1GNUCAP(1) Debian GNU GNUCAP(1)
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6 gnucap - GNU Circuit Analysis Package
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9 gnucap [-b filename] [-i filename]
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12 GNUCAP is a general purpose circuit simulator. It performs nonlinear
13 dc and transient analyses, fourier analysis, and ac analysis linearized
14 at an operating point. It is fully interactive and command driven. It
15 can also be run in batch mode or as a server. The output is produced
16 as it simulates. Spice compatible models for the MOSFET (level 1,2,3)
17 and diode are included in this release.
18 Since it is fully interactive, it is possible to make changes and re-
20 simulate quickly. The interactive design makes it well suited to the
21 typical iterative design process used it optimizing a circuit design.
22 It is also well suited to undergraduate teaching where Spice in batch
23 mode can be quite intimidating. This version, while still officially
24 in beta test, should be stable enough for basic undergraduate teaching
25 and courses in MOS design, but not for bipolar design.
26 In batch mode it is mostly Spice compatible, so it is often possible to
28 use the same file for both GNUCAP and Spice.
29 The analog simulation is based on traditional nodal analysis with iter‐
31 ation by Newton's method and LU decomposition. An event queue and
32 incremental matrix update speed up the solution for large circuits (at
33 some expense for small circuits).
34 It also has digital devices for mixed signal simulation. The digital
36 devices may be implemented as either analog subcircuits or as true dig‐
37 ital models. The simulator will automatically determine which to use.
38 Networks of digital devices are simulated as digital, with no conver‐
39 sions to analog between gates. This results in digital circuits being
40 simulated faster than on a typical analog simulator, even with behav‐
41 ioral models. The digital mode is experimental and needs work. There
42 will be substantial improvements in future releases.
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46 Two command-line options are available. Only one of these may be speci‐
47 fied. If no parameters are given, gnucap will start in interactive
48 mode.
49 -b filename
51 execute the commands in the named file then exit (batch mode)
52 -i filename
54 execute the commands in the named file then go into interactive
55 mode
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58 See /usr/share/doc/gnucap/bugs for a list of known bugs in this
59 release.
60 GNUCAP is an ongoing research project. It is being released in a pre‐
62 liminary phase in hopes that it will be useful and that others will use
63 it as a thrust or base for their research. I also hope for some com‐
64 ments that may help me direct my research.
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68 GNUCAP is being written by Albert Davis <aldavis@ieee.org>
69 This manual page was written by Jon Rabone <jkr@debian.org> and main‐
71 tained by Hamish Moffatt <hamish@debian.org> for the Debian package of
72 gnucap. For the full LaTeX documentation, please see
73 /usr/share/doc/gnucap/manual.
74Debian Project November 2001 GNUCAP(1)