kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Oscad Team <oscad.team@xxxxxxxxx>]

*Dear KiCad Developers,Greetings from Oscad Team, IIT Bombay!In
continuation to the earlier discussions, we would like to propose the
following roadmap:Integration of ngspice to KiCadCurrently, Oscad uses
KiCad for schematic creation and uses ngspice for simulation. Ngspice has
its inbuilt plotting mechanism but it is not interactive. Therefore we come
up with interactive plotting using python matplot library. How the Python
plotting works?Ngspice can print all the plotting data using “print allv”
and “print alli” command which can be easily stored in a text file. The
file is then parsed in such a way that it contains only time information
and value of voltage or current at a particular node. After parsing text
file, it is send to the plotting function which plot the data. We can also
plot any arithmetic function on this data. Note: The plotting is available
only for analog node as there is no command to print all digital voltage in
ngspice.Below are the questions your team had asked in the earlier
communication:> - What type of simulations should be possible? Spice,
digital, S-parameter, IBIS for signal integrity, other? - Spice,
digital,S-parameter are supported> - How a user would set up and run a
simulation.There are two ways to do it set up the simulation: - Directly
generating KiCad netlist from the schematic that is compatible with
ngspice.- The generated KiCad netlist is modified to be compatible with
ngspice. A button can be provided in the KiCad interface to run the
simulation. > - What type of UI would be offered to the user? Would e.g.
plots be automatically re-calculated and displayed if a parameter is
changed in the schematics? How would stimuli be entered? How would you
probe signals and select them for plotting?The simulation opens up a python
based UI. When the parameters are changed in the schematic, the simulation
can be done only after generating the modified netlist. So the simulations
will not change automatically. A dialog box based entry is provided to
enter the parameters for simulation,   To probe the signals we can use
global label and save the netlist with name. After that by using python
plot we can take the outputs by selecting the name which is given as a
global label. > - Formats of any output files the user would get. - You
have the options to print or just view the simulations. In python plotting
the user can save the simulation in png and jpg formats. As KiCad is
looking at integrating QUCS for simulation, ngspice simulation and python
plotting can serve as added capability to KiCad.We are open to your inputs
and suggestions.Regards,Oscad Team,IIT Bombay.*


On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 8:43 PM, Javier Serrano <
javier.serrano.pareja@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 9:26 AM, Javier Serrano
> <javier.serrano.pareja@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >  Functional specifications can be discussed
> > before even writing the technical specs, and would include things
> > like:
> >
> > - What type of simulations should be possible? Spice, digital,
> > S-parameter, IBIS for signal integrity, other?
> > - How a user would set up and run a simulation.
> > - What type of UI would be offered to the user? Would e.g. plots be
> > automatically re-calculated and displayed if a parameter is changed in
> > the schematics? How would stimuli be entered? How would you probe
> > signals and select them for plotting?
> > - Formats of any output files the user would get.
>
> One more idea: Python scripting support for interacting with
> simulation would surely be very popular with KiCad users.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Javier
>