Low cost spice programs

This article is 8 years old. All of the documentation for LTSpice that talks about adding third-party models is roughly 6 years old. Then when you were ready to use DXYZ in your schematic, you just match the component type Diode, Transistor, etc and then name it the same as your text file. While this is similar to putting the models in a separate file, if you plan on using a lot of non-LT parts in your design, your schematic can get quite cluttered. Harder to create high level schematics — OK, this was really me.

I was used to different hot keys in order to modify the schematic. Only Linear Tech component models — While this is a bit annoying, it is also quite understandable since they are giving you a complex SPICE modeling program for free.

There are some common passive components throughout, and you can add to libraries to add even more passives, but once you get into active parts, they are exclusively LT. See point number 1 above in order to add models for Analog Devices, National Instruments, Maxim, etc parts.

This equation can be quite complicated, especially for the models that are included for all of the LT parts. As power saving techniques become more and more important to electronics manufacturers, this feature becomes indispensable.

At the very least, even if the simulation is not exact in how much power is burned during processing of a circuit, you can graph the rates of all power consumption and see which is the biggest consumer and try to optimize that part. Efficiency calculation — Again, this will become more and more important to engineers as the focus on simple fixes in products for energy efficiency becomes more prevalent.

Here you have to name the input and output signals specific nodal names, but once you do, the program will automatically calculate how much energy is being converted into useable energy and how much is being wasted. An example would be in a circuit made to regulate 10V down to 5V.

Ya gotta spend energy to make energy. Now they have support for dual core processors which are quickly becoming the standard in computers from desktop to laptop to netbooks OK, not yet on netbooks. I have a dual core on my current machine and LTSpice quickly used up the available resources and the quickness of results showed the difference.

By far , the gold standard is ELDO. But unreachable unless you are a gigantic semiconductor maker. Simulatos stand or fall with the wuality of the models.

Most of them abaolutely suck in that respect. Professional Electron Wrangler. Any comments, or points of view expressed, are my own and not endorsed , induced or compensated by my employer s. A lot of good information and recommendations Hence, my advice: You always should have a rough knowledge how the "exact" simulation result should look like. Quote from: LvW on May 27, , am. Quote from: TimNJ on May 26, , pm.

No longer care, over this forum shit I personally recommend NL5. It is not SPICE I like it better , but it works like a charm, is really intuitive and fast and the manual is very clear. You can get a student's license for 1 year for free. Hope it helps, Simon. Quote from: eecook on May 27, , pm. I really like Circuit Wizard. It's lacking quick keyboard shortcuts like LTSpice but otherwise I really love the interface and the different views that show you current and voltages across our entire circuit in an intuitive way.

Like everything else it's missing some components but for basic stuff I prefer it over anything else I've used. I am a Topspice user. It has a very large library close to 30k of components in its database and it convergences very well. I cost about dollars and their technical support is top notch. I have been a costumer of Topspice for a very long time and I am very happy with it.

Thanks guys. Simulation is just what the name implies. It tries to simulate the real world, but of course that doesn't completeley happen. Maybe I'll give Tina a try. With transient simulations in LTspice I often get the best results by starting external DC supply voltages at 0 V and skipping the initial operating point solution.

This brings the simulation closer to a real life power on situation. Pederson's group at Berkeley. Vogt at the University of Duisburg. A local copy can be found here. A limited version of the program good for most class related work is available free from the Dolphin website.

This document long! The Hamburg site for VHDL provides a wealth of information on high level behavioral modeling and synthesis tools. Download Kermit Signon's Matlab primer somewhat dated by still useful here. There is a student version of Matlab at a very reasonable price!

It includes a handful of toolboxes and I encourage you to buy it for personal use.