PSpice vs. LTSpice: Unveiling Unique Circuit Simulator Differences

PSPICE simulation technology combines leading-edge native analog and mixed-signal engines to provide a complete circuit simulation and verification solution.

It adapts to designers’ changing simulation needs as they move through the design cycle, from circuit exploration to design development and verification.

PSpice Advanced Analysis, designed to be used in conjunction with PSpice A/D, assists designers in improving yield and reliability.

LTspice is built from the ground up to produce fast circuit simulations, but some simulations have room for improvement. It should be noted that using the methods outlined here could result in accuracy trade-offs.

What Exactly Is The PSpice Model?

Customers from all sizes and industries use the PSpice SPICE circuit simulation game to simulate circuits to find and correct design flaws before sending the designs to the manufacturer.

With this reliable circuit simulation and analysis environment, engineers can ensure that circuits work as intended and that the tolerance levels specified are accurate.

The profit potential is increased with more manufacturing yield, less rapid prototyping, less time spent in the lab, and lower product costs.

The PSpice Modeling App provides a quick, simple, and fully integrated method for creating various types of modeling devices during design entry for simulation.

How Can I Make A PSpice Model?

Throughout the design cycle, from circuit exploration to design development and verification, it adapts to the changing simulation needs of the designers.

• Making a Model of a Transformer
• From the Start menu, launch the PSpice Model Editor.
• Select File > New in the Model Editor.
• Navigate to File > Model Import Wizard.
• In the Specify Library dialogue box
• In the Associate/Replace Symbol dialogue box
• Click the icon in the Select Matching window.

What Is The Purpose Of PSpice?

PSPICE (Simulation Program for Integrated Circuits Emphasis) is a general-purpose analog circuit simulator that tests and predicts circuit behavior. PSpice is a PC version of SPICE, and HSpice is a workstation and larger computer version.

Here’s a tutorial video for Beginners to learn PSpice simulation:

Overview of LTspice Circuit Simulator

LTspice is a high-performance Spice III simulator, schematic capture, and waveform viewer that includes enhancements and models to make switching regulator simulation easier.

Compared to standard Spice simulators, Spice enhancements have simplified simulating switching regulators quickly. Users can now view waveforms for most switching regulators in just a few minutes.

This download contains models for resistors, transistors, MOSFETs, over 200 op-amps, Spice, Macro Models, and more.

Tips For Success:

Use shortcuts to make your life easier. Your Dot commands are the Simulator Directives. Carefully review these in the LTspice HELP menu. You can view each syntax and description in the help menu.

Drawbacks Of Using LTSpice Circuit Simulator

• You see, LT is well known for its power converters. It is notoriously challenging to simulate power converters. I mistakenly believed it was due to issues with the magnetics simulation, but another major problem exists.
• The circuit may require milliseconds or even seconds to reach its ultimate steady-state operation. Solving the course will take a long time if your Spice engine performs matrix calculations every 20 nanoseconds. The issue with phase-locked loops is the same.
• You can use harmonic balance and other RF steady-state frequency domain tools to examine the steady-state operation. Still, paying attention to how the PLL activates and pulls into frequency lock is essential. Switching power converters are the same.
• Now that many expensive Spice packages have fast solvers to aid PLL design, you can’t use them because they don’t address power converter IC models.
• Over ten years ago, Linear Tech and Mike Englehard cracked a code in SpiceSpice that the rest of the EDA community is still catching up to.
• This clarified my confusion regarding LTSpice’s openness as well. I kept hearing from people that it only works with LT parts. I assumed it was a restricted system that only utilized LT components. Yes and no, I suppose.
• However, I recently discovered a significant issue with LTSpice. It can run a model using components from any supplier. LTSpice is perfectly compatible with any model of the op-amp.
• And similar to expensive commercial SpiceSpice, inferior old models like the LM393 will yield unsatisfactory results.

If you use the CLC models that National Semi got from Comlinear, Mike Steffes (now at Intersil) made sure that they were nearly equivalent to macro-models at the transistor level.

Once I met a PSpice guy who claimed that all of their efforts went into getting things to converge. It’s strange that some people still prefer the old PSpice schematic editor to Orcad.

Major Difference Between PSpice And LTSpice Circuit Simulator

Final Thoughts

• PSPICE simulation technology combines leading-edge native analog and mixed-signal engines to provide a complete circuit simulation and verification solution.
• PSpice Advanced Analysis, designed to be used in conjunction with PSpice A/D, assists designers in improving yield and reliability.
• LTspice is built from the ground up to produce fast circuit simulations, but some simulations have room for improvement.
• It should be noted that using the methods outlined here could result in accuracy trade-offs.
• Yet some people still prefer the old PSpice schematic editor to Orcad.
• LTspice is a high-performance Spice III simulator, schematic capture, and waveform viewer that includes enhancements and models to make switching regulator simulation easier.

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