Micro-Cap 12 Electronic Circuit Analysis Program Reference Manual Copyright 1982-2018 by Spectrum Software 1021 South Wolfe Road Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: (408) 738-4387 FAX: (408) 738-4702 Internet:www.spectrum-soft.com Support:[email protected] Eleventh Edition June 2018 Copyright © Spectrum Software. 1982-2018. This manual and the software described in it are copyrighted, with all rights reserved. No part of this publication, or the software, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form without the written permission of Spectrum Software. Software license notice Your license agreement with Spectrum Software, which is included with the product, describes the uses of the software which are permitted and the uses which are prohibited. Any unauthorized duplication of Micro-Cap 12, in whole or in part, in print, or in any other retrieval or storage system is expressly forbidden. Typographic conventions 16 Contents Chapter 1 - Windows Basics 17 Introduction 18 Parts of a window 18 Basic mouse and keyboard techniques 21 Menus 22 Chapter 2 - The Circuit Editor 23 Circuit structure 24 Schematic objects 26 Schematic modes 27 Circuit editor 32 Selecting and deselecting objects 34 Creating a new circuit 36 Adding and editing components 38 The Attribute dialog box 40 Adding Wires to a schematic 46 Using the Bus 48 Adding and editing grid text 50 Formula text 54 Adding and editing graphic objects 61 Adding and editing flags 62 Moving schematic objects 62 Rotating schematic objects 62 Stepping schematic objects 63 Mirroring schematic objects 64 Deleting schematic objects 65 The Undo and Redo commands 65 Spreadsheets 56 Enabling / disabling schematic objects 66 Node number assignment 68 The clipboard 69 The clipboard list 70 Drag copying 71 The Info command 72 The Help command 72 The Digital Path commands 73 Navigating schematics 75 Global Settings 76 3 The File menu 81 The Edit menu 87 The Component menu 95 The Component panel 97 The Windows menu 98 The Options menu 100 The Analysis menu 123 The Design menu 125 The Model menu 126 The Model editor 127 Build Command 129 The Title Block editor 131 Title Block mode 137 The Help system 140 Chapter 3 - The Shape Editor 143 The Shape editor layout 144 The Object editor 151 The Block editor 153 The Shape library 155 Chapter 4 - The Component Editor 157 The Component editor layout 158 Adding components to the library 164 Adding subcircuits to the library 165 Using the Add Part wizard 168 Using the Import wizard 170 Adding SPICE Models from Manufacturers 172 Using Copy, Paste, and Replace 177 Making circuit files portable 178 Chapter 5 - The Package Editor 179 The Package editor layout 180 Adding basic packages to the library 183 Adding complex packages to the library 184 Chapter 6 - Transient Analysis 185 What happens in transient analysis 186 The Transient Analysis Limits dialog box 188 4 The Transient menu 195 Initialization 197 The State Variables editor 199 Using the P key 200 Numeric output 201 Operating Point Methods 203 Chapter 7 - AC Analysis 205 What happens in AC analysis 206 The AC Analysis Limits dialog box 208 The AC menu 215 Numeric output 216 Noise 218 AC analysis tips 219 Chapter 8 - DC Analysis 221 The DC Analysis Limits dialog box 222 The DC menu 228 Numeric output 229 Troubleshooting tips 230 Chapter 9 - Dynamic AC Analysis 231 What happens in Dynamic AC analysis 232 A sample of Dynamic AC analysis 235 Chapter 10 - Dynamic DC Analysis 239 What happens in Dynamic DC analysis 240 A sample of Dynamic DC analysis 243 Chapter 11 - Transfer Function Analysis 247 What happens in transfer function analysis 248 The Transfer Function Analysis Limits dialog box 249 A sample of transfer function analysis 250 Chapter 12 - DC OP Worst Case Analysis 251 What happens in DC Operating Point Worst Case Analysis 252 The Worst Case Analysis dialog box 253 5 Chapter 13 - Distortion Analysis 257 Harmonic Distortion 258 The Harmonic Distortion Analysis Limits dialog box 259 Harmonic Distortion analysis example 262 Harmonic Distortion Properties dialog box 264 Plotting other variables 267 Intermodulation Distortion 268 The Intermodulation Distortion Analysis Limits dialog box 269 Intermodulation Distortion analysis examples 272 Intermodulation Distortion Properties dialog box 275 Harmonic Calculation Notes 280 Intermodulation Calculation Notes 281 Chapter 14 - Stability Analysis 283 What happens in Stability Analysis 284 An example of Stability Analysis 285 How Stability Analysis works 287 Chapter 15 - Scope 289 Analysis plot modes 290 Panning the plot 292 Scaling the plot 293 Tagging the plot 294 Adding graphics to the plot 296 Scope menu 297 The Plot Properties dialog box 303 Cursor mode positioning 318 Waveform Buffer 320 Curve Fit 322 Measurements Window 325 Chapter 16 - Probe 329 How Probe works 330 Probe menu 331 Transient analysis variables 333 AC analysis variables 335 DC analysis variables 337 Probe analog variables 338 Probe regions 339 6 Probing a SPICE file 339 Editing the schematic in Probe 340 Probing macros and subcircuits 340 Chapter 17 - Stepping 341 How stepping works 342 What can be stepped? 