Introduction to PSPICE

PSPICE is a computer-aided simulation program that enables you to design a circuit and then simulate the design on a computer.

As this is one of its main purposes, it is used extensively by electronic design engineers for building a circuit and then testing out how that circuit will simulate.

PSPICE stands for Program Simulation with Integrated Circuit Emphasis.

The Electronics Research Laboratory of the University of California developed it and made it available to the public in 1975.

PSPICE is largely popular because of its user-friendly interface, extensions that support modeling of digital circuits, and its no-cost basic version.

PSPICE is a general purpose program designed for a wide range of circuit simulation including the simulation of nonlinear circuits, transmission lines, noise and distortion, digital circuits, mixed digital and analog circuits. It can perform dc analysis, steady-state sinusoidal (AC) analysis, transient analysis, and Fourier series analysis.

General Guideline on How to Use PSPICE

The general procedure for using PSPICE consists of 3 basic stpes.

Step 1
The user draws the circuit in schematic form which he wants to simulate.

Step 2
The user specifies the type of analysis desired, and directs PSPICE to perform that analysis. This can, for instance, be DC analysis, AC analysis, transient analysis...

Step 3
The user instructs the computer to print or plot the results of the analysis. In this step, the user sees the graphical results of the analysis done. For example, he can see the graph of the output voltage vs. output current (V vs. I), or any data which he wants to analyze.

Download PSPICE

The download below is a basic no-cost version of PSPICE, PSPICE 9.1 Student Version:

    PSPICE 9.1 Student Basic Version

This is the no-cost basic, student version of PSPICE. It does have limited features, but unless you are doing a very comprehensive project, it will be able to handle and support all basic, introductory circuits and simulate and analyze them. This is a good start for just starting out and getting familiar with PSPICE. Later, you can move on and purchase a more advanced circuit simulator.