If you had been following me on linkedin or Udemy, you would have had received an announcement from me in the year 2015, where I had talked about how we want to change simulation environment for the better. Just to recollect, below is the vision which we had proposed
This is 2017, and I am very happy to announce, the work had already started and reached to a level, where we can show you how the tool will look like. This project is in collaboration with “Indian Institute of Technology” Bombay, India, and it has the capability to interface KiCad PCB layout tool with ngspice using Python, and also create sub-circuits (shown in LEVEL boxes in above image). The tool is called ‘eSim – An open source EDA tool for circuit design, simulation, analysis and PCB design’ and below is how it will look like:
Above, I have shown a simple inverter with all relevant connections. The best part of this tool is, you need not hand-write the SPICE netlist anymore. Let me show you some of its features. In below image, if you see the tool bar on left hand side, you will get all features like create schematic, convert to spice netlist, simulate, mixed-mode simulations, and many more.
Above image also shows you how the extracted SPICE netlist will look like, just like you have hand-coded it. Now just imagine, if you had the liberty to SPICE simulate a bit more complex circuit, say clock divider, you just need to plug the various components from a library which comes as a package with the tool, and hit the “KiCadtoNgspice” button. That’s it… you are ready to SPICE simulate your entire circuit in terms of delays. As you move on to even more tough circuits like memory, you can still do the same. Only the runtime will be a concern, which, I am pretty sure, we will be able to solve.
Once you have the SPICE netlist, you are good to run SPICE simulations by hitting the “Simulation” button on above toolbar or you can run standalone, and results will be displayed like below:
The good part: This tool is open-source for you to use, download, distribute, etc, under open-source license system
The better part: IIT Bombay has in-charged me to make a full-fledged course on usage of this tool
The best part: The course will be for FREE
Isn’t those so many good things coming under single package….? Here’s mantra..you wait enough and you get what you want…With the launch of this course and tool, there will be absolutely no reason for you to not innovate. And so as Doug Hall says “Don’t make excuses. Make things happen. Make changes. Then make history”
And we are here to create “History “with YOU
Till then stay tuned to my below courses and happy learning.
