Experiment No: 08

Name of the Experiment: Introduction to PSPICE circuit simulator.

1. INTRODUCTION
SPICE is a powerful general purpose analog and mixed-mode circuit simulator that is used to verify circuit
designs and to predict the circuit behavior. This is of particular importance for integrated circuits. It was for
this reason that SPICE was originally developed at the Electronics Research Laboratory of the University of
California, Berkeley (1975), as its name implies:
Simulation Program for Integrated Circuits Emphasis.
PSpice is a PC version of SPICE (which is currently available from OrCAD Corp. of Cadence Design Systems,
Inc.). A student version (with limited capabilities) comes with various textbooks. The OrCAD student
edition is called PSpice AD Lite. Information about Pspice AD is available from the OrCAD website:
http://www.orcad.com/pspicead.aspx
The PSpice Light version has the following limitations: circuits have a maximum of 64 nodes, 10 transistors
and 2 operational amplifiers.
SPICE can do several types of circuit analyses. Here are the most important ones:
• Non-linear DC analysis: calculates the DC transfer curve.
• Non-linear transient and Fourier analysis: calculates the voltage and current as a function of time
when a large signal is applied; Fourier analysis gives the frequency spectrum.
• Linear AC Analysis: calculates the output as a function of frequency. A bode plot is generated.
• Noise analysis
• Parametric analysis
• Monte Carlo Analysis

In addition, PSpice has analog and digital libraries of standard components (such as NAND, NOR, flip-flops,
MUXes, FPGA, PLDs and many more digital components, ). This makes it a useful tool for a wide range of
analog and digital applications.
All analyses can be done at different temperatures. The default temperature is 300K.
The circuit can contain the following components:
• Independent and dependent voltage and current sources
• Resistors
• Capacitors
• Inductors
• Mutual inductors
• Transmission lines
• Operational amplifiers
• Switches
• Diodes
• Bipolar transistors
• MOS transistors
• JFET
 • MESFET
• Digital gates
• and other components (see users manual).

2. PSpice with OrCAD Capture (release 9.2 Lite edition)

Before one can simulate a circuit one needs to specify the circuit configuration. This can be done in a
variety of ways. One way is to enter the circuit description as a text file in terms of the elements,
connections, the models of the elements and the type of analysis. This file is called the SPICE input file or
source file and has been described somewhere else (see
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/%7Ejan/spice/spice.overview.html).

An alternative way is to use a schematic entry program such as OrCAD CAPTURE. OrCAD Capture is
bundled with PSpice Lite AD on the same CD that is supplied with the textbook. Capture is a user-friendly
program that allows you to capture the schematic of the circuits and to specify the type of simulation.
Capture is non only intended to generate the input for PSpice but also for PCD layout design programs.
The following figure summarizes the different steps involved in simulating a circuit with Capture and
PSpice. We'll describe each of these briefly through a couple of examples.

Step 1: Circuit Creation with Capture Step 2: Specify type of simulation

• Create a new Analog, mixed AD project • Create a simulation profile
• Place circuit parts • Select type of analysis: o Bias, DC
• Connect the parts sweep, Transient, AC sweep
• Specify values and names • Run PSpice

Step 3: View the results

• Add traces to the probe window
• Use cursors to analyze waveforms
• Check the output file, if needed
• Save or print the results

Figure 1: Steps involved in simulating a circuit with PSpice.

The values of elements can be specified using scaling factors (upper or lower case):

T or Tera (= 1E12); U or Micro (= E-6);

G or Giga (= E9); N or Nano (= E-9);
MEG or Mega (= E6); P or Pico (= E-12)
K or Kilo (= E3); F of Femto (= E-15)
M or Milli (= E-3);

Both upper and lower case letters are allowed in PSpice. As an example, one can specify a capacitor of 225
picofarad in the following ways:
225P, 225p, 225pF; 225pFarad; 225E-12; 0.225N
Notice that Mega is written as MEG, e.g. a 15 megaOhm resistor can be specified as 15MEG, 15MEGohm,
15meg, or 15E6. Be careful not to use M for Mega! When you write 15Mohm or 15M, Spice will read this
as 15 milliOhm!
We'll illustrate the different types of simulations for the following circuit:

Figure 2: Circuit to be simulated (screen shot from OrCAD Capture).

2.1 Step 1: Creating the circuit in Capture

2.1.1 Create new project:
1. Start OrCAD Lite as shown below:

Note that the only program you need to start is “Capture Lite Edition.” The other programs will run
automatically as they’re needed.

