1 of 2

Naming Nodes in PSpice

Prepared By: RW Hendricks
Date: February 10, 2007
Revision: 1.0 (original release)
Application: PSpice 9.2 and above
Often it is inconvenient to try to identify the random node numbers as assigned by PSpice
when the first simulation model is run, especially if the circuit is large and there are a large
number of nodes. In such cases, it would be convenient if one could assign a more convenient
name at least to those nodes of interest. The tutorial texts show you how to do this using an off-
page connector.
1,2

There is a simpler and more elegant method to accomplish this using the Net Alias
feature. Consider the simple circuit shown in Figure 1. After running a bias point for this circuit,
an examination of the output file shows that PSpice has assigned the node names shown in
Figure 2.
V1
DC = 9V
R1
1k
R2
1k
R3
1k
0

Figure 1: Simple circuit to illustrate node naming procedure.


Figure 2: Node names assigned by PSpice
To reassign the node names, click on PlaceNet Alias to bring up the window shown in
Figure 3. Assign the desired name(e.g., N1). Then click OK and attach the resulting box to a
node by using the mouse to locate the box over the desired node and performing a left click. It is
essential to position the mouse on a recognized node or the box will not stick. Note that if you
assign a name ending in a digit, after placing the first node, you may continue to place nodes


1
Svoboda, JA, (2002). PSpice for Linear Circuits, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, p. 26.
2
Tront, JG, (2007). PSpice for Basic Circuit Analysis 2/E, New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 41.
Naming Nodes in PSpice
2 of 2

Figure 3: Net Alias window.

V1
DC = 9V
R1
1k
R2
1k
R3
1k
0
N1
N3
N2

Figure 4: Renamed nodes.


Figure 5: New node names as shown in the output file.
with each node numbered in sequence. The three nodes shown in Figure 4 were placed with one
call to Net Alias and three mouse clicks at the three nodes.
To see the effect of renaming the nodes, the Bias Point was rerun with the results shown in
the fragment of the Output file shown in Figure 5. These new node names should be used
throughout you PSpice analysis.