Distributed transmission lines and time-domain analysis in SPICE-like circuit simulators

Zuberek, W.M., Konczykowska, A., and Wang, H.

Proc. Int. Symp. on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS'89); Portland, OR, June 1989, pp.709-712.

Abstract:

Several problems arising in the SPICE implementation of the time-domain analysis of circuits with distributed transmission lines are indicated, and it is shown that some simple modifications of the original handling of transmission lines can significantly reduce both memory requirements and CPU time needed for this analysis. The modifications allow to `trade' simulation time for accuracy of results. In effect, results more accurate than the original SPICE ones can be obtained with much smaller computational effort. An example of microwave oscillator is used as an illustration of proposed improvements.

Keywords:

Circuit simulation, time-domain analysis, transmission lines, SPICE, SPICE-PAC.

References:

• E. Cohen, "Program reference for SPICE 2"; Memorandum UCB/ERL M592, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, 1976.
• F. Durbin, J. Haussy: "SPICE-PAC and SPICE-PAC PLUS - corrections and improvements"; Internal Documentation (unpublished).
• C.W. Gear, "Simultaneous numerical solution of differential-algebraic equations"; IEEE Trans. on Circuit Theory, vol.18, no.1, pp.89-95, 1971.
• W.J. McCalla, Fundamentals of computer-aided circuit simulation; Kluwer Academic Publ. 1988.
• D.O. Pederson, "Computer aids in integrated circuit design"; in Computer Design Aids for VLSI Circuits, P. Antognetti, D.O. Pederson, H. de Man (eds), Sijthoff and Noordhoff 1981.
• J. Vlach, K. Singhal, Computer methods for circuit analysis and design; Van Nostrand Reinhold 1983.
• A. Vladimirescu, K. Zhang, A.R. Newton, D.O. Pederson, A.L. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, "SPICE Version 2G - User's Guide (10 Aug. 1981)"; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, 1981.
• W.M. Zuberek, "SPICE-PAC, a package of subroutines for interactive simulation and circuit optimization"; Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Computer Design (ICCD-84), Port Chester, NY, pp.492-496, 1984.