NL5 Circuit Simulator 2.2.3

A non-linear electronic circuit simulator software

NL5 Circuit Simulator is ideal for novices and students who study electronics and enable them to perform circuit simulations with ease.

NL5 Circuit Simulator deals with ideal components as much as possible. An ideal component is one that provides just a basic functionality required for component of that type. As a rule, it is very simple and described by a minimal number of parameters.

As a result, its behavior is clear and predictable. For example, an ideal switch has zero resistance when closed, infinite resistance when open, and it is switching instantly. For such a switch no parameters are required at all.

Unlike conventional SPICE-based simulators, which pretend to perform accurate simulation of electronic circuits using complex and detailed non-linear component models with dozens of parameters, the NL5 approach is quite different.

First, NL5 deals with ideal components as much as possible. An ideal component is one that provides just a basic functionality required for component of that type. As a rule, it is very simple and described by a minimal number of parameters. As a result, its behavior is clear and predictable. For example, an ideal switch has zero resistance when closed, infinite resistance when open, and it is switching instantly. For such a switch no parameters are required at all.

Second, non-linear components are represented as piecewise linear (PWL): consisting of a number of linear segments. For instance, a simple diode is either open or closed, so that its PWL representation consists of just two segments. As long as all of the components are staying within their current linear segment, the same system of linear equations can be used. The system is modified only at the moments when at least one component changes its linear segment. This can always be done much faster than solving complex non-linear equations at almost every step of simulation, which is what SPICE-based simulators usually do.