By Jean-Jacques DeLisle, contributing writer
AVX Corp. has released a new online simulation tool that can be used to test various electrical and performance characteristics of multilayer ceramic, tantalum, polymer, and niobium-oxide surface-mount capacitors. The upgraded SpiCAT simulation tool offers a host of enhanced features to help designers select the right capacitor for their application. By simulating electronics, online developers can quickly and easily get an idea of how a device might function without having to go through the costly process of building a prototype only to discover that it is ineffective. By streamlining the prototyping process, this new tool can greatly increase the efficiency of product development.
The new SpiCAT software is equipped with information on electrical and performance characteristics by frequency and temperature for a variety of parts. The simulation tool is designed to be user-friendly and offers access to two different portals, SpiMLCC and SpiTAN. The portals are more advanced than their predecessors, SpiCap III and SpiTan IV, providing new features for fast and accurate parametric characterization. The software provides performance characteristics for a range of multilayer ceramic, tantalum, niobium-oxide, and polymer capacitors.
The goal of the new SpiCAT online simulation software is to increase the ease of use for developers and simplify capacitor selection. Products are grouped by common application features, enabling developers to view electrical characteristics of individual part numbers by temperature and frequency. By increasing the ease in which this information can be accessed, developers will be able to more rapidly and efficiently identify the capacitors suited for their applications.
The software also features several useful updates that give it an edge over its predecessors and increase its functionality greatly. Once a developer selects a device by part number, the software will display an interactive graph that will let users identify and view a variety of useful specifications. The interactive graph contains information such as frequency and temperature for a variety of parameters that include capacitance, dissipation factor (DF), ripple voltage, ripple current, and equivalent series resistance (ESR).
Users of the new SpiCAT online simulation will also be able to input relevant information such as input voltage and temperature to chart direct current leakage (DLC) over time. SpiCAT also provides an equivalent circuit diagram with characteristics of each parameter. Other new features allow users to download 3D models of each case size, print out graphs and parameters for selected parts, and check the availability of parts in distributor inventory.
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