SIMPLORER v7.

0, Ansoft Corporation

New Features in SIMPLORER 7.0

SIMPLORER 7.0 provides designers and engineers with new features that increase tremendously the modeling and
analysis capabilities of the SIMPLORER environment.

SIMPLORER 7.0 is packaged with a powerful scripting interface, enhanced optimization and statistical analysis
tools, and several new ease-of-use features that enhance the user interface. Model development wizards are now
available for creating C-models, VHDL-AMS models, and component dialogs. The VHDL-AMS functionality in
SIMPLORER has been extended with optimized models and improved simulation efficiency. A new add-on library
of sensor models with 276 elements and a transient coupling link between SIMPLORER and Ansoft’s Maxwell FEA
product that enables simultaneous transient simulation of system and finite-element models are also available with
the new version release.

Much of the development of new functionality was driven by customer requests and requirements in the automotive
and aerospace industries, as well as the power and drive industries.

New Features in SIMPLORER 7.0

User Interface
Wire Mode
Unit Handling Functionality
Display Elements
Auto-insertion of Connection Models
New SDB Manager Module
Schematic Environment
Editor Environment
ModelAgent

Modeling
Modeling with VHDL-AMS
Modeling with SML
Enhanced Functionality for Measuring Signal Characteristics
New Functionality in SIMPLORER Model Libraries

Model Development Wizards

VHDL-AMS Wizard
C-Model Wizard
Component Dialog Wizard

Advanced Analysis and Optimization Functionality

Scripting Interface

Simulator
Co-simulation Interfaces
Transient Coupling of SIMPLORER with Maxwell 2D
Simulink Coupling

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User Interface

Wire Mode
¾ Wire connections can be made without explicit initiation of wire mode
Ö New wire cursor appears when the mouse is moved over potential connection points such as unconnected
pins or existing wires
Ö A mouse click at the appearance of the new wire cursor automatically changes the editing mode to wire
mode
Ö Wire mode is preserved even when schematic zoom is changed
Ö Zoom-dependent tolerance of auto-connect feature is available
Ö Auto connect feature can be initiated between pins of different models by overlapping the pins on the
schematic
Ö If models are dropped such that the pin comes above a wire, a connection is automatically created.
¾ Most redundant wire connections are automatically detected and deleted in both new connections and in old
schematics
¾ New option for wires to always be drawn on top will be default setting. Can be deactivated in the sheet
properties dialog
¾ Unconnected wires are highlighted in red, and it is possible to specify a user-defined color for unconnected
wires in the sheet properties dialog

Unit Handling Functionality

¾ User interface and models are now equipped with functionality to assign appropriate physical types and units to
model quantities
¾ Visualization of units is available both on the schematic as well as on the display elements

Display Elements
¾ “Edit in Place” mode allows on-sheet formatting and movement of display elements, including legends, titles,
axes, and labels
¾ Three new display elements are available for displaying simulation data:
Ö Histogram Element
Ö 3D Graphic Element
Ö Sensitivity Report
¾ New display features have been provided for 2DView elements:
Ö Multi-run visualization capability with access to experiment and transient data
Ö AC/DC analysis outputs can also be viewed in the new 2DView elements

Auto-insertion of Connection Models

¾ C2NC models are automatically inserted when connections are made between conservative nodes and SML
block outputs
¾ D2D models that are used to connect different domains are automatically inserted when wire connections are
made between conservative pins of dissimilar domains
¾ Omnicasters that are used to connect analog and digital values of different data types are now automatically
inserted when wire connections are made between non-conservative pins of dissimilar data types
¾ New menu item called “Insert Wire Model” is available in the right-click menu of electrical wires and
instantiates a wire model from the Automotive library

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New SDB Manager Module

¾ New module allows these editing procedures to be performed on simulation data stored in an SDB file:
Ö deletion of data points stored in an SDB file
Ö display of data graphically in a 2Dview element or in tabular format in a TableView element
¾ Module can be initiated from the Schematic’s Simulation menu or as a standalone application from the
Commander

