Schematic Capture with Cadence PSpice [Paperback]

Marc E. Herniter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0130276944 | ISBN-13: 978-0130276940

With step-by-step screen captures, this manual demonstrates how to use the Cadence "RM" /Orcad "RM" version of the Pspice "RM" circuit simulation program with the Orcad Capture "RM" front end. Focusing on a wide range of circuits, it features a collection of examples that show how to create a circuit, how to run the different analyses, and how to obtain the results from those analyses. Chapter topics cover editing a basic schematic using Orcad capture, introduction to probe, DC nodal analysis, DC sweep, AC sweep, transient analysis, creating and modifying models using Orcad capture, digital simulations, and Monte Carlo analyses.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

With step-by-step screen captures, this manual demonstrates how to use the Cadence®/Orcad® version of the Pspice® circuit simulation program with the Orcad Capture® front end. Focusing on a wide range of circuits, it features a collection of examples that show how to create a circuit, how to run the different analyses, and how to obtain the results from those analyses. Chapter topics cover editing a basic schematic using Orcad capture, introduction to probe, DC nodal analysis, DC sweep, AC sweep, transient analysis, creating and modifying models using Orcad capture, digital simulations, and Monte Carlo analyses.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

This manual is designed to show students how to use the PSpice circuit simulation program from Orcad with the schematic capture front end, Capture. It is a collection of examples that show students how to create a circuit, how to run the different analyses, and how to obtain the results from those analyses. This manual does not attempt to teach students circuit theory or electronics; that task is left for the main text. Instead, the manual takes the approach of showing students how to simulate many circuits found throughout the engineering curriculum. An example is the DC circuit shown below.

It is assumed that the student has been given enough information to completely analyze the circuit. This manual assumes that the student wishes to check his or her answers (or intuition) with this program. The student would construct the circuit as shown in Part 1 and then run either the node voltage analysis in Part 3 or the DC Sweep in Part 4. This circuit is different from the circuits in Parts 3 and 4, but the procedure given in those parts can be applied to the circuit.

This manual was designed to be used by students for their entire educational career and beyond. Since the parts are arranged by analysis type, they contain a range of examples from circuits covered in first-semester circuit theory courses to senior-level amplifier and switching circuits. Sections that are too advanced for beginning students may be skipped without loss of continuity. All parts contain both simple circuits and advanced circuits to illustrate the analysis types. Sections do not have to be covered sequentially. Individual examples can be identified that apply to specific courses. However, the following sequence is suggested for first-time users. All beginning users should follow Parts 1 and 2 completely to learn how to draw, print, and save schematics, and how to use Probe, the graphical post-processor, for viewing results. All students should follow some of the examples in Parts 3 and 4 that are relevant to the course and also cover a few of the examples that may apply to earlier courses (if any). The early examples in these parts have the most step-by-step detail of how to use the software.

This manual contains examples that apply to courses throughout the engineering curriculum. Introductory circuits classes usually cover DC circuits, AC circuits with phasors, and transient circuits with a single capacitor or inductor and a switch. Examples are given to cover these types of problems. After reviewing the examples in this manual, a student should be able to simulate similar problems. A typical first electronics course may cover transistor biasing, amplifier gain, and amplifier frequency response. Examples of these analyses are also given. Higher-level electronics courses would cover Monte Carlo analysis, Worst Case analysis, and distortion. Examples of these types of analyses are included.

Exercises are given at the end of each section. These exercises specify a circuit and give the simulation results. The students are encouraged to work these problems to see if they can obtain the same simulation results. The exercises are intended to give students practice in using the software, not to teach them circuits. Since this software covers such a wide variety of courses, problems are not given. These problems are best left to the instructor or main text. Using PSpice on problems specific to the class material is far more instructional than using it on problems designed to teach PSpice. My philosophy is that PSpice should be used only to verify one's own calculations or intuition. In my classes I assign problems that are worked by hand calculation, simulated with PSpice, and then tested in the lab. The students then compare the measured results to the hand calculations and PSpice simulations. Without hand calculation, it is impossible to know if the PSpice simulations are correct.

The book is written as if the instructor were giving a class demonstration on how to use the software. Intermediate windows are shown, and all mouse selections are specified. When I first started teaching the schematic capture version, I brought the students into the computer lab. I gave a lecture using an LCD projection screen and an overhead projector. The students could see the screens projected by the overhead and could follow along using their own computers. It required too much lecture time to cover the wide scope of the Orcad Lite software, so I wrote this manual using the philosophy that the screen captures presented in this manual would be the same as if I were presenting the software in a lecture.

