JP4268744B2 - Device development support system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device development support system that supports the creation of specifications of a specific device that forms a part of an electronic circuit, and is a technique that is particularly effective when applied to ordering and development of coil devices such as transformers and inductances.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In designing an electronic circuit, a circuit designer designates specifications of various devices used in the circuit in order to obtain a predetermined function and performance. The specification items differ depending on the type of device. For example, there are specification items such as resistance value and wattage for resistance elements and capacitance and withstand voltage for capacitors. For active devices such as power MOS transistors, threshold values, maximum ratings, and the like are specification items.
As described above, each device constituting the electronic circuit has specification items specific to the device, and many types are derived for each type of device. In the case of electronic devices, most of the varieties are provided as standard products or ready-made products. For this reason, designing such a standard product or ready-made product to be used as much as possible is advantageous for shortening the development period and reducing the cost. For this reason, circuit designers usually perform circuit design on the assumption that standard products or off-the-shelf products are used.
[0003]
However, for a specific device such as a coil device such as a transformer or an inductor, it may be advantageous in terms of performance and cost to use a custom product (custom product) rather than a standard product or an existing product. In addition, there is a circuit that cannot realize a predetermined function unless it is a custom product. In this case, the circuit designer presents the specifications to the manufacturer specializing in the specific device and custom-orders the custom product. The specialized manufacturer develops the specific device based on the specifications presented by the circuit designer.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
For example, in the case of coil devices such as transformers and inductances, there are a wide variety of specification items, and in order to determine each specification item in detail, specialized technology different from circuit design is required. For this reason, it is difficult for a specific device to draw out highly accurate specifications from the circuit designer, that is, the orderer.
[0005]
Therefore, in order-to-order development of a specific device such as a coil device, it is not expected that the final device specification will be determined by only one order meeting, and in many cases, it is based on provisional specifications from customers. Trial and error work was done to narrow down the final specifications while repeating trial production at the factory and mounting tests at the customer site. As a result, it took a lot of time and effort to obtain the final product after receiving an inquiry from the customer.
[0006]
In addition, recent circuit design is often performed using a circuit simulator such as SPICE (Simulation Program Intensified Circuit Emphasis), but the creation of a circuit model (net list) to be analyzed and executed by this circuit simulator is also an element of trial and error. In addition, the simulation model (component) for a specific device to be linked (linked) to this circuit model requires specialized techniques different from the circuit design as in the actual product. Therefore, even if a circuit designer uses a circuit simulator, the above-described problem still occurs with respect to a specific device such as a coil device.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to greatly simplify and shorten the trial-and-error process when narrowing down the specifications of a specific device such as a coil device. It is to provide a device development support system capable of promptly determining a highly accurate device specification at a business negotiation site and greatly shortening the circuit and device development period.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As means for solving the above-described problems, the present invention provides the following means.
That is, the present invention is a device development support system that supports the creation of specifications of a specific device that forms part of an electronic circuit by computer processing, and includes the following (1) to (5).
(1) A circuit simulator for analyzing the operation of an electronic circuit including the specific device as a component by using a simulation circuit model describing the electronic circuit.
(2) A circuit library that stores a plurality of types of simulation model circuit models that include the specific device as a component and whose operation has been confirmed in advance so that the analysis by the circuit simulator is possible.
(3) Data management means for selectively reading out the model circuit model stored in the circuit library and causing the circuit simulator to perform analysis.
(4) Design support means for supporting specification creation of the specific device.
(5) Data conversion means for converting a device specification created under the support of the design support means into a simulation device model and connecting it to an electronic circuit model to be analyzed and executed by the circuit simulator.
[0009]
According to the above means, it is possible to create a device specification in a form that immediately responds to a circuit designer's request at a business negotiation site at the customer, and the device of the created specification is confirmed by a model circuit model whose operation has been confirmed in advance. The simulation can be verified immediately. This greatly simplifies and shortens the trial and error process when narrowing down the specifications of a specific device such as a coil device, and promptly determines a highly accurate device specification at the business negotiation site at the customer, Circuit and device development time can be greatly reduced.
[0010]
The above means is particularly effective when the specific device is a coil device such as a transformer or an inductor. As the circuit simulator, SPICE, which is a general-purpose simulator, can be used. In addition, if communication interface means for sending device specifications created under the support of the design support means as communication data is provided, the device specifications created at the negotiation site are sent to the manufacturing site (factory) for trial or production. Start-up can be accelerated. Furthermore, the above-mentioned device development support system is arranged at the order reception site (business negotiation site) and the device manufacturing site (factory), respectively, and both are configured to be capable of two-way communication via a communication line. It is possible for both the order site and the manufacturing site to participate in the study, thereby further improving the specification accuracy and shortening the development period.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, typical embodiments of the above-described solving means will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a device development support system according to the present invention.
[0012]
The development support system 1 shown in the figure is constructed using a computer system such as a portable personal computer, and a system control unit 10 that performs overall control of the entire system, input means 11 such as a keyboard and pointing device (mouse), a liquid crystal display device, and the like In addition to basic configurations such as a monitor output device 12 using a communication system, a communication I / F (interface) 13 that performs two-way communication by connecting to a communication network 4 such as a public telephone network, and an auxiliary storage device 14, a circuit simulator 21, a model circuit library 22, a data management unit 23, a specific device design support unit 31, a specific device library 32, a data conversion unit (component generation) 33 and the like are added.
[0013]
Here, the circuit simulator 21 analyzes the operation of an electronic circuit including a coil device (specific device) such as a transformer or an inductor as a component by a simulation circuit model (net list) describing the electronic circuit. The circuit simulator 21 is configured using SPICE, which is general-purpose circuit simulator software.
