Proteus and Hi-Tech - software function
Many CAD users dismiss schematic capture as a necessary evil in the process of creating
PCB layout but we have always disputed this point of view. With PCB layout now offering
automation of both component placement and track routing, getting the design into the
computer can often be the most time consuming element of the exercise. And if you use
circuit simulation to develop your ideas, you are going to spend even more time working on
the schematic.
ISIS has been created with this in mind. It has evolved over twelve years research and
development and has been proven by thousands of users worldwide. The strength of its
architecture has allowed us to integrate first conventional graph based simulation and now –
with PROTEUS VSM – interactive circuit simulation into the design environment. For the first
time ever it is possible to draw a complete circuit for a micro-controller based system and then
test it interactively, all from within the same piece of software. Meanwhile, ISIS retains a host
of features aimed at the PCB designer, so that the same design can be exported for production
with ARES or other PCB layout software.
For the educational user and engineering author, ISIS also excels at producing attractive
schematics like you see in the magazines. It provides total control of drawing appearance in
turns of line widths, fill styles, colours and fonts. In addition, a system of templates allows
you to define a ‘house style’ and to copy the appearance of one drawing to another.
Other general features include:
· Runs on Windows 98/Me/2k/XP and later.
· Automatic wire routing and dot placement/removal.
· Powerful tools for selecting objects and assigning their properties.
· Total support for buses including component pins, inter-sheet terminals, module ports
and wires.
· Bill of Materials and Electrical Rules Check reports.
· Netlist outputs to suit all popular PCB layout tools.
LABCENTER ELECTRONICS
For the ‘power user’, ISIS incorporates a number of features which aid in the management of
large designs. Indeed, a number of our customers have used it to produce designs containing
many thousands of components.
· Hierarchical design with support for parameterized component values on sub-circuits.
· Design Global Annotation allowing multiple instances of a sub-circuit to have different
component references.
· Automatic Annotation - the ability to number the components automatically.
· ASCII Data Import - .this facility provides the means to automatically bring component
stock codes and costs into ISIS design or library files where they can then be
incorporated or even totalled up in the Bill of Materials report.
ISIS AND PCB DESIGN
Users of ARES, or indeed other PCB software will find some of the following PCB design
specific features of interest:
· Sheet Global Net Properties which allow you to efficiently define a routing strategy for
all the nets on a given sheet (e.g. a power supply needing POWER width tracks).
· Physical terminals which provide the means to have the pins on a connector scattered
all over a design.
· Support for heterogeneous multi-element devices. For example, a relay device can have
three elements called RELAY:A, RELAY:B and RELAY:C. RELAY:A is the coil whilst
elements B and C are separate contacts. Each element can be placed individually
wherever on the design is most convenient.
· Support for pin-swap and gate-swap. This includes both the ability to specify legal
swaps in the ISIS library parts and the ability to back-annotate changes into a
schematic.
· A visual packaging tool which shows the PCB footprint and its pin numbers alongside
the list of pin names for the schematic part. This facilitates easy and error free
assignment of pin numbers to pin names. In additional, multiple packagings may be
created for a single schematic part.
A full chapter is provided on how to use ISIS and ARES together.
ISIS AND SIMULATION
ISIS provides the development environment for PROTEUS VSM, our revolutionary
interactive system level simulator. This product combines mixed mode circuit simulation,
ISIS
micro-processor models and interactive component models to allow the simulation of
complete micro-controller based designs.
ISIS provides the means to enter the design in the first place, the architecture for real time
interactive simulation and a system for managing the source and object code associated with
each project. In addition, a number of graph objects can be placed on the schematic to enable
conventional time, frequency and swept variable simulation to be performed.
Major features of PROTEUS VSM include:
· True Mixed Mode simulation based on Berkeley SPICE3F5 with extensions for digital
simulation and true mixed mode operation.
· Support for both interactive and graph based simulation.
· CPU Models available for popular microcontrollers such as the PIC and 8051 series.
· Interactive peripheral models include LED and LCD displays, a universal matrix keypad,
an RS232 terminal and a whole library of switches, pots, lamps, LEDs etc.
· Virtual Instruments include voltmeters, ammeters, a dual beam oscilloscope and a 24
channel logic analyser.
