Toolchain

= ICclopedia Toolchain =

SPICE Simulator
Our recommended open SPICE simulator is Ngspice, it is available for different operating systems and has been used widely and reliably for many academic and industry projects. Though other open simulators are acceptable, if different please specify the simulator used in your circuit entry.

Please for every circuit entry provide the simulation netlist and test-bench used so that others can simulate, analyze your results and contribute as well, do not use closed simulators or proprietary formats for netlists/testbenches as others in the community would not be able to reproduce your results and give back constructive feedback.

SPICE PDK Models
Because we need to use open SPICE models that allow everyone to get familiar and gain some experience with integrated circuits, we are currently using the educational models from the Arizona State University Predictive Technology Model Project. Specifically, we are using CMOS 130nm models employed with their default parameters. (Please download them to use them for ICclopedia simulations)

While other models are available (e.g. FreePDK), these often require academic e-mail accounts for access which makes it harder for those just getting started which is our main purpose with ICclopedia.

Schematic Entry
We use EEschema as our schematic entry tool (some reference schematic symbols can be found here). EEschema allows for professional schematic plotting in SVGs which we can then upload to ICclopedia, as well as SPICE netlist generation which can be used directly in our SPICE simulator which is very convenient.

Please feel free to use other schematic entry tools (as you may have to download KiCad) as long as we can keep the schematic symbols consistent across posts.

At the end of every post please specify your toolchain used, especially if it is different, so that others can be mindful of any differences they encounter

Thank you,

-- The ICclopedia Community