INGENIERIA MECATRÓNICA

LABORATORIO DE DISEÑO ELECTRÓNICO

Topic: DC SWEEP ANALYSIS

Laboratory N° Date: Student Names: Signature:

TIME: 2hr RESPONSABLE:

1. OBJETIVES

General Objective:
The general objective is to understand the operation, utility and advantages of
performing the DC Sweep analysis or continuous value sweep.

Specific Objectives:
1. Understand the characteristics of the DC Sweep analysis performed on an
electronic circuit simulation platform
2. Become familiar with the use of configuration modules for analysis
3. Measure circuit performance parameters in direct current mode in tables and
graphical methods
4. Configure the necessary parameters such as operation points, sweep time,
references, tolerances, initial and final values.

2. METHOD

 Demonstration to the teacher of the use and management of the software in the
laboratory
 Preparation of the report including the respective analysis of the proposed circuits

3. MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Equipos Accesorios

Computer (check computer Multisim 14.1

requirements for the software)

Nota: The UPS is equipped with laboratories and licenses for the use of Multisim as well as
the National Instruments package for academic use. It is not necessary to acquire private
licenses.

4. INTRODUCTION

Configuring a DC Sweep Analysis in Multisim Overview

Multisim features a comprehensive suite of SPICE analyses for examining circuit behavior.
These analyses range from the basic to sophisticated. Each analysis helps you to obtain

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valuable information such as the effects of component tolerances and sensitivities. For each
analysis you need to set settings that will inform Multisim exactly what to analyze, and how.

Multisim simplifies the procedure for an advanced analysis by providing a configuration window.
This abstracts away the complexities associated with SPICE syntax and configuration of an
analysis. With this window you merely need to specify the parameter values and output nodes
of interest.

This tutorial is part of the National Instruments SPICE Analysis Fundamentals Series.
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/12794) Each tutorial in this series provides you with
step-by-step instructions on how to configure and run the different SPICE analyses available in
Multisim.powerful simulation and analysis while abstracting the complexity of SPICE syntax.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Running DC Sweep Analysis
3. Additional Resources

1. Introduction
DC Sweep Analysis is used to calculate a circuits’ bias point over a range of values. This
procedure allows you to simulate a circuit many times, sweeping the DC values within a
predetermined range. You can control the source values by choosing the start and stop values
and the increment for the DC range. The bias point of the circuit is calculated for each value of
the sweep.
Multisim performs DC Sweep Analysis using the following process:
1. The DC Operating Point is calculated using a specified start value.
2. The value from the source is incremented and another DC Operating Point is calculated.
3. The increment value is added again and the process continues until the stop value is
reached. 4. The result is displayed on the Grapher View.
Assumptions: Capacitors are treated as open circuits, inductors as shorts. Only DC values for
voltage and current sources are used.
2. Running DC Sweep Analysis
In this section you will use two example circuits to learn how to configure DC Sweep Analysis.

First Simulation:
1. Open circuit file zener.ms11 located in the Downloads section. This is a simple Zener
regulator circuit where the diode maintains a nearly constant output even though the current
through it changes.
In this case, the 1N4462 component has a Zener voltage (V ) of 7.5 V and a 5% tolerance. The
minimum and maximum input voltages that can be regulated by the Zener diode are 7.41 V and
26.41 V respectively. You will use DC Sweep Analysis to study the behavior of the regulator
circuit when the input voltage is varied from 0 V to 40 V.
2. Select Simulate»Analyses»DC Sweep. The DC Sweep Analysis window opens. Table 1
describes the Analysis Parameters tab in detail.

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Table 1. Parameters used in DC Sweep Analysis.

Note: In SPICE (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5414#toc1), the command that

performs an DC Sweep Analysis has the following form:
.DC <SOURCE_NAME> <START_VALUE> <STOP_VALUE> <INCREMENT>
Basically these are the same parameters that were defined in Table 1 but in Multisim you do not
have to worry about the SPICE syntax.
3. Configure the Analysis Parameters as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Analysis parameters for the DC Sweep Analysis.

As you can see, V1 will be vary from 0 to 40 V with increments of 1 V. Note that you can add a
second source to the analysis by enabling the Use source 2 option. This is useful to perform a
nested sweep (see Example 2).

4. Select the Output tab.

5. Select the Variables in circuit list, select All variables from the drop-down list, and then
highlight V(out) from the list.
6. Click the Add button to move the variable to the right side under Selected variables for
analysis, as shown below.

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Figure 3. Output variable for the DC Sweep Analysis.

7. Click Simulate. The Grapher View window opens. Result is displayed in Figure 4.

Figure 4. DC Sweep Analysis results.

From the Grapher View you can observe that the output voltage steadies at around 7.5 V, which
is the nominal Zener voltage for the 1N4462. Use the cursors to calculate the minimum and
maximum voltages that this component can regulate.

Second Simulation:

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1. Open the file mosfet_curve.ms11 (from Downloads). This is a simple circuit where you will
use DC Sweep Analysis to obtain the MOSFET characteristic curves.
V1 and V2 (from Figure 5) need to be swept to obtain the characteristic curves. Note that in
order to convert the current flow through the drain to a voltage (for display on the Grapher
View), a current controlled voltage source (V3) has been added to the circuit.

V3
Vout

1Ω

R1
500Ω
Q1
R2
V1
1kΩ 100u 10V
100u
V2
5V

Figure 5. MOSFET circuit.

2. Select Simulate»Analyses»DC Sweep. The DC Sweep Analysis window opens.
3. Configure the Analysis Parameters as shown in the following figure:

Figure 6. Analysis parameters for the nested DC sweep.

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Note that a second sweep variable (V2) has been added so that the analysis can perform a
nested sweep. The first sweep (V1) will be done for each value of the second sweep. The
number of output curves will be equal to the number of points for the second source.
In this example V2 will be set to 0 V (the Start value) and then V1 will be sweep from 0 V to 10
V; this will generate the first curve. In the next loop V2 will be set to 1 V and V1 will be sweep
again from 0 V to 10 V generating the second curve. This process will continue until the Stop
value for V2 is reached.
4. Select the Output tab and make sure that V(vout) is listed under Selected variables for
analysis.
5. Click Simulate. Results will be displayed in the Grapher View.

5. INSTRUCTIONS

Sketch the following voltage regulator circuit with a zener diode. In this circuit, the voltage must
remain constant even when the consumption current of the diode changes slightly. This is a
typical case of DC Sweep analysis.

V
R1 A
out
100Ω

D1
V1 1N4462
10V

Figure 1. Zener Regulator

Select Simulate »Analyzes» DC Sweep. Then the window to configure the parameters is
opened as shown in figure 2.

In Multisim, you can also generate current-voltage curves using the IV Analyzer instrument.
3. Additional Resources
Entering Expressions in Analyses in Multisim (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4169)
SPICE Analysis Fundamentals (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/12794)
Circuit Design Technical Library (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5579)
Download a 30-Day Evaluation of NI Multisim (http://www.ni.com/multisim/try/)
Join the NI Circuit Design Community (http://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/circuit)

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Figure 2. DC Sweep window configuration analysis

Figure 3. Graph analysis for

6. CONCLUSIONES

7. BIBLIOGRAFIA

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[1] Lab instructions taken from: http://www.ni.com/tutorial/12781/en/

[2] http://www.slideshare.net/ricrodriguez/teoria-de-los-diodos-5868877
[3] http://www.unicrom.com/Tut_diodo.asp