A netlist-based realtime audio circuit simulator
I recommend to obtain the dependencies through your distribution's package manager (Ubuntu has JACK on the default repo and the DBUS version on some PPAs, arch linux also has most of the dependencies on the default repo, and the rest can be installed from AUR). The JACK configuration can be tricky if your distribution depends on PulseAudio, however, the D-Bus version should make it easier to setup.
Once all dependencies are installed, git clone --recurse-submodules this
repository into a directory of your choice, create a build directory
mkdir build, configure the project with cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
and make it. Should compilation succeed, you can check that the simulation
works with the compiled tests and run the program with ./rtspice and you'll
be greeted with the blank entry screen:
You may then open a netlist file (.net extension), and if the netlist has a proper syntax, you should see the simulation screen:
Basic information, such as the circuit's name, the number of nonzero elements in the modified admittance matrix and the number of modified nodes can be seen top left.
Information regarding JACK processing load, ports and connections lies top right. Once you've chosen the appropriate input and output connections, press 'Activate' to begin simulation.
For circuits containing parametrized components (i.e. variable resistors, capacitors or inductors), knobs will be visible on the bottom of the screen. The 'Log' checkbox switches the knob control pattern from linear to logarithmic.
Traditional circuit simulation programs are based on modified nodal analysis, where the node voltages and some branch currents are the unknowns in a (usually sparse) linear system, and can be obtained through regular linear system solvers.
Circuits that contain dynamic components such as capacitors require modelling of the dynamic behavior based on some integration method, being reduced to sources and time-varying resistances. For now, we use trapezoidal integration for both capacitors and inductors.
Circuits that contain nonlinear components require solving a nonlinear system of equations, however using the Newton-Raphson method, this also reduces to solving iterations of linear systems.
Based on this, this program provides an interface for a computer's audio ports to act as signal sources or measurements for electronic circuits. A difficulty arises in the needed time to solve said linear systems rapidly enough to keep up with the sound samples: for instance, a 44.100 kHz sampling rate requires the solution to be calculated in less than 23 μs. Considering this, it can be expected this software to work better with modest-sized circuits, however, the actual size you'll be able to consistently simulate will depend on your hardware.
The circuits are described through a netlist, representing which components should be added and which nodes the components are connected to. Our netlist syntax is similar but not exactly the same as SPICE's:
- The first line of the netlist is a special comment containing the circuit name:
My little circuit
- Lines beginning with asterisks(*) are considered comments and are ignored:
- *Some witty comment
- The rest of the lines are considered statements and go towards the circuit definition:
RL 0 1 2.2k
- Multiline statements can be made prepending the sequenced lines with
+:Vin NODE_A NODE_B+EXT IN
The currently supported components are listed below:
| Component Type | Syntax | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC Voltage | V{ID} {NODE+} {NODE-} DC {VALUE} |
Vcc 1 0 DC 12 |
VALUE in Volts |
| Sinusoidal Voltage | V{ID} {NODE+} {NODE-} SINE {AMPLITUDE} {FREQUENCY} {PHASE} |
Vac p 0 SINE 120 60 0 |
AMPLITUDE in Volts, FREQUENCY in Hertz and PHASE in degrees |
| External Voltage | V{ID} {NODE+} {NODE-} EXT {INPUT} |
VIN 1 0 EXT INPUT |
INPUT defines the name of an input port to be connected |
| DC Current | I{ID} {NODE+} {NODE-} DC {VALUE} |
Ibias b 0 DC 1u |
VALUE in Amperes, flows from NODE+ to NODE- |
| Sinusoidal Current | I{ID} {NODE+} {NODE-} SINE {AMPLITUDE} {FREQUENCY} {PHASE} |
If p 0 SINE 1n 10k 90 |
AMPLITUDE in Amperes, FREQUENCY in Hertz and PHASE in degrees |
| External Current | I{ID} {NODE+} {NODE-} EXT {INPUT} |
IIN 1 0 EXT I_INPUT |
INPUT defines the name of an input port to be connected |
| Linear Voltage Amplifier | E{ID} {OUT+} {OUT-} {IN+} {IN-} {Av} |
E1 0 x 1 0 100 |
|
| Linear Current Amplifier | F{ID} {OUT+} {OUT-} {IN+} {IN-} {Ai} |
F1 2 9 h u -3 |
|
| Linear Transconductance | G{ID} {OUT+} {OUT-} {IN+} {IN-} {Gm} |
G1 6 0 1 0 10u |
Gm in Siemens |
| Linear Transresistance | H{ID} {OUT+} {OUT-} {IN+} {IN-} {Rm} |
H5 8 0 t u -3 |
Rm in Ohms |
| Linear Resistor | R{ID} {NODE_A} {NODE_B} {VALUE} |
Rload 0 X 22k |
VALUE in Ohms |
| Variable Resistor | R{ID} {NODE_A} {NODE_B} EXT {MAX_VALUE} {PARAM} |
Rvol OUT 0 EXT 500k Volume |
MAX_VALUE in Ohms, PARAM defines the name of a knob |
| Linear Capacitor | C{ID} {NODE_A} {NODE_B} {VALUE} |
Rbypass 23 A 10u |
VALUE in Farads |
| Linear Inductor | L{ID} {NODE_A} {NODE_B} {VALUE} |
Lchoke vcc c 10m |
VALUE in Henrys |
| Ideal OPAMP | U{ID} {OUT+} {OUT-} {IN+} {IN-} OPAMP |
U1 out 0 in out OPAMP |
Usually, OUT- should be grounded |
| Basic Diode | D{ID} {ANODE} {CATHODE} IS={IS} N={N} |
D1 cut 0 IS=4.3n N=1.9 |
IS is saturation current in Amperes, N is the emission coefficient |
| Bipolar NPN | Q{ID} {COLLECTOR} {BASE} {EMITTER} NPN IS={IS} BF={BF} BR={BR} |
Q1 c b e NPN IS=3.84e-14 BF=324.4 BR=8.29 |
BF is forward beta, BR is reverse beta |
| Bipolar PNP | Q{ID} {COLLECTOR} {BASE} {EMITTER} PNP IS={IS} BF={BF} BR={BR} |
Q1 c b e PNP IS=3.84e-14 BF=324.4 BR=8.29 |
|
| PROBE | PROBE {NODE} |
PROBE OUT |
PROBE is how output variables are defined. For each PROBEd node, an output port becomes available to the user |
The netlist not only describes the circuit, but it also defines where the inputs
are located. For each different {INPUT} for external voltages and currents, an
input port will be available to connection, corresponding to that given source.
For potentiometers, each different {PARAM} corresponds to a knob that will be
available on the control screen.
For the outputs, the special component PROBE marks a node voltage (or branch current)
that will serve as an output port for the system.
-
Proper potentiometer
- Currently one can emulate a potentiometer: Rpot X Y Z POT VAL PARAM as:
RpotX X @XY VAL
RpotY @XY Y EXT -VAL PARAM
RpotZ Y Z EXT VAL PARAM
- Currently one can emulate a potentiometer: Rpot X Y Z POT VAL PARAM as:
-
Subcircuit models (i.e. compensated OPAMP)
-
JFET and MOSFETs
-
Nonlinear dynamic components
-
A graphical circuit editor