Getting started with PSPICE

To run simulations for our designs we will be using a program called

PSpice and we will be using Capture CIS to put our designs on the
computer. This program is installed in all the computers in the
student lounge in Everett lab (167). To begin select Capture CIS
under the Cadence PSD menu. In the dialog box that pops up select
the start design studio option.

Once in Capture CIS select new project from the file menu. In the
dialog box that pops up select Analog or Mixed A/D and fill in a name
and set a path by hitting the browse button. When you hit ok select
create a blank project in the box that appears. A schematic window
will appear, maximize it and now you are ready to add parts.

Hit shift + P to open up the place part dialog box or select Place
part from the Place menu. Next to actually access the part libraries
hit add library and then shift select all that appear and hit open. Now
to add a power source, select the Source library and add VAC or
VDC for AC or DC sources respectively. Click ok. To add the part
just click where you want it to be then right click and click end mode
To adjust the voltage double click the pink text box next to the DC
source symbol that has appeared on your schematic.

You can also search for a particular part that you have found on the
internet etc. by clicking Part search in the place part dialog box.
Your search string has to exactly match a part name or no results will
appear. Now search for the LM317K voltage regulator and then add
it to your schematic. At the same time you can Google it and pull up
a pdf or something that tells you everything you need to know about
a chip. Here’s one for the LM317 :
http://www.hep.upenn.edu/SNO/daq/parts/lm317.pdf. Now construct
the 12 V battery charger that appears on page 12 of this pdf.

You can Add wires by hitting shift + w. Just click on the start and
end point and then right click and hit end wire. You can find the rest
of the parts you need in the libraries. Just use some intuition to figure
out what library they would be in or search for them.(Hint resistors
are found in the ANALOG library). You can rotate your parts by
right clicking and selecting rotate. Zoom in by using magnifying
glass button on the top of the screen.
 Next click on the PSpice menu and go down to markers. Here you
can select different types of probes that you can place on your
circuits where you will get readings once you run your simulation.
These can also be accessed from the second row of buttons on the
top of the screen left of the big V. Hint: It’s much easier to place
them properly if you zoom in enough that you can get it clearly on
the pin.

Now select New Simulation Profile from the PSpice menu and give it
a name. Now you see the simulation settings dialog box. Here you
can select the kind of simulation you want to run. For us the DC
sweep simulation may prove most useful as we can see how the
circuit would behave over varying voltages from the source. The
settings for these tests are pretty self explanatory so I won’t go into
details.

Once you made your settings hit F11 to run your simulation. I have been receiving error
screens for the most part when I do this. So just make sure your circuit makes sense and
everything is connected. Once you get into the simulation screen you can play with the
graphs and also add extra plots and traces. These can be accessed from the add menu.
First select add---plot then add—trace. Enter the expression for the trace you want to see
and it will appear on your plot.

If you want to learn this software very thoroughly select learning Capture CIS from the
help menu.

Created by: Mustafa Mir for Engineers Without Borders –UIUC 2005.