Circuit Simulation
Using a computer program to simulate an electrical or electronic circuit has both advantages and
disadvantages over conventional methods.
A computer that can perform millions of operations per second is far faster than calculations
by hand or calculator, and coupled with a printer, results can be plotted or tabulated in
seconds. Some simulation programs even allow schematic input or capture and even have an output
format (gerber) for producing a pcb from.
Simulation programs based on SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) have
many advantages. For instance, multiple analysis may be run at different temperatures (invaluable
for investigating thermal properties of a circuit), component tolerances may be swept, (monte-
carlo analysis), fourier analaysis for investigating distortion and many more. In addition
measurements which would be difficult or impossible in real life circuitry can also be made.
The disadvantage to using any such program is that you still have to design the circuit yourself,
and the results can only be as good as your initial circuit input.
There are many simulation programs available today, but I use and recommend two programs on my
site, "Circuit Maker" from Microcode, and "TINA" from designsoft. Both feature schematic input
and the simulation can save many hours work when predicting amplifier or timing characteristics.
The TINA program, (Toolkit for Interactive
Network Analysis) is extremely flexible with
its comprehensive choice of analyses and graph plotting capabilities. Circuit Maker is also highly
versatile and user friendly. For more information and latest editions of the programs visit the web
sites by clicking on the links below. Anyone who uses Tina or Circuit Maker may find some useful
information about these programs on my site.
