Simulator Reference: Voltage Source

Netlist Entry

Vxxxx n+ n- [[DC] dcvalue] [DCOP] [INFCAP] [AC magnitude [phase]]
[transient_spec]

N+	Positive node
N-	Negative node
DCOP	If this is specified, the voltage source will only be active during the DC operating point solution. In other analyses, it will behave like an open circuit. This is an effective method of creating a 'hard' initial condition. See Alternative Initial Condition Implementations for an example.
INFCAP	If specified, the voltage source will behave as an infinite capacitor. During the DC operating point solution it will behave like an open circuit. In the subsequent analysis, it will behave like a voltage source with a value equal to the solution found during the operating point. Note that the device is inactive for DC sweeps - as all capacitors are.
dcvalue	Value of source for dc operating point analysis
magnitude	AC magnitude for AC sweep analysis.
phase	phase for AC sweep analysis
transient_spec	Specification for time varying source as described in the following table.

Type	Description
PULSE	Pulse source. Also generates, ramps, sawtooths and triangles
PWL	Piece wise linear source. Can create any waveform
PWLFILE	As PWL but get definition from a file
SIN	Sine wave
EXP	Exponential signal
SFFM	Single frequency FM
NOISE	Real time noise source

Pulse Source

PULSE ( v1 v2 [td [tr [tf [pw [per ]]]]] )

Where:

Name	Description	Default
v1	Initial value (V,A)	Compulsory
v2	Pulsed value (V,A)	Compulsory
td	Delay time (S)	Default if omitted = 0
tr	Rise time (S)	Default if omitted, negative or zero = Time step^a
tf	Fall time (S)	Default if omitted, negative or zero = Time step
pw	Pulse width (S)	Default if omitted or negative = Stop time^b
per	Period (S)	Default if omitted, negative or zero = Stop time

a.	Time step is set up by the .TRAN simulator statement which defines a transient analysis. Refer to .TRAN.
b.	Stop time refers to the end time of the transient analysis.

SIMetrix deviates from standard SPICE in the action taken for a pulse width of zero. Standard SPICE treats a zero pulse width as if it had been omitted and changes it to the stop time. In SIMetrix a zero pulse width means just that.

Both the above examples give a pulse lasting 5???MATH???\mu???MATH???S with a period of 10???MATH???\mu???MATH???S, rise and fall times of 100nS and a delay of 0. The voltage source has a 0V base line and a pulse of 5V while the current source has a 0mA base line and a pulse of 1mA.

Examples

Piece-Wise Linear Source

PWL ( t1 v1 [t2 v2 [t3 v3 [... ]]] )

Each pair of values (ti vi) specifies that the value of the source is vi at time = ti. The value of the source at intermediate values of time is determined by using linear interpolation on the input values.

Although the example given below is for a voltage source, the PWL stimulus may be used for current sources as well.

Example

Gives:

PWL File Source

PWLFILE filename

This performs the same function as the normal piece wise linear source except that the values are read from a file named filename.

The file contains a list of time voltage pairs in text form separated by any whitespace character (space, tab, new line). It is not necessary to add the '+' continuation character for new lines but they will be ignored if they are included. Any non-numeric data contained in the file will also be ignored.

Notes

The PWLFILE source is considerably more efficient at reading large PWL definitions than the standard PWL source. Consequently it is recommended that all PWL definitions with more than 200 points are defined in this way.

The data output by Show /file is directly compatible with the PWLFILE source making it possible to save the output of one simulation and use it as a stimulus for another. It is recommended, however, that the results are first interpolated to evenly spaced points using the Interp() function.

The use of engineering suffixes (e.g. k, m, p etc.) is not supported by PWLFILE.

The PWLFILE source is a feature of SIMetrix and does not form part of standard SPICE.

Note, you can use the simulator statements .FILE and .ENDF to define the contents of the file. E.g.

Vpwl1 N1 N2 PWLFILE pwlSource
...
.FILE pwlSource
...
...
.ENDF

This will be read in much more efficiently than the standard PWL and is recommended for large definitions. See .FILE and .ENDF.

Sinusoidal Source

SIN[E] ( vo va [freq [delay [theta [ phase]]]] )

Where:

Name	Description	Default
vo	Offset (V,A)	Compulsory
va	Peak (V,A)	Compulsory
freq	Frequency (Hz)	Default if omitted or zero= 1/Stop time^a
delay	Delay (seconds)	Default if omitted = 0
theta	Damping factor (1/seconds)	Default if omitted = 0
phase	Phase in degrees	Default if omitted = 0

a. Stop time refers to the end time of the transient analysis.

The shape of the waveform is described by:

0 to delay:	vo
delay to Stop time	???MATH???vo + va \cdot \text{e}^{-(t-\textit{delay})..\textit{theta}} \cdot \sin(2\pi(\textit{freq} \cdot (t - \textit{delay}) + \textit{phase}/360))???MATH???

