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Part 5 SPICE circuit applications

The values for R and G vary widely depending on cable size, dielectric and frequency so the values are only for guidance, and in any case have little eect
unless the cable is long.
(h) Transformers and dotting: Indication of the phasing in a transformer is sometimes required and this is not normally provided. You may edit the symbol to
make the pin numbers visible and remember which ends are dotted or you
can add dots to the symbol to make it obvious. Make up a simple test circuit
to conrm the polarities (Hirasuna 1999c).
(i) Terminal numbers on components: Pin numbers or designations are not displayed by default. Editing the symbol (click on the symbol and select
EDIT/SYMBOL) will allow you to enable their display and this is useful in
understanding current ow and selection of voltage signals where you have
not explicitly named a net. The PSpice library Analog.slb is the source of the
standard symbols for R, L and C. There is an alternative version Analog_p.slb
which provides visible pin numbers. If you wish to use this instead then this
library must be congured before the former so that it is accessed rst. This
may be done via the OPTIONS menu or by editing the MSIM.INI le.
(j) Current directions: While voltages will be referenced to AGND as 0 V, currents
provide a more dicult problem in understanding the sense in which they
ow. The SPICE manuals will give you some advice but I nd that displaying
the pin numbers on the schematic is the most useful approach; the currents
displayed in PROBE will ow from pin 1 to pin 2 in a passive component (R,
L or C) and if necessary you can always insert a very low value resistor at any
point in the circuit (think of it as the wiring) and then request the current
through it. For a voltage source the current is taken to ow from ! to  internally so that it appears to ow the wrong way in the external circuit. If you
run a bias point analysis then you can display the voltages and currents at the
nodes as described in (B). If you click on a current ag you will see on the
component to which it refers (shown by a dashed line) a small arrow which
indicates the direction of current ow.
(k) Phase: In feedback circuits, for example, the phase of signals is of great interest. In the TRACE/ADD window you will nd on the right-hand side a list of
commands or instructions that allow the choice of a wide range of derived
traces. For phase click on P(), which will appear in the selection box below, and
then click on the signal trace of interest which will be inserted into the bracket.
You can also ask for sums to be done as, for example, P(V(VOUT ))!180
where phase is in degrees.
(l) PROBE trace manipulations: In displaying traces there are many options in
addition to the simple display of traces. You can request any mathematical
function of the available traces and involve more than one trace dataset in the
function. If the function is extensive, or if it is to be used many times, then it