Definitions Manager

Select menu Measure | Manage Measurement Definitions. This will open the Measurement
Definitions Manager dialog box shown below:

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The Measurement Definitions Manager allows you to edit both built in and custom measurement
definitions.

Select measurement

Select measurement you wish to edit from this list.

Restore Factory Definition

This button will be enabled for any built-in definition that has been edited in some way. Press it to restore
the definition to its original. For custom definitions, this button’s label changes to Delete. Press it to delete
the definition.
It is not possible to delete built-in definitions

Create new measurement

You can create a completely new empty measurement or you can copy an existing one to edit. Enter a
name then press Create to create a new empty definition. To copy an existing definition, select the
definition under Select measurement then press Copy selected.

Measurement definition

Define measurement. There are five entries:

Label as displayed on This is the label that will appear alongside the measurement value in the
graph graph legend panel. Usually, this would be literal text, but you may also
enter a template string using special variables and script functions. See
“Templates” on page 353 for details.

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Expression Expression to define measurement. Use the variable ‘data’ to access the
data for the curve being measured. The expression must return a single
value (i.e. a scalar). See “Goal Functions” on page 377 for details of
functions that may be used to define measurement expressions.
Format template Defines how the value will be displayed. If you leave this blank, a default
will be used which will display the result of the expression along with its
units if any. See “Templates” on page 353 for details.
Save definition to If checked, the measurement definition will be saved to the list shown in
pre-defined pre-defined measurements. You can optionally enter some further details
measurements under Save definition. Note that the definition will not appear in the
pre-defined list until the dialog is closed an reopened. Further
management of custom measurement definitions can be made using the
“Measurement Definitions Manager” on page 351.
Full description This is what will be displayed below the list box when the item is
selected.
Requires cursors to be If checked, the measurement will be disabled unless graph cursors are
switched on enabled

Templates

Both the graph label and Format template may be entered using a template containing special variables and
expressions. The following is available:

%yn% Where n is a number from 1 to 5. y-value returned by expression. The value returned
by the expression may be a vector with up to 5 elements. %y1% returns element 1,
%y2% returns element 2 etc.
%xn% Where n is a number from 1 to 5. x-value returned by expression. The value returned
by the expression may be a vector with up to 5 elements. %x1% returns the x-value
of element 1, %x2% returns the x-value of element 2 etc. The xvalues are the values
used for the x-axis. You should be aware that not all functions return x-data.
%uyn% The units of the y values.
%uxn% The units of the x values.
%% Literal % character.
expression expression will be evaluated and substituted. expression may contain any valid and
meaningful script function. For full details, see Script Reference Manual/Function
Reference.

13.9.5 Repeating the Same Measurement

The menu Measure | Repeat Last Measurement will repeat the most recent measurement performed.

13.9.6 Applying Measurements to Fixed Probes

Measurements may be applied to fixed probes so that the measurement is performed automatically when
the simulation is complete. To apply a measurement to a probe, proceeds as follows:
1. Select the probe then right click menu Edit/Add Measurements...
2. The following box should be displayed:

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3. To begin with a single measurement is shown. Using the drop down box in the Measurement
column, select the desired measurement type
4. You may also change some of the attributes:
Cursor Span specifies that the measurement will be calculated over the current cursor range.
If cursors are not switched on, this will be ignored.
AC coupled specifies that the data will have its DC component removed before the
measurement is made.
Per Cycle will apply an algorithm to detect whole numbers of cycles and apply the
measurement over that range.
Display on schematic will additionally display the measurement result on the schematic
using a label attached to the probe.
5. To add additional measurements, click the Add Measurement button. A new line will appear.
There is no limit to the number of measurements that may be applied.
6. To remove a measurement, select the line to be removed then click Remove Measurement.

13.9.7 Notes on Curve Measurement Algorithms

Some of the measurements algorithms make some assumptions about the wave shape being analysed.
These work well in most cases but are not fool-proof. The following notes describe how the algorithms
work and what their limitations are.
All the measurement algorithms are implemented by internal scripts. The full source of these scripts can
be found on the install CD (see “Install CD” on page 460).

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‘per Cycle’ and Frequency Measurements

These measurements assume that the curve being analysed is repetitive and of a fixed frequency. The
results may not be very meaningful if the waveform is of varying frequency or is of a burst nature. The
/cycle measurements calculate over as many whole cycles as possible.
Each of these measurements use an algorithm to determine the location of x-axis crossings of the
waveform. The algorithm is quite sophisticated and works very reliably. The bulk of this algorithm is
concerned with finding an optimum base line to use for x-axis crossings.
The per cycle measurements are useful when the simulated span does not cover a whole number of cycles.
Measurements such as RMS on a repetitive waveform only have a useful meaning if calculated over a
whole number of cycles. If the simulated span does cover a whole number of cycles, then the full version
of the measurement will yield an accurate result.

Rise and Fall Time, and Overshoot Measurements

These measurements have to determine the waveforms pulse peaks. A histogram method is used to do this.
Flat areas of a waveform produce peaks on a histogram. The method is very reliable and is tolerant of a
large number of typical pulse artefacts such as ringing and overshoot. For some wave-shapes, the pulse
peaks are not well enough defined to give a reliable answer. In these cases the measurement will fail and
an error will be reported.

Distortion

This calculates residue after the fundamental has been removed using an FFT based method. This
algorithm needs a reasonable number of cycles to obtain an accurate result. The frequency of the
fundamental is displayed in the message window. Note that most frequency components between 0Hz and
just before the second harmonic are excluded. The precision of the method can be tested by performing the
measurement on a test circuit such as:

The signal on the pos side of V2 has 0.1% distortion. Use V1 as your main test source (assuming you are
testing an amplifier) then after the simulation is complete, check that the distortion measurement of V2 is
0.1%. If it is inaccurate, you will need either to increase the number of measurement cycles or reduce the
maximum time step or both. You can adjust the amplitude of V2 appropriately if the required resolution is
greater or less than 0.1%.

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Note, that in general, accuracies of better than around 1% will require tightening of the simulation
tolerance parameters. In most cases just reducing RELTOL (relative tolerance) is sufficient. This can be
done from the Options tab of the Choose Analysis Dialog (Simulator | Choose Analysis... ). For a
more detailed discussion on accuracy see the chapter “Convergence and Accuracy” in the Simulator
Reference Manual.

Frequency Response Calculations

These must find the passband for their calculations. Like rise and fall a histogram approach is used to find
its approximate range and magnitude. Further processing is performed to find its exact magnitude.
Note that the algorithms allow a certain amount of ripple in the passband which will work in most cases
but will fail if this in excess of about 3dB.
Note that the frequency response measurements are general purpose and are required to account for a wide
variety of responses including those with both high and low pass elements as well as responses with band
pass ripple. This requirement compromises accuracy in simpler cases. So, for example, to calculate the
-3dB point of a low pass response that extends to DC, the 0dB point is taken to be a point midway between
the start frequency and the frequency at which roll-off starts. A better location would be the start
frequency but this would be inaccurate if there was a high pass roll off at low frequencies. Taking the
middle point is a compromise which produces good - but not necessarily perfect - results in a wide range
of cases. To increase accuracy in the case described above, start the analysis at a lower frequency, this will
lower the frequency at which the 0dB reference is taken.

13.9.8 Plots from curves

Two plots can be made directly from selected curves. These are described below

FFT of Selected Curve

With a single curve selected, select menu Plot | Fourier of Selected Curve. A new graph sheet will be
opened with the FFT of the curve displayed. To plot an FFT of the curve over the span defined by the
cursor locations select menu Plot | Fourier of Selected Curve (Cursor span).

Smoothed Curves

With a single curve selected, select one of the Plot | More LP Filtered menus. For Plot | More LP
Filtered - Custom TC you will need to enter a time constant value. A new curve will be displayed
which is a filtered version of the selected curve.
The above functions will still work if you don’t select any curves. In this case you will be prompted for the
curve on which to perform the operation.
This system uses a first order digital IIR filter to perform the filtering action.

13.10 Efficiency Calculator

13.10.1 Overview

Generating the Efficiency Calculator report involves three basic steps:

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1. In the first step, you use the menu Tools | Efficiency Calculator | 1. Add Power Probes to
Schematic to place a minimum of two probes – one on the input source and one on the output
load. The algorithm then calculates the power delivery efficiency from the source(s) to the load(s).
The fixed power probes must be placed on the terminals of each symbol. It does not matter to which
pin the probe is attached as long as no other device is attached to that pin.
The efficiency-calculation algorithm produces an additional section that details the loss breakdown
for all probes, assuming that each power probe represents a loss element in the design; therefore, for
the most comprehensive report, place a fixed power probe on each lossy component on your
schematic.
2. In the second step, you use the menu Tools | Efficiency Calculator | 2. Define Inputs and
Outputs to specify which probes are assigned to inputs and which are assigned to output loads.
Note: All power probes not assigned as inputs or outputs are considered losses.
3. In the third step, you use the menu Tools | Efficiency Calculator | 3. Calculate Efficiency to
run the report which appears in a dialog and in the command shell window.
The efficiency-calculation algorithm reads the "Mean" measurements of the fixed power probes on the
schematic and reports the efficiency to the command shell window. To calculate efficiency, the algorithm
assumes the following:
• The circuit has entered into a steady state.
• The waveform viewer has an integral number of periodic cycles of data.
Although a SIMPLIS POP analysis always meets these two requirements, you must ensure that a SIMetrix
simulation circuit has entered into a steady state. The efficiency-calculation algorithm uses numerical
integration over the total number of simulation points; therefore, the simulation must have a high number
of data points to ensure that the efficiency calculation is accurate.
To specify the number of SIMetrix simulation points, follow these steps:
1. From the Schematic Editor, select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...
2. At the bottom of the Transient tab, click Advanced Options...
3. In the Advanced Options dialog, set the Max time step to 100ns or less. Note: In some converters,
the value may be 1ns or less. Some experimentation may be necessary. If the efficiency data appears
noisy, the most likely cause is an insufficient number of plot points.
To specify the number of SIMPLIS simulation points, follow these steps:
1. From the Schematic Editor, select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...
2. Click on the Transient tab.
3. Set the Number of plot points to at least 10k. Note: In some converters, the value may be 100k or
greater. Some experimentation may be necessary. If the efficiency data appears noisy, the most
likely cause is an insufficient number of plot points.

13.10.2 Step1: Place Power Probes

The menu Tools | Efficiency Calculator | 1. Add Power Probes to Schematic, allows you to
place multiple fixed power probes on the current schematic. To place the power probes on your schematic,
close the hint window and then follow these steps:
1. Position the power probe circle on a component pin, and then click the left mouse button. Note: To
zoom in while placing the power probes, hold down the Control key and scroll the mouse wheel to
pan up and down. To pan left and right, hold down the Alt key while you scroll the mouse wheel.
2. Repeat the previous step until you have placed all the power probes.
3. To stop placing power probes, click the right mouse button.

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Note: You can also place and delete power probes on the schematic with the following menus:
• Tools | Efficiency Calculator | Add Power Probes to Schematic
• Tools | Efficiency Calculator | Delete all Power Probes

13.10.3 Step 2: Define Input and Output probes

The menu, Tools | Efficiency Calculator | 2. Define Inputs and Outputs..., allows you to specify
which probes are assigned to input sources and which are assigned to output loads. The overall Efficiency
is calculated from the Input Probes and Output Probes selected at the bottom of the Efficiency Calculator
dialog. The probes remaining in the upper box are considered lossy elements in the design. You can use
any of the following methods to move probes from the All Power Probes box to either the Input Probes
or Output Probes box.
• Click to select a single probe, and then click the appropriate Add to ... button
• Hold down the Control key, click on multiple probes, and then click an Add to... button
• With your mouse, draw a box around adjacent probes and then click an Add to... button
To define the input and output probes, follow these steps:
1. In the upper box, select the probe(s) to assign to the input sources and then click Add to Inputs
2. Select the probe(s) to assign to the output loads and then click Add to Outputs
3. Click Ok

13.10.4 Step 3: Calculate Efficiency

The menu, Tools | Efficiency Calculator | 3. Calculate Efficiency, generates the efficiency report
from existing data and displays the report in a dialog and in the command shell window.
Note: If no data exists, you will be prompted to select input and output probes before the report can run.
After assigning the input and output probes, you must again select menu Tools | Efficiency Calculator
| 3. Calculate Efficiency.

13.11 Graph Zooming and Scrolling

13.11.1 Zooming with the Mouse

To zoom in on a portion of a graph, place the cursor at the top left of the area you wish to view, press and
hold the left mouse key then move cursor to bottom right of area and release left key. The axes limits will
be modified appropriately.
If the graph has multiple stacked grids, you should be sure that the first left click is within the area of the
grid you wish to zoom. You will notice a thin grey line separating each grid. You should start the mouse
drag within the grey lines for the chosen axis.
You can zoom just the x axis by dragging a horizontal line across an area outside any grid - e.g. right at the
bottom of the window below the lower x axis line.
To view whole graph again select the graph pop-up Zoom | Full or toolbar button.

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13.11.2 Zooming with the Keyboard

F12 to zoom out

shift-F12 to zoom in
HOME returns graph to full view. (Same as graph popup Zoom | Full)

13.11.3 Recovering an Earlier Zoom

Press the Undo Zoom toolbar button to recover earlier zoom or scroll positions.

13.11.4 Scrolling with the Keyboard

up, down, left and right cursor keys will scroll the active graph.

13.11.5 Zooming with Multiple Grids

If the zoom box covers multiple grids, only the x-axes of those grids will be altered.

13.11.6 Adding new Curves to a Zoomed Grid

If you add a new curve to a graph which has been zoomed, the axes limits will not change to accommodate
that curve; if the new curve does not lie within the zoomed area you will not see it. Selecting graph popup
Zoom | Full or pressing the HOME key restores the graph to auto-scaling and the limits will always
adjust so that all curves are visible even ones subsequently added.

13.11.7 Zoom to Fit Y-axis

To zoom in the y-axis only to fit the displayed x-axis, press the Fit Height toolbar button:

13.12 Annotating a Graph

A number of objects are available to annotate graphs for documentation purposes. These are:
• Curve Marker. A single arrow, line and item of text to identify a curve or feature of a curve
• Legend Box. Box of text that lists all the names of curves currently displayed.
• Text Box. Box containing text message.
• Free Text. Similar to text box but without border and background.
• Caption. As free text but designed for single line heading.

13.12.1 Curve Markers

Placing

To place a curve marker, select menu Annotate | Add Curve Marker. A single curve marker should
appear in the right hand margin of the graph.

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Moving

To move it, place the mouse cursor at the arrow head - you should see the cursor shape change to a four
pointed arrow - then left click and drag to your desired location. When you release the marker it will snap
to the nearest curve.

Moving Label

To move the text label alone, place the mouse cursor to lie within the text, then left click and drag. You
will notice the alignment of the text with respect to the arrowed line change as you move the text around
the arrow. You can fix a particular alignment if preferred by changing the marker’s properties. See below.

Deleting

First select the marker by a single left click in the text. The text should change colour to blue. Now press
delete key or menu Annotate | Delete Selected Object.

Editing Properties

Double click the marker’s label or select then menu Annotate | Edit Selected Object. The following
dialog will open:

Label Text of the marker’s label. %curve:label% automatically resolves to the curve’s
label. If the curve name is edited with menu Curves | Rename curve this value
will reflect the change. You can of course enter any text in this box.
You can also use expressions in the same manner as for cursor dimensions. See
Label in “Editing Style or/and Format of Cursor Dimension” on
page 347.

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Text Alignment This is how the label is aligned to the arrowed line. If set to automatic the
alignment will be chosen to be the most appropriate for the relative position of
the label and the arrowhead. Uncheck automatic and select from the list to fix at
a particular alignment.
Font Press Edit Font... to change font for text.

In the Properties panel you can do the following:

Snap To Curve You can switch off the action that causes curve markers to always snap to a
curve. Select Properties tab then double click on SnapToCurve item. Select Off.
You will now be able to move the curve marker to any location.

13.12.2 Legend Box

Placing

Select menu Annotate | Add Legend Box. A box listing all the curve names will appear at the top left
of the graph.

Moving

Place cursor inside the box and drag to new location.

Resizing

You can alter the maximum height of the box by placing the mouse cursor on it’s bottom edge and
dragging. The text in the box will automatically reposition to comply with the new maximum height.

Editing Properties

Double click on the box or select then menu Annotate | Edit Selected Object. The following dialog
will be opened:

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The dialog box options are:

Label Lists each label in the box. These are usually %DefaultLabel% which resolves
to the name of the referenced curve. To edit, double click on the desired item.
You can also enter the symbols %X1% and %Y1% which represent the x and y
coordinates of the marker respectively. These can be combined with other text
in any suitable manner. For example: ‘Voltage @ %X1%S = %Y1%’ might
resolve to something like ‘Voltage at 10u = 2.345’. The values of %X1% and
%Y1% will automatically update if you move the marker.
You can also use expressions in the same manner as for cursor dimensions. See
Label in “Editing Style or/and Format of Cursor Dimension” on
page 347.
Background Colour Select button Edit Colour... to change background colour. To change the default
colour select menu File | Options | Colour... then select item Text Box. Edit
colour as required.
Font Select button Edit Font... to change font. To change the default font select menu
File | Options | Font... then select item Legend Box. Edit font as
required.

13.12.3 Text Box

Placing

Select menu Annotate | Text Box. Enter required text then Ok. You can use the symbolic constants
%date%, %time%, and %version% to represent creation date, creation time and the product version
respectively.

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Moving

Place cursor inside the box and drag to new location.

Editing Properties

Double click on the box or select then menu Annotate | Edit Selected Object. A dialog like the one
shown for legend boxes (see “Placing” on page 362) will be displayed.
Note when editing the label, you can use the symbolic constants as detailed in above.

13.12.4 Caption and Free Text

The Caption and Free Text objects are essentially the same, the only difference is their initial font size and
position.

Placing

Select menu Annotate | Caption or Annotate | Free Text. Enter required text then Ok. You can use
the symbolic constants %date%, %time%, and %version% to represent creation date, creation time and the
product version respectively.

Moving

Place cursor inside the box and drag to new location.

Editing Properties

Double click on the box or select then menu Annotate | Edit Selected Object. This will open a dialog
similar to the one shown for curve markers but without the Automatic option for text alignment.

13.12.5 Graph Symbolic Values

Most graph objects have one or more label properties that can be used to display text on the graph.As well
as literal text, these label properties may also use symbolic values enclosed with ‘%’. These symbolic
values return values of other properties belonging to the object. For example curve marker objects have a
property called X1 which is always set to the x-location of the curve to which it is attached. So %X1% in a
curve marker label will return the x-location allowing it to be displayed on the graph. The X1 property is
updated every time the curve marker is moved; the label value is re-evaluated every time the graph is
repainted. (Sometimes it is necessary to force a repaint to get labels with symbolic values or/and
expressions to update. You can do this by moving another window over the graph or adjusting the size of
the window slightly)
Some properties return the ID of another graph object. For example the CURVE property returns the ID of
the curve to which it is attached. These can be used to access properties of the referenced object. This is
done by appending with a ‘:’ followed by the referenced object’s property name. For example
%curve:label% returns the LABEL property of the curve attached to the curve marker.
This indirect access to graph object properties can be nested to any level although there is probably no
good reason for any more than two levels. %curve:xaxis:label%, for example has two levels; %curve%
returns the ID of a curve, then %curve:xaxis% returns the id of an axis then %curve:xaxis:label% returns
the LABEL property belonging to the axis.

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Full documentation is available in Script Reference Manual/Applications/Graph Objects. This lists the
available objects and their property names. There is also a sub-heading titled Symbolic Values that
explains the above.
However, deducing all the different possibilities for symbolic values, especially the indirect values,
requires some effort. For this reason, the following table has been compiled which lists a range of
complete symbolic values that are meaningful for use in labels for various objects. This list is not
exhaustive, but probably has everything that is useable.
Note that the symbolic variable names, like everything in SIMetrix, are not case sensitive.