342 The Stepping dialog box 343 Public vs. private libraries 346 Stepping summary 347 Chapter 18 - Optimizer 349 How the optimizer works 350 The Optimize dialog box 351 Optimizing low frequency gain 355 Optimizing matching networks 358 Curve fitting with the optimizer 361 Chapter 19 - Monte Carlo Analysis 365 How Monte Carlo works 366 Tolerancing symbolic parameters 370 Tolerancing passives and DC batteries 371 Tolerances and public vs. private libraries 373 Distributions 374 Monte Carlo menu 375 Options 376 The Histogram 379 Performance and measure functions 382 Chapter 20 - Worst Case Analysis 383 What happens in Worst Case analysis 384 A simple example of Worst Case analysis 385 Worst Case analysis using bias tolerances 390 Tolerance libraries 393 The right-click menu 394 RSS calculation procedure 396 Monte Carlo calculation procedure 398 EVA calculation procedure 399 Guidelines for using Worst Case analysis 400 7 Chapter 21 - Smoke Analysis 403 What happens in Smoke analysis? 404 The Smoke Properties dialog box 407 The Smoke right-click menu 409 Smoke derating libraries 411 Smoke parameter libraries 412 Smoke parameters 413 Smoke notes and guidelines 416 Chapter 22 - Performance Functions 419 What are performance functions? 420 Performance functions defined 421 The Go To Function dialog box 425 Performance function plots 428 Chapter 23 - Measurement Functions 435 .Measure functions 436 .Measure library 437 .Measure (AVG, INTEG, MIN, MAX, PP, AND RMS) 440 .Measure (DERIV) 442 .Measure (TRIG,TARG) 443 .Measure (FIND, WHEN) 444 .Measure (PARAM) 445 Chapter 24 - 3D Graphs 447 How 3D plotting works 448 3D example 449 The Properties dialog box for 3D plots 452 Cursor mode in 3D 458 3D Performance or measure functions 459 Changing the plot orientation 461 Scaling in 3D 462 Chapter 25 - Macros 463 ABS 465 AM 466 AMP 467 BALUN 468 8 CENTAP 469 CLIP 470 Comb Filter 471 COMP 472 COMPARATOR 473 Constant Power 474 CPFSK 475 DC Motor 476 DELAY 477 DIAC 478 DIF 479 DIGPOT 480 DIV 481 F 482 FSK 483 FWeighting 484 GYRATOR 485 IDEAL_TRANS2 486 IDEAL_TRANS3 487 INT 488 INT_RESET 489 Memristor 490 MONOSTABLE 491 MONOSTABLE_RT 492 MUL 493 NOISE 494 Peak Detector 495 PHOTODIODE 496 PHOTODIODE_R 497 PID Controller 498 POT 499 PSK 500 PUT 501 PWM 502 PWM_T and PWM_NT 503 RELAY1 504 RELAY2 505 RESONANT 506 RTD 507 SCHMITT 508 SCR 509 9 SLIP 510 SNUBBER 511 SPARKGAP 512 SUB 513 SUM 514 SUM3 515 TRIAC 516 TRIGGER6 517 TRIODE 518 VCO 519 WIDEBAND 520 XTAL 521 555 522 Chapter 26 - Analog Devices 523 References 524 Animated analog bar 528 Animated analog LED 529 Animated DC motor 530 Animated DPST, SPDT, and SPST switches 531 Animated meter 532 Animated relay 534 Animated traffic light 536 Animated digital switch 537 Animated digital LED 538 Animated seven segment display 539 Battery 540 Bipolar transistor (Standard Gummel Poon Level=1) 541 Bipolar transistor (Philips Mextram Level = 2 or 21) 547 Bipolar transistor (Philips Modella Level = 500 or 501) 552 Capacitor 556 Dependent sources (linear) 561 Dependent sources (SPICE E, F, G, H devices) 562 Diode 567 Diode (Philips JUNCAP and JUNCAP2) 571 Function sources 577 GaAsFET 582 IBIS 587 IGBT 588 Independent sources (Voltage Source and Current Source) 593 10 Inductor 604 Isource 609 JFET 610 K (Mutual inductance / Nonlinear magnetics model) 615 Laplace sources 620 Macro 624 MOSFET 626 MOSFET (EKV) 655 MOSFET Philips Model 12 672 MOSFET Philips Model 20 688 MOSFET Philips Model 31 695 MOSFET Philips Model 40 698 MOSFET PSP Model 701 N_Port 725 OPAMP 727 Pulse source 734 Resistor 736 S (Voltage-controlled switch) 740 Sample and hold source 743 Sine source 745 Subcircuit call 747 Switch 750 Timer 752 Transformer 755 Transmission line 756 User file source 759 W (Current-controlled switch) 761 WAV file source 764 Z transform source 766 Chapter 27 - Digital Devices 767 The digital simulation engine 768 Digital nodes 768 Digital states 769 Timing models 772 Unspecified propagation delays 773 Unspecified timing constraints 774 Propagation delays 775 Digital delay ambiguity 777 Timing hazards 779 11 The analog/digital interface 781 General digital primitive format 785 Primitives 788 Gates 791 Standard gates 792 Tri-state gates 796 Flip-flops and latches 800 Edge-triggered flip-flops 801 Gated latch 806 Pullup and pulldown 811 Delay line 813 Programmable logic arrays 815 Multi-bit A/D converter