The main advantage of the schematic capture front end of PSpice is its ease of use. At first this may not be apparent. When I first started to use Capture, I tested it with a simple three- or four-node circuit. Since I was familiar with writing netlists, it was far easier to write a simple four-line netlist than to search through the many menus of Capture and create a schematic. As I became more proficient at using the program and remembering the standard parts, I could create a schematic faster than I could type a netlist. The schematic version becomes much easier when you use parts with which you are not familiar, such as an . exponential or pulsed voltage source. How many of us can remember the order of the parameters in a pulsed voltage source? Usually you have to look them up in the manual. With Capture, a manual is not necessary. Suppose that you get a part called Vpulse. The parameters of the source are listed in the part's attributes, and the order is not needed since Capture takes care of the order automatically. Another example would be an operational amplifier. If you were describing the circuit using a netlist, you would first have to find the order and number of calling nodes of the op-amp subcircuit. To figure out the calling nodes, you have to look at the library listing that contains the netlist of the op-amp subcircuit. Since the MS-DOS operating system did not allow multitasking, this usually involved exiting PSpice and listing the library. In the schematic capture version, you only need to get the op-amp part. All nodes are shown on the schematic, and ,the correct calling order is not needed. This makes the schematic capture version far simpler to use.

Another major advantage of the schematic capture version is that students find drawing circuits .such more interesting than writing netlists. Students tend to explore the schematic capture front end much more than a text-based shell. Since all of the analyses and parts are available on-line as windows, graphics, or help files, students tend to explore the abilities of the program and they don't have to dig through a manual. In-the text-based version of PSpice, students would first come to the instructor rather than look through a manual.

There are many other advantages to using the schematic capture version. The enormous popularity of the Microsoft Windows operating system should attest to the ease of use of a graphics-based interface compared to a text-based interface. One such advantage is automatic documentation. When you simulate a circuit, you automatically have a circuit schematic. This schematic can be incorporated into lab notebooks and reports. In a corporate environment, documentation of this type is extremely important. With the Windows operating system, the schematics can be incorporated into written documents using screen captures. This manual is an example of what can be accomplished.

The version of Orcad Lite described in this manual is Version 9.2 displayed using Windows 2000. The parts libraries described in this manual have been changed slightly from Orcad's distribution libraries. New parts were added to make the program simpler for beginning students to use. Please note that the libraries contained in this manual are slightly different from the factory distribution libraries.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (December 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130276944
• ISBN-13: 978-0130276940
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,747,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent users' manual, November 17, 2001

By 

johare "johare4" (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schematic Capture with Cadence PSpice (Paperback)

This book covers all the issues that arise in using Orcad Lite Version 9.2 in an undergraduate setting. Screen dumps show exactly how to implement the most used features. New features are described that prove very useful. Supplementary material on the author's Web site includes file exchange by e-mail, incorporation of Probe plots into Word, and the use of hierarchical blocks that can be drilled down to the underlying schematics. .

Some features, like the design cache, are not described in detail. These are new, more specialized bells and whistles of the Cadence version.

The author takes the conventional approach of showing what can be done without explaining the quirks of the new system and its drawbacks. I believe readers might very well appreciate a comparison of pros and cons of Version 8.0 or earlier vs. this new version that, along with its advantages, uses an inferior drawing package for schematics, consumes huge amounts of memory, crashes frequently, sometimes confuses projects open at the same time, and often can't locate components of projects (like the Schematic!) clearly present in the same folder as parts it does find.

Bottom line: a great place to learn the new Cadence PSpice

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to follow, July 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Schematic Capture with Cadence PSpice (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

If everyone writes textbooks or manuals like Marc Herniter, life would be easy for students and engineers. This book is reasonably priced. Every step in the manual is illustrated by a screen capture, so there is not much guessing involved. The author also shows a lot of tricks and different ways to do simulations which I appreciate a lot. The book is certainly easier to follow than those "Idiot's guide to..." or "...for Dummies" books.

This manual is not intended to teach people about circuit theory. Its main purpose is to teach users how to use Cadence PSpice. Users should have knowledge on electronic circuits or are taking an electronic circuit course concurrently. If you find it hard to learn PSpice from the PSpice user's guide, you should get this book instead. It really works.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Schematic Capture with Cadence PSpice, October 13, 2005

By 

Mort Arditti (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Schematic Capture with Cadence PSpice (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Marc Herniter writes good clear PSpice books. I have three of his PSpice books (including this one).

The book is written in a clear straight forward manner. The program itself is not friendly and easy to use. Possibly, it appears unfriendly because it is complex, powerful and with many good features. The author describes and explains the complex concepts in a clear manner with good examples.

For users who are familiar with previous versions of PSpice that used Schematic to enter a circuit and start an analysis, the book provides direction on how to switch over and employ Capture.

The only reason for only 4 stars is that some of the graphics are poor quality. It is not uncommon to find black text on dark grey background which is difficul to read. Color graphics would be nice, but it may be too costly.

Anyone starting with Capture and PSpice will benefit from this book. It certainly is better than the documents provided by the program originator.