ELEC 480
HSPICE Instructions

Fall 2005 Edition

Note: if you have trouble accessing any files or running the code,
please let the T.A. know via email (davej{at}ece.ubc.ca)

1. Paths

Check your .cshrc.solaris file in your home directory to ensure that it contains the following:
# hspice source
source /CMC/tools/meta/bin/cshrc.meta

2. Directories

HSpice does not require you to create any special directories. However, when HSpice is executed it does generate several temporary and output files, which are placed in whatever directory you called the hspice command from. Therefore, in the interest of keeping files for different assignments/projects organized, it is recommended that you create separate directories for each assignment and run HSpice within it.

3. Documentation

The HSpice documents can be found in the folder:
/CMC/tools/hspice/2003.03-SP1/docs

The most important one is the Hspice Manual, which can be accessed by typing:
acroread /CMC/tools/hspice/2003.03-SP1/docs/HSPICE_App_Manual.pdf &

4. HSpice Deck

Hspice input is given in the form of a script file, often called an Hspice Deck, that contains commands for your circuit's description and analysis (DC, AC, transient, etc.). To create your deck, use any simple text editor that you are comfortable with. On the departement Unix network, you can use emacs, vi, or textedit. On Windows machines you can use Notepad, but do not use MS-Word or similar! For HSpice syntax, refer to the HSpice manual (see section 3 above).

A sample Hspice deck follows for a simple inverting amplifier circuit using a BJT transistor.

***********************************************************************
* bjtamp.hsp
* Simple inverting amplifier
***********************************************************************

***********************************************************************
*Set supply and library
***********************************************************************
.protect                        * Don't print the contents of library
                                * GA911 library file
.include '/nfs/kelowna/CMC/kits/ga911/cadence/ga911.2.2/models/hspice/nnn'
.unprotect                      * Resume printing SPICE deck
.options post ingold=2

***********************************************************************
*Define power supply
***********************************************************************
Vsup Vcc Gnd 15

***********************************************************************
*Top level simulation netlist
***********************************************************************
Q1     Col1    Bas1     Gnd    Gnd   snpn_911
RCol1  Vcc     Col1     200
Rb1    Vcc     Bas1     5k
Rb2    Bas1    Gnd      2k
Cin1   Bas1    netb     1u

***********************************************************************
*Stimulus
***********************************************************************
Vsig   netb    Gnd      SIN   (0  1  1k)

***********************************************************************
*Simulation
***********************************************************************
.tran  1u      0.01

***********************************************************************
*End of Deck
***********************************************************************
.end

***********************************************************************


5. Executing HSpice

To run Hspice use the command:
hspice myhspicedeckname.hsp
where myhspicedeck.hsp is your deck (from step 4 above)

After running the hspice command, you should see (unless you have suppressed output to the screen) the steps HSpice takes as it "compiles" your deck. At the end, there should be a line that says one of the following:
***** hspice job concluded
which means your file ran without problems (their might be warnings, however), or...
***** hspice job aborted
which means there was an error in execution (scroll up the terminal window to find it, and then modify your deck file accordingly).

6. Viewing Results with Awaves

Awaves is the graphical waveform viewer supplied with Hspice. Some of the HSpice output files that can be viewed with it are (the $ sign represents an integer: 0, 1, 2...):
myhspicedeck.st$, myhspicedeck.ac$, myhspicedeck.tr$

To run Awaves use the command:
awaves deckname.st0 &
The Awaves program window will open along with a Results Browser window. At the very top of the latter, you should see Design: /???/myusername/mydirectory/myhspicedeck. Directly below it, there should be at least one line representing your results - clicking on it once will bring up the simulation results from your deck (this is the purpose of the .options post line in the deck). Under Types, you can choose voltages or currents, thereby changing the content under Curves (the names there represen nodes, wires, etc in your circuit. Double-click on a value in Curves to display the corresponding results in the main Awaves window.

Last modified on August 11, 2005
Created by Michael Leslie and Leonardo Castro