Overview of SPICE-like circuit simulation algorithms

Nichols, K.G.; Kázmierski, Tom J.; Zwoliński, Mark; Brown, A.D.

doi:10.1049/ip-cds:19941246

Cited by 40 publications

(33 citation statements)

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“…In conventional simulators, abrupt changes of a circuit variable greater than a local-truncation-error (LTE) limit are trapped and cause recalculation with a smaller time step, repeatedly, until the LTE limit is satisfied (this is the precision control system [23] which compares the solution with that of the previous time point). This, however, is clearly unlikely to work in the situation above (cusp passing) and so the simulation fails because of equation ill-conditioning (the time step is effectively cut to zero).…”

Section: Stability (2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-domain simulation of mixed nonlinear magnetic and electronic systems

Brown

Ross²,

Nichols³

2001

IEEE Trans. Magn.

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Abstract-This paper describes a technique for the simulation of complex magnetic systems intimately connected to any necessary drive electronics. The system is split into two Kirchhoffian domains, one magnetic and one electric. Two-way interaction between the domains is supported by a virtual device called a magnetoelectric differential gyrator. With this technique, arbitrarily complex, nonlinear, hysteretic magnetic systems may be simulated in the time domain, coupled to any appropriate nonlinear electronics, at a fraction of the cost of a comparable finite-element calculation. The capabilities of the system are demonstrated by the simulation of a feedback-controlled current-sensing system, and the simulation tracks the measured behavior of the system well outside its linear region, to the point that the nonlinear hysteretic core is being driven into and out of saturation, a consequence of a time delay inherent in the electronics. This is compared with a "conventional" electronic simulation of the same system, and the increased accuracy of this technique is clearly demonstrated.

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Section: Stability (2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-domain simulation of mixed nonlinear magnetic and electronic systems

Brown

Ross²,

Nichols³

2001

IEEE Trans. Magn.

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“…In fact, it is well known that SPICE engine is open-source and free use by researchers all over the world. To make customized simulation software, researchers had various customer modification after analysis of the simulation algorithms [5],data structure and code structure. In 1980s, SPICE with version 2 had already rewrited in C code and ported in PC [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SPICE Engine Analysis and Circuit Simulation Application Development

Chen

Wang

2016

TELKOMNIKA

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Electrical design automation plays an important role in nowadays electronic industry. Various commercial Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE) packages IntroductionKnowledge of the behavior of electrical circuits requires the simultaneous solution of a number of equations.The model creation [1], circuit simulation [2] and testing [3], and application of analog circuit and VLSI [4] require the assisstance of simulation tools. As a general-purpose circuit-simulation program that solves the network equations for the node voltage for nonlinear DC, nonlinear transient, and linear AC analysis, SPICE in its different versions has been the main computer-aided analysis program used in analog design, and diagnosis for researchers, printing circuit board and electrical device manufacture for engineering and in universities and colleges for student education for over 40 years. This widely used spice-softwares, such as pSpice, hSpice, ngSpice, shares same engine which was re-developed or modified on the base of Berkeley's kernel and to provide various interfaces and functions.However, this commercial software cannot be used to develop customized software free. In fact, it is well known that SPICE engine is open-source and free use by researchers all over the world. To make customized simulation software, researchers had various customer modification after analysis of the simulation algorithms [5],data structure and code structure. In 1980s, SPICE with version 2 had already rewrited in C code and ported in PC [6]. The 1990s saws various expansion of SPICE with multimedia technology [7] and networks [8,9] with its application in engineer and education. In the later two decades, the simulation algorithms were continously modified to speed the convergence [10,11] and improve the accuracy [12]. In the new centery, various virtual circuit labaroty [13,14] and studies [15][16][17] had been build by the aid of these customized spice-like simulations. To the author's knowledge, there is little information aviable about the computation principle and its simulations of the SPICE engine. Further, the detail information about the re-development of the simulation software with spice engine and C++ is also helpful to programmers.In this paper, we conducted this study to analyze the inner workings of SPICE engine and customized simulation software development based on the spice kernel. The experiments verified the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed approach.

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“…To overcome the convergence problems, engineers often resort to trial-and-error types of adjustment of simulation parameters, such as relaxing the relative error tolerance and increasing the maximum step size. Furthermore, flawed or erroneous results may be generated, giving wrong or misleading design information [9]. It is thus of interest to study the way in which the SPICE simulator fails to give correct results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erroneous results from SPICE simulations of switching converters: A dynamical system viewpoint

Wong

Tse

et al. 2006

2006 37th IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference

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Abstract-The SPICE simulation program is widely used as a brute force simulator for analyzing and designing switching power converters. Results from SPICE are mostly useful, but their integrity is sometimes questionable as erroneous results could be obtained which may not reflect the true behavior of the circuits being simulated. Various parameters in SPICE are crucial in controlling the convergence and accuracy of the simulated results, e.g., relative error tolerance and maximum integration step size. In this paper, we study the system consisting of the SPICE simulation algorithm and the circuit being simulated. Specifically, we describe the generation of flawed solutions in terms of bifurcation of the system under parameter variations. Erroneous results have been collected for different relative error tolerances, maximum integration step sizes, and parasitic inductance and capacitance. These flawed solutions can be analyzed in terms of the manifestation of period-doubling bifurcation and chaotic behavior under variation of selected simulation parameters. This paper provides a systematic approach to rationalizing the behavior of the SPICE simulator, its practical significance being in the identification of the ranges of simulation parameters for which flawed solutions can be produced.

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Overview of SPICE-like circuit simulation algorithms

Cited by 40 publications

References 0 publications

Time-domain simulation of mixed nonlinear magnetic and electronic systems

Time-domain simulation of mixed nonlinear magnetic and electronic systems

SPICE Engine Analysis and Circuit Simulation Application Development

Erroneous results from SPICE simulations of switching converters: A dynamical system viewpoint

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