Defining Simulation Preferences for Altium Designer

The pages in the Simulation category of the Preferences dialog provide access to preferences relating to features and functionality of Simulation.

General

The Simulation – General pa ge of th e Preferences dialog is used to define the default model path for circuit simulation models and to select the default simulator. To find the simulation models, the software will first search the current project's folder, and then search the desired location for referenced simulation models.

The Simulation – General page of the Preferences dialog

Directories

• Model Path – click the folder icon to open a dialog to search for and select the target folder that contains the simulation models.

  The SPICE Models folder specified in this field by default resides in the Mixed Simulation extension's default installation Library folder (\ProgramData\Altium\Altium Designer <GUID>\Extensions\Mixed Simulation\Library) and includes a folder of Analog Devices' SPICE models.

• Show in Components Panel – enable to make the SPICE Libraries category available in the Components panel. The libraries in the specified Model Path folder will be listed in this category. The category structure reflects the structure of the specified folder.

Simulators

Use the drop-down to select the desired default simulator.

Miscellaneous

• Always Generate Model Symbol for Manufacturer Part Search Panel Using Simulation Model Description – when this option is enabled, schematic symbols being placed from the Manufacturing Part Search panel to a schematic sheet will always be generated based on the simulation model description of the selected component.
• Enable Simulation Generic Components Library – enable to make the Simulation Generic Components library available in the Components panel.

Mixed Sim

The Simulation - Mixed Sim page of the Preferences dialog is used to configure options for the location of SimCode models and the display of detailed information about the simulation process.

The Simulation – Mixed Sim page of the Preferences dialog

The Mixed Simulation extension must be installed in order to access this page. The extension can be found on the Extensions & Updates page (accessed by using the  drop-down at the top-right of the design space then choosing Extensions and Updates) under System Extensions.

Directories

SIMCODE Output - use the browse folder icon to search for and specify the folder to where you want the compiled SimCode models to be written.

Options

• Always load error files - enable to always load the error file when there are errors during simulation.
• Create compiled SIMCODE output file - enable to generate the compiled SimCode model file after simulation. The model is written to the folder defined in the SIMCODE Output field.
• Show hints - enable to show hints in the Messages panel during simulation.
• Show warnings - enable to show warnings in the Messages panel during simulation.
• Show locations of models found - enable to show in the Messages panel where the models were found during simulation.
• Default SimView Setup - use the drop-down to select the default setup configuration. Choices are:
  • Keep last setup
  • Show active signals
  • Show active probes
  • Show active signals / probes

SIMetrix Interface

The Simulation - SIMetrix Interface page of the Preferences dialog allows you to decide how you would like to display the graph results.

The Simulation – SIMetrix Interface page of the Preferences dialog

The SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Interface System Extension must be downloaded in order to access this page. The extension can be found on the Extensions & Updates page, which is accessed by using the  drop-down at the top-right of the design workspace then choosing Extensions and Updates.

SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Location

SIMetrix/SIMPLIS installation location - use the browse folder icon to search for and choose the directory in which you installed SIMetrix/SIMPLIS. You can use the Auto Detect button to automatically find the directory.

Options

• Clear existing graph sheets and group data before running a new simulation - enable to clear all existing graph sheets and group data before running a new simulation.
• Display graph sheets in SIMetrix instead of Altium Designer - enable to view the results of your simulations in SIMetrix rather than in the software.
• Always load error files - enable to always load any error files.
• Show hints - enable to show hints.
• Show warnings - enable to show warnings.
• Show locations of models found - enable to show the locations of found models.
• Default SimView Setup - use the drop-down to select the default setup configuration. Choices are:
  • Keep last setup
  • Show active signals
  • Show active probes
  • Show active signals / probes