Schematic Environment
¾ The Schematic interface now has a new look and feel
¾ Tolerance parameters of models for multi-run analyses can be specified in multiple locations:
Ö The model’s properties dialog within the ModelAgent, where definitions will be used as default for all new
model instances
Ö The model instance’s properties dialog on the Schematic, where definitions will be valid for all analyses
Ö The analysis setup dialog, where definitions will be considered only for the specific analysis type
¾ Locally declared pins in graphical subsheet models can now be associated with a nature/physical type as well as
expected units

Editor Environment
¾ SimEdit provides syntax coloring of scripting languages such as VBScript and Tcl/Tk
¾ Automation scripts for SIMPLORER can be initiated from within SimEdit
¾ New editing functionality such as adding/removing block comments and intelligent find-replace are now
features of SimEdit

ModelAgent
¾ New model properties can be associated with SIMPLORER components
Ö Tolerance parameters can be specified for multi-run simulations
Ö Parameter sets that allow the association of multiple sets of parameters for each model can be created Note
that only the model instance’s parameter set is visible on the schematic but all parameter sets associated
with a model are visible in the ModelAgent
¾ Models can be copied or moved in the ModelAgent by using simple drag-drop mouse functionality

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Modeling

Modeling with VHDL-AMS

¾ AC and DC analysis simulation capability is now available for VHDL-AMS models
¾ Enhanced VHDL-AMS Export function allows netlist export of schematics, export of individual models and
component libraries
¾ Support for Foreign Model Instantiation enables the use of SIMPLORER, SPICE and C-code models within a
VHDL-AMS model, with no restrictions on model complexity
¾ Support for Foreign Functions enables the use of external user-defined functions within a VHDL-AMS model
¾ Support for RANGE attribute is now available from the VHDL-AMS compiler
¾ Support for File_Logical_Name is now available through Alias functionality in Commander
¾ The implementation of the following VHDL Packages that are commonly used in digital VHDL designs has
been optimized:
Ö STD_LOGIC_ARITH
Ö NUMERIC_STD
Ö NUMERIC_BIT
Ö STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED
Ö STD_LOGIC_SIGNED

Modeling with SML

¾ Nested models with local scope can now be defined in SML
¾ It is now possible to configure an automated conversion for physical types which have different base units in
SML language and a formal modeling language such as VHDL-AMS

Enhanced Functionality for Measuring Signal Characteristics

¾ Signal characteristics components in the Basic Elements library have been redesigned as probes and their
functionality is available over the scripting interface as well as directly in a display element
¾ Functionality of the integral error and control time response functions has been split into two components: the
integral error measures now support dynamic set point variation (but not the control time response set point)
¾ Components for pulse time measurement based on the actual crest value have been developed
¾ Single-phase and multi-phase measurement of real, apparent, reactive and distortion power is now available
¾ AC domain measurement of bandwidth, phase margin, gain margin, etc. is now available
¾ A scripting function to check harmonic spectra against IEEE and IEC standards has been created

New Functionality in SIMPLORER Model Libraries

¾ Components in the Basic_VHDLAMS library now support AC/DC simulation
¾ Physical Domain models and Block models in both Basic_Elements and Basic_VHDLAMS libraries now
completely support AC/DC simulation
¾ New dynamic IGBT model is available in the Basic_Elements library
¾ Induction machine model in the Basic_Elements library has been enhanced with a mechanical pin
¾ Specification of initial value is possible with the step function models in the Basic_Elements and
Basic_VHDLAMS libraries
¾ New sensor model library with 276 components representing 190 sensor models and 86 building block models
is available as a SIMPLORER AddOn Library
¾ All models in the IST Library are compatible with the mechanical components of the Basic libraries’ Physical
Domain models and the Mechsim library
¾ New model of a permanent excited synchronous machine with neutral electrical pin is available in the IST
library