2. Click the “Create Document” button on the toolbar.

3. The following dialog will appear. Fill in the information as shown.

4. The following dialog will appear:

Choose “Create a blank project” and click OK.

5. The schematic editor will open. Enter the following schematic into the program:

A new page will open in the Project Design Manager as shown below.

Figure 3: Design manager with schematic window and toolbars (OrCAD screen capture)

2.1.2. Place the components and connect the parts

1. Click on the Schematic window in Capture.
2. To Place a part go to PLACE/PART menu or click on the Place Part Icon. This will open a dialog box
shown below.
 Figure 4: Place Part window

3. Select the library that contains the required components. Type the beginning of the name in the Part box.
The part list will scroll to the components whose name contains the same letters. If the library is not available,
you need to add the library, by clicking on the Add Library button. This will bring up the Add Library window.
Select the desired library. For Spice you should select the libraries from the Capture/Library/PSpice folder.

Analog: contains the passive components (R,L,C), mutual inductane, transmission line,
and voltage and current dependent sources (voltage dependent voltage source E, current-dependent
current source F, voltage-dependent current source G and current-dependent voltage source H).
Source: give the different type of independent voltage and current sources, such as Vdc,
Idc, Vac, Iac, Vsin, Vexp, pulse, piecewise linear, etc. Browse the library to see what is available.
Eval: provides diodes (D…), bipolar transistors (Q…), MOS transistors, JFETs (J…),
real opamp such as the u741, switches (SW_tClose, SW_tOpen), various digital gates
and components.
Abm: contains a selection of interesting mathematical operators that can be applied to signals, such as
multiplication (MULT), summation (SUM), Square Root (SWRT),
Laplace (LAPLACE), arctan (ARCTAN), and many more.
Special: contains a variety of other components, such as PARAM, NODESET, etc.

Part Name Symbol Part Name Symbol

Resistor R Sinusoidal VSIN
Voltage
Source
 Capacitor C Sinusoidal ISIN
Current Source

Inductor L Voltage Pulse VPULSE

Ground AGND Current Pulse IPULSE

DC Voltage VDC Voltage VEXP

Source exponential
source

DC Current IDC Current IEXP

Source exponential
source

AC Voltage VAC Voltage VPWL

Source piecewise
linear source
AC Current VDC Current IPWL
Source piecewise
linear source
VCVS Voltage- E Voltage VIEWPOINT
Controlled Viewpoint
Voltage Source
CCCS – F Current Iprobe IPROBE
Current-
Controllled
Current Source
VCCS – G
Voltage-
Controlled
Current Source
CCVS - H
Current-
Controlled
Voltage Source

4. Place the resistors, capacitor (from the Analog library), and the DC voltage and current source.
 You can place the part by the left mouse click.
 You can rotate the components by clicking on the R key.
 To place another instance of the same part, click the left mouse button again.
 Hit the ESC key when done with a particular element.
 You can add initial conditions to the capacitor. Double-click on the part; this will open the
Property window that looks like a spreadsheet. Under the column, labeled IC, enter the value of the
initial condition, e.g. 2V. For our example we assume that IC was 0V (this is the default value).

5. After placing all part, you need to place the Ground terminal by clicking on the GND icon (on
the right side toolbar – see Fig. 3). When the Place Ground window opens, select GND/CAPSYM and give
it the name 0 (i.e. zero). Do not forget to change the name to 0, otherwise PSpice will give an error or
"Floating Node". The reason is that SPICE needs a ground terminal as the reference node that has the
node number or name 0 (zero).

Figure 5: Place the ground terminal box; the ground terminal should have the name 0

6. Now connect the elements using the Place Wire command from the menu (PLACE/WIRE) or by clicking
on the Place Wire icon.

7. You can assign names to nets or nodes using the Place Net Alias command (PLACE/NET ALIAS menu).
We will do this for the output node and input node. Name these Out and In, as shown in Figure 2.

2.1.3. Assign Values and Names to the parts

1. Change the values of the resistors by double-clicking on the number next to the resistor. You can
also change the name of the resistor. Do the same for the capacitor and voltage and current source.
2. If you haven't done so yet, you can assign names to nodes (e.g. Out and In nodes).
3. Save the project

2.1.4. Netlist
The netlist gives the list of all elements using the simple format:
R_name node1 node2 value
C_name nodex nodey value, etc.
1. You can generate the netlist by going to the PSPICE/CREATE NETLIST menu.
2. Look at the netlist by double clicking on the Output/name.net file in the Project Manager Window
(in the left side File window).