· On-screen graphing - the graphs are placed directly on the schematic just like any other
object. Graphs can be maximised to a full screen mode for cursor based measurement
and so forth.
· Graph Based Analysis types include transient, frequency, noise, distortion, AC and DC
sweeps and fourier transform. An Audio graph allows playback of simulated waveforms.
· Direct support for analogue component models in SPICE format.
· Open architecture for ‘plug in’ component models coded in C++ or other languages.
These can be electrical., graphical or a combination of the two.
· Digital simulator includes a BASIC-like programming language for modelling and test
vector generation.
· A design created for simulation can also be used to generate a netlist for creating a PCB
- there is no need to enter the design a second time.
Full details of all these features and much more are provided in the PROTEUS VSM manual.
LABCENTER ELECTRONICS
ISIS AND NETWORKS
ISIS is fully network compatible, and offers the following features to help Network Managers:
· Library files can be set to Read Only. This prevents users from messing with symbols or
devices that may be used by others.
· ISIS individual user configuration in the windows registry. Since the registry determines
the location of library files, it follows that users can have individual USERDVC.LIB files
in their personal or group directories.
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENTATION
This manual is intended to complement the information provided in the on-line help. Whereas
the manual contains background information and tutorials, the help provides context
sensitive information related to specific icons, commands and dialog forms. Help on most
objects in the user interface can be obtained by pointing with the mouse and pressing F1.
ISIS is a vast and tremendously powerful piece of software and it is unreasonable to expect to
master all of it at once. However, the basics of how to enter a straightforward circuit diagram
and create your own components are extremely simple and the techniques required for these
tasks can be mastered most quickly by following the tutorial given in Tutorial on page 5. We
strongly recommend that you work through this as it will save you time in the long run.
With some of the more advanced aspects of the package, you are probably going to find
some of the concepts are new, let alone the details of how ISIS handles them. Each area of the
software has been given a chapter of its own, and we generally start by explaining the
background theory before going into the operation and use of the relevant features. You will
thus find it well worthwhile reading the introductory sections rather than jumping straight to
the how-to bits.
Many CAD users dismiss schematic capture as a necessary evil in the process of creating
PCB layout but we have always disputed this point of view. With PCB layout now offering
automation of both component placement and track routing, getting the design into the
computer can often be the most time consuming element of the exercise. And if you use
circuit simulation to develop your ideas, you are going to spend even more time working on
the schematic.
ISIS has been created with this in mind. It has evolved over twelve years research and
development and has been proven by thousands of users worldwide. The strength of its
architecture has allowed us to integrate first conventional graph based simulation and now –
with PROTEUS VSM – interactive circuit simulation into the design environment. For the first
time ever it is possible to draw a complete circuit for a micro-controller based system and then
test it interactively, all from within the same piece of software. Meanwhile, ISIS retains a host
of features aimed at the PCB designer, so that the same design can be exported for production
with ARES or other PCB layout software.
For the educational user and engineering author, ISIS also excels at producing attractive
schematics like you see in the magazines. It provides total control of drawing appearance in
turns of line widths, fill styles, colours and fonts. In addition, a system of templates allows
you to define a ‘house style’ and to copy the appearance of one drawing to another.
Other general features include:
· Runs on Windows 98/Me/2k/XP and later.
· Automatic wire routing and dot placement/removal.
· Powerful tools for selecting objects and assigning their properties.
· Total support for buses including component pins, inter-sheet terminals, module ports
and wires.
· Bill of Materials and Electrical Rules Check reports.
· Netlist outputs to suit all popular PCB layout tools.
LABCENTER ELECTRONICS
For the ‘power user’, ISIS incorporates a number of features which aid in the management of
large designs. Indeed, a number of our customers have used it to produce designs containing
many thousands of components.
· Hierarchical design with support for parameterized component values on sub-circuits.
· Design Global Annotation allowing multiple instances of a sub-circuit to have different
component references.
· Automatic Annotation - the ability to number the components automatically.
· ASCII Data Import - .this facility provides the means to automatically bring component
stock codes and costs into ISIS design or library files where they can then be
incorporated or even totalled up in the Bill of Materials report.
