WinSpice Windows Simulation Program with IC Emphasis

• The official WinSpice page is found at: http://www.winspice.co.uk/
• The WinSpice example simulations from the books are available in a single zip here.
• These files run on version 1.05.07 which can be downloaded here.
• Note that there appears to be some problems running some of these simulations using WinSpice version 1.06.
• The pages discussing WinSpice from the second edition (2005) of CMOS are seen in winspice.pdf (6 pages).
• See also LTspice for simulation examples from CMOSedu.com with schematics!

Some useful things to get started:
1) use the Open menu item to select a SPICE netlist
2) type run on the command line to run a spice file
3) type display to view the vectors after a simulation
4) typing plot Vout V(1) will plot the voltages Vout and V(1)
5) type destroy all to delete simulation results
6) type edit to edit the current netlist; exiting, after editing, reloads the netlist.
7) typing help all shows commands that you can use

The Electric VLSI Design Information

• The Electric setup where the Run Program path seen below is (for example): C:\Program Files\OuseTech\WinSpice\wspice3.exe (note that it’s wspice3.exe and not winspice3.exe).
• Note that while the Run Program field is not case sensitive the “with args:” field is case sensitive (so use the uppercase names as seen)
• For copying into the “with args:” field: -b ${FILENAME} -r ${FILENAME_NO_EXT}.raw -o ${FILENAME_NO_EXT}.out
• Make sure you are using the version above, 1.05.07.
• WinSpice doesn’t alias GND to 0 so you may have to add a statement of SPICE code to the netlist like VGND GND 0 DC 0 to ensure GND is connected to ground.
• If you do a simulation that doesn’t output plotting data, like an operating point or transfer function analysis, then you have to view the results, in the *.out file, using a text editor.
• It’s easier to see errors if you change to the interactive mode (use –i instead of –b) but then you have to close the WinSpice window prior to Electric’s Probe running.
• You can view the output file (*.out) to see errors or warnings (especially if the simulation doesn’t run). Use Ctrl-f and search for “error” if the simulation is large.
• Cross-probing between layout or schematic, and Electric’s Probe window can be done with these setups.
• If you get an Exception Caught! when Electric loads simulation data it likely means that you have run out of memory. See number 15 here for how to increase the memory allocated to the JVM

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CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation

CMOS Mixed-Signal Circuit Design

CMOSedu.com