Introduction to PSPICE Using Orcad for Circuits and Electronics, 3rd Edition [Book Review]
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■ 26 IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE ■ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 INTRODUCTION TO PSPICE USING ORCAD FOR CIRCUITS AND ELECTRONICS, 3RD EDITION By Muhammad H. Rashid, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2004. The use of circuit simulation pro- grams is widespread, not only in indus- trial environments and advanced academic courses on electrical or elec- tronic computer-assisted design (ECAD) techniques, but also in introductory- level academic (or continuing educa- tion) courses to supplement classical “paper and pencil” work. Therefore, there is an obvious need for both stu- dent version (freeware, possibly) simula- tion programs and books explaining the basic concepts involved in their practical use for the analysis of the electrical and/or electronic circuits under study. As a consequence, a number of books have been published in past decades with that aim (usually with a student version simulation program attached), most of which related to the well known simulator UCB-SPICE and/or its most widespread PC-platform implementa- tion: PSpice (originally developed by MicroSim, then incorporated by OrCAD, and now owned by Cadence). Among such books, there is also the one here reviewed, written by Prof. M.H. Rashid and edited by Pearson Education for Prentice-Hall. Indeed, it is the third (revised) edition of a previously (1995) published book titled SPICE for Circuits and Electronics Using PSpice, and its stated goal is to provide the ECAD- novice reader (undergraduate student or electronics enthusiast) with all the basic information needed to make a start-up with the use of the OrCAD-Cadence sim- ulation suite, which incorporates the PSpice simulation engine and whose 9.2 student version (Lite) is included in the CD-ROM provided with the book. As such, it proposes itself as an introducto- ry textbook on circuit simulation, “to supplement standard textbooks on basic circuits or electronics” in courses where (P)SPICE is a pre- or a co-requisite. The book is comprised of a preface, an author’s biography, 11 chapters, seven appendices, a general bibliogra- phy, and an analytical Index, for a total of 474 pages. All chapters, except the introduc- tion, start with a concise list of abilities that it is assumed will be acquired after reading that chapter, and they end with a list of references and a set of problems (without solution) provided to the read- er to further extend and/or practically exercise the knowledge gained so far, respectively. The typographical quality of this (softbound) book is quite satisfactory. Text fonts are very well selected, only minor typos have been found (most of which are identifiable and correctable by unskilled readers), and nearly all figures are of high quality (with the only noticeable exception of Fig. 4.17.b, which should be replaced as soon as possible). Overall, this book is informative and clearly written, and it can be safely stat- ed that going through it would provide any novice in the field with the basic skills needed to start using the PSpice- OrCAD “Design Center” suite for circuit simulation purposes. Furthermore, the professional experience of Prof. Rashid is apparent in the choice of examples, and their “tutorial” nature constitutes an added bonus for the student reader. As such, the book can actually be sug- gested as a first reading on circuit sim- ulation to undergraduate students (or practitioners) that need a fast and smooth start-up with circuit simula- tion, when intended as a complemen- tary tool for other electrical or electronic engineering courses. On the other hand, since only minimal infor- mation on (P)SPICE embedded numeri- cal algorithms is included in the book, it does not lend itself to be adopted— alone, at least—in graduate and/or ECAD-specific courses, where a full understanding of the capabilities and limitations of “SPICE-like” circuit sim- ulation tools is one of the main goals. Before concluding the review, there is, however, a practical problem that must be brought to the attention of any potential buyer of the book. The prob- lem concerns the specific software dis- tributed with the book. In fact, throughout the book, reference is made to the graphical user interface provided by them “PSpice Schematic” (version 9.1) program which is not on the annexed CD-ROM, and, unfortunately, and contrarily to what stated in the book, it is no longer downloadable from the Cadence Web site. Since the down- loading (after registration) of the cur- rent version 10.0 of “PSpice Schematic” from the Cadence Web site would not solve the problem (it does work only in conjunction with the full production version 10.0 of OrCAD-PSpice A/D and not with the downloadable student ver- sion 10.0), only two workarounds are possible to the general reader. The first is to look-for, download, and install the 9.1 version of the PSpice-OrCAD “Design Center” suite (in place of the 9.2 “OrCAD Lite” version on the annexed CD-ROM), which is still available in a number of (university) file servers on the Net and which does contain both “PSpice Schematic” and “OrCAD Cap- ture” user interfaces. The second possi- bility is to “translate” the information spread out in the book on the use of “PSpice Schematic” into an “OrCAD Capture” equivalent one, exploiting at best the information available in Appendix B. Clearly, none of the two solutions is optimal from the book’s reader/buyer point of view, who might expect—from a book with such a title— to learn not only basic ECAD concepts and (P)SPICE syntax rules, but also spe- cific and up-to-date information on the current version of the OrCAD suite. Enrico F. Calandra Electrical Engineering Dept. Palermo University, Italy ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLES, DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS By I. Husain, CRC Press, 2003. The author of this book stated in the preface that conventional automobiles are the integral part of everyday life. Yet conventional automobiles are the major cause of urban pollution. It is, thus, very important to search for alternative sources of energy and means of trans- portation. This book, and a number of other books of the same title, propose to use electric and hybrid vehicles as a temporary solution. The object of this book is to describe the fundamentals of 8755-3996/05/$20.00 ©2005 IEEE
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■ 26 IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE ■ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005
INTRODUCTION TO PSPICEUSING ORCAD FOR CIRCUITS
AND ELECTRONICS, 3RD EDITION By Muhammad H. Rashid, PearsonPrentice-Hall, 2004.
