Good Afternoon, I just had a few general questions about SPICE. I am curious if parameters for one SPICE program might be named differently in another. I'd also be interested in knowing whether a "converter" exists for translating one version to another (ex. PSPICE to Xspice and vice versa).
Best regards, Fahad
Yes, Fahad, unfortunately there are differences. The differences tend to be largest between programs based on SPICE2 and those based on SPICE3, but even among those based on a single version there are differences. Some of the "value added" to justify charging money for SPICE simulators is in added capability, and if a simulation takes advantage of that added capability, it's almost certainly not going to be the same in some other version of SPICE.
A lot of models such as op amp behavioral models supplied by op amp manufacturers use syntax specific to SPICE2, and require conversion to work properly in SPICE3 based programs. I once tried a program that claimed to do the conversion, but was disappointed that it didn't get everything right. Maybe by now there exists something more reliable. I'd rather just to the conversion "by hand" than try to straighten out something that a converter got wrong!
Cheers, Tom
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