Note on Current Directions in elements:

The positive current direction in an element such as a resistor is from node 1 to node 2. Node 1 is either the
left pin or the top pin for an horizontal or vertical positioned element (.e.g a resistor). By rotating the element
180 degrees one can switch the pin numbers. To verify the node numbers you can look at the netlist:

e.g. R_R2 node1 node2 10k

e.g. R_R2 0 OUT 10k
Since we are interested in the current direction from the OUT node to the ground, we need to rotate the
resistor R2 twice so that the node numbers are interchanged:

R_R2 OUT 0 10k

2.2 Step 2: Specifying the type of analysis and simulation

As mentioned in the introduction, Spice allows you do to a DC bias, DC Sweep, Transient with Fourier
analysis, AC analysis, Montecarlo/worst case sweep, Parameter sweep and Temperature sweep. We will
first explain how to do the Bias and DC Sweep on the circuit of Figure 2.
2.2.1 BIAS or DC analysis
1. With the schematic open, go to the PSPICE menu and choose NEW SIMULATION PROFILE.
2. In the Name text box, type a descriptive name, e.g. Bias
3. From the Inherit From List: select none and click Create.
4. When the Simulation Setting window opens, for the Analyis Type, choose Bias Point and click
OK.
5. Now you are ready to run the simulation: PSPICE/RUN
6. A window will open, letting you know if the simulation was successful. If there are errors,
consult the Simulation Output file.
7. To see the result of the DC bias point simulation, you can open the Simulation Output file or go
back to the schematic and click on the V icon (Enable Bias Voltage Display) and I icon (current
display) to show the voltage and currents (see Figure 6).

The check the direction of the current, you need to look at the netlist: the current is positive flowing from
node1 to node1 (see note on Current Direction above).

Figure 6: Results of the Bias simulation displayed on the schematic

2.2.2 DC Sweep simulation
We will be using the same circuit but will evaluate the effect of sweeping the voltage source between 0 and
20V. We'll keep the current source constant at 1mA.

1. Create a new New Simulation Profile (from the PSpice Menu); We'll call it DC Sweep
2. For analysis select DC Sweep; enter the name of the voltage source to be swept: V1. The
start and end values and the step need to be specified: 0, 20 and 0.1V, respectively (see Fig. below).
 See the
Start,
End &
Increment
value

Figure 7: Setting for the DC Sweep simulation.

3. Run the simulation. PSpice will generate an output file that contains the values of all voltages
and currents in the circuit.

2.3 Step 3: Displaying the simulation Results

PSpice has a user-friendly interface to show the results of the simulations. Once the simulation is
finished a Probe window will open.

Figure 8: Probe window

1. From the TRACE menu select ADD TRACE and select the voltages and current you like to display. In our case
we'll add V(out) and V(in). Click OK.

Figure 9: Add Traces window

2. You can also add traces using the "Voltage Markers" in the schematic. From the PSPICE menu select
MARKERS/VOLTAGE LEVELS. Place the makers on the Out and In node. When done, right click and select End
Mode.

Figure 10: Using Voltage Markers to show the simulation result of V(out) and V(in)

3. Go to back to PSpice. You will notice that the waveforms will appear.
4. You can add a second Y Axis and use this to display e.g. the current in Resistor R2, as shown
below. Go to PLOT/Add Y Axis. Next, add the trace for I(R2).
5. You can also use the cursors on the graphs for Vout and Vin to display the actual values at
certain points. Go to TRACE/CURSORS/DISPLAY
6. The cursors will be associated with the first trace, as indicated by the small small
rectangle around the legend for V(out) at the bottom of the window. Left click on the first trace.
The value of the x and y axes are displayed in the Probe window. When you right click on V(out)
the value of the second cursor will be given together with the difference between the first and
second cursor.
7. To place the second cursor on the second trace (for V(in)), right click the legend for V(in).
You'll notice the outline around V(in) at the bottom of the window. When you right click the
 second trace the cursor will snap to it. The values of the first and second cursor will be shown in
Probe window.
8. You can chance the X and Y axes by double clicking on them.
9. When adding traces you can perform mathematical calculations on the traces, as indicated in the
Add Trace Window to the right of Figure 9.

Figure 11: Result of the DC sweep, showing Vout, Vin and the current through resistor R2. Cursors were
used for V(out) and V(in).