Product: 			SPICE Server and API compatible with OLE and Visual Basic Scripts
Description: 		The latest version of the IsSpice4 analog and mixed signal simulator is the FIRST and ONLY SPICE program to support an OLE interface and allow control via Visual Basic scripts.
Price:	 			Included in ICAP/4 systems $595-2595, Specially priced Developer's Version is also available, call Intusoft for pricing.
Compatibility:	x86, Pentium, or P6 with 16megs RAM. Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows NT
Contact:			Charles Hymowitz - Vice President intusoft   (310) 833-0710, Fax (310) 833-9658
					E-mail: info@intusoft.com, http://www.intusoft.com


Intusoft Releases First Ever OLE SPICE Server and API

Integration is one of the key issues in the Windows EDA tool market. And rightly so. The overall performance of even the best individual CAE tools can be impaired by poor integration. This is especially true for schematic entry and simulation. Intusoft is addressing the third-party integration issue by becoming the first vendor to introduce an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) automation server version of the company's SPICE 3 based simulator, IsSpice4. This is significant as it allows IsSpice4 to be transparently interfaced with other applications much more easily than any other SPICE simulator. The new interface also allows engineers to "drive" IsSpice4 using Visual Basic scripts. IsSpice4 is a full featured SPICE 3 and XSPICE based analog and mixed signal simulator with AHDL capability and Real Time waveform display.

What OLE  Means to You
IsSpice4 exposes its simulation capabilities (i.e. the ability to sweep parameters and analyze an analog or mixed signal circuit) as OLE automation objects. In this role, IsSpice4 is referred to as an OLE Server. Another program, called an OLE Automation Controller, can gain access to the exposed objects and use their properties and methods. The other program may be from a different software vendor and does not need to know about the internal workings of the OLE Server. The OLE interface in IsSpice4 follows a format similar to that found in Microsoft Excel. The main interface to IsSpice4 is through an API (applications programming interface) using OLE. This allows other EDA tools like schematic entry programs, mathematical engines, and user defined software programs like those written in Visual Basic, to utilize IsSpice4 as a calculation engine. For example, a math program, like MATLAB, could use IsSpice4 as a simulation engine and ask it to run an analysis and pass back the results so that they can be used in a subsequent MATLAB calculation. 

The IsSpice4 API is feature rich. In addition to waveform cross-probing, the programmer has complete interactive control and access to all the analysis capabilities of the IsSpice4 simulator. API functions include the ability to launch, stop, pause, and specify analyses from another application, plus over 60 other functions (to alter circuit parameter values, get simulation data back DURING the simulation, interactively plot waveforms on the client application, etc.). 

IsSpice4 is the ONLY SPICE simulator to offer OLE and Visual Basic interfaces. 

The latest Intusoft Newsletter  contains an example that uses a Visual Basic Script to start IsSpice4 and remotely run Transient and Fourier analyses from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. 

An evaluation kit containing the OLE server version of SPICE and its API is available to those interested in incorporating IsSpice4 into their product lines. Visual Basic/OLE interface specifications, documentation, and examples as they relate to the IsSpice4 program, are also available. Interested parties can inquire directly with Intusoft. IsSpice4 is included in the ICAP/4 simulation system (U.S.A. domestic prices only $595 - $2595, Foreign prices will vary).