Variable Description Can use with

%curve:label% Curve’s label Curve marker
%curve:shortlabel% Curve’s label without the groupname Curve marker
suffix that is sometimes displayed
%curve:xunit% Curve’s x-axis units Curve marker
%curve:yunit% Curve’s y-axis units Curve marker
%x1% Curve’s x-value at curve marker Curve marker
%y1% Curve’s y-value at curve marker Curve marker
%curve:xaxis:label% Curve’s x-axis label Curve marker
%curve:yaxis:label% Curve’s y-axis label Curve marker
%curve:measurements% Any measurements assigned to the Curve marker
curve
%graph:maincursor:x1% x-position of main cursor Anything
%graph:maincursor:y1% y-position of main cursor Anything
%graph:refcursor:x1% x-position of ref cursor Anything
%graph:refcursor:y1% y-position of ref cursor Anything
%graph:grouptitle% Title of initial data group. This is actually Anything
the netlist title (first line) and for
schematic simulations will be the full path
of the schematic.
%graph:sourcegroup% Data group name that was current when Anything
first curve added to graph. E.g. ‘tran1’,
‘dc5’ etc.
%curve1:label% Label for curve attached to crosshair Dimension
1
%curve2:label% Label for curve attached to crosshair Dimension
2
%curve1:shortlabel% Curve1’s label without the groupname Dimension
suffix that is sometimes displayed
%curve2:shortlabel% Curve2’s label without the groupname Dimension
suffix that is sometimes displayed
%curve1:xunit% Curve1’s x-axis units Dimension
%curve2:xunit% Curve2’s x-axis units Dimension
%curve1:yunit% Curve1’s y-axis units Dimension
%curve2:yunit% Curve2’s y-axis units Dimension

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Variable Description Can use with

%date% Date when object created Textbox, free text,
caption, legend
box
%time% Time when object created Textbox, free text,
caption, legend
box
%version% Product name and version Textbox, free text,
caption, legend
box

Expressions

Graph object labels may contain expressions enclosed in curly braces. These will be evaluated and the
result of the evaluation replaces the complete expression and curly braces. Any script function may be
used although only a subset are applicable.
The function ‘cv()’ is particularly useful. cv() returns the data for a curve and you can use this with
functions that return a scalar from a vector to attach measurements to curve markers or cursors. Use
%curve% as the argument for cv(), i.e.
cv(%curve%)

For example, this will return the RMS value for the curve attached to a curve marker:
{RMS1(cv(%curve%))}

For crosshair dimension objects (the cursor dimensions) use %curve1% or %curve2% instead of %curve%.
The Truncate() function is useful if you want to display a measurement applied to a range marked out by
the cursors. So the following example will return the RMS value of the curve attached to a curve marker
between the range marked out by the cursors.
{RMS1(Truncate(cv(%curve%),
%graph:refcursor:x1%,%graph:maincursor:x1%))}

You can also use string functions. For example, %graph:title% usually returns the pathname of the
schematic. (This is not guaranteed - but this will always be the case if the schematic has been saved and
was run using the regular menus). You can use the SplitPath function to obtain just the file name. E.g.:
{(splitpath(`%Graph:GroupTitle%'))[2]}

You can use the above in any object including free text, text boxes and captions. (Captions are identical to
free text, they just have a different default position and font).
The numeric functions above will usually result in a display with more significant digits than desirable. To
format the result with less accuracy, use the FormatNumber() function. For example:
{FormatNumber(RMS1(cv(%curve%)), 5)}

Will display the result to 5 digits.

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13.13 Exporting/Importing Graphs and Data

13.13.1 Clipboard Operations

Overview

SIMetrix offers facilities to copy both graph data and the graph’s graphical image to the system clipboard.
This provides the ability to export simulation results to other applications. The data - for example - may be
exported to a spreadsheet application for custom processing, while the graphical image may be exported to
a word processor for the preparation of documents.
SIMetrix may also import data in a tabulated ASCII format. This feature may be used to display data from
a spreadsheet allowing, for example, a comparison between measured and simulated data.

Copy Data to the Clipboard

1. Select the graphs you wish to export

2. Select the menu Edit | Copy ASCII Data
The data will be copied in a tabulated ASCII format. The first line will contain the names of the curves,
while the remaining lines will contain the curves’ data arranged in columns

Copying Graphics to the Clipboard

There are three different ways a graph can be copied to the clipboard. Use the menus under Edit | Copy
Graphics. These are detailed below:

Colour Copies graph to clipboard in full colour. The curve legends identify the
curves using coloured squares similar to how the graph is displayed on the
screen.
Monochrome Copies graph to clipboard in monochrome. Curves are distinguished using
varying markers and line styles. Curve legends distinguish curves with a
straight line example
Colour with markers Copies graph to clipboard in full colour but also differentiates curves using
markers and line styles. Curve legends distinguished curves with a straight
line example.

Paste Data from the Clipboard

SIMetrix can plot curves using tabulated ASCII data from the clipboard. The format is the same as used
for exporting data. See “Copy Data to the Clipboard” on page 366 for more details.

13.13.2 Exporting Graphics

You may export schematic graphics to other applications such as word processors or drawing programs.
You can do this via the clipboard (see “Copying Graphics to the Clipboard” on page 366) or by writing out
to a file. To export waveform graphics to a file, select the graph menu File | Save Picture... then select
the format of your choice using the Save as type: drop down box. The choices are:
1. Windows Meta File (.EMF and .WMF). Nearly all windows applications that support graphics
import will accept this format. Note that this is a scalable format and therefore suitable for high

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resolution printing.
2. Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg). Like EMF and WMF, this is a scalable format. It is an open
format and supported by programs on all platforms whereas EMF and WMF is only available on
Windows.
3. Bitmap - default image size (.png, .jpg, .bmp). These are available on all platforms, are widely
supported by graphics applications but these are not scalable formats and so do not offer good
quality when printed using high resolution printers. PNG is the default format if you do not choose a
file extension and generally this format works well for schematics and graphs. To choose JPG
(JPEG format) or BMP (windows bitmap format) you must explicitly enter .jpg or .bmp file
extensions respectively. With this option the image size will match the image size currently
displayed on screen. If you wish to specify a different image size, use next option.
4. Bitmap - specify image size (.png, .jpg, .bmp). As 3 above but you must explicitly define the
image resolution in pixels. You will be prompted for this when you close the file selection dialog
box.

13.13.3 Data Import and Export

SIMetrix provides the capability to export simulation data to a file in text form and also to import data
from a file in text form. This makes it possible to process simulation data using another application such as
a spreadsheet or custom program. The operations described in this section handle data independent of the
graph system. There are also ways to export plotted data from a graph and also directly plot external data.
For information on these topics refer to “Copying Data to the Clipboard” on page 366 and “Paste Data
from the Clipboard” on page 366
SIMetrix may also import data in SPICE3 raw file format and CSDF format. Some other simulation
products can output in one or both of these formats.

Importing SPICE3 Raw and CSDF Files

1. Select menu Simulator | Load Simulation Data...

2. In Files of type select SPICE3 Raw Files or CSDF Files as required.
3. Select file to import.
SIMetrix will read the entire file and write its data out to a temporary .sxdat file in the same way as it does
when saving its own simulation data. The data read from the raw file is buffered in RAM in order to
maximise the efficiency of the saved data. SIMetrix will use up to 10% of system RAM for this purpose.
Note that this feature is not available with SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elements.

Importing Tabulated ASCII Data

SIMetrix can import data in a tabulated ASCII format allowing the display of data created by a spreadsheet
program. There is a no menu for this, but this can be done using the command “OpenGroup” on page 393
with the /text switch. E.g. at the command line type:
OpenGroup /text data.txt

This will read in the file data.txt and create a new group called textn. See “Data Files Text Format” on
page 368 for details of format.
Note that if you create the file using another program such as a spreadsheet, the above command may fail
if the file is still open in the other application. Closing the file in the other application will resolve this.

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Exporting SPICE3 Raw Files

SIMetrix can export all simulation data to a SPICE3 raw file. This format may be accepted by third party
waveform viewers.
To export a SPICE3 raw file, proceed as follows:
1. Select menu File | Data | Save...
2. Under Save as type: choose SPICE3 Raw Files.
Note that various applications use slightly different variants of this format. By default, SIMetrix outputs
the data in a form that is the same as the standard unmodified SPICE3 program. This can be modified
using the option setting “ExportRawFormat”. Use the Set command to set this value. See “Set” on
page 394 for details. Set this value to ‘spice3’, ‘spectre’ or ‘other’.

Exporting Data

To export data, use the command Show (see “Show” on page 394) with the /file switch. E.g:
Show /file data.txt vout r1_p q1#c

will output to data.txt the vectors vout, r1_p, and q1#c. The values will be output in a form compatible
with OpenGroup /text. Vector Names In the above example the vector names are vout, r1_p and
q1#c. If you simulate a schematic, the names used for voltage signals are the same as the node names in
the netlist which in turn are assigned by the schematic’s netlist generator. To find out what these names
are, move the mouse cursor over the node of interest on the schematic. You should see the node name and
therefore the vector name in the status box in the form “NET=???”. To find the current name, place the
mouse cursor on the device pin of interest and press control-P.

Launching Other Applications

Data import and export makes it possible to process simulation data using other applications. SIMetrix has
a facility to launch other programs using the Shell command. You could therefore write a script to export
data, process it with your own program then read the processed data back in for plotting. To do this you
must specify the /wait switch for the Shell command to force SIMetrix to wait until the external
application has finished. E.g.
Shell /wait procdata.exe

will launch the program procdata.exe and will not return until procdata.exe has closed.

Data Files Text Format

SIMetrix has the ability to read in data in text form using the OpenGroup command (see “OpenGroup” on
page 393). This makes it possible to use SIMetrix to graph data generated by other applications such as a
spreadsheet. This can be useful to compare simulated and measured results.
There are two alternative formats. The first is simply a series of values separated by white space. This will
be read in as a single vector with a reference equal to its index.
The second format is as follows:
A text data file may contain any number of blocks. Each block has a header followed by a list of
datapoints. The header and each datapoint must be on one line.
The header is of the form: reference_name ydata1_name [ ydata2_name ... ]
Each datapoint must be of the form: reference_value ydata1_value [ ydata2_value ... ]

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The number of entries in each datapoint must correspond to the number of entries in the header. The
reference is the x data (e.g. time or frequency).

Data Files Text Format - Example

Time Voltage1 Voltage2

0 14.5396 14.6916
1e-09 14.5397 14.6917
2e-09 14.5398 14.6917
4e-09 14.54 14.6917
8e-09 14.5408 14.6911
1.6e-08 14.5439 14.688
3.2e-08 14.5555 14.6766
6.4e-08 14.5909 14.641
1e-07 14.6404 14.5905
1.064e-07 14.6483 14.5821

If the above was read in as a text file (using OpenGroup /text), a new group called textn where n is a
number would be generated. The group would contain three vectors called time, Voltage1 and Voltage2.
The vectors Voltage1 and Voltage2 would have a reference of Time. Time itself would not have a reference.
To read in complex values, enclose the real and imaginary parts in parentheses and separate with a comma.
E.g:
Frequency :VOUT
1000 (-5.94260997, 0.002837811)
1004.61579 (-5.94260997, 0.00285091)
1009.252886 (-5.94260996, 0.002864069)
1013.911386 (-5.94260995, 0.002877289)
1018.591388 (-5.94260994, 0.00289057)
1023.292992 (-5.94260993, 0.002903912)
1028.016298 (-5.94260992, 0.002917316)
1032.761406 (-5.94260991, 0.002930782)
1037.528416 (-5.9426099, 0.00294431)
1042.317429 (-5.94260989, 0.0029579)
1047.128548 (-5.94260988, 0.002971553)

13.14 Saving Graphs

You can save a graph complete with all its curves, cursor settings and annotations to a binary file for later
retrieval. Note that all the graph data is stored not just that needed for the current view. If a long run was
needed to create the graph, the file could be quite large.

13.14.1 Saving

Select graph menu File | Save Graph As... to save a graph that has never been saved before. To update
a saved graph use graph menu File | Save Graph

13.14.2 Restoring

Select menu File | Open... then select Graph Files in the file type drop down box.

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13.15 Saving Data

13.15.1 Saving the Data of a Simulation

The simulator usually saves all its data to a binary file stored in a temporary location. This data will
eventually get deleted. To save this data permanently, select menu File | Data | Save.... You will be
offered two options:

Move existing data file to new location

This will move the data file to location that you specify and thus change its status from temporary to
permanent. As long as the new location is in the same volume (=disk partition) as the original location,
this operation will be very quick. However, if the data is from the most recent simulation, SIMetrix needs
to ‘unhook’ it in order to be able to move the file. This will make it impossible to resume the simulation (if
paused) or restart the simulation (transient only).
Note that if you specify a location on a different volume as the original data, then the file’s data has to be
copied and for large data files, this will take a long time.

Make new copy

This makes a fresh copy of the data. This option does not suffer from the drawbacks of moving the file but
if the data file is large can take a very long time.

13.15.2 Restoring Simulation Data

Select menu File | Data | Load.... Navigate to a directory where you have previously saved data files.
You can also reload data from temporary files using menu File | Data | Load Temporary Data....
Whether or not there will be any files available to opened depends on the temporary data file delete
options. See “Graph/Probe/Data Analysis” on page 434 for information about these options.
The error “The process cannot access the file because it is being used by
another process” means that the temporary data file is still in use. Unless the file is in use by
another instance of SIMetrix you will be able to use its data by selecting its associated group. Use menu
Simulator | Manage Data Groups....

13.16 Viewing DC Operating Point Results

13.16.1 Schematic Annotation

You can annotate the schematic with the results of a DC operating point analysis. This requires special
markers to be placed on the schematic. You can instruct SIMetrix to place markers at every node or you
can place them manually.
To place a voltage marker manually use the schematic popup: Bias Annotation | Place Marker or use
control-M. The text displaying the value will be placed on the sharp side of the marker which to start with
points up. If you are placing the marker on a vertical wire you might wish the text to be on one side. To do
this, rotate the marker before placing by pressing the rotate toolbar button or the F5 key.
To place a current marker use the menu Place | Bias Annotation | Place Current Marker.

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To place markers as all nodes select Bias Annotation | Auto Place Markers. This does however
clutter up the schematic and you may prefer to place them manually.
To display the values select Bias Annotation | Update Values. These values are automatically
updated after each simulation run.
The menu Bias Annotation | Delete Markers deletes all the markers and Bias Annotation | Hide
Values removes the text but leaves the markers in place.

13.16.2 Displaying Device Operating Point Info

The menu Bias Annotation | Display Device Bias Info will display in the message window the node
voltages, pin currents and total power dissipation for the selected schematic part. Note that power
dissipation is calculated from the node voltages and currents.

13.16.3 List File Data

A great deal of information about each device in the circuit can be obtained from the list file. Use menu
Simulator | Open List File to see it. Also see the Simulator Reference Manual for more information
about the list file.

13.16.4 Other Methods of Obtaining Bias Data

You can also display a voltage or current in the command shell without placing any part on the schematic.
For voltages, place the mouse cursor over the point of interest and press control-N. For currents, place the
cursor over the part pin and press control-I.

13.16.5 Bias Annotation in SIMPLIS

The above apply to operation in both SIMetrix and SIMPLIS modes. When in SIMPLIS mode the dc
values displayed represent the results at time=0. For AC analysis this will be the time=0 value for its
associated POP analysis.

13.16.6 Bias Annotation Display Precision

By default, bias annotation values are displayed with a precision of 6 digits. To change this, select menu
File | Options | General... then edit the value in box Bias Annotation Precision in the Schematic
sheet.

13.16.7 Bias Annotation and Long Transient Runs

If you are running a long transient analysis and plan to use bias annotation extensively, you might like to
set a simulator option that will make this process more efficient. The simulator option is:
.OPTIONS FORCETRANOPGROUP

This forces a separate data group and separate data file to be created for the transient analysis bias point
data. Unless tstart>0 bias point data is usually taken from t=0 values. The problem with this approach is
that to view a single value, the entire vector has to be loaded from the data file to memory. This isn’t a
problem if the run is only a 100 points or so, but could be a problem if it was 100,000 points. It can take a
long time to load that amount of data. By specifying this option, the bias point data is stored separately and
only a single value needs to be read from the file. This is much more efficient.

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13.17 Performance Analysis and Histograms

13.17.1 Overview

When running multi-step analyses which generate multiple curves, it is often useful to be able to plot some
characteristic of each curve against the stepped value. For example, suppose you wished to investigate the
load response of a power supply circuit and wanted to plot the fall in output voltage vs transient current
load. To do this you would set up a transient analysis to repeat a number of times with a varying load
current. (See “Multi-step Analyses” on page 258 to learn how to do this). After the run is complete you
can plot a complete set of curves, take cursor measurements and manually produce a plot of voltage drop
vs. load current. This is of course is quite a time consuming and error prone activity.
Fortunately, SIMetrix has a means of automating this procedure. A range of functions - sometimes known
as goal functions - are available that perform a computation on a complete curve to create a single value.
By applying one or a combination of these functions on the results of a multi-step analysis, a curve of the
goal function versus the stepped variable may be created.
This feature is especially useful for Monte Carlo analysis in which case you would most likely wish to plot
a histogram.
We start with an example and in fact it is a power supply whose load response we wish to investigate.

13.17.2 Example

The following circuit is a model of a hybrid linear-switching 5V PSU. See

Work/Examples/HybridPSU/5vpsu_v1.sxsch

I2 provides a current that is switched on for 1mS after a short delay. A multi-step analysis is set up so that
the load current is varied from 10mA to 1A. The output for all runs is:

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We will now plot the a graph of the voltage drop vs the load current. This is the procedure:
1. Select menu Probe | Performance Analysis...
2. You will see a dialog box very similar to that shown in “Plotting an Arbitrary Expression” on
page 329. In the expression box you must enter an expression that resolves to a single value for each
curve. For this example we use:
yatx(vout, 0) - minimum(vout)

yatx(vout, 0) returns the value of vout when time=0. minimum(vout) returns the minimum value
found on the curve. The end result is the drop in voltage when the load pulse occurs. Click Ok and
the following curve should appear:

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13.17.3 Histograms

The procedure for histograms is the same except that you should use the menu Probe | Histogram...
instead. Here is another example.
This is a design for an active band-pass filter using the simulated inductor method. See
Examples/MonteCarlo/768Hz_bandpass.sxsch. We want to plot a histogram of the centre frequency of the
filter.

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The example circuit has been set up to do 100 runs. This won’t take long to run, typically less than one
second. This is the procedure:
1. Run the simulation using F9 or equivalent menu.
2. Select menu Probe | Plot Histogram...
3. Left click on the output of the filter. This is the junction of R1 and C2.
4. You should see R1_P appear in the expression box. We must now modify this with a goal function
that returns the centre frequency. The function CentreFreq will do this. This measures the centre
frequency by calculating the half way point between the intersections at some specified value below
the peak. Typically you would use 3dB.
Modify the value in the expression box so that it reads:
CentreFreq(R1_p, 3)

5. In the Monte Carlo group, set Number of histogram bins to 10.

6. At this stage you can optionally modify the graph setting to enter your own axis labels etc. Now
close the box. This is what you should see:

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Note that the mean and standard deviation are automatically calculated.

Creating Histograms using Fixed Probes

Histograms may be created using the arbitrary fixed probe. See “Arbitrary Fixed Probe/Multi-step mode”
on page 319

Histograms for Single Step Monte Carlo Sweeps

An example of this type of run is shown in the section“Monte Carlo” on page 233. These runs produce
only a single curve with each point in the curve the result of the Monte Carlo analysis. With these runs you
do not need to apply a goal function, just enter the name of the signal you wish to analyse. To illustrate
this we will use the same example as shown in the section“Monte Carlo” on page 233.
1. Open the example circuit Examples/Sweep/AC_Param_Monte
2. Run simulation.
3. Select menu Probe | Plot Histogram...
4. Left click on ‘+’ pin of the differential amplifier E1. You should see R4_N appear in the box. Now
enter a ‘-’ after this then click on the ‘-’ pin of the E1. This is what should be in the box:
R4_N-R3_N

5. In the Monte Carlo group, set the Number of histogram bins to 25.
6. Close box. You should see something like this:

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This is a histogram showing the distribution of the gain of the amplifier at 100kHz.

13.17.4 Goal Functions

A range of functions are available to process curve data. Some of these are primitive and others use the
user defined function mechanism. Primitive functions are compiled into the binary executable file while
user defined functions are defined as scripts and are installed at functions at start up. User defined
functions can be modified and you may also define your own. For more information refer to Script
Reference Manual/Applications/User Defined Script Based Functions.
The functions described here aren’t the only functions that may be used in the expression for performance
analysis. They are simply the ones that can convert the array data that the simulator generates into a single
value with some useful meaning. There are many other functions that process simulation vectors to
produce another vector for example: log; sqrt; sin; cos and many more. These are defined in “Script
Reference Manual/Function Reference” on page 397.
Of particular interest is the “Truncate function” on page 407. This selects data over a given X range so you
can apply a goal function to work on only a specific part of the data.