The use of circuit simulation pro-grams is widespread, not only in indus-trial environments and advancedacademic courses on electrical or elec-tronic computer-assisted design (ECAD)techniques, but also in introductory-level academic (or continuing educa-tion) courses to supplement classical“paper and pencil” work. Therefore,there is an obvious need for both stu-dent version (freeware, possibly) simula-tion programs and books explaining thebasic concepts involved in their practicaluse for the analysis of the electricaland/or electronic circuits under study.
As a consequence, a number of bookshave been published in past decadeswith that aim (usually with a studentversion simulation program attached),most of which related to the well knownsimulator UCB-SPICE and/or its mostwidespread PC-platform implementa-tion: PSpice (originally developed byMicroSim, then incorporated by OrCAD,and now owned by Cadence). Amongsuch books, there is also the one herereviewed, written by Prof. M.H. Rashidand edited by Pearson Education forPrentice-Hall. Indeed, it is the third(revised) edition of a previously (1995)published book titled SPICE for Circuitsand Electronics Using PSpice, and itsstated goal is to provide the ECAD-novice reader (undergraduate student orelectronics enthusiast) with all the basicinformation needed to make a start-upwith the use of the OrCAD-Cadence sim-ulation suite, which incorporates thePSpice simulation engine and whose 9.2student version (Lite) is included in theCD-ROM provided with the book. Assuch, it proposes itself as an introducto-ry textbook on circuit simulation, “tosupplement standard textbooks on basiccircuits or electronics” in courses where(P)SPICE is a pre- or a co-requisite.
The book is comprised of a preface,an author’s biography, 11 chapters,seven appendices, a general bibliogra-phy, and an analytical Index, for a totalof 474 pages.
All chapters, except the introduc-tion, start with a concise list of abilitiesthat it is assumed will be acquired afterreading that chapter, and they end witha list of references and a set of problems(without solution) provided to the read-er to further extend and/or practicallyexercise the knowledge gained so far,respectively.
The typographical quality of this(softbound) book is quite satisfactory.Text fonts are very well selected, onlyminor typos have been found (most ofwhich are identifiable and correctableby unskilled readers), and nearly allfigures are of high quality (with theonly noticeable exception of Fig.4.17.b, which should be replaced assoon as possible).
Overall, this book is informative andclearly written, and it can be safely stat-ed that going through it would provideany novice in the field with the basicskills needed to start using the PSpice-OrCAD “Design Center” suite for circuitsimulation purposes. Furthermore, theprofessional experience of Prof. Rashidis apparent in the choice of examples,and their “tutorial” nature constitutesan added bonus for the student reader.As such, the book can actually be sug-gested as a first reading on circuit sim-ulation to undergraduate students (orpractitioners) that need a fast andsmooth start-up with circuit simula-tion, when intended as a complemen-tary tool for other electrical orelectronic engineering courses. On theother hand, since only minimal infor-mation on (P)SPICE embedded numeri-cal algorithms is included in the book,it does not lend itself to be adopted—alone, at least—in graduate and/orECAD-specific courses, where a fullunderstanding of the capabilities andlimitations of “SPICE-like” circuit sim-ulation tools is one of the main goals.
Before concluding the review, thereis, however, a practical problem thatmust be brought to the attention of anypotential buyer of the book. The prob-lem concerns the specific software dis-tributed with the book. In fact,throughout the book, reference is madeto the graphical user interface providedby them “PSpice Schematic” (version
9.1) program which is not on theannexed CD-ROM, and, unfortunately,and contrarily to what stated in thebook, it is no longer downloadable fromthe Cadence Web site. Since the down-loading (after registration) of the cur-rent version 10.0 of “PSpice Schematic”from the Cadence Web site would notsolve the problem (it does work only inconjunction with the full productionversion 10.0 of OrCAD-PSpice A/D andnot with the downloadable student ver-sion 10.0), only two workarounds arepossible to the general reader. The firstis to look-for, download, and install the9.1 version of the PSpice-OrCAD“Design Center” suite (in place of the 9.2“OrCAD Lite” version on the annexedCD-ROM), which is still available in anumber of (university) file servers onthe Net and which does contain both“PSpice Schematic” and “OrCAD Cap-ture” user interfaces. The second possi-bility is to “translate” the informationspread out in the book on the use of“PSpice Schematic” into an “OrCADCapture” equivalent one, exploiting atbest the information available inAppendix B. Clearly, none of the twosolutions is optimal from the book’sreader/buyer point of view, who mightexpect—from a book with such a title—to learn not only basic ECAD conceptsand (P)SPICE syntax rules, but also spe-cific and up-to-date information on thecurrent version of the OrCAD suite.
Enrico F. CalandraElectrical Engineering Dept.
Palermo University, Italy
ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLES,DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS
By I. Husain, CRC Press, 2003. The author of this book stated in the
preface that conventional automobilesare the integral part of everyday life. Yetconventional automobiles are the majorcause of urban pollution. It is, thus, veryimportant to search for alternativesources of energy and means of trans-portation. This book, and a number ofother books of the same title, propose touse electric and hybrid vehicles as atemporary solution. The object of thisbook is to describe the fundamentals of
8755-3996/05/$20.00 ©2005 IEEE
