Circuit Simulation with SPICE OPUS: Theory and Practice (Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology) [Hardcover]

Tadej Tuma (Author), Árpád Buermen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0817648666 | ISBN-13: 978-0817648664 | Publication Date: July 1, 2009 | Edition: 1

This book is a unique combination of a basic guide to general analog circuit simulation and a SPICE OPUS software manual, which may be used as a textbook or self-study reference. The book is divided into three parts: mathematical theory of circuit analysis, a crash course on SPICE OPUS, and a complete SPICE OPUS reference guide. All simulations as well as the free simulator software may be directly downloaded from the SPICE OPUS homepage: www.spiceopus.si. Circuit Simulation with SPICE OPUS  is intended for a wide audience of undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in electrical and systems engineering, circuit design, and simulation development.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This book is the first complete guide to analog circuit design using the circuit simulator software package SPICE OPUS. Developed by the authors and used by academics and industry professionals worldwide, SPICE OPUS is an improved version of the well-known University of California at Berkeley circuit simulator SPICE3 that has been freely available online since 2000. Aimed at novices as well as professional circuit designers, the book is a unique combination of a basic guide to general analog circuit simulation and a SPICE OPUS software manual. All simulations as well as the free simulator software may be directly downloaded from the SPICE OPUS homepage: www.spiceopus.si. The book is divided into three parts: * Theory (Chapters 1 and 6): Includes a discussion of basic mathematical notions of circuit analysis, followed by specific algorithms implemented in SPICE OPUS. * Crash course (Chapters 2 and 7): Begins with a short installation guide and then moves quickly through a typical circuit simulation scenario, based on a simple example. The reader with some fundamentals in electrical engineering may continue with a number of complete simulation sessions presented in Chapter 7. * Reference guide (Chapters 3, 4, and 5): Describes all features of SPICE OPUS in a well-structured, methodical way, starting with input file syntax, followed by circuit analysis methods and the built-in scripting language (NUTMEG). Circuit Simulation with SPICE OPUS  is intended for a wide audience of undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in electrical and systems engineering, circuit design, and simulation development. The book may be used as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course on circuit simulation as well as a self-study reference guide for students and researchers alike.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 415 pages
• Publisher: Birkhäuser Boston; 1 edition (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817648666
• ISBN-13: 978-0817648664
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book That Berkeley Forgot To Write, July 7, 2009

By 

D. Comer (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Circuit Simulation with SPICE OPUS: Theory and Practice (Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology) (Hardcover)

Of all the SPICE books on my shelf (>20) this is probably the most important book on the basics of SPICE. There are plenty of good books on how to use SPICE; most focus on PSPICE, ISSPICE, HSPICE, or other commercial flavors of SPICE. Nothing wrong with after market documentation and commercial SPICE simulations; the commercial versions are certainly worth the price if you are a professional working for a company that has a liberal budget for CAD tools. Enter the SPICE OPUS team (and let's not forget the equally important Spice3 project, ngSpice, which is open source). If you are a user of SPICE OPUS, boasting over 10,000 users worldwide, or ngSpice, this book may very well be what you need if you are a novice of the classic SPICE3/Nutmeg software originating at Berkeley.

The SPICE OPUS team since the 1990s offers a free version of SPICE based on SPICE 3f4. SPICE OPUS is used worldwide in the area of research, education, and industry. This book is more than a well written user's guide of SPICE OPUS, it is the Crème de la Crème of SPICE user's manual. Inside you will find detailed information on the SPICE OPUS simulator. As the back cover of this book mentions, "This book is the first complete guide to analog circuit design using the circuit simulator software package SPICE OPUS". That said, there is a topic I was disappointed not to find in this edition: sensitivity analysis using the SPICE .SENSE control card. There is very little information on this aspect of SPICE yet this is an important topic for serious circuit designers.

Despite a missing topic, I believe this book is perfect for serious SPICE OPUS user (the target audience of the book), ngSpice users, and other SPICE flavors. SPICE users that have access to commercial versions, in my opinion, may find this book supplements their understanding of how SPICE works internally (I.E. your mileage may vary due to vendor customization of a particular version of SPICE). ngSpice user's would probably find this book valuable to gain an understand of SPICE internals when using or reading the source code. Near and dear to my interests, amateur radio, experimenters that want to apply circuit simulation tools to analog designs may find this book an excellent guide.

Individuals new to SPICE3 may wish to start with chapters 2, 3 and 4 where the authors bring you up to speed on how to use SPICE3 and NUTMEG (chapter 2), the SPICE3 input file format (chapter 3) and and overview of the analysis options (Chapter 4). The reader will them most likely move on the the following chapters to gain more expertise on advanced SPICE3 operation such as how to script NUTMEG, the mathematics behind SPICE3 and the details on how to control the output. I found chapter 1 to be an excellent introduction to circuit simulation, but chapter 1 is not necessary to learn how to use SPICE3 (although I recommend reading chapter 1 at some point).

Summarizing, this book is fantastic resource for the SPICE OPUS user and ngSpice user, and SPICE purest. For the commercial SPICE user, this book would probably be useful for additional insight into SPICE internals and may help explain certain issues with your version of SPICE. Note that this book is specific to SPICE3. SPICE2 is still available, but many recent versions of SPICE release focus on SPICE3.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written to be understandable as well as useful to the practicioner, January 6, 2011

By 

Legrape - See all my reviews

This review is from: Circuit Simulation with SPICE OPUS: Theory and Practice (Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology) (Hardcover)

I found this book in a web search of timestep control methods for Spice. I confess, I only used information from that section, but what I've read in the rest of the book is clear as well. As a practicioner (i.e. 'improver' of Spice code), I was interested in methods for timestep control. I found the formulas useful, but not with the author's intent. I found the formula for timestep control at a breakpoint actually more useful at any point in the simulation. The other formula, upon scrutiny, didn't seem to offer a useful algorithm.

Admittedly I was digging for the details and focussed on this one narrow topic, and I didn't find the answers spelled out, I did find the inspiration and clues that I might have never figured out myself.

Another admission, I found what I needed in the free excerpts of the book. Guilt, honesty and my employer's credit card caused me to buy the book.