In today’s engineering design environment, electrical engineers are asked to perform a
variety of challenges in a fraction of the time. Along with schematic entry, circuit simulation
is becoming an integral part of the schematic design process. Recognizing this need,
Cadence® has created the Cadence OrCAD® EE Designer suite—a highly integrated
front-end design solution with Cadence OrCAD Capture and Cadence PSpice® AD in a
single package.
OrCAD EE Designer includes:
-
OrCAD Capture a comprehensive solution for entering, modifying, and verifying complex system designs quickly and cost-effectively
- PSpice A/D a full featured analog simulator with support for digital elements to help solve virtually any design challenge
OrCAD EE Designer Plus includes all of the above plus:
- Provides fast, intuitive schematic editing
- Boosts schematic editing efficiency through design reuse
- Automates the integration of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programmable logic devices (PLDs)
- Makes changes quickly through a single spreadsheet editor
- Imports and exports every commonly used design file format
- Faster simulation times, higher reliability, and better convergence on larger designs
- Explores design relationships with “what if” scenarios before committing to hardware
- Explores circuit behavior using basic DC, AC, noise, and transient analyses
- Offers library selection of more than 18,000 analog and mixed-signal models
OrCAD Capture offers a comprehensive solution for entering, modifying, and verifying complex system
designs quickly and cost-effectively. Whether used to design a new analog circuit, revise a schematic
diagram for an existing PCB, or design a digital block diagram with an HDL module, OrCAD Capture
allows designers to enter, modify, and verify the PCB design.
SCHEMATIC EDITING
The full-featured schematic editor enables users to place and connect parts from a comprehensive set of
functional libraries. It uniquely packages the parts, ensures design integrity, and creates design netlists for
any of the formats supported by Cadence.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The project manager enables users to collect and organize all the resources needed for the project
throughout the design flow. The expanding tree structure makes it easy to organize and navigate
design files, including those generated by PSpice and Cadence Allegro AMS Simulators, Cadence
OrCAD Capture CIS, Cadence Allegro Design Entry CIS, and other plugins.
HIERARCHICAL DESIGN AND REUSE
OrCAD Capture boosts schematic editing efficiency by enabling subcircuit reuse—without having to
make multiple copies. Using hierarchical blocks, designers simply reference the same subcircuit
multiple times. Automatic creation of hierarchical ports eliminates potential design connection errors.
LIBRARIES AND PART EDITING
The library editor is accessed directly from the user interface. Users can create and edit parts in the library
or directly from the schematic page without interrupting workflow. Intuitive graphical controls speed
schematic part creation and editing. New parts can be created quickly by modifying existing ones.
EASY DATA ENTRY
Designers can access all part, net, pin, and title block properties or any subset and make changes quickly
through the spreadsheet property editor.
PSpice A/D is a full-featured analog simulator with support for digital elements to help solve virtually any
design challenge—from high-frequency systems to low-power IC designs. The powerful simulation engine
integrates easily with Cadence PCB schematic entry solutions, improving time to market and keeping
operating costs in check. An interactive, easy-to-use graphical user interface provides complete control
over the design process. Availability of resources such as models from many vendors, built-in mathematical
functions, and behavioral modeling techniques make for an efficient design process.
DESIGN ENTRY AND EDITING
PSpice A/D integrates seamlessly with the Cadence front-to-back PCB design flow, making it possible to
have a single, unified design environment for both simulation and PCB design. Select from a library of more
than 18,000 symbols and models for simulation to design with Cadence PCB schematic design entry
technology. PSpice provides many features that allow you to easily capture and simulate analog designs.
Both integrations include one-button simulation and cross-probing, and many other simulation utilities.
STIMULUS CREATION
Access built-in functions that can be described parametrically or draw piece-wise linear (PWL) signals
freehand with the mouse to create any shape stimulus. Create digital stimuli for signals, clocks, and buses;
click-and-drag to introduce and move transitions.
CIRCUIT SIMULATION
Users can easily set up and run simulations, and then cross-probe simulation results from Probe, an industry-
standard waveform viewer. Support for multiple simulation profiles enables users to recall and run different
simulations on the same schematic. Simulation bias results can be viewed directly on the schematic including
node voltages, device power calculations, and pin and subcircuit current. Support for Checkpoint Restart
allows designers to reduce simulation times when the same circuit is simulated multiple times with minor
changes.
MIXED ANALOG/DIGITAL SIMULATION
Integrated analog and event-driven digital simulations improve speed without loss of accuracy. A single
graphical waveform analyzer displays mixed analog and digital simulation results on the same time axis.
Digital functions support 5 logic levels and 64 strengths, load-dependent delays, and hazard/race checking. .
PSpice simulation also features propagation modeling for digital gates and constraint checking (such as setup
and hold timing).
GRAPHICAL RESULTS AND DATA DISPLAY
Probe Windows allows users to choose from an expanded set of mathematical functions to apply to simulation
output variables. Designers can create plot window templates and use them to easily make complex
measurements by simply placing markers directly on the desired pins, nets, and parts in the schematic. The
tool also enables users to measure performance characteristics of a circuit using built-in measurement
functions and creation of custom measurements. For data display, additional capabilities allow plotting of both
real and complex functions of circuit voltage, current, and power consumption, including Bodé plots for gain
and phase margin and derivatives for small-signal characteristics.
