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If you are interested in electronics, history, or simple amazing stories, you will enjoy this podcast interview with our Moore’s Lobby host, Daniel Bogdanoff. Mike Engelhardt has been developing simulation tools since 1975. He is best known for creating LTspice, which is believed to be the most widely distributed and used SPICE analog electronic circuit simulator in the world.
Recently, he realized that he could take advantage of the massive improvements in both hardware and software to develop a radically improved circuit simulation engine; thus, QSPICE was born. Engelhardt explains how he created a better SPICE tool that could dramatically increase simulation speed while simultaneously improving functionality, accuracy, and reliability.
QSPICE speeds simulation for analog and mixed-signal circuits. Image used courtesy of Qorvo [click to enlarge]
As you will hear, Mike’s amazing career includes developing simulation tools for applications as diverse as scanning electron microscopes and locating underground petroleum deposits. Here are a few more teasers about what you will hear in this far-ranging discussion with Engelhardt:
- The biggest early roadblock to simulation adoption in the EE world.
- Why simulations are more important than hardware to an engineer.
- The importance of time-domain simulation.
- Insights into QSPICE for power simulation of wide bandgap semiconductors like GaN and SiC.
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Meet Mike Engelhardt
Mike Engelhardt is the Managing Member of Marcus Aurelius Software. He has delivered seminars on SPICE simulation in 48 countries and continues to contribute to the development, oversight, and teaching of QSPICE.
From 1998 to 2019, Mike was the Director of Simulation Development at Linear Technology (now Analog Devices) where he oversaw the creation and continued development of LTspice, the most widely distributed and used implementation of SPICE.
Mike has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Michigan and a Master’s in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He has multiple patents in circuit simulation and power supply design.
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I was impressed with the features in Qspice but disappointed with the limited library parts and lack of error log help. Ideal switches always execute faster so it’s hard to compare the performance. Without a large library, it isn’t useful for me.
Very interesting the association between circuit simulators and compilers. I would have asked why it is not available an online version of QSPICE, as it is for compilers.
The problem for me is the highly clunky user interface, that looks and works as if it was designed for use over a teletype.
I want a virtual circuit to operate as in real life, except with a wide range of running speeds, including stopped, or “frozen”.
On the circuit diagram, I want to be able to attach multiple virtual instruments - ‘scopes, voltmeters, current monitors, Fourier analysers, etc etc.
Considering how long the admittedly brilliant SPICE has been around, it’s astounding to me that no-one seems to have demanded a commensurate user experience.