Changes

== Running RF.Spice A/D Live Simulations ==

You can start a live time domain simulation of your circuit simply by pressing the green RUN [[File:b2Run_Tool.png]] button in the Main Toolbar. But getting meaningful results requires a few more steps. A simulation needs an input such as a source as well as a probe or some kind of virtual instrument to measure the result. Inputs can be source devices found in the supplied parts database. These include voltage sources or current sources that supply power to your circuit. Alternatively, you can use the Power Supply or Function Generator in the Virtual Instruments panel to set up stimuli. To measure the results, you can use the Virtual Oscilloscope, Voltmeter, Ammeter or one of the other meters found in the Virtual Instruments or you can use circuit animation, whereby the computed data are displayed and updated on your schematic.

Set up the appropriate stimulus and meter, set the time step you desire and click the green RUN [[File:b2Run_Tool.png]] button to start the simulation. Click the Pause [[File:b2Pause_Tool.png]] button in the toolbar to pause the simulation. Click the green arrow [[File:b2Run_Tool.png]] again to resume the simulation or click the Strop/Reset [[File:b2Stop_Tool.png]] button to reset the time to t = 0. The current time is displayed in the simulation toolbar next to the control buttons. The simulation mode is controlled by the main toolbar and consists of the Reset, Pause, Step, Walk, and Run buttons. These buttons control the progress of operation of the live simulation. The Step Ceiling and Update Interval settings control how the simulation progresses and how often the results are updated. The Step button increments the simulation time by one time step and pauses. Each subsequent click of the Step button increments the simulation by another time step. The Walk button starts the simulation but increases the simulation time by the walk factor, which can be set in the Simulation | Time Options menu.

== Observing Simulation Results Through Circuit Animation ==

When you run a live simulation in [[RF.Spice A/D]], you can view the simulation results in real time as the simulation proceeds. In an analog circuit, you are interested in node voltages, branch currents and device powers. In a digital circuit, you are interested in the binary state of wires and device pins. [[RF.Spice A/D]] provides several different ways of live data visualization. For analog and mixed-mode circuits, the easiest way is to initiate one or more virtual instruments like voltmeter, ammeter, wattmeter, oscilloscope, etc. These instruments display voltages, currents and powers in real time while a simulation is running. For digital circuits, you can turn on the live digital timing diagrams and observe the binary states of the digital inputs and outputs at each time step.

Besides virtual instruments and live digital timing diagrams, [[RF.Spice A/D]] also provides "Circuit Animation". When circuit animation is enabled, little movable text boxes appear on the nodes and wires of your schematic. For analog and mixed-mode circuits, the changing text boxes display various voltage, current, or power values on the nodes and wires. For digital circuits, they display the binary states (0 or 1, or L or H) of various pins or wires. Your circuit can also be animated through wire colors. Positive or high-value quantities turn the color of a wire to red, and negative or low-value quantities turn the color to blue. Black wires represent an intermediate-value or zero quantity. During a live simulation, wires will change colors and arrows and diamonds will indicate the relative strength and flow of the wire currents. In digital circuits, red represents 1 (H) and blue represents 0 (L).