A Tour of the Analog Gates
1. Clock Icon (TIME). This displays the current time and timestep.
It also has a square in the center that changes color to indicate
how the simulation is going:
Black Simulation is turned off
Red Computing the next timestep
Yellow A timestep has been computed
If you configure the clock icon you will find that it can
display a few other time-related values, of interest mostly
to AnaLOG implementors only. Note that TIME is not actually
part of the analog simulator---you can use it for the digital
simulator, too, but it's not very useful there since the
digital simulator has such a crude concept of time.
2. VDD and GND. Global power supply. VDD defaults to +5V.
You can change the value of Vdd in the NUMBERS gate, but
Gnd is always zero, and Vdd is always positive. Vdd is an
idealized voltage source, that is able to source infinite
current; likewise, Gnd can sink infinite current. Use the
VDIFF or VSWITCH voltage sources if you need a finite
output impedance.
3. Terminals (TO, FROM). These are the two arrow-shaped gates
in the Catalog. They are equivalent except for appearance.
They are used for putting names on signals: to name a signal
FOO, connect a terminal to it, then tap the space next to
the arrow and type FOO. If there are several terminals in
the circuit with the same names, they are all electrically
connected as if by wires. Signal names are also used with
the Scope mode, to be described below.
4. Scoreboard (NUMBERS). This gate serves many purposes. On
the screen it displays whether simulation is proceeding and
why; it gives controls for set/erase/exact/relaxed modes;
and, when you tap the center bar, it lets you configure
AnaLOG's "global" parameters, such as the value of VDD and
the maximum allowable timestep. More on these parameters
below.
5. Transistors. Both three-terminal (NFET7T, PFET7T) and
four-terminal (NFET7F, PFET7F) transistor models are
provided. Only geometric information and parameter
variations are specified on the screens of these gates.
Other gates control the physical constants (PHYSICAL)
device technology parameters (DEVTECHP, DEVTECHN), and
fab-run specific parameter variations (RUNSPEC) of all
transistors in the FET7 series. In addition, the temperature
of all FET7 gates can be varied using the THERMAL gate. For
backward compatibility, earlier MOS models are also available
(NFET4, PFET4, NFET5, PFET5, PFET6) as well as FET models
(NSPC1, PSPC1, contributed by Bhusan Gupta) designed to be
used with the SPICE netlist tool (see LOGSPC section). Bipolar
transistor gates (NPN2, NPN2) are experimental Gummel-Poon models
with Early Effect by Tim Edwards; earlier experimental Ebers-Moll
models (NPN1, PNP1) are included for backward compatability,
along with a diode gate (DIODE1). The log/lib/mos.cnf
and log/lib/models.cnf hold default configuration
parameters for transistor models.
6. Capacitor (CAPFLOAT). Typical capacitor, defaults to 1pF.
Notice that, like all circuit elements, it has a slight
parasitic capacitance to ground as well as the capacitance
between the two leads.
7. Resistor (RESFLOAT). A plain linear resistor. When changing the
resistance value, note that "m" denotes milliohms, and "Meg"
denotes Megohms; a common mistake is to type "6m" instead of
"6Meg" to create a 6 MegOhm resistor. For a more VLSI-like resistor,
see HRES below.
8. Transconductance amplifiers (OPAMP, WRAMP). These are
simulations of the narrow- and wide-range amplifiers in Carver's
book. Their behavior is modelled after the circuits at the
transistor level (as modelled by AnaLOG's obsolete FET4 series),
at least if you use them in the normal range of voltages (between
0 and 5V). A little red light turns on if the voltages go outside
the range in which the model is a safe approximation for the "real"
circuit. Note that the "Iset" pin at the bottom wants a voltage, not
a current. If you want to set the current manually, connect
a voltage source to the pin and also to a standalone (FET4)
transistor, then measure the current through the transistor.
9. Rectifiers (HWR, FWR). These are half-wave and full-wave
rectifiers. An HWR models an OPAMP driving a two-transistor
current mirror; an FWR models is like a pair of HWR's.
10. Horizontal resistor (HRES). This big ugly thing is the
"horizontal resistor" circuit, which predates the circuit in
Carver's book. Obsolete for new designs.
11. Ganglion (GANGLION). This is the basic ganglion circuit,
as described in Carver's Book.
12. Voltage/current meter (MMETER). This meter displays the voltage
on whatever wire or pin it is connected to. If you configure it
you can change it to a current meter, in which case it measures
current into the gate from whatever pin it is connected to.
(If you connect a current meter to the middle of a wire, it
doesn't work because the direction of the current is not well-
defined.)
13. Special magic current meter (ISCOPE). This is a widget for
use in plotting currents in Scope mode, and will be discussed
in the later section on Scope mode.
14. Voltage source (VDIFF). This gate creates a differential
voltage between its two pins (the bottom pin is typically
connected to ground). It has a finite output resistance
(initially 50 ohms), so it is not an "ideal" source in the
sense of SPICE. You can use it as a simple DC source with
a certain voltage (set by configuring the gate), or you can
set to output a pulsed or sinusoidal waveform. This is all
described below, under Input Waveforms. Voltage sources
display the current-limiting condition by lighting up a
little red light, just like the ones on the lab bench!
They also have a switch, in the lower-right, that you can
switch to freeze the waveform in time.
15. Current source (IDIFF). Basically a current-sourcing version
of the voltage source. It can generate the same kinds of
waveforms. It voltage-limits if the voltage across the pins
goes below the "crowbar voltage," 0.1V by default.
16. Step generator (STAIRS). A voltage source generating a
stairstep function, which moves from one voltage to another
in a certain number of steps, then repeats.
17. Voltage switch (VSWITCH). A voltage source that can be
manually switched between "on" and "off" voltage levels.
This one also has a tiny switch on its face, this time to
select which voltage is generated. It can also be set in
"monostable" mode, in which a tap on the switch will turn
it on for a certain period of time, then back off again
automatically. Note that voltages here are implicitly
relative to ground.
18. Current switches (ISWITCH1, ISWITCH2). Current-sourcing and
current-sinking versions of the VSWITCH. The current source
(arrow pointing out) is like an IDIFF connected to VDD, and
the current sink (arrow pointing in) is like IDIFF connected
to GND.
19. Piece-wise linear two-terminal element (PWL, contributed by
Harold Levy). Implements an arbitrary two-terminal element,
with an i-v transfer curve. Cd to the log/lib directory,
start analog, and load the file pwl-test.lgf to learn more.
20. Resonant tunneling diode (RTD, contributed by Harold Levy).
Models a class of quantum well devices.
- Email
- lazzaro@cs.berkeley.edu
- Phone
- (510) 643 4005
- SMail
- UC Berkeley / CS Division / 387 Soda Hall / Berkeley CA 94720