Primitive Functions

The following primitive functions may be used as goal functions. Not all actually return a single value.
Some return an array and the result would need to be indexed. Maxima is an example.

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Name Description
“Maxima(real [, real, string])” on page 404 Returns array of all maximum turning points
“Maximum(real/complex [, real, real])” on page 404 Returns the largest value in a given range.
“Mean(real/complex)” on page 405 Returns the mean of all values. (You should not use
this for transient analysis data as it fails to take
account of the varying step size. Use Mean1
instead.)
“Mean1(real [, real, real])” on page 405 Finds the true mean accounting for the interval
between data points
“Minima(real [, real, string])” on page 405 Returns array of all minimum turning points.
“Minimum(real/complex)” on page 405 Returns the largest value in a given range.
“RMS1(real [, real, real])” on page 406 Finds RMS value of data
“SumNoise(real [, real, real])” on page 407 Integrates noise data to find total noise in the
specified range.
“XFromY(real, real [, real, real])” on page 408 Returns an array of X values at a given Y
value.
“YFromX(real, real [, real])” on page 408 Returns an array of Y values at a given X
value.

User Defined Functions

The following functions are defined using the user defined functions mechanism. They are defined as
scripts but behave like functions.

Name Description
“BPBW(data, db_down)” on page 379 Band-pass bandwidth.
“Bandwidth(data, db_down)” on page 379 Same as BPBW
“CentreFreq(data, db_down)” on page 380 Centre frequency
“Duty(data, [threshold])” on page 380 Duty cycle of first pulse
“Fall(data, [start, end])” on page 380 Fall time
“Frequency(data, [threshold])” on page 381 Average frequency
“GainMargin(data, phaseInstabilityPoint)” on page 382 Gain Margin
“HPBW(data, db_down)” on page 382 High pass bandwidth
“LPBW(data, db_down)” on page 383 Low pass bandwidth
“Overshoot(data, [start, end])” on page 383 Overshoot
“PeakToPeak(data, [start, end])” on page 384 Peak to Peak
“Period(data, [threshold])” on page 384 Period of first cycle.
“PhaseMargin(data, phaseInstabilityPoint)” on page 384 Phase Margin
“PulseWidth(data, [threshold])” on page 384 Pulse width of first cycle
“Rise(data, [start, end])” on page 385 Rise time
“XatNthY(data, yValue, n)” on page 385 X value at the Nth Y crossing
“XatNthYn(data, yValue, n)” on page 385 X value at the Nth Y crossing with negative
slope
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Name Description
“XatNthYp(data, yValue, n)” on page 386 X value at the Nth Y crossing with positive
slope
“XatNthYpct(data, yValue, n)” on page 386 X value at the Nth Y crossing. y value specified
as a percentage.
“YatX(data, xValue)” on page 386 Y value at xValue
“YatXpct(data, xValue)” on page 386 Y value at xValue specified as a
percentage

BPBW, Bandwidth

BPBW(data, db_down)

Finds the bandwidth of a band pass response. This is illustrated by the following graph

Function return x2-x1 as shown in the above diagram.

Note that data is assumed to be raw simulation data and may be complex. It must not be in dBs.
Implemented by built-in script uf_bandwidth. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see ).

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CentreFreq, CenterFreq

CentreFreq(data, db_down)

See diagram in “BPBW, Bandwidth” on page 379. Function returns (x1 + x2)/2.
Both British and North American spellings of centre (center) are accepted.
Implemented by built-in script uf_centre_freq. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install
CD” on page 460).
Duty

Duty(data, [threshold])

Function returns (X2-X1)/(X3-X1), where X1, X2 and X3 are defined in the above graph.
Default value for threshold is
(Ymax+Ymin)/2
Where Ymax = largest value in data and Ymin in smallest value in data.
Implemented by built-in script uf_duty. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install CD” on
page 460).
Fall

Fall(data, [xStart, xEnd])

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Function returns the 10% to 90% fall time of the first falling edge that occurs between x1 and x2. The 10%
point is at y threshold Y1 + (Y2-Y1)*0.1 and the 90% point is at y threshold Y1 + (Y2-Y1)*0.9.
If xStart is specified, X1=xStart otherwise X1 = x value of first point in data.
If xEnd is specified, X2=xEnd otherwise X2 = x value of last point in data.
If xStart is specified, Y1=y value at xStart otherwise Y1 = maximum y value in data.
If xEnd is specified, Y2=y value at xEnd otherwise Y2 = minimum y value in data.
Implemented by built-in script uf_fall. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install CD” on
page 460).

Frequency

Frequency(data, [threshold])

Finds the average frequency of data.

Returns:

(n − 1)/(xn − x1 )

Where:
n = the number of positive crossings of threshold
xn = the x value of the nth positive crossing of threshold
x1 = the x value of the first positive crossing of threshold
If threshold is not specified a default value of (ymax+ymin)/2 is used where ymax is the largest value in
data and ymin is the smallest value.
Implemented by built-in script uf_frequency. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install
CD” on page 460).

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GainMargin

GainMargin(data, [phaseInstabilityPoint])

Finds the gain margin in dB of data where data is the complex open loop transfer function of a closed loop
system. The gain margin is defined as the factor by which the open loop gain of a system must increase in
order to become unstable. phaseInstabilityPoint is the phase at which the system becomes unstable. This is
used to allow support for inverting and non-inverting systems. If data represents an inverting system,
phaseInstabilityPoint should be zero. If data represents a non-inverting system, phaseInstabilityPoint
should be -180.
The function detects the frequencies at which the phase of the system is equal to phaseInstabilityPoint. It
then calculates the gain at those frequencies and returns the value that is numerically the smallest. This
might be negative indicating that the system is probably already unstable (but could be conditionally
stable).
If the phase of the system does not cross the phaseInstabilityPoint then no gain margin can be evaluated
and the function will return an empty vector.
HPBW

HPBW(data, db_down)

Finds high pass bandwidth.

Returns the value of X1 as shown in the above diagram.

Y max is the y value at the maximum point.
X max is the x value at the maximum point.
X1 is the x value of the first point on the curve that crosses (Y max - db_down) starting at X max
and scanning right to left.
Note that data is assumed to be raw simulation data and may be complex. It must not be in dBs.
Implemented by built-in script uf_hpbw. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see ).

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LPBW

LPBW(data, db_down)

Finds low pass bandwidth

Returns the value of X1 as shown in the above diagram.

Y max is the y value at the maximum point.
X max is the x value at the maximum point.
X1 is the x value of the first point on the curve that crosses (Y max - db_down) starting at X max
and scanning left to right.
Note that data is assumed to be raw simulation data and may be complex. It must not be in dBs.
Implemented by built-in script uf_lpbw. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install CD” on
page 460).

Overshoot

Overshoot(data, [xStart, xEnd])

Finds overshoot in percent.

Returns:
(yMax-yStart)/(yStart-yEnd)
Where
yMax is the largest value found in the interval between xStart and xEnd.
yStart is the y value at xStart.
yEnd is the y value at xEnd.
If xStart is omitted it defaults to the x value of the first data point.

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If xEnd is omitted it defaults to the x value of the last data point.

Implemented by built-in script uf_overshoot. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install
CD” on page 460).

PeakToPeak

PeakToPeak(data, [xStart, xEnd])

Returns the difference between the maximum and minimum values found in the data within the interval
xStart to xEnd.
If xStart is omitted it defaults to the x value of the first data point.
If xEnd is omitted it defaults to the x value of the last data point.
Implemented by built-in script uf_peak_to_peak. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install
CD” on page 460).

Period

Period(data, [threshold])

Returns the period of the data.

Refer to diagram for the “Duty” on page 380 function. The Period function returns:
X3 - X1
Default value for threshold is
(Ymax+Ymin)/2
Where Ymax = largest value in data and Ymin in smallest value in data.
Implemented by built-in script uf_period. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install CD”
on page 460).
PhaseMargin

PhaseMargin(data, [phaseInstabilityPoint])

Finds the phase margin in dB of data, where data is the complex open loop transfer function of a closed
loop system. The phase margin is defined as the angle by which the open loop phase shift of a system must
increase in order to become unstable. phaseInstabilityPoint is the phase at which the system becomes
unstable. This is used to allow support for inverting and non-inverting systems. If data represents an
inverting system, phaseInstabilityPoint should be zero. If data represents a non-inverting system,
phaseInstabilityPoint should be -180.
The function detects the frequencies at which the magnitude of the gain is unity. It then calculates the
phase shift at those frequencies and returns the value that is numerically the smallest. This might be
negative indicating that the system is probably already unstable (but could be conditionally stable).
If the gain of the system does not cross unity then no phase margin can be evaluated and the function will
return an empty vector.

PulseWidth

PulseWidth(data, [threshold])

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Returns the pulse width of the first pulse in the data.

Refer to diagram for the “Duty” on page 380 function. The PulseWidth function returns:
X2 - X1
Default value for threshold is
(Ymax+Ymin)/2
Where Ymax = largest value in data and Ymin in smallest value in data.
Implemented by built-in script uf_pulse_width. Source may be obtained from the install CD (see “Install
CD” on page 460).
Rise

Rise(data, [xStart, xEnd])

Function returns the 10% to 90% rise time of the first rising edge that occurs between x1 and x2. The 10%
point is at y threshold Y1 + (Y2-Y1)*0.1 and the 90% point is at y threshold Y1 + (Y2-Y1)*0.9.
If xStart is specified, X1=xStart otherwise X1 = x value of first point in data.
If xEnd is specified, X2=xEnd otherwise X2 = x value of last point in data.
If xStart is specified, Y1=y value at xStart otherwise Y1 = maximum y value in data.
If xEnd is specified, Y2=y value at xEnd otherwise Y2 = minimum y value in data.

XatNthY

XatNthY(data, yValue, n)

Returns the x value of the data where it crosses yValue for the nth time.
XatNthYn

XatNthYn(data, yValue, n)

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Returns the x value of the data where it crosses yValue for the nth time with a negative slope.

XatNthYp

XatNthYp(data, yValue, n)

Returns the x value of the data where it crosses yValue for the nth time with a positive slope.
XatNthYpct

XatNthYpct(data, yValue, n)

As XatNthY but with yValue specified as a percentage of the maximum and minimum values found in the
data.
YatX

YatX(data, xValue)

Returns the y value of the data at x value = xValue.

YatXpct

YatXpct(data, xValue)

As YatX but with xValue specified as a percentage of the total x interval of the data.

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Chapter 14

The Command Shell

14.1 Command Line

The command line is at the top of the command shell. See diagram above.
The vast majority of operations with SIMetrix can be executed from menus or pre-defined keys and do not
require the use of the command line. However, a few more advanced operations do require the use of the
command line. From the command line you can run a script or an internal command. You can also define a
new menu to call a script, command or series of commands. In fact all the built in menu and keys are in
fact themselves defined as commands or scripts. These definitions can be changed as well as new ones
defined. See “Editing the Menu System” on page 388.
Details of some of the available commands are given in “Command and Function Reference” on page 392.
The remainder are documented in the Script Reference Manual/Command Reference.

14.1.1 Command History

A history of manually entered commands is available from the drop down list (select arrow to the right of
the command line). Some other commands entered via menus or from a script may also be placed in the
command history.

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14.1.2 Message Window

Various messages may be displayed in the message window below the command line. These include
command progress, errors, warnings and listing outputs. The text in the window may be copied to the
clipboard using a context sensitive menu activated by the right mouse button.

14.1.3 Multiple commands on one line

You can place multiple commands on the same line separated by a semi-colon - ‘;’ . This is the only way a
menu or key can be defined to execute more than one command.

14.1.4 Scripts

SIMetrix features a comprehensive scripting language. Full details of this can be found in the Script
Reference Manual/Script Language.

14.1.5 Command Line Editing

The command line itself is a windows edit control. The cursor keys, home and end all work in the usual
way. You can also copy (control-C), cut (control-X) and paste (control-V) text. There is also a right click
popup menu with the usual edit commands.

14.1.6 Command Line Switches

Many commands have switches. These are always preceded by a ‘/’ and their meaning is specific to the
command. There are however four global switches which can be applied to any command. These must
always be placed immediately after the command and before any command specific switches. Global
switches are as follows:
• /e Forces command text to copied to command history
• /ne Inhibits command text copying to command history
• /quiet Inhibits error messages for that command. This only stops error message being displayed. A
script will still be aborted if an error occurs but no message will be output
• /noerr Stops scripts being aborted if there is an error. The error message will still be displayed.

14.2 Editing the Menu System

14.2.1 Overview

The menu system in SIMetrix may be edited by one of two methods:

1. Using the script language. You can either edit the menu.sxscr script that builds the menu system on
program start, or you can make additions by adding commands to the start up script.
2. Using the GUI based menu editor.
The first method offers the ultimate in flexibility but has a steep learning curve. The second method is
quite simple to use and is appropriate for simple changes to the menu system such as deleting unused
menus or changing hot-key definitions.
The following describes the second method. For details about the first method, please refer to Script
Reference Manual/Applications/Schematic Symbol Script Definition.

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14.2.2 Procedure

Select menu File | Options | Edit Menu.... This will open the following dialog box

The above view shows the layout for SIMetrix/SIMPLIS products. For SIMetrix only products the top
level menu choices will be slightly different.
The left hand pane shows the current menu system in a tree structured list. The buttons on the right allow
you to move, delete or add new menu items and sub menus.

To Delete a Menu Item or Entire Sub-menu

Select the item you wish to delete on the left hand side then press Remove. To subsequently restore a
deleted item, use Add Item... (see below).

To Move a Menu Item or Sub-menu

Select the item then use the up and down arrows key to move as required. If you wish to move a menu item
to a different sub-menu, you should remove it (as described above) then add it again using Add Item...
(see below).

To Add a New Menu Item

You can add a previously removed menu item to a new location or you can create a completely new menu
item.

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In both cases, select the location within a sub-menu and press Add Item.... To add a previously removed
menu select Add Existing and choose an item in the left hand pane. This pane will be empty if you have
not previously removed any menu items. (This could be in a previous session as deleted items are always
remembered).
To add a new item press Add New then enter the required values. For Name enter the name of the menu
as you would like to see it in the menu itself. Use the ‘&’ character to denote underlined letters used to
denote alt-key short-cuts. E.g. &My Menu will be displayed My Menu and will be activated with alt-M.
For Command String you must enter a valid SIMetrix command. Typically this would call a user defined
script, but you may also enter primitive commands or a list of primitive commands separated by
semi-colons. See the Script Reference Manual/Command Reference for full details.
To add a separator to the sub-menu, press Add Separator.

To Create a New Sub-menu

Select the location for your new menu then press Add Menu.... Enter the menu name as required. The
new sub-menu will have one single empty item which you can select to add new items to the sub-menu.
The empty item will not appear in SIMetrix menus.

To Edit or Add an Accelerator Key

Select the menu item to which you wish to assign the accelerator key. Press Accelerator.... You will now
be asked to press a single key or key combination with shift, control or alt. The key you press will be
assigned to the menu.
Press Remove to delete the accelerator key assignment.

To Reset to ‘Factory’ Settings

Press Reset to reset the menu system back to ‘factory settings’. Usually this means that the menu system
will revert to the structure defined when SIMetrix was first installed. However, if you defined any menus in
the startup script using the DefMenu command, these menus will be faithfully restored as well.

‘Reopen’ Menu

The Reopen menu in the File menu is dynamically updated to include schematic files recently opened or
saved. The items in this menu are not listed in the Menu Editor and cannot be edited. The Reopen
sub-menu itself should not be deleted, or moved to a new sub-menu nor should it be renamed, but it may
be repositioned in the File menu as desired.

14.3 User Defined Toolbars and Buttons

All toolbars and buttons are user definable and it is also possible to create new toolbars and buttons. Full
details are provided in the Applications chapter of the Script Reference Manual/Applications/Creating and
Modifying Toolbars.

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14.4 Message Window

The message window is the window in the command shell below the command line. The majority of
messages, including errors and warnings, are displayed here. The window can be scrolled vertically with
the scroll bar.
You can copy a line of text from the message window to the command line by placing the cursor on the
line and either double clicking the left mouse key or pressing the Insert key.

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 15.1. Introduction

Chapter 15

Command and Function Reference

15.1 Introduction

There are about 600 functions and 300 commands available but only a few are covered in this chapter.
Details of all available functions and commands can be found in Script Reference Manual/Function
Reference and Script Reference Manual/Command Reference.

15.1.1 Notation

Symbols Used

Square brackets: [ ] These signify a command line parameter or switch which is

optional.
Pipe symbol: | This signifies either/or.
Ellipsis: ... This signifies 1 or more optional multiple entries.

Fonts

Anything that would be typed in is displayed in a fixed width font.

Command line parameters are in italics.

Case

Although upper and lower cases are used for the command names, they are NOT in fact case sensitive.

Examples

OpenGroup [ /text ] [ filename ]

Both /text (a switch) and filename (a parameter) are optional in the above example.
So the following are all legitimate:

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OpenGroup
OpenGroup /text
OpenGroup run23.sxdat
OpenGroup /text output.txt

DelCrv curve_number...

One or more curve_number parameters may be given.

So the following are all legitimate:
DelCrv 1 2 3
DelCrv 1

15.2 Command Summary

Only a 4 of the approximately 300 available commands are detailed in this chapter and a list is given in the
table below. Documentation for the remainder is provided in the Script Reference Manual/Command
Reference.

Command name Description

OpenGroup Create new group (of simulation data) from data file
Set Set option
Show Displays the value of an expression. Can be used to export data to a file in
ASCII form
Unset Delete option

15.3 Reference

15.3.1 OpenGroup

OpenGroup [/text] [/overwrite] filename

Reads in a data file. There are more options available in addition to the above. Please refer to the Script
Reference Manual/Command Reference/OpenGroup for further information.

/text If specified, data file is assumed to be in text format. Otherwise the file is
input as a SIMetrix binary data file as saved by the SaveGroup command.
See “Data Import and Export” on page 367 for details of text
format.
/overwrite Forces existing group of the same name to be overwritten. If not specified,
the group being read in will be renamed if a group of the same name
already exists.
filename Name of file to be input.

OpenGroup creates a new Group. If /text is not specified then the name of the group will be that with
which it was stored provided the name does not conflict with an existing group. If there is a conflict the
name will be modified to be unique. If /text is specified then the group will be named:
textn

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where ‘n’ is chosen to make the name unique.

15.3.2 Set

Set [/temp] [option_spec [option_spec...]]

Defines an option.

/temp If specified, the option setting will be temporary and will be

restored to its original value when control returns to the
command line. (i.e when all scripts have completed).
option_spec Can be one of two forms:
Form1: option_name
Form2: option_name = option_value
option_name can be any of the names listed in “Options” on
page 431. For options of type Boolean, use form1. For others,
use form 2.

See Also

“Options” on page 431

“Unset” on page 395

15.3.3 Show

Show [/file filename] [/append filename] [/noindex] [/noHeader] [/plain]

[/force] [/clipboard] [/names names] [/width width] expression
[expression ...]

Displays the value of an expression. This command can be used to export data from the simulator in
ASCII form. See “Data Import and Export” on page 367 for more details.

/file filename If specified, outputs result to filename. The values are output in a format
compatible with OpenGroup /text. (See “OpenGroup” on
page 393).
/append filename As /file except that file is appended if it already exists.
/noindex If the vector has no reference, the index value for each element is output if
this switch is not specified.
/noHeader If specified, the header providing vector names etc. will be
inhibited.
/plain If specified, no index (as /noindex), and no header (as /noHeader) will be
output. In addition, string values will be output without enclosed single
quotation marks.
/force File specified by /file will be unconditionally overwritten if it
exists.
/clipboard Outputs data to system clipboard.
/names names Semi-colon delimited string providing names to be used as headings for
tabulated data. If not specified, the vector names are used instead.

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/width width Page width in columns for tabulated data. If not specified no limit will be
set.
/lock If specified with /file, a lock file will be created while the write operation
is being performed. The file will have the extension.lck. This can be used
to synchronise data transfers with other applications. The file will be
locked for write operations.
expression Expression to be displayed. If expression is an array, all values will be
displayed.