[0014]
The model circuit library 22 is constructed using the auxiliary storage device 14 and stores a plurality of types of simulation model circuit models having different circuit systems. In this case, the template circuit model N (N1, N2,..., Nx) includes the coil device as a component Nx and can be analyzed in advance by the circuit simulator 21. It has been confirmed.
[0015]
The data management unit 23 selectively reads out the model circuit model stored in the circuit library 22 in accordance with an interactive input operation by the input unit 11 and the monitor output device 12 and causes the circuit simulator 21 to perform analysis.
[0016]
The specific device design support unit 31 supports the specification creation of the coil device. This support process has an editor function specialized for the design of the coil device, and is configured to form an operation environment that allows the specification design of the coil device to be performed visually.
[0017]
The specific device library 32 is constructed using the auxiliary storage device 14 in the same manner as the circuit library 22. The device library 32 stores various data that the design support unit 31 and the data conversion unit 33 refer to or cite for processing.
[0018]
The data conversion unit 33 converts (compiles) a device specification created with the support of the design support unit 31 into a simulation device model (component) Nx, which is a template circuit model (analyzed and executed by the circuit simulator 21). Netlist) N is linked (linked). As a result, the device specifications created using the device design support unit 21 can be virtually mounted in the model circuit model N whose operation has been confirmed in advance and verified by simulation.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the main part of the device development support system 1 described above.
In the operation shown in the figure, first, prior to determining the specifications of a coil device, a model circuit model N similar to a customer's electronic circuit using the coil device is selected from the circuit library 22 (S1). Next, the design support unit 31 supports the specification creation of the coil device (specific device) used in the electronic circuit (S2).
[0020]
If a device specification is created by the above support, the created device specification is converted into a simulation device model Nx, and this is connected to a model circuit model N to be analyzed and executed by the circuit simulator 21 (S3, S4). . Then, a simulation analysis of the template circuit N is executed (S5).
As a result, the device specifications created using the device design support unit 21 are virtually mounted in the model circuit model N whose operation has been confirmed in advance and verified by simulation.
[0021]
If the result of this simulation verification matches the intention of the customer's circuit designer, the above-mentioned device specification that derived the simulation result becomes the final specification. The device specifications determined in this way are stored in the auxiliary storage device 14 and the like, and are transmitted to the coil device manufacturing site (factory) via the communication I / F 13 (S6, S7).
[0022]
On the other hand, if the result of the simulation verification deviates from the intention of the customer's circuit designer, return to coil device specification creation (S2) or model circuit model selection (S1) and make necessary corrections. Then narrow down the device specifications.
[0023]
As described above, by using the system 1 described above, it is possible to create a device specification in a form that immediately responds to the request of the circuit designer at the business negotiation site at the customer, and the device specification created at that site. Can be immediately verified by simulation using a model circuit model whose operation has been confirmed in advance. This greatly simplifies and shortens the trial-and-error process for narrowing down the specifications of coil devices, while quickly determining accurate device specifications and greatly shortening circuit and device development time. Can do.
[0024]
As shown in a simplified image diagram in FIG. 3, if the same system 1 is arranged at a business negotiation site at a customer site and its own manufacturing site, and both are connected via a communication line 4 so that bidirectional communication is possible, The device specifications determined in advance can be sent to the manufacturing site and the prototype can be started immediately. In addition, the circuit engineers and device engineers at the negotiation site and the device engineers at the manufacturing site participate in the creation and verification of the device specifications, thereby making it possible to determine specifications with higher accuracy.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the device development support system of the present invention, it is possible to create a device specification in a form that immediately responds to the request of a circuit designer at a business negotiation site at a customer. The device can be immediately verified by simulation using a model circuit model whose operation has been confirmed in advance.
[0026]
This greatly simplifies and shortens the trial and error process when narrowing down the specifications of a specific device such as a coil device, and promptly determines a highly accurate device specification at the business negotiation site at the customer, Circuit and device development time can be greatly reduced.
[0027]
In addition, the same system is placed at the device order reception site and the manufacturing site, and the two are configured to be capable of two-way communication via communication lines. Will be able to participate in the study, thereby further improving the specification accuracy and shortening the development period.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a device development support system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of operation of the device development support system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a simplified image diagram showing a usage status of a device development support system according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device development support system 10 System control part 11 Input means 12 Monitor output device 13 Communication I / F
14 Auxiliary storage device 21 Circuit simulator 22 Model circuit library 23 Data management unit 31 Specific device design support unit 32 Specific device library 33 Data conversion unit 4 Communication network N Circuit model Nx Device model

Claims (5)

A device development support system that supports the specification creation of a specific device that forms part of an electronic circuit by computer processing,
(1) a circuit simulator for analyzing an operation of an electronic circuit including the specific device as a component by a simulation circuit model describing the electronic circuit;
(2) a circuit library that stores a plurality of types of simulation model circuit models that include the specific device as a component and whose operation has been confirmed in advance so as to be analyzed by the circuit simulator;
(3) data management means for selectively reading out the model circuit model stored in the circuit library and causing the circuit simulator to perform analysis;
(4) design support means for supporting specification creation of the specific device;
(5) Data conversion means for converting a device specification created under the support of the design support means into a simulation device model and connecting it to an electronic circuit model to be analyzed and executed by the circuit simulator;
It is provided with. The device development support system according to claim 1, wherein the specific device is a coil device such as a transformer or an inductor. 3. The device development support system according to claim 1, further comprising communication interface means for sending device specifications created under the support of the design support means as communication data. 4. The device development support system according to claim 1, wherein the circuit simulator is configured using SPICE. 5. A specific device development system in which the device development support system according to claim 1 is arranged at an order receiving site and a manufacturing site, respectively, and both devices are configured to be capable of bidirectional communication via a communication line. .

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