Introduction to ORCAD Capture and PSpice A/D The following introductory exercise is suitable for both the full

and demo versions of Orcad release 9.x. You need to have installed both the 'Capture CIS' and 'PSpice A/D' components of the Orcad suite of programs prior to working through this exercise. ****** Starting a New Orcad Capture Project Start ORCAD Capture by double-clicking on the 'Capture CIS' icon shown below

Alternatively, execute the command : Start Programs OrCAD Release 9.1 Capture CIS Click on the New Project tool button

(or execute the main menu command File New Project ) The dialogue box shown below will appear, type the Name 'Introcct1' as shown and then click on the 'Browse' button.

The dialogue box shown below will appear -

Navigate your way to a suitable location for the project and then click on the 'Create Dir' button. Enter the desired name for the project directory (such as 'OrcadIntro') and then close both dialogue boxes by clicking on 'OK'. This will return you to the 'New Project' dialogue box.

Making sure that the 'Analogue and Mixed-Signal Circuit Wizard' radio button is selected, click on OK to proceed. Selecting Project Libraries The 'Analogue Mixed-Mode Project Wizard' library selection box will open as shown below.

The number of libraries shown in the left-hand area depends on whether you are using the full or demo version of Orcad 9.1. If you are using the demo version, select the 'demo' library and add it to the project using the 'Add >>' button, if you are using the full version select and add the following library to the project : ANL_MISC Click on the 'Finish' button to proceed. Drawing the Schematic The Capture Project manager window (shown below) will now open along with a blank schematic drawing window, both within the confines of the main Capture window.

The project manager window resembles the Windows Explorer tool, showing the hierarchy and files associated with the project. Capture automatically opens a blank schematic named 'SCHEMATIC' having a single page named 'PAGE1', both of these may be renamed by selecting them and clicking the right-hand mouse button to access the 'Rename' command. A design may contain multiple schematics (usually used to create a hierarchical design) and each schematic may contain multiple pages. The schematic folder symbol containing the '/' is the 'root' or 'top-level' of the design. Clicking anywhere in the drawing area reveals the drawing palette shown below, the drawing tools usually appear along the right-hand edge of the Capture window, while the view tools are situated at the top of the window View Tools

Drawing Tools

Placing Parts Click on the Place Part Drawing tool button to open the dialogue box shown below Place Part

The quickest way to locate a part is to enter the first few letters of the part name in the Part field in the above window and Orcad will search it's libraries for all matching entries. Entering '555' brings up all of the 555 timers available (for the demo version there will be a single entry for '555D' in the demo library). Select either the '555B' (full version) or '555D' (demo version) and then click on the OK button to proceed. The Place Part dialogue box will disappear and an outline of the chosen part will follow the cursor as it is moved around the drawing area. Click on the left mouse button to place the 555 roughly in the centre of the drawing page. Another outline will appear following the cursor (allowing more than one similar part to be placed), click on the right-hand mouse button to reveal a pop-up menu and execute the End Mode command to return to select/pointing mode.

The Select drawing tool should be highlighted as shown below.

Click on the 'View to All' viewing tool button (below) to zoom out to the full drawing page.

Select the 555 by clicking on it (the part will be highlighted in purple), with the left-mouse button held down, drag the 555 to a position near the centre of the drawing area before releasing the mouse. Click on the 'Place Ground' drawing tool button.

Select the ground named '0/SOURCE' from the scrollable list and then click on OK. Place the ground terminal below pin number 1 of the 555 timer device, leaving enough space to add a connecting wire. Use the Zoom Area view tool to zoom into an area of the drawing to give a comfortable and sufficiently detailed view.
Use the mouse to draw a box around the desired view

From the drawing tools click on the Place Part button again and select the 'ANALOG' library. Scroll down through the list of parts until the part named 'R' comes into view, select this part and then click on OK. Place two resistors on the drawing page, to the left of the 555 - they will both have the default value of 1K but will have unique labels (R1 and R2).

Repeat the above procedure and place two capacitors in the area below the resistors (select part 'C' from the 'ANALOG' library). As parts are added to the schematic, their names are added to the drop-down list at the top of the capture window shown below.

Clicking on any of the parts in the list allows a unique instance of the part to be added to the schematic, this provides a quick way of selecting and adding more components of the same type to the drawing. Note - avoid using Copy-Paste to replicate parts, as this gives the copied part the same Part Reference (eg R2) as the original. This will cause subsequent errors when net-listing (all parts must have unique references). Adding a Power Source Returning to the Place Parts dialogue box, select the library named 'SOURCE' and the part named 'VDC' from the parts list. This is a DC voltage source as shown below.

Place the DC source to the left of the resistors and capacitors previously placed on the schematic. Click on the Place Port drawing tool button.

A dialogue box will open listing a number of alternative ports. With the library set to 'CAPSYM', select the port named 'PORTLEFT-L' and add this to the circuit positioned to the right of the 555 'OUTPUT' pin (number 3). Save Your Progress An image showing the final circuit is shown below. With the drawing window selected, click on the Save button to save the work you have done so far.

