This is the first part of a three-part series on special handling of PWM waveforms. The first two parts deal with the large amount of data involved. The last part deals with precise characterization in the presence of switching cycle “noise.” I am honored to post this article, which was created by one of our talented community members, a modeling and simulation expert and my friend, Norm Elias.

Download Energy Harvesting datasheet

We have recently added a number of new electro-thermal models to our Component Library. These models represent devices that are either temperature sensing/control elements, or electronic components that dissipate significant power and may require thermal analysis. These models include:

In this final installment of my series on TDFS (Time Domain Frequency Sweep) analysis, I’ll focus on measuring impedance vs. frequency. I’ll first demonstrate the method by showing the measurement of input impedance for a switching power converter. Then I’ll extend that method to analyze the “impedance stability” of a distributed power system. Power systems may include many DC to DC converters, some acting as sources and other as loads.

What Is This Import Tool You Speak Of?

It’s a plugin for Mentor PADS PCB tools that allows you to import the designs and components that you create here. There’s a great blog about it here. If you're a registered PADS user, you can upgrade your SystemVision® Cloud subscription here.

Question: When is a wire or cable a transmission line?

Do you struggle to understand how to use the Talon SRX controller effectively?  What is PID and PIDF?  How does feedback control work?  What is feed-forward control? How are values of P, I, D, & F determined? How is the new Talon SRX "motion profile" feature supposed to be used?  

If these are your questions, this blog is for you.  

Many of you have asked us to provide an easy way to analyze waveforms in SystemVision Cloud.  Well, the wait is over!

Watch this short video to see what you can do with these new Waveform Analysis Tools.

Stability is an essential quality of most practical circuits and systems. A traditional stability metric for closed-loop control systems is gain and phase margin, based-on the open-loop transfer function (OLTF) or frequency response. A special physical measurement technique for obtaining the OLTF of an operating closed-loop system, pioneered by Dean Venable* in the 1980s, involves injecting a small sinusoidal stimulus in series with the loop, and measuring the absolute signal levels at the injection site.

SystemVision Cloud provides a family of measurement models that perform “Time Domain Frequency Sweep” (TDFS) analysis. They measure the frequency response of many circuits and systems for which traditional “AC” or frequency-domain simulation is not possible. This includes:

SystemVision Cloud is designed to work with the Mentor PADS PCB tools.  If you have the PADS PCB tools, you can install an import tool into the schematic capture environment.  Using this import tool, you can login with your SystemVision Cloud account, from within the schematic environment, browse for your online designs, and import them into a PADS schematic.  

For an overview of this capability, visit the SystemVision PADS AMS Cloud page.

In my previous blog, “Mechatronics Engineers … Start Your Motors”, I mentioned that we were working on two additional motor types, a Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM) and a Stepper Motor.

While working from home, a PCB designer may not have access to expensive power supplies to test fairly simple boards. By using low-noise linear voltage regulators, you can create a customizable power supply using 9 different voltages, ranging from 2.5 to 15 V. The power supply is equipped with an AC to DC converter, making it transportable for the do-it-all engineer. With easy access to this adjustable power supply, you do not need gigantic power supplies to complete your testing. 

The simulation model of the Adjustable Power Supply is shown below:

We are pleased to announce that SystemVision Cloud now supports import of SPICE subcircuits and individual ".model" statements as a way to specify a model for use in SystemVision.  Simply choose the Create New Component > From SPICE menu when you are editing a design.

Watch this short video to see a demonstration:

Simply right-click and choose "Add Favorite"

Learn how to access:

• Getting Started Video
• Expert Guided Tour Webinars
• Discussion Forums
• Intercom Chat (hint: blue icon in lower right)
• Application Help (hint: "?" in application tool bar)

The SystemVision Cloud Team is happy to announce that we’re adding new models to support electro-hydraulic system development. We’ve recently added basic hydraulic elements, such as a pump, valve and cylinder (or linear actuator). We will be adding many more models in the near future, but the examples shown in this blog demonstrate the broad range of electro-hydraulic motion and fluid control systems that are already supported.

Students around the world are using SystemVision Cloud circuit simulation in their classwork.  And, to everyone’s benefit, they are posting their designs for everyone to view.  We invite you to join them!

Many have observed that as a rechargeable battery is discharged the voltage that it supplies drops. Conversely, when it it recharged, the output voltage goes back up.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could measure this voltage, as a function of the state-of-charge (SOC), and use it to quickly make an accurate model for the battery?  This blog will show you how to do just this with SystemVision® Cloud. 

The SystemVision Cloud Team is happy to announce that we’re adding many models to support motor and control systems development. We’ve recently added a new PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine) model, and updated our Induction Motor model. We will be adding Stepper and SRM (Switched Reluctance Motor) models in the very near future. Continuous control algorithm blocks that support field oriented control (FOC), such as Clarke and Park transforms, have also been added. Some of these are shown in the design example below.