Intersil Introduces iSim Online Design Tool for Op Amps

Intersil Corp. has announced a free, interactive, Web-based tool for selecting and simulating devices from Intersil's broad operational amplifier portfolio. Based on input and output specifications provided by the user, the iSim™ for operational amplifiers tool will find all suitable Intersil devices for a given application. In many cases, simulation is also available for immediate feedback on circuit performance.

Intersil's iSim simulator tool has an applications-based Intersil analog signal processing solution selector with dynamic input fields to match a designer's input and output requirements. Options include inverting and non-inverting gain, transimpedance, differential, and low and high pass filter configurations. All applicable Intersil devices are listed, with many of them available for simulation. When available for simulation, a reference schematic is generated for simulation, based on the designer's specifications.

"Intersil's iSim for operational amplifiers is a comprehensive tool that saves designers time and money by allowing users to verify their design's stability without bread boarding," said Jack Clark, director of Intersil's Central Applications group. "With iSim's online simulator, there is no need to purchase costly simulators, which lowers development costs and speeds time to market. The iSim design suite provides dynamic input fields to enter input and output requirements and offers a selection of configurations to fulfill design needs quickly and efficiently, saving hours of time in the lab."

iSim for operational amplifiers is a two-part tool. First, it contains a dynamic "solution selector" to sort Intersil's portfolio based on the specifications of the application rather than the specifications of the devices themselves. This saves the user a step in determining which Intersil product would best suit the end application. This search function is independent of the simulation side of the tool. Once application specifications are loaded, the sorted devices are displayed with icons indicating which are available for simulation.

The second part of iSim for operational amplifiers is the simulator itself. The simulations run on the well-established SIMetrix®/SIMPLIS® platform, which is based on SPICE. The simulator builds a circuit using the application specifications loaded into the selector, as well as the basic SPICE model for the following analyses: AC analysis (bode plot), transient pulse and transient sine. In addition, the circuit can be downloaded to iSim: PE (personal edition) for offline editing and AC analysis.

Using Intersil's iSim online design tool for operational amplifiers significantly increases likelihood of first-pass success of new op amp designs without the need of a soldering iron. Starting with Intersil's customized op amp models and products, users can modify their design, and then do an online simulation to test the stability of the design by using such tools as AC analysis, transient pulse and transient sine simulations. Intersil's iSim for operational amplifiers tool is free to registered users.