Development files for the simulation of discrete circuits in MAME.
The MAME emulation platform is capable of importing SPICE netlists which can be exported from the open source suite KiCad and the open source suite gEDA. You may also be successful with LTspice .
This repository is meant to house files in formats that can be imported and worked with in netlist.
Going forward you will need at least KiCad 5.1. On Ubuntu you can install KiCad using
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:js-reynaud/kicad-5.1
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install kicad kicad-templates kicad-doc-en kicad-symbols kicad-footprints kicad-demos kicad-packages3d libngspice-kicad kicad-librariesAdd MAME.kib and netlist.lib to your library list:
Preferences-> Manage Symbol Libraries -> Add existing library
nlspice.lib contains SPICE models for the ANALOG_INPUT and TTL_INPUT devices. Schematics using these devices can be calculated using ngspice through the KiCad GUI.
You need to copy nlspice.lib to the KiCad project folder if you want to use ngspice from within KiCad.
This is a requirement imposed by KiCad.
| Project | Status |
|---|---|
| carnival | TBD |
| congoBongo | migrated to 5.1, WIP |
| fantasy | TBD |
| kidNiki | TBD |
| monkeyMagic | TBD |
| obxVoice | TBD |
| tb303 | TBD |
| carPolo | TBD |
| StarCruiser | TBD |
| wildfire | TBD |
Spice and the nltool convert command expect diodes to be in the format
D1 Anode Cathode Model
KiCad however by default just maps pin 1 to Anode and pin 2 to Cathode. Unfortunately in KiCad pin 1 for diodes ins Cathode and pin 2 is Anode.
nltool -c convert will currently automatically determine if a KiCad netlist is fed into it and take appropriate action. This will change in the future to have perfect integration with other netlist parsers.
The situation is comparable. BJTs have three pins and different assignments depending on the transistor you select. The SPICE default is
Q1 Collector Basis Emitter Model
To make sure pins are correctly mapped in the exported netlist, proceed as follows:
- Add the BJT
- Set value to model, e.g. B247C
- Open symbol editor by double clicking on symbol
- Click on
Edit Spice Model - Tick
Alternate Node Sequenceand enter the value from the rightmost table column.
| C pin | B pin | E pin | Suffix | Spice_Node_Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | CBE | |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | CEB | 1 3 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | BCE | 2 1 3 |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | ECB | 2 3 1 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | BEC | 3 1 2 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | EBC | 3 2 1 |
Recommendation: In the component editor tick Show in the Spice_Node_Sequence row. This will show the node sequence in the schematics editor. This will tell you immediately if you got it wrong and spare you hours of debugging.
KiCad comes with libraries for 74XX devices, 4XXX devices and opamps . If there are multiple components per package, all unused inputs must be connected to GND and all unneeded outputs must be marked as NC. For all packaged (DIP, ...) devices there is usually a separate component for power supply connection. Power supplies must be connected.
Special device for providing fixed voltage nets in netlist, e.g. +5V or +12V. This device is provided by netlist.lib. Set value field to read ANALOG_INPUT V=voltage, e.g ANALOG_INPUT V=3.3. Don't change the reference prefix. netlist conversion won't work without X.
ANALOG_INPUT devices have one pin. This is a power output and thus doesn't need a PWR_FLAG connected to it.
This device emulates logic inputs to the circuit with TTL level. This devices is provided by netlist.lib. Set value field to read TTL_INPUT L=1 for high level and TTL_INPUT L=0 for low level. Don't change the reference prefix. netlist conversion won't work without X.
TTL_INPUT devices have 3 pins. Pin 1 is the logic output, pin 2 positive power supply (VCC) and pin 3 negative power supply (GND).
Convert an exported spice file (suffix cir) to netlist format using:
nltool -c convert -f congoBongo.cir > nl_congo_bongo.cpp