PSpice A/D is a full-featured analog simulator with support for digital elements.
MODELS
Included are a large variety of accurate internal models—which typically include temperature effects—that
add flexibility to simulations. Models are available with R, L, C, and bipolar transistors plus: built-in IGBTs;
seven MOSFET models, including industry-standard BSIM3v3.2 and the new EKV 2.6 model; five GaAsFET
models, including Parker-Skellern and TriQuint TOM-2, TOM-3 models; nonlinear magnetic models complete
with saturation and hysteresis; transmission line models that incorporate delay, reflection, loss, dispersion,
and crosstalk; digital primitives, including bi-directional transfer gates with analog I/O models; and two battery
models, which allow accurate simulation of the discharge cycle and operating conditions. A device equations
developer’s kit (DEDK) allows implementation of new internal model equations.
MODEL LIBRARY
Users can select from more than 18,000 analog and mixed-signal models of devices made in North America,
Japan, and Europe. Also included are more than 4,500 parameterized models for BJTs, JFETs, MOSFETs,
IGBTs, SCRs, magnetic cores and toroids, power diodes and bridges, operational amplifiers, optocouplers,
regulators, PWM controllers, multipliers, timers, and sample-and-holds.
BEHAVIORAL MODELING
Functional blocks are described using mathematical expressions and functions, which allows designers to
leverage a full set of mathematical operators, nonlinear functions, and filters. Circuit behavior can be defined
in the time or frequency domain, by formula (including Laplace transforms), or by look-up tables. Error and
warning messages can be specified in different conditions. Users can easily select parameters, which have
been passed to subcircuits in a hierarchy, and insert them into transfer functions. New behavioral capabilities
include mathematical functions like in(x), exp(x), and sqrt(x).
MAGNETIC PARTS EDITOR
The Magnetic Parts Editor helps designers overcome issues involved in manually designing transformers.
Users can design magnetic transformers and DC inductors, and generate simulation models for transformers
and inductors. The Magnetic Parts Editor also allows designers to generate data required for manufacturing
the transformers or inductors. The manufacturer’s report that is generated by MagDesigner after the
completion of the design process contains the complete data required by a vendor to develop the transformer
for commercial use.
CHECKPOINT RESTART
This feature allows designers to store simulation states at various time-points and then restart simulations
from any of the simulation states, which saves time. The designer can modify simulation settings and design
parameters before starting a simulation from a pre-recorded time-state.
Using optional PSpice Advanced Analysis capabilities, designers can automatically maximize the performance
of circuits. Four important capabilities—sensitivity analysis, optimization, Smoke (stress analysis), and Monte
Carlo (yield analysis)—enable engineers to create virtual prototypes of designs and maximize circuit
performance automatically. Measurements across multiple simulation profiles can be processed together.
SENSITIVITY
The sensitivity option identifies which component parameters are critical to the goals of a circuit’s performance
by examining how each component affects circuit behavior by itself and in comparison to the other
components. It allows designers to identify sensitive components and export them to the optimizer to fine-tune
circuit behavior.
OPTIMIZER
The optimizer analyzes analog circuits and systems, fine-tuning designs faster than trial-and-error bench
testing. It helps find the best component values to meet performance goals and constraints. Designers can
use the optimizer to improve design performance, update designs to meet new specifications, optimize
behavioral models for top-down design and model generation, and tune a circuit to match known results in the
form of measurements or curves. The optimizer includes four engines: least squares quadratic (LSQ), modified
LSQ, random, and discrete.
SMOKE
The Smoke option warns of stressed components due to power dissipation, increases in junction temperature,
secondary breakdowns, or violations of voltage/current limits. Over time, these components can cause circuit
failure. Designers can use Smoke to compare circuit simulation results to a component’s safe operating limits.
If limits are exceeded, Smoke identifies the problem parameters. It can also be used for creating, modifying,
and configuring derate files for use with Smoke analysis.
MONTE CARLO
Monte Carlo predicts the behavior of a circuit statistically when part values are varied within their tolerance
range. Monte Carlo also calculates yield, which can be used for mass manufacturing predictions. Use Monte
Carlo for calculating yield based on your specifications calculating statistical data, displaying results in a
probability density histogram, and displaying results in a cumulative distribution graph.
PARAMETRIC PLOTTER
Once a circuit is created and simulated, the parametric plotter is used for sweeping multiple parameters. Any
number of design and model parameters (in any combination) can be swept and results viewed in tabular or
plot form. Designers can use the parametric plotter for allowing device/model parameters to be swept,
displaying sweep results in spreadsheet format, allotting measurement results in probe UI, and evaluating
post-analysis measurement.
- Pentium 4 (32-bit) equivalent or faster
- Windows XP Professional, Vista Enterprise
- Minimum 512MB (1G or more recommended for XP and Vista Enterprise requirements)
- 300MB swap space (or more)
- CD-ROM drive
- 65,000 color Windows display with minimum 1024 x 768 (1280 x 1024 recommended)