John, I'm sure that you have heard the old saw about 3 kind of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Modern science has added a 4th kind of lie : spreadsheets. ;-) That having been said, I use spreadsheets extensively, with HSPICE-extracted buffer and trace delays for board-level timing analysis. Spreadsheets are a great example of a DIGO unless they are well-constructed and reviewed. DIGO? Data In, Garbage Out. I've been burned by failure to thoroughly review the design of such a spreadsheet. Once burned, twice cautious. Regards Mike John Thomas wrote: > I've performed some simple signal propogation/loading analysis with > Excel and another engineer later reproduced the findings with PSPICE. > I've also performed a 2D field analysis using the iterative calculation > functionality of Excel. The graphic representation was nice. > > A background heavy in reliability engineering has taught me the value of > the spreadsheet as a tool for engineering analysis, starting with an > early version of Lotus 1-2-3 (1985 or so). More recent experience has > pulled on that knowledge to use it heavily in production yield analysis > and machine/process throughput models. Learning the power tools, > especially the analysis package and the VB macro language, has made > Excel my most-used tool. > > John Thomas > > -----Original Message----- > From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] > On Behalf Of Ray Anderson > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 10:45 AM > To: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [SI-LIST] Using general purpose computer tools to solve SI > problems > > > Engineers quite often utilize specialized software to solve specialized > problems in their work. A few general examples of these tools might be:=20 > spice simulators, field solvers, model generators, netlist generators > etc. The list goes on and on. > > As has been discussed recently, sometimes more general purpose computing > tools such as spreadsheets can be used to advantage to solve engineering > problems if applied appropriately. In the example of the spreadsheet, > even though the most common use of the tool is to automate 'book > keeping' functions, beneath the hood lives a powerful math engine and > graphics interface. Quite often those intrinsic qualities of the tool > can be utilized in imaginative ways to solve engineering problems that > would otherwise require specialized software that might not be available > to the user. > > The non-availability might be due to the fact that the type of problem > to be solved is uncommon enough that acquisition of a special tool > isn't cost effective, that a commercial tool is cost prohibitive, or > perhaps that a tool designed to solve some particular problem just does > not exist. > > I was wondering if list members might share (the concept, not > necessarily the tool) examples of innovative uses of general purpose > computing tools to solve problems that they've either used or seen > used. > > To start off, I'll volunteer the use of an Excel spreadsheet to > recursively calculate the DC drop on a PCB from the VRM to the core > power pins of a CPU packaged in a BGA package accounting for PCB > cutouts, swiss-cheesing effects of anti-vias etc. There have recently > become available elegant commercial tools that very accurately deal with > this problem, however, in the past the problem of determining and > visualizing these distributed voltage drops accurately (or even > inaccurately) has been problematic. > > One other example, although not strictly SI related, is a shareware > application a friend of mine developed called MultiNEC. Based on the > Excel spreadsheet and utilizing the VB macro capability of that tool, it > performs pre and post processing functions for NEC (Numerical > Electromagnetic Code) simulations. It allows antenna geometries to be > defined and then it generates the appropriate input decks for the > simulator. It also analyzes and graphically plots the results from the > NEC solve engine. Interface from the spreadsheet to the NEC simulator is > seamless. There are many other capabilities integrated as well which all > depend on the spreadsheet framework. > > I for one, would be interested in learning of other interesting > applications of general purpose computing tools that engineers have come > up with to deal with SI and other engineering problems. If anyone > actually wants to share a particular tool that would be great, but just > the general knowledge of what has been or can be done may provide the > impetus for others to develop their own applications. > > > -Ray Anderson > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To unsubscribe from si-list: > si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field > > or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: > //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list > > For help: > si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field > > List FAQ wiki page is located at: > http://si-list.org/wiki/wiki.pl?Si-List_FAQ > > List technical documents are available at: > http://www.si-list.org > > List archives are viewable at: =20 > //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list > or at our remote archives: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages > Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: > http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu > =20 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To unsubscribe from si-list: > si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field > > or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: > //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list > > For help: > si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field > > List FAQ wiki page is located at: > http://si-list.org/wiki/wiki.pl?Si-List_FAQ > > List technical documents are available at: > http://www.si-list.org > > List archives are viewable at: > //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list > or at our remote archives: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages > Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: > http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List FAQ wiki page is located at: http://si-list.org/wiki/wiki.pl?Si-List_FAQ List technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.org List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list or at our remote archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu