PSpice Tutorial - the GMU ECE Department

Personal Simulation Program
with Integrated Circuit Emphasis
PSPICE
From SPICE to PSPICE
SPICE:
– Engineering design tool for circuit simulation
– SPICE developed in 1970’s by University of California,
Berkeley (entirely text-based initially)
PSPICE:
– Adapted version of SPICE developed by Microsym in 1984
– A graphical user interface called “Schematics” was added
– Schematics was improved and renamed as “Capture” by
Orcad who acquired Microsym later.
Sources of PSpice software
Cadence Orcad PSpice:
– Demo versions of the software can be
downloaded free from
http://www.cadence.com/products/orcad/pages/
downloads.aspx
– Rooms 3204, 3208, 3203 and 3505 in Nguyen
Engineering Building also have full versions of
PSpice installed.
Installation from Cadence Website
• Extract all files from the downloaded folder
• Locate and run setup.exe from
….\16.6_OrCAD_Lite_All_Products\Lite Full\Disk1
To open Orcad Capture, go to
– All Programs > Cadence > OrCAD 16.6 Lite > OrCAD Capture CIS Lite
Circuit Schematics & Simulation
using PSpice
Start a
Project
Draw a
Schematic
Simulate
Circuit
Graph
Data
Remember
• Create a new project by using the Analogue or Mixed
A/D setting
• Use Pspice subfolder inside the Library folder to add
your required libraries
• Every circuit should have a PSpice ground
1. Start a Project
• File > New > Project
2. Draw a Schematic
Part
Part Name
DC Source
VDC / Source
Ground (ref. voltage)
0 / SOURCE
Resistor
R / ANALOG
Capacitor
C / ANALOG
Inductor
L / ANALOG
Table 1. Summary of commonly used Parts
Schematic
2.1 Adding Parts to your Circuit
• Go to Place > Part
• To add a library, click on
the icon shown below
Add library
icon
Cont..
To add a Resistor in
your schematic, use
analogue library,
and click open
Cont..
Place Part (Enter)
Choose the part, i.e., R
Click Analogue
3
2
1
You can change the
value by double
clicking here
2.2 Placing a voltage source
2.3 Connect wires
• To connect wires choose Place Wire (W)
• Drag cursor from one connection point to another. Clicking on any valid
connection will end the wire
• Continue connecting the rest of the circuit
2.4 Place Ground
Fig 1. Final Circuit Schematic
Types of Simulation
– AC Sweep
• Commonly known as frequency response
• Used to simulate a circuit with AC source at different
frequencies
– DC Sweep
• Used when it is required to vary the value of a source or a
parameter of the circuit
• Can provide a starting value, ending value and increment
size
– Bias Point Analysis (DC)
• Used to calculate all node voltages and currents
– Time Domain (Transient)
• Used to run the circuit for a specified amount of time
3. Simulate Design
• To get a curve between voltage V and current I, perform the
following steps
– Go to PSpice > New simulation profile
Add markers
Voltage
Differential
Voltage
Current
Power
Dissipation
4. Graph Data
• After adding Current marker to your
schematic, click run and view simulation
results to view the graph.
Graph