IntuScope Waveform Analyzer
IntuScope is more than just a SPICE post processor. It serves as a powerful waveform display and signal processing system. IntuScope provides flexible features that organize its signal displays, instantly provide numerical signal calculations, and furnish 150 waveform processing functions and mathematical operations.

 Data Analysis Features
  • Displays all circuit voltages, currents and power dissipations
  • Accepts data from
    1) The IsSpice4 Simulator (works with actual datapoints calculated by the simulator)
    2) Linerized data saved in the IsSpice .OUT file
    3) .CSDF (Common Simulation Data Format) from Pspice or Hspice
    4) .TXT/.CSV (user generated data file of vector data)
    5) Touchstone file (RF ICAP/4 packages and "Professional" version)
  • Displays waveforms from cross probing anywhere on schematic after simulation runs
  • Overwrites data, appends data or creates new signal graph using specified mode for updating perviously viewed signals
  • Can save any displayed waveform for use as circuit stimulus
  • No size limit of waveforms to be displayed and analyzed
  • Various scaling formats include linear, semi-log, histogram, and probability
  • Multiple graphs with multiple independent scales
  • Calculations displayed directly on signals between cursors such as RMS, pk-pk, mean, max and min
  • Add, subtract, multiply and divide waveforms
  • Instantly select (or modify script code) arithmetic, algebraic, trigonometric, calculus
  • Advanced Waveform Functions: forward/reverse FFT, wavelet, polynomial regression, filtering, gain/phase margin, prop delay, rise/fall time, EMI standard, Hanning taper, many others
  • Report quality output that you can copy and paste into other programs
  • Save all actions you create in your current graph as a script
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The Add Waveform Dialog is used to select the data source. The source may signals listed from a simulation run, or from a prior run’s data in the simulation output file. Check boxes are provided to globally show or hide specific waveform types within the waveform list. An "All Test Pts" button plots all the test point waveforms simultaneously. Autoscale enables waveforms to be automatically scaled, tiled and/or linked as they’re added to a graph.
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The Scaling Dialog includes scale/offset or min/max settings to expand or contract the desired viewing area for signals. One an also limit the X- and Y-axis scaling to multiples of 1, 2 and 5, just as you would see on a laboratory oscilloscope. Further, multiple waveforms can be added to the picture window to manipulate them all at once. The two horizontal scroll bars at the bottom of the dialog are linked to easily pan waveforms to a desired resolution. The lower bar changes the scale. If the scale has been reduced so only a portion of the trace is displayed, the upper scroll bar then pans the displayed portion.
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A “Grid Characteristics” dialog allows the user to control IntuScope's grid line characteristics (equivalent to major/minor division lines or tick marks). It also changes the color of the background, border and division lines.
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Select among several line, dot, and bar styles to create presentation quality graphs. Several options are shown to the right. An example signal graph with different waveform styles and widths is shown below.
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Another valuable feature with IntuScope includes waveform labels shown in the Calculator menu on the left. Labels for the most common measurements can be placed directly on any waveform graph with a single mouse click. They can be individually moved, resized, and customized to change text font, color and justification. The background color and border display can also be customized.
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Y-axis scales can be prescribed to show up to 20 signals. The current selected waveform will have its Y-axis scale moved closest to the graph. The waveforms to the right were instantly autoscaled and tiled as they were added to the graph. All four traces have the same x-axis scaling, and each shows its y-axis scaling label. Traces can be moved vertically or horizontally by clicking and dragging the mouse in the desired direction. Traces can also be copied and pasted from one plot to another, or similarly dragged and dropped.
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Several plots can now be displayed within a single window (left). You can mix and match different plot types (i.e., Tran, AC, etc). Added waveforms can append to an existing graph, or specify to display in a new graph.
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An unlimited number of cursors can be used on any plot. Cursors can be moved from one trace on a plot to another trace on the same plot. This allows the capability to make relative measurements on different traces within the same plot. In addition, if two plots have the same x-axis scaling, each trace will show dotted lines, which appear on both plots as the trace is dragged, thus enabling relative measurements between different plots.
 
This example demonstrates the multiple cursor display capability. Each cursor's X-axis and Y-axis data is displayed in the Cursor Bar.
 
 
Example of cursor 0 and cursor 1 presented on two different traces. Note the square markers, which can be dragged between traces to display measurements between the two markers.
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IntuScope's powerful and time saving scripts enable a wealth of 150 instant waveform processing measurements and functions. The user has complete control over scripts for optional modification or creation of their own from scratch. A hotkey or toolbar button can also be assigned for a custom script if desired.
 
Any graph window can be saved in the form of a text script, thus saving potentially huge amounts of memory compared to traditional file save of a waveform plot (can also be done with menu selection). The Figure at left provides an example of an existing script used to automatically recreate a graph. That script can later be recalled and executed in order to recreate the waveform graph via a single mouse click. Optionally, this script could be copied/pasted onto the schematic. Another user can then access the DWG file, simulate the design, right mouse click on the script text block, and "sendscript" to recreate the graphs with labels.
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An “update” function enables display of new simulation waveform data in the following ways:
  1. Replace all displayed traces on the plot using the new simulation data.
  2. Add duplicate traces to the plot using the new simulation data so that both the old and new signals are displayed simultaneously.
  3. Create a new graph document and display the traces using the new simulation data.
Lastly, an automatic interpolation feature enables math operations to be performed on waveforms from different simulations, even if the waveforms have different X-axis ranges and data points quantities. IntuScope automatically interpolates the data points and scales each waveform. The first displayed waveform dictates the X-axis scaling. The two waveforms shown below have different X-axis ranges and different amounts of data points. Waveform #1 spans from 0 to 100ns, and waveform #2 spans from 0 to 200ns.

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Two waveforms are shown that have different quantities of data points and different X-axis lengths.
 
 
If waveform #1 is dragged from the upper plot to the lower plot its data is auto- interpolated and extended so that it spans from 0 to 200ns.
 
 
Interpolated trace is automatically extended. If waveform #2 is dragged from the lower plot to the upper plot, its data is automatically interpolated and truncated so that it spans from 0 to 100ns.
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Long traces present special challenges for a waveform viewer. The example to the right will show up as a blob when viewing the entire waveform. You need to zoom into the waveform to see its detail, however, you still need to have some idea of where you are in the overall context. The picture window in the scaling dialog lets you see that context. Pan and scale scrollbars that are much easier to control than the bounding box. The size of the pan scrollbar matches the section of the waveform to view and the location of the scale scrollbar marks the end of the expanded trace. It works pretty much the way the knobs do on an oscilloscope, except the control is linear instead of circular.

When a graph has more than 1 plot, (e.g., power vs. time or current vs voltage), then the scales can be linked. Linkage has 2 benefits:
1. The slave trace is visible only for points that are visible in the master trace. This isolates the slave trace view to eliminate clutter.
2. Cursors in the master trace produce labels in the slave trace that point to the appropriate x-y value, thereby forming a parametric cursor that advances along a double valued path.
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Viewing the labeling of a Nyquist plot
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