Example

Gives output of:

Exponential Source

EXP ( v1 v2 [td1 [tau1 [td2 [tau2 ]]]] )

Where:

Name	Description	Default
v1	Initial value (V,A)	Compulsory
v2	Pulsed value (V,A)	Compulsory
td1	Rise delay time	Default if omitted or zero: 0
tau1	Rise time constant	Default if omitted or zero: Time step^a
td2	Fall delay time	Default if omitted or zero: td1 + Time step
tau2	Fall time constant	Default if omitted or zero: Time step

a.	Time step is set up by the .TRAN simulator directive which defines a transient analysis. Refer to .TRAN.

Defined by:

td1 to td2:	???MATH???v1 + (v2 - v1). [ 1 - \text{e}^{-(t-td1)/tau1}]???MATH???
td2 to stop time:	???MATH???v1 + (v2 - v1). [ 1 - \text{e}^{-(t-td1)/tau1}] + v1 + (v2 - v1). [ 1 - \text{e}^{-(t-td2)/tau2}]???MATH???

Single Frequency FM

SFFM ( vo va [fc [mdi [fs ]]] )

Where:

Name	Description	Default
vo	Offset (V,A)	Compulsory
va	Amplitude (V,A)	Compulsory
fc	Carrier frequency (Hz)	Default if omitted or zero = 1/Stop time^a
mdi	Modulation index	Default if omitted = 0
fs	Signal frequency (Hz)	Default if omitted or zero = 1/Stop time

a.	Stop time refers to the end time of the transient analysis.

Defined by: ???MATH???vo + va\cdot\sin[2\pi\cdot \textit{fc}\cdot t + \textit{mdi}\cdot\sin(2\pi\cdot\textit{fs}\cdot t)]???MATH???

Noise Source

noise interval rms_value [start_time [stop_time]]

Source generates a random value at interval with distribution such that spectrum of signal generated is approximately flat up to frequency equal to 1/(2*interval). Amplitude of noise is rms_value volts. start_time and stop_time provide a means of specifying a time window over which the source is enabled. Outside this time window, the source will be zero. If stop_time is omitted or zero a value of infinity will be assumed.

Extended PWL Source

PWLS [TIME_SCALE_FACTOR=time_factor] [VALUE_SCALE_FACTOR=value_factor]
pwls_spec [ pwls_spec ... ]

Where:

time_factor

Scales all time values in definition by time_factor

value_factor

Scales all magnitude values by value_factor

pwls_spec

may be one of the following:

(time, value)	Creates a single data point. time is relative to the current context.
(+time, value)	Creates a single data point. time is relative to the previous point.
REPEAT FOR n pwls_spec ENDREPEAT	Repeats pwls_spec n times.
REPEAT FOREVER pwls_spec ENDREPEAT	Repeats pwls_spec forever
SIN sine_parameters END	Creates a sinusoid. See table below for definition of sine_parameters
PULSE pulse_parameters END	Creates a pulse train. See table below for definition of pulse_parameters
FILE file_name	Loads a definition from file file_name. If the name contains spaces, it must be quoted

Sine Parameters

Name	Description	Default	Compulsory
FREQ	Frequency	N/A	Yes
PEAK	Peak value of sine	1.0	No
OFFSET	Offset	0.0	No
DELAY	Delay before sine starts.	0.0	No
PHASE	Phase	0.0	No
CYCLES	Number of cycles. Use -1.0 for infinity	-1.0	No
MINPOINTS	Minimum number of timesteps used per cycle	13	No
RAMP	Frequency ramp factor	0.0	No

The sine value is defined as follows:

if t>0 OR DELAY<0
PEAK * SIN(f*2pi*t+PHASE*pi/180) + OFFSET
else
PEAK * SIN(PHASE*pi/180) + OFFSET

Where:

f = FREQ + t???MATH???\times???MATH???RAMP
t = time - tref - DELAY
time is the global simulation time
tref is the reference time for this spec

Pulse Parameters

Name	Description	Default	Compulsory
V0	Offset	0	No
V1	Positive pulse value	1.0	No
V2	Negative pules value	-1.0	No
RISE	Rise time i.e time to change from V2 to V1	PERIOD/1000	No
FALL	Fall time i.e time to change from V1 to V2	PERIOD/1000	No
WIDTH	Positive pulse width	(PERIOD-RISE-FALL)/2	No
PERIOD	Period	N/A	Yes
DELAY	Delay before start	0	No
CYCLES	Number of complete cycles. -1 means infinity	-1	No

RISE, FALL, WIDTH and PERIOD must be greater than zero. DELAY must be greater than or equal to zero