Notes

To enter multiple expressions, separate each with a comma.

The display of arrays with a very large number of elements (>500) can take a long time. For large arrays it
is recommended that the /file switch is used to output the results to a file. The file can then be examined
with a text editor or spreadsheet program.
The results will be tabulated if all vectors are compatible that is have the same x-values. If the any vectors
listed are not compatible, each vector’s data will be listed separately.
The precision of numeric values can be controlled using the “Precision” option setting. Use the command
Set precision = value. This sets the precision in terms of the column width.

15.3.4 Unset

UnSet [/temp] option_name

Deletes specified option. See “Options” on page 431 for a full explanation.

/temp If specified, the option setting will be deleted temporarily and will be
restored to its original value when control returns to the command line.
(i.e when all scripts have completed).
option_name Name of option. This would usually be defined with a value using “Set”
on page 394. See “Options” on page 431 for a complete list.

Note that most Option values are internal. This means that they always have a value. If such an option is
Unset, it will be restored to its default value and not deleted. See “Options” on page 431 for more details.
If Unset is called for an option that has not been Set and which is not internal and error will be displayed.

15.4 Function Summary

The following table lists a small selection of the functions available with SIMetrix. Full documentation for
these is provided in the Script Reference Manual/Function Reference.

Function name Description

“abs(real/complex)” on page 397 Absolute value
“arg(real/complex)” on page 397 phase (result wraps at 180/-180 degrees)
“arg_rad(real/complex)” on page 397 phase (radians). Result wraps at pi/-pi
radians

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Function name Description

“atan(real/complex)” on page 398 Arc tangent
“cos(real/complex)” on page 398 Cosine
“db(real/complex)” on page 398 dB(x) = 20 * log10 (mag(x))
“diff(real)” on page 398 Return derivative of argument
“exp(real/complex)” on page 398 Exponential
“fft(real [, string])” on page 398 Fast Fourier Transform
“FIR(real, real [, real])” on page 398 Finite Impulse Response digital filter
“Floor(real)” on page 399 Returns argument truncated to next lowest
integer
“GroupDelay(real/complex)” on page 399 Returns group delay of argument
“Histogram(real, real)” on page 400 Returns histogram of argument
“Iff(real, any, any)” on page 401 Returns a specified value depending on the
outcome of a test
“IIR(real, real [, real])” on page 401 Infinite Impulse Response digital filter
“im, imag(real/complex)” on page 402 Return imaginary part of argument
“integ(real)” on page 402 Returns integral of argument
“Interp(real, real [, real, real])” on page 402 Interpolates argument to specified number of
evenly spaced points
“IsComplex(any)” on page 402 Returns TRUE if argument is complex
“length(any)” on page 403 Returns number of elements in vector.
“ln(real/complex)” on page 403 Natural logarithm
“log, log10(real/complex)” on page 403 Base 10 logarithm
“mag, magnitude(real/complex)” on page 404 Magnitude (same as abs())
“maxidx(real/complex)” on page 404 Returns index of vector where largest value is
held
“Maxima(real [, real, string])” on page 404 Returns locations of maxima of specified
vector
“mean(real/complex)” on page 405 Returns statistical mean of all values in
vector
“Mean1(real [, real, real])” on page 405 Returns mean of data in given range
“minidx(real/complex)” on page 405 Returns index of vector where smallest value is
held
“Minima(real [, real, string])” on page 405 Returns locations of minima of specified
vector
“norm(real/complex)” on page 405 Returns argument scaled so that its largest value
is unity.
“ph, phase(real/complex)” on page 406 Returns phase of argument
“phase_rad(real/complex)” on page 406 As ph() but result always in radians
“Range(real/complex [, real, real])” on page 406 Returns range of vector
“re, real(real/complex)” on page 406 Return real part of argument
“Ref(real/complex)” on page 406 Returns reference of argument

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Function name Description

“Rms(real)” on page 406 Returns accumulative RMS value of
argument
“RMS1(real [, real, real])” on page 406 Returns RMS of argument over specified
range
“rnd(real)” on page 406 Returns random number
“RootSumOfSquares(real [, real, real])” on page 407 Returns root sum of squares of argument over
specified range
“sign(real)” on page 407 Return sign of argument
“sin(real/complex)” on page 407 Sine
“sqrt(real/complex)” on page 407 Square root
“tan(real/complex)” on page 407 Tangent
“Truncate(real [, real, real])” on page 407 Returns vector that is a sub range of supplied
vector
“unitvec(real)” on page 408 Returns vector of specified length whose
elements are all 1
“vector(real)” on page 408 Returns vector of specified length with each
element equal to its index
“XFromY(real, real [, real])” on page 408 Returns array of values specifying horizontal
locations where specified vector crosses given y
value
“YFromX(real, real [, real])” on page 408 Returns array of values specifying the vertical
value of the specified vector at the given x
value.

15.5 Function Reference

Only a few of the approx. 200 functions are documented here. For the rest, please refer to the Script
Reference Manual/Function Reference. The ones detailed here are the functions that accept and return
numeric values and that could conceivably used for graph plots.

15.5.1 abs(real/complex)

Returns absolute value or magnitude of argument. This function is identical to the mag() function.

15.5.2 arg(real/complex)

Same as phase() except the result wraps at 180/-180 degrees.

15.5.3 arg_rad(real/complex)

Same as phase_rad() except the result wraps at π/ − π radians.

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15.5.4 atan(real/complex)

Returns the arc tangent of its argument. If degrees option is set return value is in degrees otherwise radians.

15.5.5 cos(real/complex)

Return cosine of argument in radians. Use cos_deg if the argument is in degrees.

15.5.6 db(real/complex)

Returns 20*log10(mag(argument))

15.5.7 diff(real)

Returns the derivative of the argument with respect to its reference (x-values). If the argument has no
reference the function returns the derivative with respect to the argument’s index - in effect a vector
containing the difference between successive values in the argument.

15.5.8 exp(real/complex)

Returns e raised to the power of argument. If the argument is greater than 709.016, an overflow error
occurs.

15.5.9 fft(real [, string])

Arg1 Vector to be processed

Arg2 String specifying window type. Possible values are: Hanning (default) and None

Performs a Fast Fourier Transform on supplied vector. The number of points used is the next binary power
higher than the length of argument 1. Excess points are zero-filled. Window used may be Hanning
(default) or None.
Users should note that using this function applied to raw transient analysis data will not produce
meaningful results as the values are unevenly spaced. If you apply this function to simulation data, you
must either specify that the simulator outputs at fixed intervals (select the Output at interval option in the
Choose Analysis dialog box) or you must interpolate the results using the Interp() function. (The FFT
plotting menu items run a script which interpolate the data if it detects that the results are unevenly spaced.
Use of these menus does not require special consideration by the user.)
Further information on FFTs can be found in “Fourier Analysis” on page 323.

15.5.10 FIR(real, real [, real])

Arg1 Vector to be filtered

Arg2 Filter coefficients
Arg3 Initial conditions. Default - all zero

Performs Finite Impulse Response digital filtering on supplied vector. This function performs the
operation:

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yn = xn · c0 + xn−1 · c1 + xn−2 .c2 ...

Where:
x is the input vector (argument 1)
c is the coefficient vector (argument 2)
y is the result (returned value)
The third argument provide the history of x i.e. x−1 , x−2 etc. as required.
The operation of this function (and also the IIR() function) is simple but its application can be the subject
of several volumes! Below is the simple case of a four sample rolling average. In principle an almost
unlimited range of FIR filtering operations may be performed using this function. Any text on Digital
Signal Processing will provide further details.
Users should note that using this function applied to raw transient analysis data will not produce
meaningful results as the values are unevenly spaced. If you apply this function to simulation data, you
must either specify that the simulator outputs at fixed intervals (select the Output at interval option in the
Choose Analysis dialog box) or you must interpolate the results using the Interp() function.

Example

Suppose a vector VOUT exist in the current group (simulation results). The following will plot VOUT
with a 4 sample rolling average applied
Plot FIR(vout, [0.25, 0.25, 0.25, 0.25])

Alternatively, the following does the same

Plot FIR(vout, 0.25*unitvec(4))

15.5.11 Floor(real)

Returns the argument truncated to the next lowest integer.

Examples

Floor(3.45) = 3
Floor(7.89) = 7
Floor(-3.45) = -4

15.5.12 GroupDelay(real/complex)

Returns the group delay of the argument. Group delay is defined as:

d (phase (y)) 1
·
dx 2π
where y is the supplied vector and x is its reference. The GroupDelay() function expects the result of AC
analysis where y is a voltage or current and its reference is frequency.
This function will yield an error if its argument is complex and has no reference.

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15.5.13 Histogram(real, real)

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Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Number of bins

Creates a histogram of argument 1 with the number of bins specified by argument 2. The bins are divided
evenly between the maximum and minimum values in the argument.
Histograms are useful for finding information about waveforms that are difficult to determine by other
means. They are particularly useful for finding flat areas such as the flat tops of pulses as these appear as
well defined peaks. The Histogram() function is used in the rise and fall time scripts for this purpose.
Users should note that using this function applied to raw transient analysis data will produce misleading
results as the simulation values are unevenly spaced. If you apply this function to simulation data, you
must either specify that the simulator outputs at fixed intervals (select the Output at interval option in the
Choose Analysis dialog box) or you must interpolate the results using the Interp() function.

15.5.14 Iff(real, any, any)

Arg1 Test
Arg2 Result if test TRUE
Arg3 Result if test FALSE

Arg2 and Arg3 must both be the same type

If the first argument evaluates to TRUE (i.e. non-zero) the function will return the value of argument 2.
Otherwise it will return the value of argument 3. Note that the type of arguments 2 and 3 must both be the
same. No implicit type conversion will be performed on these arguments.

15.5.15 IIR(real, real [, real])

Arg1 Vector to be filtered

Arg2 Coefficients
Arg3 Initial conditions - default zero

Performs Infinite Impulse Response digital filtering on supplied vector. This function performs the
operation:

yn = xn .c0 + yn−1 .c1 + yn−2 .c2 ...

Where:
x is the input vector (argument 1)
c is the coefficient vector (argument 2)
y is the result (returned value)
The third argument provide the history of y i.e. y−1 , y−2 etc. as required.
The operation of this function (and also the FIR() function) is simple but its application can be the subject
of several volumes! In principle an almost unlimited range of IIR filtering operations may be performed
using this function. Any text on Digital Signal Processing will provide further details.
Users should note that using this function applied to raw transient analysis data will not produce
meaningful results as the values are unevenly spaced. If you apply this function to simulation data, you
must either specify that the simulator outputs at fixed intervals (select the Output at interval option in the

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Choose Analysis dialog box) or you must interpolate the results using the Interp() function. The following
graph shows the result of applying a simple first order IIR filter to a step:
The coefficients used give a time constant of 10 * the sample interval. In the above the sample interval was
1ÃŐÂijSec so giving a 10ÃŐÂijSec time constant. As can be seen a first order IIR filter has exactly the
same response as an single pole RC network. A general first order function is:

yn = xn .c0 + yn−1 .c1

where
c0 = 1 − exp(−T /τ )
and c1 = exp(−T /τ )
and τ = time constant
and T = sample interval
The above example is simple but it is possible to construct much more complex filters using this function.
While it is also possible to place analog representations on the circuit being simulated, use of the IIR
function permits viewing of filtered waveforms after a simulation run has completed. This is especially
useful if the run took a long time to complete.

15.5.16 im(real/complex), imag(real/complex)

Returns imaginary part of argument.

15.5.17 integ(real)

Integrates the argument with respect to its reference (x-values).

The function uses simple trapezoidal integration.
An error will occur if the argument supplied has no reference.

15.5.18 Interp(real, real [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector to be interpolated

Arg2 Number of points in result
Arg3 Interpolation order
Arg4 (Boolean) include last point

Returns a vector with length specified by argument 2 obtained by interpolating the vector supplied as
argument 1 at evenly spaced intervals. The optional third argument specifies the interpolation order. This
can be any integer 1 or greater but in practice there are seldom reasons to use values greater than 4.
The Interp() function overcomes some of the problems caused by the fact that raw transient analysis results
are unevenly spaced. It is used by the FFT plotting scripts to provide evenly spaced sample points for the
FFT() function. The Interp() function also makes it possible to perform operations on two vectors that
originated from different transient runs and therefore will have different sample points.

15.5.19 IsComplex(any)

Returns 1 (=TRUE) if the supplied argument is complex and 0 (=FALSE) if the argument is any other type

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15.5.20 length(any)

Returns the number of elements in the argument. The result will be 1 for a scalar and 0 for an empty value.
The length() function is the only function which will not return an error if supplied with an empty value.
Empty variables are returned by some functions when they cannot produce a return value. All other
functions and operators will yield an error if presented with an empty value and abort any script that called
it.

15.5.21 ln(real/complex)

Returns the natural logarithm of the argument.

Using ln() with Negative or Complex Values

If the argument is real and 0 or negative an error will result. If the argument is complex it will return a
complex result even if the imaginary part is 0 and the real part negative.
E.g.
ln(-1)

will produce an error. But:

ln((-1,0))

will give the answer (0, 3.1415926535897931) = jπ.

An error will always occur if both real and imaginary parts are zero.

Using ln() with AC Analysis Data

See notes for the log10() function.

15.5.22 log10(real/complex), log(real/complex)

Returns log to base 10 of argument. In general, we recommend using log10 rather than log. Software
products of all types vary in their interpretation of log(). Some treat it as log to the base 10 and others treat
it as log to the base e. By using log10() there will never be any doubt.

Using log10() with Negative or Complex Values

See notes for the ln() function

Using log10() with AC Analysis Data

The data output by the simulator when running an AC or TF analysis is complex. As described in “Using
ln() with Negative or Complex Values” on page 403, all SIMetrix logarithm functions correctly handle
complex arguments and return a complex value. This means that the following expression to calculate dB
will not produce the expected result:
20*log(data)

where data is a value produced by an AC analysis simulation. What you should do is:

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20*log(mag(data))

The mag() function will convert the complex data to real values which is actually what is intended. Better
still use:
db(data)

This is equivalent to 20*log(mag(data)).

Note that the graph system will always plot the magnitude of complex data. But, any expression presented
for plotting will be evaluated as complex and only the final result is converted to real. So 20*log(data) will
be plotted as mag(20*log(data)). This is not the same as 20*log(mag(data)) when data is complex.

15.5.23 mag(real/complex) , magnitude(real/complex)

Returns the magnitude of the argument. This function is identical to the abs() function.

15.5.24 maxidx(real/complex)

Returns index of the array element in argument 1 with the largest magnitude.

15.5.25 Maxima(real [, real, string])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Minimum value. Default −∞
Arg3 Options array. Possible values are:
xSort Sort output in order of x values
noInterp Don’t interpolate.

Returns an array of values holding every maximum point in the supplied vector whose value is above
argument 2. The value returned - if noInterp is not specified - is obtained by fitting a parabola to the
maximum and each point either side then calculating the x,y location of the point with zero slope. If
noInterp is specified, the peak values are those found in argument 1 without any interpolation. The vector
returned by this function has an attached reference which contains the x values of the maximum points. If
xSort is not specified, the vector is arranged in order of descending y values i.e. largest y value first,
smallest last. Otherwise, they are organised in ascending x-values.

15.5.26 Maximum(real/complex [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Start x value
Arg3 End x value

Returns the largest value found in the vector in the interval defined by start x value and end x value. If the
vector is complex the operation will be performed on the magnitude of the vector.

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15.5.27 mean(real/complex)

Returns the average of all values in supplied argument. If the argument is complex the result will also be
complex.

15.5.28 Mean1(real [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Start x value. Default: start of vector
Arg3 End x value. Default: end of vector

Returns the integral of the supplied vector between the ranges specified by arguments 2 and 3 divided by
the span (= arg 3 -arg 2). If the values supplied for argument 2 and/or 3 do not lie on sample points, second
order interpolation will be used to estimate y values at those points.

15.5.29 minidx(real/complex)

Returns index of the array element in argument 1 with the smallest magnitude.

15.5.30 Minima(real [, real, string])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Maximum value. Default +∞
xSort Sort output in order of x values
Arg3 Options array. Possible values are:
noInterp Don’t interpolate.

Returns array of values holding every minimum point in the supplied vector whose value is below
argument 2. The value returned - if noInterp is not specified - is obtained by fitting a parabola to the
minimum and each point either side then calculating the x,y location of the point with zero slope. If
noInterp is specified, the values are those found in argument 1 without any interpolation. The vector
returned by this function has an attached reference which contains the x values of the minimum points. If
xSort is not specified, the vector is arranged in order of ascending y values i.e. smallest y value first,
largest last. Otherwise, they are organised in ascending x values.

15.5.31 Minimum(real/complex [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Start x value

Returns the smallest value found in the vector in the interval defined by start x value and end x value. If the
vector is complex the operation will be performed on the magnitude of the vector.

15.5.32 norm(real/complex)

Returns the input vector scaled such that the magnitude of its largest value is unity. If the argument is
complex then so will be the return value.

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15.5.33 ph(real/complex) , phase(real/complex)

Returns the phase of the argument. ph() is identical to phase() and return the phase in degrees.
The ph() and phase() functions produces a continuous output i.e. it does wrap from 180 degrees to -180
degrees.

15.5.34 phase_rad(real/complex)

Identical to the ph() and phase() functions except that the result is in radians.

15.5.35 Range(real/complex [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Start index. Default: 0
Arg3 End index. Default: vector length -1

Returns a vector which is a range of the input vector in argument 1. The range extends from the indexes
specified by arguments 2 and 3. If argument 3 is not supplied the range extends to the end of the input
vector. If neither arguments 2 or 3 are supplied, the input vector is returned unmodified.

15.5.36 re(real/complex), real(real/complex)

Returns the real part of the complex argument.

15.5.37 Ref(real/complex)

Returns the reference or x-values of the argument.

15.5.38 Rms(real)

Returns a vector of the accumulative RMS value of the input. Unlike RMS1() this function returns a vector
which can be plotted.

15.5.39 RMS1(real [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Start x value. Default: start of vector
Arg3 End x value. Default: end of vector

Returns the root mean square value of the supplied vector between the ranges specified by arguments 2 and
3. If the values supplied for argument 2 and/or 3 do not lie on sample points, second order interpolation
will be used to estimate y values at those points.

15.5.40 rnd(real)

Returns a vector with each element a random value between 0 and the absolute value of the argument’s
corresponding element.

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15.5.41 RootSumOfSquares(real [, real, real])

Arg1 Vector
Arg2 Start x value. Default: start of vector
Arg3 End x value. Default: end of vector

Similar to RMS1 function but returns the root of the sum without performing an average.

15.5.42 sign(real)

Returns 1 if argument is greater than 0 otherwise returns 0.

15.5.43 sin(real/complex)

Return sine of argument in radians. Use sin_deg if the argument is in degrees.

15.5.44 sqrt(real/complex)

Returns the square root of the argument. If the argument is real and negative, an error will result. If
however the argument is complex a complex result will be returned.

15.5.45 SumNoise(real [, real, real])

Identical to the RootSumOfSquares() function.

15.5.46 tan(real/complex)

Return tan of argument in radians. Use tan_deg if the argument is in degrees.

15.5.47 Truncate(real [, real, real])

Arg1 Data
Arg2 Start x Value
Arg3 End x value

Returns a portion of the input vector with defined start and end points. Interpolation will be used to create
the first and last points of the result if the start and end values do not coincide with actual points in the
input vector.
Arguments 2 and 3 define the beginning and end of the vector.

Example

Suppose we have a vector called VOUT which was the result of a simulation running from 0 to 1mS. We
want to perform some analysis on a portion of it from 250µS to 750µS. The following call to Truncate
would do this:
Truncate(VOUT, 250u, 750u)

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If VOUT did not actually have points at 250µS and 750µS then the function would create them by
interpolation. Note that the function will not extrapolate points before the start or after the end of the input
vector.

15.5.48 unitvec(real)

Returns a vector consisting of all 1’s. Argument specifies length of vector.

15.5.49 vector(real)

Returns a vector with length specified by the argument. The value in each element of the vector equals its
index.

15.5.50 XFromY(real, real [, real, real])

Arg1 Input vector

Arg2 Y value
Arg3 Interpolation order (1 or 2)
Arg4 Direction of slope. 0 = any, 1 = +ve, -1 = -ve

Returns an array of values specifying the horizontal location(s) where the specified vector (argument 1)
crosses the given y value (argument 2) in the direction specified by argument 4. If the vector never crosses
the given value, an empty result is returned. The sampled input vector is interpolated to produce the final
result. Interpolation order is specified by argument 3.

