Dennis Fitzpatrick - Analog Design and Simulation Using OrCAD Capture and PSpice

Simulation; Components; Resistor; Voltage; Circuits

Chapter Outline

1.2.

1.3.

1.3.2

1.3.3

1.3.4

1.4.

1.5.

1.6.

1.7.

1.8.

1.8.2

1.8.3

1.9.

1.10.

1.11.

For those of you who are familiar in setting up projects and drawing schematics in Capture, you may want to skip this chapter as this chapter is for those of you who have little or no experience of using Capture. The chapter will describe how to start Capture and how to set up the project type and libraries for PSpice simulation. The chapter will also introduce some of the features found in the latest software releases. At the end of each chapter there are some exercises to do and as you go through the book, each chapter will build upon the exercises from previous chapters.

Circuit diagrams for PSpice simulation are drawn in either Capture or Capture component information system (CIS) schematic editor. The CIS option allows you to select and place components from a component database instead of selecting and placing components from a library. For this book, it does not matter if the circuits are drawn in Capture or Capture CIS.

If you have the software installed under the OrCAD name, launch Capture or Capture CIS, by clicking on:

Start > Program Files > OrCAD xx.x > Capture

or

Start > Program Files > OrCAD xx.x > Capture CIS

where xx.x is the version number, i.e., 10.5, 11.0, 15.5, 15.7, 16.0, 16.2, 16.3, 16.5, or 16.6.

For example:

Start > All Programs > Cadence > OrCAD 16.6 Lite > OrCAD Capture CIS Lite

Start > All Programs > Cadence > Release 16.5 > Capture

If you have the Cadence software installed, the products are installed under the Allegro platform name. In this case, only Capture CIS is available and is branded as Design Entry CIS.

Start > Program Files > Allegro SPB 16.6 > Design Entry CIS

For the 17.2 release:

Start > All Programs > Cadence Release 17.2-2016 > OrCAD Lite Products > Capture CIS Lite

or

Start > All Programs > Cadence Release 17.2-2016 > OrCAD Products > Capture

New designs started in Capture will automatically create a project file (.opj) that references the design file (.dsn) and associated project files such as the libraries and output report files. The design file encapsulates the schematic folders and associated schematic pages. For example, you may want to have separate schematics for each stage of your design rather than have one complete circuit. An advantage of this hierarchical design approach provides selective simulation of individual circuits. Alternatively, you can have a flat design where more than one page is associated with just one schematic folder. Either way, one schematic folder known as the root folder, signified by a / and one associated page will be created initially for the project. Other schematic folders and pages can be added at a later stage.

Before the circuit diagram is drawn, the project type and libraries attached to the project need to be set up. This can be done by clicking on the New Project icon on the Start Page under the Getting Started heading. For previous software releases, select from the top tool bar, File > New > Project.

Note

Previous projects can be selected from the File menu or the Recent Files list on the Start Page .

If the Start Page does not appear, then from the top tool bar, select: Help > Start Page . To close the Start Page, right mouse click on the Start Page tab and select Close .

In the New Project window () you enter the name of the project and then you have a choice of one of four project types.