

Technically, Qucs supports BSIM4 as a Verilog-A extension component (built-in), but I have not had much luck using it in a circuit. BSIM models, on the other hand, have many available models with realistic parameters to put into your circuits. Faster than the typical BSIM3/4 models found in SPICE, but unfortunately I have had a terrible time finding parameter sets for circuit design. The default MOSFET model in Qucs is Level 1, the Shichman-Hodges model. Qucs lacks SPICE-compatible parameterized MOSFETs. The way that Qucs integrates subcircuits into its project management tools is extremely convenient for larger circuits, and when scripting simulations it makes things a lot easier.ĭespite having elected to use Qucs for my master’s thesis work, there are a few pitfalls that I would like to mention: In general, Qucs provides everything needed to prototype and document circuit designs: a reasonable UI experience, a fairly comprehensive components library, project management, excellent support for subcircuits, and high-quality vector graphics exports. User interface design practices have matured a lot over the years though, and generally I want to get straight to utilizing my expertise rather than spending a lot of time learning a user interface. Again, that very well might be a lack of time invested.

I found the interface to be annoying and archaic. GEDA is a free, “full GPL’d suite and toolkit of Electronic Design Automation tools.” The part that I was interested in was gschem, the schematic component of the suite. In that regard, for the novice, Qucs shines. However, I only gave it a cursory look, so it’s possible that I simply missed some better functionality that EAGLE possesses, but takes longer to learn. Additionally, it didn’t seem to have the same parametrization capabilities that Qucs presents.
#Qucs simulator software
Strictly speaking, the software is not free, as there are restrictions on the free version. It’s what most people at my university use. This was something I needed.ĮAGLE PCB has a freeware version, and seems to have accompanying simulator. This means that if the user needs to optimize a parameter, they cannot simply write a script to automate the process. It’s pretty sleek too, but it’s online only. Your mileage may vary, so here’s a quick list of the other tools I looked at:ĭigikey has a tool, PartSim, that lets you lay out circuits and simulate them. I only spent 5-10 minutes investigating each piece of software at the end, I decided Qucs was the best fit for my habits. There are other tools, but they have downfalls as far as I am concerned. I’m not aware of any other tool that matches up with its capabilities. Qucs (also hosted on GitHub) is a “(Q)uite (u)niversal (c)ircuit (s)imulator” that lets you both layout schematics and simulate the represented circuit.