15.5.51 XY(real, real)

Returns a vector with y-values of argument 1and x-values of argument 2. This function provides a means
of creating X-Y plots using the .GRAPH control. See Simulator Reference Manual/Command
Reference/.GRAPH for details.

15.5.52 YFromX(real, real [, real])

Arg1 Input vector

Arg2 X value
Arg3 Interpolation order

Returns an array of values (usually a single value) specifying the vertical value of the specified vector
(argument 1) at the given x value (argument 2). If the given x-value is out of range an empty result is
returned. The sampled input vector is interpolated to produce the final result. Interpolation order is
specified by argument 3.

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Chapter 16

Monte Carlo Analysis

Monte Carlo analysis is a procedure to assess manufacturing yields by repeating simulation runs with
varying applied random variations to part parameters. The technique is very powerful and usually gives a
more realistic result than worst-case analysis which varies part values to their extremes in a manner which
produces the worst possible result.
The implementation of Monte Carlo analysis in SIMetrix has been designed to be quick to set up for
simple cases while still providing the required flexibility for more advanced requirements as might be
required for integrated circuit design.
In this chapter we cover the aspects of setting up a Monte Carlo analysis from the front end. This includes
setting device tolerances in the schematic, setting up and running a Monte Carlo simulation and analysing
the results.
This chapter covers Monte Carlo analysis for SIMetrix (SPICE) simulations. Monte Carlo analysis is also
available for SIMPLIS simulations, see “Multi-step and Monte Carlo Analyses” on page 274.
Setting model tolerances is not covered here but in the Monte Carlo Analysis chapter in the Simulator
Reference Manual/Monte Carlo Analysis/Specifying Tolerances.

16.1 An Example

Consider the following active filter circuit.

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This circuit can be found in EXAMPLES/MonteCarlo/cheb.sxsch

The circuit is a 5th order low-pass 7kHz Chebyshev filter with a 1dB passband ripple specification. Its
nominal response is:

This circuit is to be used in an application that requires the gain of the amplifier to remain within 2dB of
the dc value from 0 to 6kHz. A 1dB ripple specification therefore seems a reasonable choice. Clearly
though the tolerance of the capacitors and resistors may upset this. To investigate, a Monte Carlo analysis
is required. The standard part tolerances are 10% for capacitors and 1% for resistors. With the example
circuit the tolerances are already applied but the procedure for doing this is as follows:
1. Select menu item Monte Carlo | Set All Resistor Tolerances
2. Enter 1%. (The % is recognised)
3. Select menu item Monte Carlo | Set All Capacitor Tolerances
4. Enter 10%.
The example circuit has already been set up to run 100 steps of Monte Carlo. To view the settings:
1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...
2. Note in the section Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis the Enable multi-step box is checked.
3. Press the Define... button.
4. Note that in the Sweep Mode section, Monte Carlo is selected and in the Step Parameters
section. Number of steps has been set to 100.
Start the analysis in the usual way. It takes about 2.5 seconds with a 1.5G P4.

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The analysis will be repeated 10 times. Now plot the output of the filter in the usual way (Probe
AC/Noise | dB - Voltage... ). The result is the following:

As can be seen, the specification is not met for some runs.

The SIMetrix Monte Carlo analysis implementation has many more features such as:
• Random variation of device model parameters.
• Support for matched devices.
• Log file creation
• Seed selection to allow repeated runs with same randomly applied values.

16.2 Part Tolerance Specification

In this section we will only cover the simple case of how to specify tolerances on devices at the schematic
level. SIMetrix has much more comprehensive features for specifying tolerances. For complete
documentation on tolerance specification please refer to the Simulator Reference Manual/Monte Carlo
Analysis/Specifying Tolerance.
Note that Monte Carlo analysis is not available with the SIMPLIS simulator.

16.2.1 Setting Device Tolerances

To select individual device tolerances proceed as follows:

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1. Select part or parts whose tolerances you wish to be the same. (You can individually select parts by
holding the control key down and left clicking on each).
2. Select menu Monte Carlo | Set Selected Component Tolerances... and enter tolerance in the
dialog box. You may use the ‘%’ symbol here if you wish, so 5% and 0.05 have the same effect.
(Note: this is the only place that ‘%’ is recognised - you can’t use it netlists or models).
If all the resistors or all the capacitors in a circuit are to have the same tolerance, select either Monte
Carlo | Select All Capacitor Tolerances or Monte Carlo | Select All Resistor Tolerances.
Device tolerances can be applied to the following parts:
Capacitors
Resistors
Inductors
Fixed voltage sources
Fixed current sources
Voltage controlled voltage sources
Voltage controlled current sources
Current controlled voltage sources
Current controlled current sources
Lossless transmission lines (applied to Z0 parameter)
Device tolerance will be ignored for other devices.

16.2.2 Model Tolerances

Tolerances may be applied to .MODEL statements using a distribution function. For example:
.MODEL NPN1 NPN IS=1.5e-15 BF={180*GAUSS(0.5)}

The GAUSS function above returns a random number base around 1.0 with a 3σ Gaussian distribution of
0.5. (Gaussian distribution with standarad deviation of 0.5/3).
There are many other distribution functions including a user defined function which can be used for any
distribution. In addition you can use parameter definitions to define random variables to create matched
devices and parameters. Full details may be found in the Simulator Reference Manual/Monte Carlo
Analysis/Specifying Tolerances.

16.2.3 Matching Devices

Some devices such as resistor networks are constructed in a manner that their tolerances track. Such
devices often have two specifications one is an absolute tolerance and the other a matching tolerance. A
thin film resistor network might have an absolute tolerance of 1% but a matching tolerance of 0.05%. This
means that the resistors will vary over a +/-1% range but will always be within +/-0.05% of each other.
To specify matched devices for Monte Carlo analysis two pieces of information are required. Firstly, the
parts that are matched to each other must be identified and secondly their matching tolerances need to be
specified.

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To Identify Matched Devices

• Select the parts you wish to match to each other. (Use control key to select multiple parts.)
• Select menu item Monte Carlo | Match Selected Devices
• You must now supply a lot name which must be unique. You can use any alphanumeric name.

Matching Tolerances

To specify device match tolerances, proceed as follows:

• Select the parts you wish to match to each other. (Use control key to select multiple parts.)
• Select menu item Monte Carlo | Set Match Tolerances
• Enter the desired tolerance.
If using device tolerance parameters, note that any absolute tolerance specified must be the same for all
devices within the same lot. Any devices with the same lot name but different absolute tolerance will be
treated as belonging to a different lot. For example if a circuit has four resistors all with lot name RN1 but
two of them have an absolute tolerance of 1% and the other two have an absolute tolerance of 2%, the 1%
resistors won’t be matched to the 2% resistors. The 1% resistors will however be matched to each other as
will the 2% resistors. This does not apply to match tolerances. It’s perfectly OK to have devices with
different match tolerances within the same lot.

16.2.4 Random Distribution

The default distribution for device tolerances is Gaussian with the tolerance representing a 3σ spread. This
can be changed to rectangular using two simulator options. These are:

MC_ABSOLUTE_RECT If set absolute tolerances will have a rectangular

distribution.
MC_MATCH_RECT If set matching tolerances will have a rectangular
distribution.

Distributions can be specified on a per part basis or even a per parameter basis by using distribution
functions in an expression. See Simulator Reference Manual/Monte Carlo Analysis/Specifying Tolerances
for details.

16.3 Running Monte Carlo

16.3.1 Overview

There are actually two types of Monte Carlo analyses. These are:
1. Single step Monte Carlo sweep
2. Multi step Monte Carlo run.
1. above is applicable to AC, DC, Noise and Transfer Function analyses. 2. can be applied to the same
analyses in addition to transient analysis.
An example of 1. can be seen in the figure in “Monte Carlo” on page 233. This was a run where the gain at
a single frequency was calculated 1000 times with the Monte Carlo tolerances applied. This used AC
analysis with the Monte Carlo sweep mode - one of the six modes available. Only a single curve is created
hence the name single step.

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An example of 2 is the example at the beginning of this chapter. Here a complete frequency sweep from
1kHz to 100kHz was repeated 100 times creating 100 curves.

16.3.2 Setting up a Single Step Monte Carlo Sweep

1. Select schematic menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... Select the AC, DC, Noise or TF tab as
required.
2. In the Sweep Parameters section, press the Define... button.
3. In the Sweep Mode section select Monte Carlo.
4. In the Parameters section enter the required value for the Number of points.
5. For AC, Noise and TF, you must also supply a value for Frequency.

16.3.3 Setting up a Multi Step Monte Carlo Run

1. Select schematic menu Simulator | Choose Analysis.... Select the AC, DC, Noise, Transient
or TF tab as required.
2. Define the analysis as required.
3. In the Monte Carlo and Multi-step Analysis section, check the Enable multi-step box then press
the Define... button. This will open:-

4. In the Sweep mode section, select Monte Carlo.

5. In the Step Parameters section, enter the number of steps required.

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6. You can set the Number of Cores to a number large than 1 if your system and license permit it.
This will substantially speed up the run. For more information see “Using Multiple Cores for
Multi-step Analyses” on page 260.

16.3.4 Running a Monte Carlo Analysis

Monte Carlo analyses are run in exactly the same way as other analyses. Press F9 or equivalent menu.

16.3.5 Log File

Multi-step Monte Carlo analyses generate a log file that documents the values of all toleranced parts. It
will also record the seed value used for each step. To open the log file, select menu Monte Carlo | View
Log File. If you specify more than one core for the run, this will open only the log file for the primary
process. The log files for other processes may be found in folders multicore/pn where n is a number from 1
to the number of cores used less 1.

16.3.6 Setting the Seed Value

The random variations are created using a pseudo random number sequence. The sequence can be seeded
such that it always produces the same sequence of numbers for a given seed. In Monte Carlo analysis, the
random number generator is seeded with a new value at the start of each run and this seed value is
displayed in the log file. It is also possible to fix the first seed that is used using the SEED option. This
makes it possible to repeat a run. To do this, note the seed value of the run of interest from the log file then
set the seed as follows:
1. Select schematic menu Simulator | Choose Analysis....
2. Select Options tab and enter the seed value in the Monte Carlo section.
The first run of each Monte Carlo analysis will use the same random values as the run from which you
obtained the seed value in the log file. Note this assumes that only changes in values are made to the
circuit. Any topology change will upset the sequence.
This technique is a convenient way of investigating a particular run that perhaps produced unexpected
results. Obtain the seed used for that run, then repeat with the seed value but doing just a single run. You
will then be able to probe around the circuit and plot the results for just that run.
Note that if you use more than one core for the run, the main log file will only show the data for the
primary process. See “Log File” on page 415 for more details.

16.4 Analysing Monte-Carlo Results

16.4.1 Plots

Plots of Monte Carlo analyses are performed in exactly the same manner as for normal runs. When you
probe a circuit point, curves for each run in the MC analysis will be created. You will notice, however, that
only one label for each set of curves will be displayed. Operations on curves such as deleting and moving
will be performed on the complete set.

Identifying Curves

Sometimes it is useful to know exactly which run a particular curve is associated with. To do this proceed
as follows:

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1. Switch on graph cursors. (Cursors | Toggle On/Off menu)

2. Pick up the main cursor (the one with the short dashes) and place it on the curve of interest. (To pick
up a cursor, place mouse cursor at intersection, press left key and drag).
3. Select Show Curve Info menu. Information about the curve will be displayed in the command shell.
This is an example of what will be displayed:
Source group: ac1
Curve id: 4
Run number: 49

The information of interest here is the Run number. With this you can look up in the log file details of the
run i.e. what values were used for each part and parameter. You can also obtain the seed value used so that
the run can be repeated. See “Setting the Seed Value” on page 415.

Plotting a single Curve

If you wish to plot a single curve in a Monte Carlo set, you must obtain the run number then use the
Probe | Add Curve... menu to plot an indexed expression. We use an example to explain the process.
Using the Chebyshev filter example, let’s suppose that we wish to plot the curve of the filter output created
by run 49 alone without the remaining curves. Proceed as follows.
1. Run the chebyshev filter example as explained at the beginning of this chapter.
2. Select menu Probe | Add Curve...
3. Click on the output of the filter. You should see C4_P entered in the Y expression box.
4. You must now modify the expression you have entered to give it an index value. For the simple case
of a single voltage or current just append it with
[index]

where index is the run number less 1. In this example the run number is 49 so we enter 48 for the
index. You should now have:
C4_P[48]

displayed in the Y expression box.

5. Close box. You should see a single curve plotted.
An alternative method of plotting single curves is given in “Setting the Seed Value” on page 415.

16.4.2 Creating Histograms

See “Performance Analysis and Histograms” on page 372.

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Chapter 17

Verilog-HDL Simulation

17.1 Overview

The Verilog-HDL feature provides the ability to simulate Verilog digital designs included in analog
circuits. The SIMetrix implementation uses an external Verilog simulator to achieve this and
communicates with that simulator using the standard VPI programming interface.Two open-source Verilog
simulators are supplied for this purpose and these are installed with the SIMetrix installer. SIMetrix
Verilog is also compatible with Mentor Graphics’ ModelSim and this configuration is fully supported. In
principle, any VPI compliant Verilog simulator may be used, however, the two open source programs
supplied and ModelSim are the only ones that are tested and supported.
Interfacing an analog simulator with a digital HDL simulator is a challenging task and imposes some
trade-offs between timing precision and simulation speed. In particular, circuits where a digital section sits
inside an analog feedback loop are especially demanding. As SIMetrix is an analog tool for analog
designers, we have focussed on providing maximum accuracy. This imposes the need for rapid
communication between the analog simulator and the Verilog simulator and for this we have developed
our own inter-process communication method as the standard system supplied techniques were too slow.

17.2 Documentation

In this chapter we show how to use the Verilog-HDL simulation feature using the schematic editor.
Reference documentation for the underlying simulator device that implements the Verilog-HDL interface
can be found in Simulator Reference Manual/Analog Device Reference/Verilog-HDL Interface (VSXA).

17.3 Supported Verilog Simulators

For Windows versions, we supply two alternative open source Verilog simulators, namely GPL Cver
(Pragmatic C Software) and Icarus Verilog (Stephen Williams). These simulators are installed and
configured ready to use.
The configuration of the external simulator is user definable and other VPI compliant simulators can be
setup. As previously mentioned, Mentor Graphics’ ModelSim is fully supported.

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17.4 Basic Operation

To support Verilog designs, SIMetrix has a new device called VSXA. A VSXA device is defined by a
.MODEL statement and this in turn specifies a Verilog design file. The Verilog file is expected to contain a
top level module definition and this module defines the external connections to the analog system via
Verilog ports.
Any number of Verilog devices (i.e. VSXA instances) can be placed in a SIMetrix netlist/schematic. The
actual design presented to the Verilog simulator will be a single Verilog definition, but SIMetrix handles
the task of creating this from the user’s individual Verilog design files and schematic/netlist
interconnection of VSXA instances.
See Simulator Reference Manual/Analog Device Reference/Verilog-HDL Interface
(VSXA)simref:AnalogDeviceReference:Verilog-HDLInterface(VSXA) for more details about the VSXA
device.

17.5 Using Verilog-HDL in SIMetrix Schematics

17.5.1 Creating Schematic Symbols

The SIMetrix schematic editor provides a feature that will create and place a schematic symbol from a
Verilog file. This feature reads the Verilog file and determines the inputs and outputs along with the names
of the ports. It also reads any parameters defined. From this information it creates a symbol with inputs on
the left and outputs on the right. It also creates an edit facility to edit any parameters defined in the Verilog
module.
To create a schematic symbol from a Verilog design, proceed as follows:
1. In the schematic editor, select menu Help | Construct Verilog-HDL Symbol.
2. Navigate to the Verilog design file. SIMetrix expects the file extension .v or .vl. Select the file then
close.
3. You should see an image of the symbol ready to place. Place in the usual way.
4. If there are errors in the Verilog file, you will see a message in the form:
“*** ERROR *** Cannot parse verilog design file ‘filename’. For
details see log file ‘filename.log’ Cannot parse Verilog-HDL file.
No symbol created.”
The log file should list details of the error. This file is generated by the GPL Cver Verilog simulator
and will contain additional information that can obscure the desired error message. Verilog errors
must be rectified before SIMetrix can create a symbol.

17.5.2 Editing Parameters

The symbol creation feature described above builds the necessary functionality in the symbol to allow GUI
editing of the device’s parameters. To use this, just edit the schematic instance in the usual way by double
clicking or selecting followed by F7.
You will see a dialog box showing a number of parameters. The first parameters starting with ‘Voltage
input logic zero threshold’ and ending with ‘Threshold time tolerance’ along with the check boxes
‘Disable output of non-analog vectors’ and ‘Disable Module Cache’ are built-in parameters that are
defined for all Verilog devices. Any parameters defined within the Verilog definition will be shown in
addition to these and listed after ‘Threshold time tolerance’.

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17.6 Module Cache

17.6.1 Operation

Before starting a simulation and also when creating a symbol from a Verilog design, SIMetrix needs to
gather some information about each Verilog module used in the circuit. It does this by starting a Verilog
simulation then interrogating the Verilog simulator via VPI. This process can take some time if there are
many Verilog modules in the circuit. To speed things up, SIMetrix caches the information obtained for
future use.
The cache mechanism calculates the MD5 checksum of the Verilog file and stores this with the cached
information in the cache file. When the cached information is required, SIMetrix calculates the MD5
checksum of the Verilog file and looks to see whether there is a cache item with that MD5 value. If there
is, it will use the cached data. If not it will retrieve the information via the Verilog simulator.
For more information about the Module cache, seeSimulator Reference Manual/Analog Device
Reference/Verilog-HDL Interface (VSXA)simref:AnalogDeviceReference:Verilog-HDLInterface(VSXA)

17.7 Simulation Options

There are three Verilog simulation options available through the user interface. These can be accessed
from the Choose Analysis dialog box as follows:
1. Select menu Simulator | Choose Analysis...
2. Select the Options tab
3. See options under Verilog-HDL Options

17.7.1 Verilog Simulator

This option allows you to select the Verilog simulator used for the main simulation. There will be a default
choice of ‘CVER’ or ‘Icarus’.
Note that the Verilog simulator is also used to enumerate the ports and parameters of a Verilog module
separately from the main simulation. This task is always performed by ‘GPL Cver’ regardless of the
simulator setting.

17.7.2 Timing Resolution

Verilog simulations use 64bit integer values throughout and this includes time. To convert to real time, the
value of each time ‘tick’ needs to be defined. This is the timing resolution defined here.
The default value is 1fs and there is no benefit in changing this unless the simulation runs for longer than
264 x 1fs. This is approximately 18000 seconds.
Note that the timescale setting used to define the values of delays etc. within each module, is not affected
by this setting.

17.7.3 Open Console for Verilog Process

If you set this check box, a console window will open for the run and any messages generated by the
Verilog simulation will be displayed in that window.

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17.8 Tutorial

To demonstrate the basic features of Verilog simulation, we will work through the trivial example shown
below:

This circuit pulses a relay for 10mS every 100mS driven by a 100kHz clock. The relay coil is modelled by
L1 and R1 while D1 is a freewheel diode. S1 is the relay driver and is controlled by the output of U2. This
is a simple counter implemented using the following Verilog code:
module pulse_relay(in, out) ;
input in ;
output out ;

integer count ;
reg out ;

parameter divide_ratio=10000 ;
parameter real duty = 0.1 ;

always @(posedge in)

begin
count = count + 1 ;

if (count==divide_ratio)

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count = 0 ;

if (count>divide_ratio*(1-duty))
begin
out = 1 ;
end else begin
out = 0 ;
end
end

initial
count = 0 ;
endmodule

The Verilog files as well as a completed working schematic can be found in

Examples/Verilog-HDL/Tutorial.

17.8.1 Procedure

The following assumes that you are already familiar with the basics of entering a schematic and running a
simulation.

