SLiCAP

SLiCAP#

color coded resistors

Symbolic Linear Circuit Analysis#

NEW: SLiCAP Python!

  • Strongly simplified and reduced instruction set

  • Works with Kicad as schematic front-end

  • Works on all platforms

  • Open source MIT license

Download and installation

Windows users: install the Anaconda python environment and the Python module windows_tools. To do so, open an Anaconda command terminal and enter:

pip install windows_tools

  1. Obtain the SLiCAP Python modules:

    • Clone the repository:

      git-clone https://github.com/SLiCAP/SLiCAP_python.git

    • Or download the SLiCAP archive and unzip it in some folder (you may delete this folder after installation)

  2. Open a command terminal (Anaconda under MS-Windows), navigate to the folder that contains setup.py and enter:

    python -m pip install .

    Don't forget the dot .!

  3. Obtain help: SLiCAP HTML User Manual

What it is and why you should use it#

  • SLiCAP facilitates analog design automation and stepwise, hierachically-structured, analog design

  • SLiCAP lets you relate circuit component and device geometry requirements to system performance requirements

  • SLiCAP makes complex symbolic circuit analysis doable

  • SLiCAP speeds up the circuit design process

  • SLiCAP integrates documentation and design ("one-click" update of HTML or PDF design reports)

  • SLiCAP facilitates design education and knowledge building

Benefits#

  • Speeds up the circuit engineering process

  • Makes complex symbolic analysis doable

  • Compatible with Jupyter notebooks

  • Integrates documentation and design with many easy to use built-in functions for HTML reports with plots, tables, expressions, etc.

  • Supports design education and knowledge building

Features#

  • Accepts SPICE-like netlists as input and provides netlist generation from, amongst others, Kicad and LTspice schematic files.

  • Facilitates concurrent design and documentation

  • Supports and facilitates structured analog design

Capabilities#

  • Conversion of hierarchically structured SPICE netlist into a mixed symbolic/numeric matrix equation

  • Symbolic and numeric noise analysis

  • Symbolic and numeric noise integration over frequency

  • Symbolic and numeric determination of transfer functions and polynomial coefficients of transfer functions

  • Symbolic and numeric inverse Laplace Transform

  • Symbolic and numeric determination of network solutions

  • Symbolic and numeric pole-zero analysis (symbolic pole-zero analysis for low-order systems only)

  • Symbolic and numeric Routh array

  • Order estimation of feedback circuits (numeric only)

  • Root-locus analysis with an arbitrarily selected circuit parameter as root locus variable

  • Symbolic and numeric DC and DC variance analysis for determination of budgets for resistor tolerances, offset, temperature effects, matching and tracking

  • Symbolic and numeric derivation and solution of design equations for bandwidh, frequency response, noise, dc variance, and temperature stability

Interfaces with other software#

  • SLiCAP can generate netlists from schematic files from:

    • Kicad (all platforms, preferred!)

    • LTspice (MS-Windows: install LTspice on the system drive, Linux and MacOS: use MS-Windows version and wine)

    • gschem (MS-Windows: install gschem and its netlister on the system drive, Linux and MacOS: use lepton-eda)

    • Lepton-eda (Linux and MacOS, MS-Windows: use gSchem for MS-Windows)

  • Inkscape is used to:

    • convert the page size of SVG images of schematic files generates with Kicad, lepton-eda, or gSchem to the image size

    • convert the above svg images to pdf (for use in LaTeX).

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