University of California at Berkeley Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences Instructional Support Group Aug 25 2016 /share/b/pub/spice.help /share/b/pub/hspice.help /share/b/pub/wv.help /share/b/pub/sw.help /share/b/pub/cw.help /share/b/pub/pspice.help /share/b/pub/ltspice.help CONTENTS: Versions of SPICE HSPICE on the Instructional UNIX Systems HSPICE on the Instructional Windows Systems HSPICE Manuals HSPICE Licenses PSPICE for PCs Obtaining SPICE for use at other sites SPICE on the IBM Mainframe LTSPICE Troubleshooting Versions of SPICE ----------------- SPICE is an optimizing analog circuit simulator. It analyses and simulates electrical circuits in steady-state, transient and frequency domains. EECS classes have access to these versions of Spice: 1) HSPICE, WaveView Analyzer and Spice Explorer; these are licensed products from Synopsys, Inc (http://www.synopsys.com) that are on most of the EECS Instructional computers are are licensed only for EECS computers. 2) LTSPICE is a SPICE simulator, schematic capture and waveform viewer from Linear Technology (http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/). 3) PSPICE is an old, unsupported commercial version. It is available on some PCs. See below about getting a student version to use at home. 'spice3' was developed by the EECS CAD research group (http://bwrcs.eecs.berkeley.edu/Classes/IcBook/SPICE) It is not available on the EECS Instructional systems. HSPICE on the Instructional UNIX Systems ---------------------------------------- The HSPICE tools are installed on our Linux workstations and servers. See http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/connecting.html#labs to find them. (They no longer run on our Solaris servers.) There are 7 Centos servers that are good for running this: hspe-9.eecs.berkeley.edu .. hspe-15.eecs.berkeley.edu Students in all EECS classes can obtain Instructional UNIX accounts; please see http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/connecting.html#accounts. To run the HSPICE tools, type these commands on the UNIX command line: HSPICE: /share/b/bin/hspice {inputfile} Spice Explorer: /share/b/bin/sx Custom Explorer: /share/b/bin/cx WaveView Analyzer: /share/b/bin/wv Explorer and WaveView are graphical programs that need an XWindows manager running on your computer. If you are... ... sitting at one the Linux workstations in our labs, just open a terminal console and type '/share/b/bin/wv'. XWindows is already there. ... sitting at a Linux workstation elsewhere, open a terminal console, ssh into one of our Linux servers with XWindows forwarding enabled (ie 'ssh -X hpse-12.eecs.berkeley.edu') and type '/share/b/bin/wv' there once you've logged in. XWindows is probably already on your Linux workstation. ... sitting at a Windows workstation, you'll need to install SSH (Putty) and an XWindows manager (typically Exceed, XMing or X2go). Then start the XWindows manager, login to one of our Linux servers (such as hpse-12.eecs.berkeley.edu) using Putty with XWindows forwarding enabled, and run '/share/b/bin/wv' there once you've logged in. ... sitting at MacOSX workstation, you'll need to start an XWindows manager (typically XQuartz). Then login to a Linux server with XWindows forwarding enabled, (ie 'ssh -X hpse-12.eecs.berkeley.edu') and run '/share/b/bin/wv' there once you've logged in. For more information about those programs: SSH: http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/download-ssh.html Exceed: http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/pub.cgi?file=xwindows.help Xming: http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/connecting.html#xwindows XQuartz: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201341 X2go: http://sourceforge.net/projects/x2go/ The AvanWaves graphical tool was replaced by "WaveView Analyzer" in 2009. Documentation can be found in https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~inst/pub/ (password protected). HSPICE on Instructional Windows Systems --------------------------------------- HSPICE tools are installed in some Windows labs and remote desktop servers. Please ask inst@eecs.berkeley.edu if you do not find it where you need it. It can be accessed on Windows by selecting it from the Start/Programs menu: Start->Programs->"HSPICE" Start->Programs->"SPICE Explorer" HSpice 2013 is installed on the Windows server wserver7.eecs.berkeley.edu, which you can login into remotely using the Remote Desktop Client from a Windows, MacoSX or Linux workstation. Please see http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/connecting.html#xwindows. Note: When you start HSPICE (Start->Programs-> HSPICE->HSPUI), you may get an error message that says thee is something wrong with the path name of the shortcut. You can ignore this. It is due to an HSPICE config file that re-used by each user and is left with the ownership of the previous user. You can change the design path on the gui and carry on. (Sys admins: see \\fileservice\iesg\EESoftware\HSpice) HSPICE Manuals -------------- Demo and tutorial files are under /share/instsww/synopsys/hspice/2004.03/ on UNIX and under the HSPICE "Help" button on Windows. Documentation is available under http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~inst/pub/ (requires an EECS Instructional UNIX account to login). HSPICE Licenses --------------- HSPICE licenses are included in our Synopsys "University Bundle" licenses (see /share/b/pub/synopsys.help). The original vendor, Meta-Software, Inc., merged with Avanti Corp in 1996, and Avanti merged with Synopsys in 2002. PSPICE for PCs -------------- PSPICE is now part of OrCAD, a Cadence tool, and we do not have a license it. See /share/b/pub/cadence.help for more information. Old references: PSPICE has been used by several EE classes (EE1, EE105, EE140, EE141). PSPICE was installed on several Windows workstations and RDC servers. Please ask inst@eecs.berkeley.edu if you do not find it where you need it. It was in C:\Program Files\OrCAD_Demo (and the Start Menu). Usage notes are in \\fileservice\Software\EE-Software\PSPICE. (Sys admins: see \\fileservice\iesg\EESoftware\PSpice and \\fileservice\Software\EE-Software\PSPICE) Documentation: The "PSpice Manual" Folder was on the "desktop" of the PCs. Double click to open the Folder. There are 6 manuals, each with one icon. Double click on the desired icon. That will bring up the manual in the Acrobat Reader program. Printed copies of selected manuals are stored in the labs; students are asked not to print individual copies. Obtaining SPICE for use at other sites -------------------------------------- The EECS-supported versions of spice are available through the EECS External Relations Group (XRG) at http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/XRG/ SPICE on the IBM Mainframe -------------------------- The Spice installation that was on CMSA, the IBM-3090 computer, expired in June 1994. CMSA was upgraded and SPICE would no longer run there. LTSPICE ------- LTspice IV is a high performance SPICE simulator, schematic capture and waveform viewer with enhancements and models for easing the simulation of switching regulators from Linear Technology Corporation (http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/). LTspice IV is installed in some Windows labs and remote desktop servers. Please ask inst@eecs.berkeley.edu if you do not find it where you need it. Select "LTspice IV" from the Start->Programs menu. To save files, select "Save As" and write the file onto your U: drive. LTspice Demo Circuits are publically accessible from http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/demo_circuits.jsp. Troubleshooting --------------- "sx: Fatal IO error: client killed" occurs if you aren't running an XWindows manager on your desktop computer (such as XMing on Windows). WDIR error ---------- If you get a license error when trying to run hspice, make sure that you do not have WDIR set. To be sure, type the following commands: % unsetenv WDIR % unset WDIR AWAVES color maps ----------------- There was a problem with AWAVES on UNIX; the default colors were all black. You could manually change that by selecting the AWAVES "Tools/Preferences" button. See /share/b/pub/xwindows.help for a better way to correct this (alter your UNIX .Xdefaults file and/or the Exceed settings on your local computer). EECS Instructional Support 378/384/386 Cory, 333 Soda inst@eecs.berkeley.edu