Enter Schematic

1. Open a new empty schematic sheet.

2. Immediately save the empty sheet to:
Examples/Verilog-HDL/Tutorial/relay-driver.sxsch
In general it is strongly advised to save the schematic sheet before using the automatic Verilog
symbol generation scheme that we are about to demonstrate. This is to ensure that the file system
paths of the schematics and Verilog files are kept correctly synchronised.
3. Select menu Verilog | Construct Verilog-HDL Symbol. You should see the file clock.v listed.
If so select it then click Open. If you don’t see the file, make sure you saved the schematic to the
correct location in step 2 above.
If you find that this menu is not present, then this means that the Verilog simulation facility is not
available with your version of SIMetrix. You will probably need to upgrade your license, contact
sales or support for assistance.
4. You should see an image of a symbol appear. Place on schematic in the usual way.
5. Repeat step 3 for pulse_relay.v
6. Double click the pulse_relay device (probably U2). You will see a dialog box showing a number of
parameters. We aren’t going to change any settings, this is just to point out this feature. You should
see two parameters at the bottom of the top section called ‘divide_ratio’ and ‘duty’. These are
obtained from the Verilog file pulse_relay.v.
7. Connect the rest of the circuit as shown in the diagram above. S1 is a regular switch from menu
Place | Analog Functions | Switch . Make sure you don’t forget the ground symbol.

Set up Simulation

1. Set up a 200mS transient analysis in the usual way

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2. Select Gear integration using menu Simulator | Choose Analysis then click on Advanced
Options... and select Gear Integration under the Integration Method group. We do this to tidy
up the response of the circuit, this is by no means essential.

Run Simulation

1. Run the simulation in the usual way. It should take about 1-2 seconds maybe a little longer on an
older machine.
2. Plot the voltage on the relay coil. You should see something like this:

You will notice that at t=0, the voltage is between 4 and 5 volts suggesting that the switch is not
fully turned on or off. This is because the output of U2 starts in the unknown state. The unknown
state is translated to a high-impedance which leaves the output in a near floating state. To calculate
the DC operating point, SIMetrix takes the port values after the first Verilog event which is the state
after executing the init block. In the Verilog design the output is the port but you will notice in
pulse_relay.v that is not defined in the init block.
3. Modify the pulse_relay.v to add an initial definition for the port as follows:
initial
begin
count = 0 ;
out = 0 ;
end

4. Rerun the simulation and notice the change in the result at the start of the simulation.

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Internal Verilog Nodes

Have a look at the connection between U1-clk and U2-in. This connects two Verilog signals but does not
connect to any analog part. Because of this, it is implemented within the Verilog simulator and does not
interact with the analog simulator.
Although the node is not connected to the analog simulator, its data is sent to SIMetrix so that it can be
plotted. Try plotting this node now; you will notice that you get a digital plot with no analog detail.
Although, SIMetrix does retrieve the data for internal verilog nodes that interconnect VSXA instances, in
circuits where the Verilog digital signals are much higher speed than the analog signals - such as this
example - there is a speed penalty for doing so. For this reason there is a facility to disable this. To
demonstrate, proceed as follows:
1. Note the time that the last run took using menu Simulator | Show Statistics.
2. Double click U1 (the instance of clock.v). You should see a dialog box like this:

3. Check the Disable output of non-analog vectors box then click Ok.
4. Rerun simulation and note the new simulation time. You will probably see in the region of a 2-3
times speed up. You may conclude from this that the facility to retrieve pure digital data is too
expensive to be worthwhile, but this will only be the case where the digital signal are considerable
higher speed than the analog signals. In this circuit the analog pulses are running at 10Hz whereas
the digital pulses are running at 100kHz - 10000 times as fast.
5. As a further exercise, you may like to see what happens when this node is connected to an analog
part. Try connecting a 1pF capacitor to ground and run the simulation. You will find that the
simulation runs maybe 100 times slower. This is because analog time steps is now being performed
for this high frequency signal. With just the 10Hz output to deal with, the analog simulator needed
to perform only around 200 timepoints. Now it has to work at 100KHz it needs 1 million or so.

Multi-step Run

As a final exercise, we will show how it is possible to perform multi-step runs while varying a parameter
sent to a Verilog device. We will run a 3 step simulation while varying the DUTY parameter of the
pulse_relay device. Proceed as follows:

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1. Double click U2
2. Set the ‘duty’ parameter to:
{duty}

3. Open the choose analysis dialog box.

4. In the Transient sheet, select Enable multi-step then click Define.
5. In Sweep mode select Parameter. Set Start value and Stop value to 100m and 500m
respectively. Set Number of steps to 3.
6. In Parameters set Parameter name to duty.
7. Ok dialog boxes. If you carried out step 5 in the previous section “Internal Verilog Nodes” on
page 423, remember to remove the capacitor and restore the connection between U1 and U2 to an
internal Verilog node.
8. Run simulation then plot relay drive as before. You should see three curves.

17.9 Verilog Simulator Interface

In this section we describe some details of how the Verilog interface works.

17.9.1 VPI

SIMetrix communicates with the Verilog simulator using the Verilog Procedural Interface or VPI. VPI
allows an external program to communicate with a Verilog simulator.
The diagram below shows the program structure.

vsxd.vpi is a DLL/shared library that is provided as part of SIMetrix. This is loaded by the external Verilog
simulator and runs in the Verilog process’s memory space. vsxd.vpi uses the VPI interface to send events
to the Verilog simulator, to respond to events generated by the Verilog simulator and to interrogate the
Verilog simulator about details of the user’s Verilog module.
vsxd.vpi is able to respond to events during the Verilog simulation that cause a change on an output port
and send those changes to the SIMetrix simulator.
Conversely the SIMetrix simulator detects when there are changes on an input port and notifies vsxd.vpi
which then notifies the Verilog simulator.

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vsxd.vpi is also able to enumerate the ports and parameters of a Verilog module and report this information
back to SIMetrix. This process is performed before a simulation starts in order to build the final Verilog
top level design.

17.9.2 Interface Configuration

In order for the interface to be setup, SIMetrix needs to know how to drive the Verilog simulator. Also the
Verilog simulator needs to know about vsxd.vpi.
The interface is configured by the VerilogHDL.ini file which is located in the support folder.
VerilogHDL.ini uses the standard inifile format. Each supported simulator is defined in a section within
VerilgHDL.ini and the section must at a minimum define the following keys ‘Name’, ‘Script’ and ‘Path’.
‘Name’ defines a display name for the simulator that will be meaningful to the user. ‘Script’ defines a
script name that is used to launch the Verilog simulator. (More on the launch script below). ‘Path’ is
passed to the launch script and would usually be the path where the main binary executable for the Verilog
simulator is located.

17.9.3 Launch Script

The launch script is a SIMetrix script that is called by SIMetrix. It is responsible for starting the Verilog
process usually via the ‘Shell’ function. The launch script knows about the command line syntax for the
Verilog simulator.
For more details about the launch script, see the script used to launch the GPL cver simulator.

17.9.4 Verilog Simulation Preparation

SIMetrix netlists can instantiate any number of verilog designs, both multiple instances of the same
Verilog module and multiple module designs. In order for the Verilog simulator to be able to handle these
multiple instances, it needs to be presented with a top level module that defines the interconnections
between them. This top level module is generated automatically by SIMetrix on each simulation run and is
called (by default) vsx_root.v.

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Chapter 18

Sundry Topics

18.1 Saving and Restoring Sessions

18.1.1 Overview

You can save the current session for later restoration. This is useful in the situation where you are in the
middle of editing schematics or studying simulation results, but you need to interrupt this work maybe at
the end of a working day. While in some situations you might simply be able to leave your computer
switched on and logged in, or maybe use a “Hibernate” mode, these methods are not always practical or
indeed reliable.
The SIMetrix save session feature will save the current state of all open schematics, all open graphs and
any simulation data so that it can be restored at a later time.

18.1.2 Saving a Session

Select menu File | Save Session.

18.1.3 Restoring a Session

You can only restore a session if all graphs and schematics are closed and there is no current simulation
data loaded. This is the normal state when SIMetrix has just been started. If you wish to restore a session
when SIMetrix has been in use since first starting, you can either shut down and restart, or close all
windows and graphs then delete all data groups. To delete all data groups, select menu Simulator |
Manage Data Groups..., then click on Delete All Groups and Ok.
To restore the session, select menu File | Restore Session

18.1.4 Where is Session Data Stored?

Session data is stored in the following directory:

application_data/session
where application_data is the SIMetrix application data directory. See “Application Data Directory” on
page 431 for details.

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18.2 Symbolic Path Names

18.2.1 Overview

Some file system path names used by SIMetrix may be defined using a symbolic constant. Such paths are
of the form:
%symbol%path
Where symbol is the name of the constant and path is any sequence of characters valid for a path name.
The actual path is resolved by substituting %symbol% with the value of symbol.
Symbolic paths make it easy to move files to new locations as only the values for their symbols need to be
changed in order for SIMetrix to be able to continue to find them.

18.2.2 Definition

There are two types of symbolic constant. These are system constants and user constants. System
constants are pre-defined while user constants can be arbitrarily defined by the user. There are currently 7
system constants. These are:

STARTPATH Full path of the current working directory from where SIMetrix was
launched.
DOCSPATH Full path of the My Documents folder on Windows.
EXEPATH Full path of the location of the SIMetrix binary SIMetrix.exe.
APPDATAPATH Full path of the Application Data directory.
TEMPPATH Path of temporary directory
SXAPPDATAPATH Path of the SIMetrix application data directory. See “Application Data
Directory” on page 431 for details.
SHAREPATH Path of the root support directory used for various support files used by
SIMetrix such as model and symbol libraries.
LIBPATH Path of plugins directory in SIMetrix installation
SXDOCSPATH Path of SIMetrix directory in Windows My Documents
COMMON_APPDATAPATH Path of common application data directory. (Typically
C:\ProgramData)

User constants must be defined in the configuration file. See “Configuration Settings” on page 430 for
more information. User constants are defined in the [Locations] section of the file. Currently these must be
added by hand using a text editor.
The format used is as follows:
[Locations]
symbol_definitions

Where symbol_definitions is any number lines of the form:

symbolname=symbolvalue

symbolvalue may be any sequence of characters that are valid for a system path name and may contain
spaces. There is no need to enclose it in quotation marks even if the value contains spaces. Nested
definitions to any level are permitted. That is symbolvalue may also itself use other symbolic constants.
Recursive definitions won’t raise an error but will not be meaningful.
UNC paths (e.g. \\server\c\project) may be used for symbolvalue.

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Comments may be added to the project file prefixed with a semi-colon.

18.2.3 Configuration File Example

The following shows examples of symbolic path name definitions in the configuration file. Lines such as
these may be placed anywhere in the file, but we recommend that they are placed at the end.
; Project file
[Locations]
Project=c:\Projects\proj1
Cells=%PROJECT%\Cells

18.2.4 Using Symbolic Names

Symbolic path constants may be used in the applications listed below. In all cases a mechanism called
automatic path matching is used which means that to use symbolic paths, all you need to do is define the
values in the project file then carry on working as before. The automatic path matching algorithm attempts
to match a user symbol or one of the EXEPATH or DOCSPATH system symbols to a part of the path being
processed. If a match is found, the path name will be stored with the symbolic value.

Component paths

If a component is placed using the full path option, the automatic path matching mechanism described
above will be invoked. For example suppose the user symbol CELLS has the value C:\Projects\Proj1\Cells
and the component with path C:\Projects\Proj1\Cells\celllib1\inv.sxsch is placed using the full path
method. The actual value of the SCHEMATIC_PATH property will become %CELLS%\celllib1\inv.sxsch.
The matching of C:\Projects\Proj1\Cells to %CELLS% is performed automatically.
Note that automatic path matching will not be invoked for components placed using the relative path
method.

Global model library file paths

Model files installed globally can use symbolic paths. The automatic path matching mechanism described
above will be invoked when models are installed. So if the model file C:\SPICELIB\OnSemi\*.mod and
the symbol MODELLIB has the value C:\SPICELIB, the model file path will be saved as
%MODELLIB%\OnSemi\*.mod.

Path option variables

StartupDir
ScriptDir
BiScriptDir
TempDataDir
PSpiceIniPath
DefaultLib
SymbolsDir
Automatic path matching is invoked whenever these values are set or modified.

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Symbol file locations

Schematic symbol file paths may be stored using symbolic constants. Automatic path matching is invoked
whenever a library is installed.

Notes for Windows

The automatic path matching system will correctly match a drive based path (e.g. h:\projects\proj1) with
its mapped UNC path (e.g. \\server1\c\projects\proj1) provided the drive based path points to a network
share and not a local drive. For example if the project fie contains the entry:
Project=\\server1\c\projects\proj1

and \\server1\c is mapped to the H: drive then the file H:\Projects\proj1\cell23.sxcmp will be stored as
%Project%\cell23.sxcmp. However, if you are actually running SIMetrix from the machine server1 and
\\server1\c is the share name for the local C: drive then C:\Projects\proj1\cell23.sxcmp will not be
recognised as equivalent to %Project%\cell23.sxcmp. This limitation is due to security restrictions in
Windows.

18.3 SIMetrix Command Line Parameters

A number of command line parameters may be supplied to the SIMetrix binary (SIMetrix.exe) when
starting the program. The full syntax is as follows:
SIMetrix(.exe) [schematic_file] [/s startup_script] [/i] [/n]
[/c config_location] [/r product_code]

schematic_file Path of a schematic file usually with extension .sxsch. This file will be
opened immediately.
/s startup_script Name of script file or command that will be executed immediately after
SIMetrix starts.
/i If specified, the schematic_file or/and startup_script will be opened/run in
an existing instance of SIMetrix if there is one. That is, a new instance
will not be started unless none are already running.
/n Now a legacy option. Originally inhibited the display of the splash screen.
The splash screen was removed from version 5.1 so this option now does
nothing.
/c This identifies where SIMetrix stores its configuration settings.
config_location config_location should be of the form:
PATH;file_pathname

file_pathname identifies the location of a file to store the configuration

settings. You may use any of the system constants defined in “Definition”
on page 427 in this definition of file_pathname. E.g. %EXEPATH% for
the executable directory. See “Configuration Settings” on page 430 for
details of configuration settings. The ‘REG;’ syntax available with earlier
versions is no longer supported.

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/r product_code Code that defines which product to request from the license server. By
default, SIMetrix attempts to checkout the highest spec product available
from the license server. If this option is specified the product listed in the
following table will be checked out if it is available. This can be used to
leave features that you are not using available to other users.
DP SIMetrix Classic
DX SIMetrix Pro
UX SIMetrix Elite
SP SIMetrix/SIMPLIS
SP1 SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Pro
SP2 SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elite
DP-DVM SIMetrix Classic with DVM
DX-DVM SIMetrix Pro with DVM
UX-DVM SIMetrix Elite with DVM
SP-DVM SIMetrix/SIMPLIS with DVM
SP1-DVM SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Pro with DVM
SP2-DVM SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elite with
DVM
VH1 SIMetrix/SIMPLIS VH Pro
VH2 SIMetrix/SIMPLIS VH Elite
VH1-DVM SIMetrix/SIMPLIS VH Pro with
DVM
VH2-DVM SIMetrix/SIMPLIS VH Elite with
DVM

18.3.1 Using startup.ini

Start-up parameters can also be specified in a file called startup.ini. This must be located in the same
directory as SIMetrix.exe. The format of the file is as follows:
[StartUp]
settings

settings can be any combination of the following:

StartupScript=startup_script (equivalent to /s on command line)
UsePrevInst= (equivalent to /i on command line)
InhibitSplash= (equivalent to /n on command line)
ConfigLoc=config_location (equivalent to /c on command line)
Features=features (equivalent to /f on command line)

18.4 Configuration Settings

18.4.1 Overview

SIMetrix, in common with most applications, needs to store a number of values that affect the operation of
the program. These are known as configuration settings. Included among these are the locations of

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installed symbol libraries, installed model libraries, font preferences, colour preferences and default
window positions.

18.4.2 Default Configuration Location

By default, SIMetrix stores configuration settings in a single file. This file is located at:
simetrix_app_data_dir\config\Base.sxprj
See “Application Data Directory” on page 431 for location of simetrix_app_data_dir.

18.4.3 Application Data Directory

SIMetrix stores a number of files in its application data directory. The directory is at one of these
locations:
sys_application_data_dir\SIMetrix Technologies\SIMetrixxx (full production versions)
sys_application_data_dir\STI_STL\Elementsxxx (SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elements)
where

xx is a three digit code representing the SIMetrix version number,

eg. 800 for version 8.00.
sys_application_data_dir is a system defined location.

The following table shows typical locations for all supported Windows systems:

Operating System Path

Windows Vista, Windows 7, C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming
Windows 8

username is the log on name currently being used. The above are only typical locations on English
language versions of Windows. The user or system administrator may move them and also the names used
may be different for non-English versions of Windows.
With full versions of SIMetrix, you can locate the SIMetrix application data directory by typing the
following command at the command line:
Show TranslateLogicalPath(`\%sxappdatapath\%')

18.4.4 Specifying Other Locations for Config Settings

You can specify alternative locations for the configuration settings. This can be done with the /c switch on
the command line or ConfigLoc setting in the startup.ini file. See “SIMetrix Command Line Parameters”
on page 429 for more details.

18.5 Options

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18.5.1 Overview

There are a number of options affecting all aspects of SIMetrix. Many of these may be viewed and
adjusted using the Options dialog box, others can only be accessed from the command line using the Set
and Unset commands.

18.5.2 Using the Options Dialog

This is invoked with the menu File | Options | General.... The following sections explain the options
available.

Schematic Sheet

Undo Level Number of levels of schematic undo. See “Creating a Schematic” on

page 33.
Most Recent Files Controls how many recently used files are displayed in the File |
Reopen menu
Bias Annotation Precision Controls the precision of the schematic voltage and current bias
annotation markers.

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Auto-save interval (minutes) Enter a value to enable schematic auto-save. SIMetrix will
automatically save a backup copy of your schematic at the interval
specified. If SIMetrix aborts abnormally, perhaps due to a power
failure, you will be prompted to recover the auto-saved schematic
when you next start SIMetrix.
Hierarchy Highlighting Check the Disabled box to disable highlighting through the
hierarchy. With deep and complex hierarchies, net highlighting can
be time-consuming. Checking this box will restrict highlighting to
the current schematic only.
Property Editing Enable GUI Property Edits: If checked, allows property text (i.e.
labels) to be moved using mouse actions. Labels themselves can be
editted by double clicking. See “Notes on Property Text Position” on
page 60 before checking this option.
Placement When to auto-repeat placement of schematic parts. If autorepeat is
enabled, a new symbol to be placed is automatically displayed after
each placement. This speeds the placement of many instances of the
same device.
Wiring Enable smart wiring enables the smart wiring algorithm. See
“Wiring” on page 61 for details about smart wiring.
Allow route through connected is an option for the smart wiring
algorithm that allows it select routes that pass through existing wires
that are already connected to the source or target destinations.
Grid Option to hide the schematic’s grid.
Initial Simulator This is only relevant for SIMetrix/SIMPLIS products. Sets the initial
simulation mode when opening a new schematic. If most or all of
your work is with SIMPLIS, check SIMPLIS. This will save time
switching to SIMPLIS mode for all new schematics.

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Graph/Probe/Data Analysis

Probe update times Plots created from fixed probes are updated on a regular basis. This
controls how frequently and when it starts.
Period: Update period in seconds.
Start: Start delay in seconds.
Fixed probe global options Default history depth: Sets the default history depth for fixed
probes. This is number of curves from previous simulations that
remain after a simulation. If set to 1, previous results are deleted. If
set to zero all results are retained. History depth can also be set
individually for each probe. See “Probe Options Sheet” on page 288
for details.
Curve options

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Sizes
Curve weight Thickness of displayed curves. Curves
display much quicker if this value is set to
1 but are clearer (but can lose detail) if set
to 2.
Digital Axis Height Sets height of axes (in mm) used to plot
digital traces.
Min grid height When a grid is added to a graph window,
existing grids are reduced in height to
accommodate the new one. But they won’t
be reduced to a height lower than specified
by this setting. When this limit is reached,
the vertical space will be increased by
allowing the window to scroll.
Temporary data file delete Simulation data is stored in temporary data files. The data is not read
into system memory until it is needed - say - to plot a graph.
However, the location in the file of the various vectors is always in
memory so that the data can be extracted from the file as rapidly as
possible. It is this latter location data that is destroyed when a
simulation run gets out of date. The file containing the data gets
deleted at a time set by the above options, not necessarily when the
data is no longer needed. As long as the file exists, the data can be
recovered by calling File | Data | Load... or File | Data | Load
Temporary Data... which re builds the location data. The options
described below control when these data files are deleted.
Never Temporary files are never deleted but will
be overwritten in subsequent sessions. Not
recommended unless you only ever do
short simulations.
When SIMetrix starts All temporary files are deleted when
SIMetrix starts.
When SIMetrix closes All temporary files are deleted when
SIMetrix is shut down. While using
SIMetrix, you can recover earlier
simulation runs. Normally, only the 3
most recent are kept but earlier ones can
be recovered from the TEMPDATA
directory using File | Data |
Load....
When data is no longer needed This is the most aggressive delete method
and is recommended if you do many long
runs or/and have limited disc space. By
default, the 3 most recent runs are kept but
with the other options above, the data files
are not deleted when the data is not needed
but links to the data in them are released.
(See explanation below). If this option is
set, the data files are deleted as soon as
they become out of date, optimising use of
disc space at the expense of not being able
to recover old data.

