PSPICE Tutorial

 
 
The following is a brief introduction to PSPICE (by David Zhang, modified from the
ECE343 web page: http://courses.ece.uiuc.edu/ece343 ).
 
 
1. Starting PSPICE
 
• To run PSPICE select Start ® Programs ®  Cadence PSD 14.0 ® Capture.
 
• File ® New ® Project.
 
• Choose “Analog or Mixed-signal Circuit Wizard”
 
• Type in the name of the new project and specify the saving location (i.e. your
W: drive) and click ‘OK’.
 
• Then you will be prompted to select a previous project to base it on.  Select
none and click finish.
 
• Open your new folder ® open SCHEMATIC1 ® open PAGE1 (it may be
open by default).
 
 
2. Drawing the circuit in Fig. 2, Project #1

• Placing parts

Select Place ® Part (Or just hit shift-p)

To retrieve r (resistor), c (capacitor), and l (inductor): select analog in the

libraries and type in r, c, and l in the part name box respectively.
 
To retrieve vpulse : select source in the libraries and type in vpulse in the part
name box.
 
To rotate a part, select the part and type ctrl-r.
 
To flip a part, select the part and type h (horizontal) or v (vertical).

• Setting the part parameters

 
Double click on the resistance or capacitor, and the corresponding value of a
resistance or a capacitance can be changed.
 
Double click on the pulse voltage source. Set the following parameters for
the source:
 
V1 = -5 (the minimum voltage of the pulse)
V2 = 5 (the maximum voltage of the pulse)
TD = 0 (the delay from time zero of the first rising edge)
TR = 0 (rise time)
TF = 0 (fall time)
PW = (pulse width) equal to or greater than 5 times of 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• Wiring the components
 
Use shift-w to get the wiring tool and wire the circuit. (select wire in the
palette)
 
• Grounding the circuit
  
Select Place ® Ground (or just type shift-g).
NOTE: For simulations to work properly, you must rename this ground
to "0" (zero).
 
 
3. Placing Markers
 
From the pull down menu, select PSpice ® Markers ®  Voltage Level. Use
this marker to calculate the voltage at the node between the two resistors Ra
and Rb with respect to ground.
 
From the pull-down menu, select PSpice ®  Markers ®  Voltage
Differential. Use the two markers to calculate the voltage across Ra. Click
on the upper node of Ra, then on the lower node of Ra. You’ll see + and -
signs in the markers, which indicate the reference polarity of the voltage.
 
 
4. Selecting the type of analysis
 
After all the steps mentioned above are done, you should select PSpice ®
New Simulation Profile.
 
Select Time Domain (Transient) in the analysis type
 
Set the following parameters:
Maximum step size = 1/1000 of Run to time
Run to time = twice the pulse width
 
 
5. Simulating the circuit using PSPICE

Click on the pull-down menu PSpice. Select Run.

Or, you can simply press play button in the tool box.
 
 
6. Analyzing the results

This series of options is performed on the OrCAD Pspice A/D output

window, which should show the desired trace at this point.
 
• Using the cursors
Click on the pull-down menu Trace. Select Cursor ® Display. You will then
be given access to two cursors. One of the cursors is controlled by the left
mouse button and one is controlled by the right mouse button. A small
 window labeled Probe cursor gives the values at each of the cursors as well as
the difference between them.
 
• Marking a specific voltage level
Click on the pull-down menu Plot. Select Label ® Mark. This will label the
specific point on the graph which is pointed to by the cursor that was last
moved.
 
• Adding a plot
Click on the pull-down menu Plot. Select Add Plot to Window. Another axis
will be added, although at this time there will be no traces on it. Any number
of plots can be added, but using much more than two can make the printout be
too crowded.

• Adding a trace
A trace can be added to the plot which is currently selected. A specific plot is
selected simply by clicking anywhere on it. The selected plot is indicated by
a SEL>> on its left side.
Click on the pull-down menu Trace. Select Add… Then you can enter any
expression containing any currents or voltages on the schematic. This trace
will then be added to the plot.
 
• Deleting a trace
First of all, the trace must be selected. This is done by clicking on the name
of the trace. Then click on the pull-down menu edit. Select Delete.