PSpice Lite Release 9.2
Release Notes

May, 2000

These release notes apply specifically to PSpice Lite Release 9.2.

To obtain the very latest information about workarounds or solutions to problems that you may encounter, visit the Orcad Design Network on the Orcad Web site at www.orcad.com/technical.

PSpice Release 9.2 incorporates the enhancements offered in PSpice Web Update 1. If you are updating to Release 9.2 from Release 9.1 without having installed Web Update 1, you can get information about the Web Update 1 enhancements by visiting the Help Online page of the PSpice website at www.pspice.com/online_help.

PSpice Lite Release 9.2 consists of several enhancements and addresses certain customer-reported problems. For more details, see the Contents listing below.

Contents

Limits of PSpice Lite

PSpice Lite has the following limitations:

  • Circuit simulation limited to circuits with up to 64 nodes, 10 transistors, two operational amplifiers or 65 digital primitive devices, and 10 transmission lines (ideal or non-ideal) with not more than 4 pairwise coupled lines
  • Device characterization using the PSpice Model Editor limited to diodes
  • Stimulus generation limited to sine waves (analog) and clocks (digital)
  • Sample library of approximately 39 analog and 134 digital parts
  • Displays only simulation data created using the demo version of the simulator
  • PSpice Optimizer limited to one goal, one parameter and one constraint
  • Designs created in Capture can be saved if they have no more than 30 part instances
  • In the Simulation Manager, only one simulation may be running or paused at a time. In the full version one simulation may be running and multiple simulations may be paused.
  • Transient analyses can be extended using the RunFor box in the toolbar, but modifying runtime settings will not be supported (the Edit Runtime Settings dialog in the Simulation menu). In the full version you can do both.

Installation notes

This section gives you information concerning:

Reported problems
There are no known installation problems specific to PSpice Lite Release 9.2.

What's new

This section gives you information concerning:


Hierarchical netlisting
You now have the option of generating hierarchical simulation netlists as well as flat simulation netlists for your hierarchical designs. With hierarchical netlists, you can define default parameter values for a subcircuit, and override them by "passing" parameters via its occurrence in the parent schematic. Cross-probing between the front-end design entry tool and PSpice at the lower level circuits of a hierarchical design will work as it does with flat netlists. In Capture's Project Manager, select the design, then select Tools/Create Netlist� and look at the PSpice Tab. In PSpice Schematics, select Options/Netlist Setting�

Measuring pin currents on subcircuits
You can now view pin-current waveforms on any part that is represented by a PSpice subcircuit (.SUBCKT) model. These measurements are available via cross-probing with current markers in the schematic, and are available as traces to add in Probe windows. Using hierarchical netlisting allows pin current measurement for hierarchical parts in the schematic.

Measuring power consumption of devices
You can also measure the power consumption of a particular device by using the new power markers in the schematic, or by adding the corresponding trace in Probe. You can access power markers in the same way you access current and voltage markers. Power markers are annotated with "W" and are available in the toolbar. They attach to the center of parts in the schematic.

Note: You can also use passive and discrete semiconductor parts (resistors and transistors) to accurately model pin currents and power consumption. Macromodels (operational amplifiers) do not necessarily do so. Macromodels are simplified to reduce simulation time and complexity. They only model essential characteristics like bandwidth, clamping to rails, current limiting, etc. This feature is not available for digital parts.

Plot window templates in Probe windows
You can create and reuse custom displays in Probe with defined arguments using plot window templates. A plot window template is a pre-defined plot window wherein one or more of the traces is an argument that can be identified using markers in the schematic, or by selecting a trace in the Probe window. Select PSpice/Markers/Plot Window Templates� in Capture to use templates and identify their arguments with markers. Select Window/Display Control� in PSpice, and select the Templates tab, to create new templates or use existing ones by selecting traces from the list.

Preemptive simulation (not available with PSpice A/D Basics or PSpice Lite)
You now have more control over how multiple simulations are handled by PSpice and PSpice A/D, with the new Simulation Manager. You can preempt the currently active simulation and run another one ahead of it, and complete the paused simulation later. The Simulation Manager replaces the simulation queue functionality in PSpice 9.0 and 9.1. You can still add and remove simulations, and reorder the sequence of batch simulations waiting in the queue to insure that the most important jobs are run first. When needed, the Simulation Manager will appear as an icon in the system tray of the Windows taskbar, and can be opened from PSpice by selecting View/Simulation Queue.

Interactive simulation (not available with PSpice A/D Basics)
You can interactively pause a simulation, change certain simulation parameters, and then continue the simulation from the point at which it was paused using the new values. By interacting with the simulation while it is running you can improve convergence or make other adjustments that will maximize the efficiency of the simulation run. During a transient analysis, pause the simulation, and then select Simulation/Edit Runtime Settings... in PSpice to see the parameters that can be changed.

Enhancements to options for limiting data collection
You now have greater control and flexibility over what types of data, and how much data, is collected and saved during a particular simulation. See the Data Collection tab in the Simulation Settings dialog for the enhanced options.

Notes for existing users

This section gives you information concerning:


Resuming paused simulations
With Release 9.2, when you want to resume a paused simulation you should click the Pause button in the toolbar of the new Simulation Manager. You can still click the Run button in the PSpice toolbar (as with Release 9.1) to resume a simulation that was paused, but this will prompt you each time with a dialog box that asks you to make a choice about whether you want to Restart, Resume or Cancel the simulation.