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Graph placement Specifies how new graph sheets are created.

Split Splits current view to create a new graph view on the
right hand side
New window Creates a new graph main window if one does not
already exist
Overlay Overlays the graph sheet over existing views
Axis/grid options Delete empty grids: If checked, grids will be deleted when the last
curve is deleted from the grid
Histogram style Controls the curve style used for histogram displays:
Stepped Displays a flat line for the width of each
bin. Similar to a bar graph.
Smooth Joins the centre of each bin with a straight
line to display a continuous curve.
Line widths for printing/mm
Axis line width Width in mm of printed axis.
Grid line width Width in mm of printed grid lines.
Minor grid Width in mm of printed minor grid lines.
Curve line width Width in mm of printed curves.

Miscellaneous

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Library Diagnostics Determines whether messages are displayed when models are found
in the library.
Action on unknown model parameter Specifies action to be taken when
an unknown model parameter is encountered. There are three options:
Abort simulation an error will be raised and the simulation
will be aborted.
Issue warning a warning message will be output to the
list file but the simulation will continue
normally.
Ignore no warning or error will be raised and the
simulation will continue normally.
Script Options
Echo all messages If set, all script lines will be displayed in
the message window. This will result in a
great deal of output and will slow down
the whole program operation. Only set
this if you are debugging your own
scripts.
Don’t abort scripts on error Normally scripts abort if an error is
detected. Check this box to disable this
behaviour.
Simulator compatibility
PSpice compatibility level Can have values of 0, 1 or 2. The default
is 1. A value of 2 gives the highest level of
compatibility with PSpice but may
introduce changes of behaviour that are
not compatible with older versions of
SIMetrix or other simulators. A value of 0
retains compatibility with SIMetrix
versions 8.1 and earlier. Refer to
Simulator Reference Manual/Command
Reference/.OPTIONS for full
details.
Hspice compatibility level Can have values of 0 or 1. If you are using
PDKs (process design kit) designed for
Hspice, set this option to 1. Leave this
option at its default setting of zero if you
are not using PDKs for IC design. Refer to
Simulator Reference Manual/Command
Reference/.OPTIONS for full
details.

File Locations

Locations in your files system of various files and folders needed for correct operation of SIMetrix.

Built-in Scripts This is the first location that SIMetrix searches for scripts. Much of
the user interface is implemented with scripts and these are all
internal to the program. These can be overridden by placing scripts
of the same name at this location. This allows modification of the UI.
Changing this setting has no effect until you restart SIMetrix.
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Scripts Location of script directory. This directory is searched for any scripts
you run. Only change this setting if you are actually moving the
script directory. Changing this setting has no effect until you restart
SIMetrix.
Start up Current working directory on start up.
Start up Script Name of script that is automatically run on startup. You can place
custom menu or key definitions in this file.
System Symbols Location Directory location where the standard symbols are located.
Temp Data Location of temporary simulation data files. Changing this setting
has no effect until you restart SIMetrix. Note that this should always
be a local directory. That is, it must not be on a remote network
partition.
User Symbols Location Directory where user symbol libraries are expected to be located.
Note, you can place symbol libraries anywhere. This directory is
simply a location that some UI functions use as a default.

File Extensions

Defines extensions used for the various files used by SIMetrix. These setting control what file extensions
are listed for editors of the various file types and, where relevant, what action will be taken if a file of that
type is dragged and dropped into the SIMetrix environment.
Many SIMetrix file types use five letter extensions beginning with .sx. This is to help prevent clashes with
other applications.
For each setting, the supported extensions are separated by a semi-colon. The first in the list is the default.
So, for example, the default schematic extension is sxsch so when you save a schematic without giving an
extension, it will automatically be given the extension sxsch.

Schematic Files Extensions used for schematic files.

Data Files Extensions used for simulation data files.
Text files Supported extensions for text files.
Symbol Files Extension used for binary schematic symbol files. This is used by the
drag and drop system to detect Symbol Library files being dropped
into the command shell.
Logic Def. Files Files used for logic definitions for the digital simulator’s arbitrary
logic block. If the extension is omitted in the model (FILE
parameter) this will be used.
Scripts Default extension for scripts if called without an extension.
Device models SPICE model files. Used by drag and drop system to detect model
file types. Note the drag and drop system will detect model files with
extensions not in this list and it is not usually necessary to specify
model file types here.
Netlist Files Files used for simulation netlists.
Schematic Components Extensions used by schematic component files.
Verilog-A Files Verilog-A Source files.
Verilog-HDL Files Verilog-HDL Source files.

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Text Editors

Defines colour syntax highlighting for the various text editors.

Customisation

Defines colours for various UI elements. Note that schematic elements are defined using schematic styles.
Elements are divided into these groups:

Command Shell Command shell text and background colours. Command shell input
is the command line at the top, while command shell output is the
message window below it
File View Colour elements of the file viewer
Part Selector Colour elements of the part selector
Graph Colour elements for graphs. This includes both text and graphic
objects. Note that all text items are based on the Graph Text Colour
object. Changing this object will also change the colour of the
objects: Caption Colour, Free Text Colour, Text Box Text Colour,
Legend Box Text Colour, Curve Marker Text Colour and Cursor
Dimension Text
Curves Curve colours are chosen using a sequence number. The first curve
on a sheet uses sequence 1, the second sequence 2 etc. New curves
use the first unused sequence number. The colours associated with
each sequence number can be defined here.

18.5.3 Using the Set and Unset commands

All options have a name and many also have a value. These are set using the Set command and can be
cleared with Unset. When an option is cleared it is restored to its default value. A complete listing of
available options with possible values is given below. Note that option settings are persistent. This means
that their values are stored either in the .INI file or in the system registry (see “Configuration Settings” on
page 430) and automatically restored at the start of each subsequent SIMetrix session.

List of Options

Upper and lower case letters have been used for the option names in the following listing only for clarity.
Option names and their values are not in fact case sensitive. Many of the options described below are
supported by the Options dialog box in which case they are noted accordingly.

Unsupported Options

Some options in the following list are marked as ‘unsupported’. This means that they may be withdrawn in
the future or their functionality changed.
See also
• “Toolbar Buttons” on page 455
• “File Extensions” on page 455
• “Text Editor Colour Options” on page 452

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
700Extensions Boolean Schematic symbols for the 700 series
semi-custom arrays are enabled if this is
set.
ActionOnMissingModel string Default=AutoAssociate
Action to be performed when attempting
to place a model from the library, but that
model has not been associated. If set to
AutoAssociate, will attempt to
auto-associate by simulating the
model
AllowTempDataDrives String List of drives separated by commas which
are allowed to be used for simulation data
without triggering a warning message.
Drive should be specified with ’:’ suffix -
e.g Y:. A warning message will be issued
for any drive that is reported as connected
through a network if used for simulation
data storage. Only use this setting to
override drives that are reported as
network drives but in fact are connected
locally.
AlphaBlendRatio Numeric Default=75 No
Value of 0 to 100 controls the opacity of
plotted curves. 0 is totally transparent (and
therefore invisible). 100 is fully
opaque
AnnoMinSuffix Numeric Default = 1
Minimum suffix used for automatic
generation of schematic part
references
AutoStartWire Boolean Default=False Options
dialog
Only effective if AutoWireEnabled is
False.
Selects mode whereby a wire is started
when the cursor is brought close to a pin
or wire termination. This mode is on
automatically when AutoWireEnabled is
True
AutoWireEnabled Boolean Default=True Options
dialog
Smart wiring is on if this is True
AWAllowRouteThruConnected Boolean Default=True Options
dialog
Controls whether the smart wire algorithm
is allowed to route wires through existing
wires that connect to the destination or
target

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
AxisPrintWidth Numeric Default = 0.5 Options
dialog
Width of printed axis in mm. See also
CurvePrintWidth and
GridPrintWidth
AutoSaveInterval Numeric Default=0 meaning disabled. Interval in Options
minutes for which the session is dialog
automatically saved in order to recover
from an unexpected program exit
BiasAnnoPrecision Numeric Default=6 Options
dialog
Precision of values displayed for
schematic DC bias annotation
BiScriptDir Text This is the first location that SIMetrix Options
searches for scripts. See File Locations dialog
section of Options
dialog above for more info.
BuildAssociations Text Default=ask
See “Auto Configuration Options” on
page 456
BuildModelLibs Text Default=ifempty
See “Auto Configuration Options” on
page 456
BuildPreferenceSettings Text Default=askmigrate
See “Auto Configuration Options” on
page 456
BuildSymbolLibs Text Default=ifempty
See “Auto Configuration Options” on
page 456
CachePathSymbols Boolean Default=false
unsupported
If true, SIMetrix will cache symbolic
paths
ComponentExtension Text Default=sxcmp Options
dialog
File extension for schematic component
files
CursorDisplay Text Default = Graph. Controls initial graph Options
cursor readout display. dialog
Graph Display on graph
only
StatusBar Display on status bar
only
Both Display on both
graph and status
bar

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
CurveNoAntiAlias Boolean Default = false. If false, curves are plotted No
using anti-aliassing. This improves the
visible quality of the curve. However,
anti-alias processing for curves with more
than one pixel width is slow. As a
consequence curves of medium or high
complexity are forced to single pixel if
anti-aliasing is enabled. Setting this option
to true will degrade plotted quality but
will allow curves of 2 or more pixels to be
plotted for all levels of complexity
CurvePrintWidth Numeric Default = 0.5mm Width of printed graph Options
curves in mm. See also dialog
GridPrintWidth.
CurveWeight Numeric Default = 1 Sets the line width in pixels of Options
graph curves. Note that although widths dialog
greater than 1 are clearer they normally
take considerably longer to draw. This
does however depend on the type of
adapter card and display driver you are
using.
DataExtension Text Default=sxdat;dat Options
dialog
Default file extension for data files
DataGroupDelete Text Default = OnStart Determines when Options
temporary simulation data is deleted. dialog
Possible values, Never, OnStart, OnClose
and OnDelete. See “Graph/Probe/Data
Analysis” on page 434 for details.
DataHistoryDepth Numeric Default=4. Controls the number of No
previous results stored in each curve
created by a fixed probe
DefaultLib Text Default=%SHAREPATH%/SymbolLibs/default.sxslb
Name and location of default symbol
library
DefaultPersistence Default=0 Options
dialog
Sets the number of curves that are kept for
graph fixed probes. ‘0’ means that all
curves are kept. ‘1’ means that only 1 is
kept at a time.
DevConfigFile Text Default=%SHAREPATH%/DeviceConfig.cfg
Name and location of device configuration
file. See Simulator Reference Manual for
details
DigAxisHeight Numeric Default = 8.0mm Height of digital axis in Options
mm. (Screens are typically dialog
75pixels/inch)

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
DisableCurveDataCompression bool Default=FALSE Set to TRUE to disable No
curve point compression. This generally
speeds up graph drawing but can introduce
minor artefacts
DisplaySimProgressMessage Boolean Default=False
If true, a message will be displayed in the
command shell indicating the start and
end of a simulation
EchoOn Boolean When set, all commands are echoed to the Options
command shell message window. This is dialog
used primarily for script
debugging.
EnableFileChangeWatcher bool Default=TRUE The GUI monitors No
changes to files and prompts the user to
reload when changes are detected. Set this
to FALSE to disable
EnableFileChangeWatcher bool Default=TRUE The file viewer monitors No
FileView changes to files and updates if changes are
detected. Set to FALSE to disable this
behaviour
EnableLWEditMenu bool Default=FALSE Enables the schematic
popup menu Edit MOS
Length/Width... which edits the length,
width and multiplier (M) for MOSFETs
used in IC design
ExportRawFormat Text Default = SPICE3 Possible values, No
SPICE3, SPECTRE and OTHER.
Controls format of raw output. See
“Exporting SPICE3 Raw Files” on
page 368
ForceGlobalHash Boolean Default=false
In the simulator, any node name found in a
subcircuit that starts with a ‘#’ accesses a
top level node of the same name but
without the ‘#’. E.g. #VCC in a subcircuit
connects to VCC at the top level.
If this option is set, the ‘#’ is not stripped,
so #VCC in a subcircuit connects to
#VCC at the top level.
GraphExtension Text Default=sxgph Options
dialog
File extension used for graph files
GraphLegendMaximum real Default=0.25 Maximum height of the
HeightProportion graph legend window as a proportion of
the graph window height

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
GraphPlacement string Default=split. Options
dialog
Selects how new graph windows are
created. Has one of three values
Split Splits current layout
and places graph on
the right side
NewWindow Creates a new main
window for graphs if
one does not already
exist
Overlay Overlays graph
windows over the
top of existing
windows

GridPrintWidth Numeric Default = 0.3mm Width of printed graph Options

grid lines in mm. See also dialog
CurvePrintWidth
GroupPersistence Numeric Default = 3 Sets the number of groups that No
are kept before being deleted. See
“Plotting the Results from a Previous
Simulation” on page 336
GuiEditPropertyEnabled Boolean Default=false Options
dialog
If set, allows visible properties in the
schematic to be edited using GUI
actions.
HideSchematicGrid Boolean If set, the schematic grid will be Options
suppressed dialog
HistoAdvancedStats bool Default=FALSE Display advanced Performance
statistics in histogram plots analysis
dialog
HighlightIncrement Numeric Default = 1 No
Highlighted graph curves are thicker than
normal curves by the amount specified by
this option
HistoCurveStyle Text Default=stepped Options
dialog
Sets histogram curve style
HSpiceCompatibility Numeric Default=0 Options
dialog
Value of 0 or 1. Global default value for
simulator option (.OPTIONS) of the same
name. See “Options Dialog Miscellaneous
Options” on page 436

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
InitSchematicSimulator Text Default=SIMetrix Options
dialog
Simulator mode for new schematic. If set
to SIMPLIS, all schematics will start in
SIMPLIS mode. Otherwise they start in
SIMetrix mode
InterpOrder Numeric Default=2
Sets interpolation order for the FFT
calculation used for distortion
measurements
InterpPts Numeric Default=1024
Sets number of interpolated points for the
FFT calculation used for distortion
measurements
InvertCursors Boolean Default=false
If true, schematic and graph mouse
cursors are modified to be suitable for use
on a black background
LibraryDiagnostics Text Default = Full Options
dialog
Possible values, Partial, None and Full.
Affects progress information displayed
during model library searching.
LicenseDisableFast Boolean Default=false
Checkout
Affects network licenses only. If set, the
license checkout process may take longer
delaying the time it takes SIMetrix to
start.
LogicDefExtension Text Default=ldf Options
dialog
File extension used for logic definition
files
MaxHighlightColours Numeric Default=4
Maximum number of different colours
used for schematic highlighting
MeasurePrecision Numeric Default=8
Precision of measurements in the graph
window
MaxVectorBufferSize Numeric Default=32768 See the Simulator
Reference Manual for a full
explanation
MinGridHeight Numeric Minimum allowed height of graph Options
grid dialog
MinGridWidth Numeric Minimum allowed width of graph No
grid

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
MinorGridPrintWidth Numeric Default=0.05 Options
dialog
Print width in mm of graph’s minor
grid
ModelExtension Text Default=lb;lib;mod;cir Options
dialog
File extensions used for model
files
MRUSize Numeric Default = 4 Number of items in File | Options
Reopen menu. dialog
NewModelLifetime Numeric Default=30
Number of days that user installed models
remain displayed in the ‘* Recently
Added Models *’ model library browser
category
NoEditPinNamesWarning Boolean Default=false
unsupported If true, the warning given when using the
Edit Pin Names button in the associate
models dialog box is inhibited
NoHierarchicalHighlighting Boolean Default=false
If set hierarchical schematic highlighting
is disabled. That is, if you highlight some
part of a hierarchical schematic, only that
schematic will be highlighted with no
propagation to parent or child
schematic
NoKeys Boolean If on, the default key definitions will be Options
disabled. Note this will not take affect dialog
until the next session of SIMetrix.
NoMenu Boolean If on, the default menu definitions will be Options
disabled and no menu bar will appear. dialog
This will not take affect until the next
session of SIMetrix.
NonHighlightAlpha Numeric Default=25 No
When highlighting individual divisions in
a grouped curve, the divisions that are not
highlighted are displayed with a lower
alpha value than the highlighted divisions.
This is to make the highlighted divisions
stand out more clearly. This option defines
the akpha value for the divisions that are
not highlighted
NoStopOnError Boolean If disabled, scripts and multi-command Options
lines (i.e. several commands on the same dialog
line separated by ‘;’) are aborted if any
individual command reports an
error.

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
NoStopOnUnknownParam Text Specifies action to be taken in the event of Options
an unknown parameter being encountered dialog
in a .MODEL statement. Choices
are:
TRUE: No action taken, simulation
continues normally FALSE: An error will
be raised and the simulation will abort
WARN: A warning will be displayed but
the simulation will continue
This will be overridden by a .OPTIONS
setting of the same name. Refer to
Simulator Reference Manual/Command
Reference/.OPTIONS for details
OmitAsciiRevision Boolean Default=false No
unsupported
If true, the revision value is not written to
ASCII schematic files. For backward
compatibility.
PartSelShowSimplisModels Boolean Default=False No
If true, model library parts will show
directly in the part selector in SIMPLIS
mode
PartSelShowSimetrixModels Boolean Default=True No
If true, model library parts will show
directly in the part selector in SIMetrix
mode
PassUnresTemplate Boolean Default=false No
unsupported
If true, unresolved template values in
netlists will be passed literally. Default
behaviour is no output
Precision Numeric Default = 10 No
Precision of numeric values displayed
using Show command.
PrintOptions Text Options set in print dialog Print
dialog
PrintWireWidth Numeric Default=5 Width in pixels of schematic No
wires when printed

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
ProbeFlushOnUpdate Boolean Default=false
It is not usual to need to set this option.
Simulation data is buffered for
performance reasons but this buffering can
interfere with the incremental updates
needed for fixed probes. Usually SIMetrix
deals with this problem automatically but
this is not guaranteed to work in all cases.
In such situations, fixed probes or
.GRAPH statements may not
incrementally update correctly. Setting
this option may rectify this.
ProbeStartDelay Numeric Default = 1 Delay after start of simulation Options
run before fixed probe graphs are first dialog
opened.
ProbeUpdatePeriod Numeric Default = 0.5 seconds Update period for Options
fixed probe graphs dialog
PSpiceIniPath Text Path of PSPICE.INI file needed for the Options
PSpice ‘Schematics’ translator. dialog
PSpiceCompatibility Numeric Default=1 Options
dialog
Value of 0, 1 or 2. Global default value for
simulator option (.OPTIONS) of the same
name. See “Options Dialog Miscellaneous
Options” on page 436
RebuildConfig Boolean Default=true No
See “Auto Configuration Options” on
page 456
RenderNumThreads Numeric Default=number of installed processor No
cores
Number of threads used to draw
multi-division curves
RepeatPlace Text Default = Toolbar Options
dialog
Controls when schematic placement is
repeated. Possible values, Always, Toolbar
(toolbar symbols only) and Never.
SchematicReadOnly Boolean Default=false No
If set all schematics are opened in read
only mode
SchemDoubleClickScript Text Default=on_schem_double_click
/ne
Script that is called when a double click
action is detected in the schematic. Only
active if SchematicEditMode=
NoSnap

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
ScriptDir Text Default=%SXDOCSPATH%/Scripts Options
dialog
%SXDOCSPATH% is “My
Documents/SIMetrix”
Directory used to search for scripts and
symbol files if not found in the current
directory. Changes to this option do not
take effect until next session.
ScriptExtension Text Default=sxscr Options
dialog
File extension used for scripts
ShellCommandProcessor Text String used to launch command processor
when /command supplied with “Shell”
script command. See Shell command in
the Script Reference manual for more
details
SHOWWELCOMEPAGE Boolean Default=true. If set a welcome page will Welcome
be displayed on first start page
SimDataGroupDelete Text Default=Never No
Same as DataGroupDelete when simulator
is run independently. I.e. not called from
the front end
SIMPLISPath Text Default=%EXEPATH%/simplis.exe No
Path of SIMPLIS binary
SnapshotExtension Text Default=sxsnp
File extension used for snapshot
files
StartUpDir Text Current directory set at start of Options
session. dialog
StartUpFile Text Default = Startup.SXSCR Script that is Options
automatically run at start of each dialog
session.
StatusUpdatePeriod Numeric Default = 0.2 seconds Minimum delay in No
seconds between updates of simulator
status window during run.
SymbolExtension Text Default=sxslb;slb
File extension used for symbol
files
SymbolsDir Text Default=%SHAREPATH%/SymbolLibs Option
dialog
Path of directory where system symbol
libraries are located.