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Model Development Wizards

VHDL-AMS Wizard
¾ VHDL-AMS Wizard facilitates the development of VHDL-AMS models for use in SIMPLORER and in other
VHDL-AMS simulators
¾ Wizard provides a set of dialog boxes that automates the writing, editing, and compiling of VHDL-AMS entity
descriptions and behavioral and structural architecture descriptions
¾ Wizard obviates the knowledge of language syntax details and also provides a comprehensive template of
VHDL-AMS constructs
¾ Wizard’s dual-mode model editing allows the editing of VHDL-AMS code either using dialogs or the text editor
¾ Wizard lists all declared VHDL-AMS objects (terminals, signals, quantities, etc.) graphically for an easy
reference

C-Model Wizard
¾ C-Model Wizard facilitates the development and extension of C-Models for SIMPLORER by generating C-
code required to implement a SIMPLORER C-Model
¾ Wizard can be launched from the Commander as a stand-alone application or from the SIMPLORER
ModelAgent
¾ Wizard integrates tightly with the Microsoft Visual Studio (C/C++) Development Environment

Component Dialog Wizard

¾ Component Dialog Wizard facilitates the development of component dialogs for user-defined models
¾ Wizard features an easy-to-use graphical interface that can be used to design, preview, and test component
dialogs

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Advanced Analysis and Optimization Functionality

¾ Several new and improved analysis types are available in SIMPLORER 7.0:
Ö Monte Carlo Analysis
Ö Worst-case Analysis
Ö Parameter Sweep
Ö 3-D Analysis
Ö Genetic Algorithm Optimization
Ö Simplex Optimization
Ö Successive Approximation Optimization
Ö Frequency Analysis
Ö Sensitivity Analysis
¾ Highly simplified analysis setup is possible directly from the Schematic environment
¾ Distributions such as uniform, normal (Gaussian), piece-wise linear, and log-normal are available
¾ New portfolio of signal characteristics is available for use as performance measures

Scripting Interface
¾ SIMPLORER modules have been enabled with an automated COM interface that allows access to module
functionality through scripts. The available interfaces are listed below:
Ö Simulator Interface
Ö SDB Interface
Ö MathMod Interface
Ö Experiment Tool Interface
Ö Report Interface
¾ A command line function for creating SML descriptions in ASCII text of SIMPLORER schematics has been
developed
¾ Language independent implementation of the scripting interface allows the use of a variety of scripting
languages such as VBScript, Tcl/Tk, etc and even enables direct access from C/C++ programs
¾ Enhancements to SIMPLORER’s editor module allow easy creation and initiation of scripts from within
SIMPLORER

Simulator
¾ Inductors, capacitors, and certain other energy-storage components may have their initial conditions un-
specified. The simulator will then establish the operating point before transient simulation, based on other
sources in the circuit
¾ When the initial condition is specified, an inductor becomes a current source and a capacitor becomes a voltage
source when the simulator determines the operating point before transient simulation
¾ In expression-defined voltage and current sources, the "improved numerics" now work with node voltages,
voltmeter outputs, ammeter outputs, voltage source currents, and controlled voltage source currents as
controlling variables
¾ AC/DC functionality is available in the Block Diagram Simulator
¾ The State Graph Simulator has a new DC-state for specification of DC behavior
¾ A foreign model and foreign function interface is available for the VHDL-AMS simulator

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Co-simulation Interfaces

Transient Coupling of SIMPLORER with Maxwell 2D

¾ Direct transient simulation coupling link between SIMPLORER and Maxwell allows system-level analysis of
components modeled at the FEA level (such as solenoids or motors) using transient solvers in SIMPLORER
and Maxwell
¾ Link between SIMPLORER component and Maxwell project is set up using the FEA Link wizard.
¾ Several outputs such as flux linkage, conductor loss, and core loss are available from Maxwell in SIMPLORER

Simulink Coupling
¾ Mathworks Release 12 and 13 are supported (Matlab 6/6.5 and Simulink 4/5)
¾ Coupling link dialog can automatically connect signals having SIMPLORER-style reference names (ex: R1.VAL)
with the corresponding Simulink-style reference name (R1_VAL)