ISIS AND PCB DESIGN
Users of ARES, or indeed other PCB software will find some of the following PCB design
specific features of interest:
· Sheet Global Net Properties which allow you to efficiently define a routing strategy for
all the nets on a given sheet (e.g. a power supply needing POWER width tracks).
· Physical terminals which provide the means to have the pins on a connector scattered
all over a design.
· Support for heterogeneous multi-element devices. For example, a relay device can have
three elements called RELAY:A, RELAY:B and RELAY:C. RELAY:A is the coil whilst
elements B and C are separate contacts. Each element can be placed individually
wherever on the design is most convenient.
· Support for pin-swap and gate-swap. This includes both the ability to specify legal
swaps in the ISIS library parts and the ability to back-annotate changes into a
schematic.
· A visual packaging tool which shows the PCB footprint and its pin numbers alongside
the list of pin names for the schematic part. This facilitates easy and error free
assignment of pin numbers to pin names. In additional, multiple packagings may be
created for a single schematic part.
A full chapter is provided on how to use ISIS and ARES together.
ISIS AND SIMULATION
ISIS provides the development environment for PROTEUS VSM, our revolutionary
interactive system level simulator. This product combines mixed mode circuit simulation,
ISIS
micro-processor models and interactive component models to allow the simulation of
complete micro-controller based designs.
ISIS provides the means to enter the design in the first place, the architecture for real time
interactive simulation and a system for managing the source and object code associated with
each project. In addition, a number of graph objects can be placed on the schematic to enable
conventional time, frequency and swept variable simulation to be performed.
Major features of PROTEUS VSM include:
· True Mixed Mode simulation based on Berkeley SPICE3F5 with extensions for digital
simulation and true mixed mode operation.
· Support for both interactive and graph based simulation.
· CPU Models available for popular microcontrollers such as the PIC and 8051 series.
· Interactive peripheral models include LED and LCD displays, a universal matrix keypad,
an RS232 terminal and a whole library of switches, pots, lamps, LEDs etc.
· Virtual Instruments include voltmeters, ammeters, a dual beam oscilloscope and a 24
channel logic analyser.
· On-screen graphing - the graphs are placed directly on the schematic just like any other
object. Graphs can be maximised to a full screen mode for cursor based measurement
and so forth.
· Graph Based Analysis types include transient, frequency, noise, distortion, AC and DC
sweeps and fourier transform. An Audio graph allows playback of simulated waveforms.
· Direct support for analogue component models in SPICE format.
· Open architecture for ‘plug in’ component models coded in C++ or other languages.
These can be electrical., graphical or a combination of the two.
· Digital simulator includes a BASIC-like programming language for modelling and test
vector generation.
· A design created for simulation can also be used to generate a netlist for creating a PCB
- there is no need to enter the design a second time.
Full details of all these features and much more are provided in the PROTEUS VSM manual.
LABCENTER ELECTRONICS
ISIS AND NETWORKS
ISIS is fully network compatible, and offers the following features to help Network Managers:
· Library files can be set to Read Only. This prevents users from messing with symbols or
devices that may be used by others.
· ISIS individual user configuration in the windows registry. Since the registry determines
the location of library files, it follows that users can have individual USERDVC.LIB files
in their personal or group directories.
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENTATION
This manual is intended to complement the information provided in the on-line help. Whereas
the manual contains background information and tutorials, the help provides context
sensitive information related to specific icons, commands and dialog forms. Help on most
objects in the user interface can be obtained by pointing with the mouse and pressing F1.
ISIS is a vast and tremendously powerful piece of software and it is unreasonable to expect to
master all of it at once. However, the basics of how to enter a straightforward circuit diagram
and create your own components are extremely simple and the techniques required for these
tasks can be mastered most quickly by following the tutorial given in Tutorial on page 5. We
strongly recommend that you work through this as it will save you time in the long run.
With some of the more advanced aspects of the package, you are probably going to find
some of the concepts are new, let alone the details of how ISIS handles them. Each area of the
software has been given a chapter of its own, and we generally start by explaining the
background theory before going into the operation and use of the relevant features. You will
thus find it well worthwhile reading the introductory sections rather than jumping straight to
the how-to bits.
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