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
SystemStyle Text Default=LightStyle.qss. Sets the style File | Options
sheet that defines the user interface style. | Interface
May be set to DarkStyle.qss or custom Colour...
generated style sheet placed in
support\ui
TempDataDir Text Default = %TEMPPATH%/ Options
SIMetrixTempData dialog
See “Default Configuration Location” on
page 431 for definition of
%TEMPPATH%
Directory where temporary simulation
data files are placed.
TextExtension Text File extension used for text files
TotalVectorBufferSize Numeric See the Simulator Reference Manual for a
full explanation
TitleBlockDefaultAuthor Text The default authour for title blocks Title block in-
terface
TitleBlockDefaultCompany Text The default company name for title Title block in-
blocks terface
TitleBlockDefaultLogoPath Text The path of the default logo for title Title block in-
blocks. Should be a bitmap file such as terface
.jpg, .png, .bmp or .gif
ToolBarIconSize Numeric Default = 20. Size of toolbar icons in No
pixels. Takes effect on restart
TranscriptErrors Boolean Default=false
If true, incorrectly typed commands will
be entered in the history box. (The drop
down list in the command line that shows
previously entered commands)
UndoBufferSize Numeric Default = 10 Options
dialog
Number of levels of schematic undo. See
“Creating a Schematic” on page 33
UpdateClosedSchematics Boolean Allows SIMetrix to write to closed
schematic if required. See “Closed
Schematics” on page 334
UpdateCurvesNoDeleteOld Boolean Default=false Plot | Update
Curve
If true, old curves are not deleted when
Settings
using the Update Curves feature.
UpdateCurvesNoFixSelected Boolean Default=false Plot | Update
Curve
If true update includes selected curves
Settings
when using the Update Curves
feature

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Name Type Description User

interface
support
UseLocalHelp Boolean If set, the help system will use locally Help | Select
stored content. Note that the local content Help
must be installed for this to work. Menu Source...
Help | Select Help Source... will
automatically set this option and install
local content if needed.
UserScriptDir Text Alternative location for user scripts. See No
Script Reference Manual/Script
Language/Executing Scripts for more
information
UserSymbolsDir Text Path of directory where the user’s symbol Options
libraries are stored. dialog
UserSystemSymbolDir Text Default=%sxappdatapath%/SysSymbols No
Location of symbol libraries containing
edits to system symbols
VideoBufferTotalSize Numeric Default=100000000 (100MBytes). The No
total memory allowed to be used for video
buffers. The bitmap image of each
schematic and graph window is buffered
in memory. This allows for fast redraw
when tabs are switched or when a window
is exposed. Without this buffering, the
windows need to be redrawn which in the
case of graphs can be time consuming.
The buffers consume memory and this
setting specifies how much memory may
be allowed to be used for the buffers (that
is all buffers together, not each one). If all
the buffers needed exceed this memory
allowance, some windows will be released
meaning that a redraw will be needed
when that window needs to be
displayed.
VlDataPath Text Default=%SXAPPDATAPATH%/veriloghdl
Location of Verilog-HDL files. Currently
only the cache data is stored here
VlModuleCacheSize Numeric Default=1000
Maximum number of cache entries for
Verilog-HDL module info cache
WarnSubControls Boolean Default=false No
If true, a warning will be issued if
unexpected simulator commands are
found in subcircuits.

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 18.5. Options

Text Editor Colour Options

The following options set colours for text editor elements. All of these can be set in the Customisation
sheet in the options dialog. See menu File | Options | General....

Option name Editor Element

AsciiFileEditorDoubleQuoteStringColour Ascii File Editor Double quoted
string
AsciiFileEditorSingleQuoteStringColour Ascii File Editor Single quoted
string
AsciiFileEditorSubTypesColour Ascii File Editor Sub types
AsciiFileEditorTypesColour Ascii File Editor Types
AsciiFileEditorValuesColour Ascii File Editor Values
LogicDefinitionEditorCommentColour Logic Definition comment colour
LogicDefinitionEditorKeywordColour Logic Definition keyword colour
NetlistEditorCommentColour Netlist editor comment colour
NetlistEditorDoubleQuoteStringColour Netlist editor Double quoted string
colour
NetlistEditorInstanceColour Netlist editor Instance colour
NetlistEditorKeywordColour Netlist editor keyword colour
NetlistEditorSingleQuoteStringColour Netlist editor Single quoted string
colour
NetlistEditorSubCircuitColour Netlist editor Subcircuit colour
(.SUBCKT and
.ENDS)
ScriptEditorBIScriptColour Script Editor Built-in script
colour
ScriptEditorCommandColour Script Editor Command colour
ScriptEditorCommentColour Script Editor Comment colour
ScriptEditorDoubleQuotedStringColour Script Editor double quoted string
colour
ScriptEditorFunctionColour Script Editor Function colour
ScriptEditorKeywordColour Script Editor keyword colour
ScriptEditorStringColour Script Editor string colour
TextEditorBackgroundColour Plain text editor background colour
TextEditorFontColour Plain text editor Text colour
TextEditorHighlightColour Plain text editor highlighted colour
VerilogAEditorAnalogOperatorColour Verilog-A editor Analog operator
colour
VerilogAEditorDoubleQuoteColour Verilog-A editor String colour
VerilogAEditorIntegerColour Verilog-A editor Integer colour
VerilogAEditorKeywordColour Verilog-A editor Keyword colour
VerilogAEditorMultilineCommentColour Verilog-A editor Multi-line comment
colour

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 18.5. Options

Option name Editor Element

VerilogAEditorPreProcessorColour Verilog-A editor Pre-processor
colour
VerilogAEditorRealColour Verilog-A editor Real value colour
VerilogAEditorRegularFunctionsColour Verilog-A editor Function colour
VerilogAEditorSingleLineCommentColour Verilog-A editor Singe line comment
colour
VerilogAEditorSystemFunctionsColour Verilog-A editor System function
colour
VerilogHDLEditorDoubleQuoteStringColour String colour
Verilog-HDL editor
VerilogHDLEditorKeywordColour Verilog-HDL editor Keyword colour
VerilogHDLEditorMultipleLineCommentColour Multi-line comment
Verilog-HDL editor colour
VerilogHDLEditorSingleLineCommentColour Single line comment
Verilog-HDL editor colour

Other Colour Options

The following options set colours for various elements. All of these can be set in the Customisation sheet
in the options dialog. See menu File | Options | General....

Option name Editor Element

ShellInputActiveHighlightColour Command Shell Input Active highlight
ShellInputBackgroundColour Command Shell Input Background
ShellInputHighlightedTextColour Command Shell Input Highlighted text
ShellInputInactiveHighlightColour Command Shell Input Inactive highlight
ShellInputTextColour Command Shell Input Input text
ShellOutputActiveHighlightColour Command Shell Active highlight
Output
ShellOutputBackgroundColour Command Shell Background
Output
ShellOutputHighlightedTextColour Command Shell Highlighted text
Output
ShellOutputInactiveHighlightColour Command Shell Inactive highlight
Output
ShellOutputTextColour Command Shell Input text
Output
PartSelectorBackgroundColour Part selector Background
colour
PartSelectorTextColour Part selector Text colour
GraphColourText Graph Text Colour (default graph
text colour)

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 18.5. Options

Option name Editor Element

GraphColourSelectedText Graph Selected Text
Colour
GraphColourCaption Graph Caption Colour
GraphColourFreeText Graph Free Text Colour
GraphColourTextBoxText Graph Text Box Text
Colour
GraphColourTextBoxBG Graph Text Box
Background
GraphColourLegendBox Graph Legend Box Text
Colour
GraphColourCurveMarkerText Graph Curve Marker Text
Colour
GraphColourCurveMarker Graph Curve Marker Line
Colour
GraphColourRectangle Graph Zoom Box Colour
GraphColourCrossHair Graph Cursor Colour
GraphColourMajorGrid Graph Major Grid
GraphColourMinorGrid Graph Minor Grid
GraphColourBackground Graph Background
GraphColourAxis Graph Axis
GraphColourSelectedAxis Graph Selected Axis
GraphColourHighlightedCurve Graph Highlighted Curve
GraphColourCursorDimension Graph Cursor Dimension
GraphColourCursorDimensionText Graph Cursor Dimension
Text
GraphColourCurve_1 Curves Curve 1 Colour
GraphColourCurve_2 Curves Curve 2 Colour
GraphColourCurve_3 Curves Curve 3 Colour
GraphColourCurve_4 Curves Curve 4 Colour
GraphColourCurve_5 Curves Curve 5 Colour
GraphColourCurve_6 Curves Curve 6 Colour
GraphColourCurve_7 Curves Curve 7 Colour
GraphColourCurve_8 Curves Curve 8 Colour
GraphColourCurve_9 Curves Curve 9 Colour
GraphColourCurve_10 Curves Curve 10 Colour
GraphColourCurve_11 Curves Curve 11 Colour
GraphColourCurve_12 Curves Curve 12 Colour
GraphColourCurve_13 Curves Curve 13 Colour
GraphColourCurve_14 Curves Curve 14 Colour
GraphColourCurve_15 Curves Curve 15 Colour
GraphColourCurve_16 Curves Curve 16 Colour
GraphColourCurve_17 Curves Curve 17 Colour

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Option name Editor Element

GraphColourCurve_18 Curves Curve 18 Colour
GraphColourCurve_19 Curves Curve 19 Colour
GraphColourCurve_20 Curves Curve 20 Colour

File Extension

The following options set default file extensions. See Options dialog for more details.

Option name Default value Description

AsciiFileEditorExtension sxsch;sxslb;sxcmp ASCII schematic and symbol files
ComponentExtension sxcmp Schematic component files
DataExtension sxdat;dat Data files
GraphExtension sxgph Graph binary files
LogicDefExtension ldf Arbitrary block logic definition files
ModelExtension lb;lib;mod;cir SPICE model files
NetlistExtension net;cir;deck;out Netlist files
SchematicExtension sxsch;sch Schematic files
ScriptExtension sxscr;txt Scripts
SnapshotExtension sxsnp Simulator snapshot files
SymbolExtension lib Binary symbol files
TextExtension txt;net;cir;mod;ldf;sxscr;lib;lb;cat Text files
VerilogAExtension va;vams Verilog-A files
VerilogHDLExtension v Verilog-HDL files

Toolbar Buttons

The buttons displayed on each of the standard toolbars are defined with an option variable - that is one for
each toolbar. The value of the option consists of a series of semi-colon delimited button names. A
complete list of button names and full information concerning user defined toolbars can be found in the
Script Reference Manual/Applications/Creating Modifying Toolbars. The toolbar option variable names
are listed below.

Option name Description

ComponentButtons Schematic parts in SIMetrix mode
SIMPLISComponentButtons Schematic parts in SIMPLIS mode
SchematicMainButtons Schematic main toolbar
SchematicFileButtons Schematic file operations toolbar
SchematicProbeButtons Schematic probe toolbar
SymbolMainButtons Symbol editor toolbar

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 18.6. Startup Auto Configuration

Option name Description

SymbolFileButtons Symbol editor file operations toolbar
GraphMainButtons Graph window toolbar

18.6 Startup Auto Configuration

18.6.1 Overview

When SIMetrix is started for the first time, it automatically sets up its configuration to default values.
Details of this process are provided in the following sections. There are a number of settings that can be
made to control this process and these are also explained.

18.6.2 What is Set Up

During this phase, the following is set up:

1. Installs system supplied symbol libraries
2. Installs system supplied model libraries
3. Migrates configuration from earlier installed versions if available
4. Associates file extensions with the operating system.
5. Sets up default window positions according to the system screen resolution (only if preference
settings are not migrated in 3.)
6. Define default values for various fonts (only if preference settings are not migrated in 3.)

18.6.3 Auto Configuration Options

Configuration settings are stored in a file called base.sxprj. See “Configuration Settings” on page 430 for
details of where this file is located. Auto configuration writes values to this file but will also read values
from this file to decide how it will proceed. In the usual sequence of events for installing and setting up
SIMetrix, this file will not actually exist when auto configuration occurs. In this case auto configuration
uses default values for the settings it tries to read.
However, if you are a system administrator may wish to customise the way SIMetrix is configured when
started by each user. In this case you may manually create a base.sxprj file or alternatively a common
skeleton that SIMetrix will use to create this file. Your base.sxprj file can, if desired, be completely
populated with all required settings and configured to disable auto configuration altogether. Alternatively,
you can inhibit some of the auto configuration operations while allowing others to proceed normally.
There are five settings that control auto configuration. These must be placed in the [Options] section of the
base.sxprj file. The settings are shown in the following table:

Option Name Possible Values (Default Description

in bold)
RebuildConfig true, false Auto configuration proceeds if this is set
to true. Auto configuration automatically
sets this to false on completion

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 18.6. Startup Auto Configuration

Option Name Possible Values (Default Description

in bold)
BuildPreferenceSettings askmigrate, true, Build user preference settings
false
askmigrate: ask the user whether he wants
to migrate settings from an earlier version
if available
true: Build default values
false: do nothing
BuildAssociations ask, true, false Build file associations (Windows
only)
ask: ask the user if he wants file
association to be performed
true: file associations performed
unconditionally
false: file associations not
performed
BuildModelLibs ifempty, merge, Install system model libraries
no
ifempty: install libraries if there are no
libraries currently installed
merge: merge system libraries with
currently installed libraries
no: do not install system libraries
BuildSymbolLibs ifempty, merge, Install system symbol libraries
no
ifempty: install libraries if there are no
libraries currently installed
merge: merge system libraries with
currently installed libraries
no: do not install system libraries

The settings in the above table should be placed in the file in [Options] section in the form:
[Options]
name = value

For example:
[Options]
BuildSymbolLibs=merge

Skeleton Configuration File

The skeleton configuration file, if it exists, will be copied to base.sxprj if base.sxprj does not exist.
The skeleton configuration file must be called skeleton.sxprj and be located in the same directory as the
executable file SIMetrix.exe (windows).

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 18.7. Colours and Fonts

18.6.4 Installation - Customising

It isn’t possible to customise the Windows install program. However, the SIMetrix installer doesn’t do
much more than simply uncompress files to the chosen location. It is therefore possible for you to create
your own SIMetrix install process using a fresh install tree as a source image. You can then add your own
files to this including the skeleton.sxprj file described above.

18.7 Colours and Fonts

18.7.1 Colours

Colours for various objects except in schematics may be defines using the Customisation sheet in the
options dialog box. See “Customisation” on page 439. Colours for schematic objects are controlled using
styles. Refer to “Schematic Styles” on page 79

18.7.2 Fonts

Fonts for various elements of SIMetrix except schematics may be selected using the font selection dialog
box. Fonts for schematic objects are controlled using styles. Refer to “Schematic Styles” on page 79.
To open the font selection dialog box, select menu File | Options | Font... menu item. Select the item
whose font you wish to change the press Edit to select new font. Items available are:

Font object name Where font is used

Ascii File Editor Text editor used for direct editing of schematic and symbol files
Associate Model Text Model display window in associate model dialog box
Command Line Command line at top of command shell
F11 Window Schematic F11 window used for simulator commands
Graph Graph windows
Graph Caption Graph Caption objects placed using Annotate | Add Caption
Graph Free Text Graph Free Text object placed using Annotate | Add Free Text
Graph Text Box Graph Text Box object placed using Annotate | Add Text Box
Legend Box Graph Legend Box object placed using Annotate | Add Legend
Box
Message Window Bottom part of command shell
Netlist Editor Text editor used for editing netlists and model files
Script Editor Text editor used for editing scripts
Text Editor Text editor used for editing general text files
Verilog-A Editor Text editor used for editing Verilog-A source files
Verilog-HDL Editor Text editor used for editing Verilog-HDL source files
View File Window Window opened with ViewFile command

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 18.8. Startup Script

18.8 Startup Script

The startup script is executed automatically each time SIMetrix is launched. By default it is called
startup.sxscr but this name can be changed in the options dialog box (File | Options | General...). The
startup file may reside in the script directory (defined by ScriptDir option variable) or in a user script
directory (defined by UserScriptDir option variable).
The most common use for the startup script is to define custom menus and keys but any commands can be
placed there.
To edit the startup script, select the File | Options | Edit Startup Script menu item.

18.9 International Character Sets

SIMetrix schematic editor, waveform viewer and text editors support international character sets. This
means that any language can be displayed in these tools. This section describes some of the issues with
regard to International character support.

18.9.1 Character Encoding

The choice of character encoding scheme affects how international character sets are stored and displayed.
The simplest encoding scheme is ASCII but this only supports a total of 95 printable characters. This is
not adequate for displaying anything other than English text.
Older versions of SIMetrix used code page based encoding which required a language selection to be
made at the system level. For example, a Japanese user would select the Japanese code page and would
then be able to display Japanese characters in schematics and the like. While this worked reasonably well,
a schematic drawn by a Japanese user would not display correctly in a system setup for a user whose
native language is not Japanese.
Code page based encoding has been superseded by the UNICODE character encoding scheme. UNICODE
is a scheme that supports all character sets worldwide and does not require the setting up of system-level
code pages. There are a number of variants of UNICODE distinguished by the method of encoding its
approximately 1 million characters to byte sequences. By far the most widely used is UTF-8.
UTF-8 uses 8 bit character encoding and is compatible with ASCII, that is, ASCII is a subset of UTF-8. A
text file containing pure ASCII characters is also a valid UTF-8 file.

18.9.2 SIMetrix Character Encoding

SIMetrix version 8 and later uses UTF-8 for schematics, graphs, text editors and a few other things. This
means that you can enter text in any language in a schematic and be sure that it will be displayed correctly
on any system without needing a code page to be setup.

18.9.3 Compatibility with Older Versions

As noted previously, older versions of SIMetrix (version 7.2 and earlier) used code page based encoding
and therefore are not compatible with UTF-8. However, we have developed some level of compatibility to
allow interoperability between old and new versions. Note the following:
1. Schematic and graph files created with older versions will render international character sets
correctly provided the system is setup with the correct code page. For example, if a schematic
displayed correctly in version 7.2, it will display correctly in version 8 and later provided it is
opened on the same system or a system with the same code page set up.

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 18.10. Installation and Licensing

2. Version 7.2m or later have some UTF-8 support allowing schematics created with version 8 to
display correctly in version 7.2. You must update to the most recent version of 7.2 to use this feature.

18.9.4 Text Editors

SIMetrix text editors will detect non-UTF-8 characters in a file and attempt to interpret them correctly. By
default, the text editors will assume that the file is encoded using the local code-page. You can change this
using the SetDefaultEncoding command. Refer to the Script Reference Manual for further information.

18.10 Installation and Licensing

Full installation and licensing instructions may be found at:

http://www.simetrix.co.uk/app/users.htm

18.10.1 Install CD

The install CD contains the installation files but also contains other useful material such as model
documentation and script source. We no longer supply a physical CD, but the full CD content may be
accessed from our web site. There is a web browseable version as well as a downloadable ISO file
allowing you to burn your own CD.
The CD content may be found at our web site by navigating to:
http://www.simetrix.co.uk/app/product-installation.htm
From there you should be able to find the download links page for the version of interest. Be aware that a
username and password is required to access the download links pages. Please contact
[email protected] for assistance.

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Copyright © SIMetrix Technologies Ltd. 1992-2018
Copyright © SIMPLIS Technologies Inc. 1992-2018
SIMetrix/SIMPLIS 8.2 User’s Manual