8/23/2017 ConfiguringaDCOperatingPointAnalysisinMultisimNationalInstruments

ConfiguringaDCOperatingPointAnalysisinMultisim
PublishDate:Mar27,2012

Overview
MultisimfeaturesacomprehensivesuiteofSPICEanalysesforexaminingcircuitbehavior.Theseanalysesrangefromthe
basictosophisticated.Eachanalysishelpsyoutoobtainvaluableinformationsuchastheeffectsofcomponenttolerancesand
sensitivities.ForeachanalysisyouneedtosetsettingsthatwillinformMultisimexactlywhattoanalyze,andhow.

Multisimsimplifiestheprocedureforanadvancedanalysisbyprovidingaconfigurationwindow.Thisabstractsawaythe
complexitiesassociatedwithSPICEsyntaxandconfigurationofananalysis.Withthiswindowyoumerelyneedtospecifythe
parametervaluesandoutputnodesofinterest.

ThistutorialispartoftheNationalInstrumentsSPICEAnalysisFundamentalsSeries.
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/12794)Eachtutorialinthisseriesprovidesyouwithstepbystepinstructionsonhow
toconfigureandrunthedifferentSPICEanalysesavailableinMultisim.powerfulsimulationandanalysiswhileabstractingthe
complexityofSPICEsyntax.

TableofContents
1.Introduction
2.RunningDCOperatingPointAnalysis
3.AdditionalResources

1.Introduction
DCOperatingPointAnalysiscalculatesthebehaviorofacircuitwhenaDCvoltageorcurrentisappliedtoit.Theresultof
thisanalysisisgenerallyreferredasthebiaspointorquiescentpoint,Qpoint.Inmostcases,theresultsoftheDCOperating
PointAnalysisareintermediatevaluesforfurtheranalysis.Forexample,inACAnalysis
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/12690),theDCoperatingpointisfirstcalculatedtoobtainlinear,smallsignalmodels
forallnonlinearcomponents(suchadiodesandtransistors).
Assumptions:ACsourcesarezeroedout,capacitorsareopen,inductorsareshorted,digitalcomponentsaretreatedasa
largeresistortoground.
2.RunningDCOperatingPointAnalysis
Inthisexample,wecalculatetheDCvaluegeneratedatthecollector,VC,oftheColpittsoscillatorcircuitshowninFigure1.
Youcangetthisfile,colpitts_oscillator.ms11fromtheDownloadssection.

Figure1.Colpittsoscillatorcircuit.
CompletethefollowingstepstoconfigureandrunaDCOperatingPointAnalysis.
1.SelectSimulateAnalysesDCOperatingPoint.
Note:InSPICE(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5414#toc1),thecommandthatrequestsaDCoperatingpoint
calculationis.OP.Inthiscasetherearenoanalysisparameterstobeset,thereforetheAnalysisParameterstabdoesnot
appear.
2.SelecttheVariablesincircuitlist,selectAllvariablesfromthedropdownlist,andthenhighlightV(vc)fromthelist.
3.ClicktheAddbuttontomovethevariabletotherightsideunderSelectedvariablesforanalysis,asshownbelow.

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Figure2.SettingsfortheDCOperatingPointAnalysis.
4.ClickSimulatetoruntheDCOperatingPointAnalysis.TheGrapherViewwindowopensandpresentstheresultfor
V(vc):

Figure3.GrapherViewresultsfortheDCOperatingPointAnalysis.
ToverifythisresultyouwillanalyzetheColpittsoscillatorcircuitshowninFigure1.KeepinmindthatwhendoingaDC
OperatingPointAnalysis,inductorsareshortedandcapacitorsareopen.Figures4aand4bshowthereducedcircuit.

(a)

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(b)
Figure4.ReducedcircuittocalculatetheDCoperatingpoint.
Usethefollowingexpressionstocalculatethecollectorvoltage,VC:
Dividercurrent:

Basevoltage:

Emittervoltage:

Emittercurrent:

Collectorcurrent:

Collectorvoltage:

Notethatthiscalculation(VC=4.81V)matchestheresultobtainedbytheDCOperatingPointAnalysisinMultisim.
SincetheDCOperatingPointAnalysisisoftenperformedasthefirststepofotheranalyses,itisimportanttoknowhowto
solveconvergenceproblemsandanalysisfailures.RefertotheTroubleshootingDCOperatingPointAnalysisFailures
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/12791)articletolearnmoreaboutit.
3.AdditionalResources
EnteringExpressionsinAnalysesinMultisim(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4169)
SPICEAnalysisFundamentals(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/12794)
CircuitDesignTechnicalLibrary(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5579)
Downloada30DayEvaluationofNIMultisim(http://www.ni.com/multisim/try/)
JointheNICircuitDesignCommunity(http://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/circuit)

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