The Final Circuit

Selecting and Moving Components As shown above the two capacitors and one of the resistors is oriented vertically. Components can be selected individually by clicking on them (making sure the cursor is set to 'Select' mode). A selected component will appear with a purple box around it. Groups of components can selected by either drawing a box around them, again with the cursor in select mode, or clicking on each one in turn while holding down the 'Ctrl' key. Draw a box to enclose the two capacitors previously added to the schematic. They will become highlighted in purple. Click on the right-hand mouse button to reveal a pop-up menu, then execute the Rotate command to rotate the capacitors through 90 degrees. Move the capacitors by firstly selecting them and then dragging and dropping them into the appropriate position as shown in the final circuit above. Rotate and move resistor R2 as per the final circuit. Position resistor R1. Adding wires Click on the 'Place Wire' tool button near the top of the drawing toobar. Place Wire The cursor will change appearance to a cross-hair - move it to the GND terminal of the 555 timer device (pin 1) and click the LH mouse button to start a wire. Move the cursor down toward the 0 Volts part, a wire will appear. When the cursor meets up with the terminal on the 0V symbol, a red circle will appear, this means a connection can be made - click the LH mouse button to complete the wire.

Add a wire between the output of the 555 (pin 3) and the PORTLEFT-L part (shown above). When adding wires, Capture will generate right angle segments when necessary. Occasionally it is easier to edit these manually - this is done by clicking the LH mouse button when adding a length of wire thus terminating the current wire segment and allowing a change of direction. A junction can be added anywhere along the length of an existing wire by simply starting a new wire at that point.

Segments can be selected and moved in the same way as parts (using the dragand-drop method). A selected segment will appear purple, clicking on the RH mouse button and executing Select Entire Net will highlight the whole net, i.e. all segments and wires having the same name appear purple. Add the remaining wires to the circuit. Changing Component Values The resistors, capacitors and DC voltage source all have default values assigned to them when they are placed on the drawing, these can be modified by doubleclicking on the value itself. Start by double-clicking on the '1n' value near capacitor 'C2'.

The 'Display Properties' dialogue box appears as shown above. Change the Value to '10n' (10 nanoFarads) and then click on OK. Change the value of 'C1' to '1u' (1 microFarad) in the same manner. Resistors are given a default value of '1k', i.e. one Kilo-Ohm. Change 'R1' and 'R2' to 15k and 62k respectively. NOTE - Be careful when assigning values, the multipliers such as 'n', 'u' and 'k' must follow the SPICE conventions listed below (case is irrelevant). Suffix T G MEG K M U N P F Meaning Tera - 1012 Giga - 109 Mega - 106 Kilo - 103 Milli - 10-3 Micro - 10-6 Nano - 10-9 Pico - 10-12 Femto - 10-15

A common error involves using 'm' instead of 'meg' for a large resistor, this will only reveal itself in the simulation results. The DC source is given a default value of 0 Volts, double-click on this value in order to change it to 5Vdc in the properties dialogue box.

Adding Names The output of the circuit is to be named 'Vout'. Double-click the LH mouse button on the 'PORTLEFT-L' name to the right of the output port symbol. Enter 'Vout' in the Value field and then OK to confirm. This has the effect of giving the same name to the net connected between the output port and pin 3 of the 555. All nets (wires) are given internal names by Capture when they are added to the schematic, these are not visible by default. It is very useful to add alias names to important nets in a design. Click on the 'Net Alias' drawing tool button. Place net Alias The following dialogue box will open.

Enter 'Vth' in the 'Alias' field, then click on OK. A small rectangle will appear, following the movement of the cursor. Position this so that it lies against the wire connected to pin 6 of the 555. Click the mouse to attach the alias to the wire.

Attaching a Net alias

To check that the wire has been labelled correctly, double-click in select mode on any segment of the net connected to pin 6 of the 555. This will open the properties dialogue box shown below.

The above confirms that the selected net has the correct alias. The diagram is now almost complete, all that remains is to add the voltage probes and edit the simulation settings. Preparing for Simulation Selecting the Analogue and Mixed Signal project type, at the start of this exercise, resulted in the inclusion of the PSPICE toolbar at the top of the Capture window as shown below.

Positioning the cursor over these buttons reveals their function - click on the Voltage/Level Marker button (3rd from the right). Moving into the drawing window changes the cursor shape to that of a voltage probe, attach the sharp end of the probe to the net named Vth (pin 6 of the 555). Add a second voltage marker to the net connected to pin 3 of the 555 (Vout).

Attaching the voltage marker to a net results in the automated display of the corresponding signal in the waveform window (formerly Probe). Currents and differential voltages can also be displayed by attaching the appropriate markers. The last step to be carried out before starting the simulation is to create a simulation profile. Click on the New Simulation Profile button situated at the left-hand end of the toolbar shown above. Enter First in the name field of the dialogue box, then click on the button marked Create.

The Simulation Settings dialogue box will open (shown above). The default Analysis - Time Domain Transient, is appropriate for this design since it is a relaxation oscillator. The predicted output frequency of the circuit is about 10Hz, entering 500ms in the Run to time (TSTOP) field will produce a waveform capturing about 5 output periods. The SKIPBP radio button may need to be checked, depending on which 555 PSpice model is used. If the circuit fails to oscillate, check this button. Click on the OK button to start the simulation.

The Orcad PSpice A/D window will open and the circuit net-list loaded. A horizontal gauge tracks simulation progress in percentage terms at the lower right hand corner of the window, when this reaches 100 % the waveforms should appear as shown below.

The display may look slightly different if you are using the 555B PSpice model (full version), the output voltage being an analogue, rather than digital, waveform. Once the simulation run has completed, the analogue voltage markers in the schematic window are assigned colours to match those of the corresponding waveform, all digital markers are black. This concludes the exercise for more information on ORCAD, refer to the online documentation. Ian Elliott Sept 2000 file Introduction to ORCAD.doc