Rohm launches PLECS simulator
Rohm Semiconductor has released the PLECS Simulator to enables designers of power electronics circuits and system designers to rapidly simulate the operation of Rohm’s power devices online.
In 2020, Rohm launched the Rohm Solution Simulator, which enables the simultaneous verification of power device and IC products, and has since continued to expand its range of topologies and device models.
Owing to features such as the provision of high precision SPICE models, the tool has been highly regarded for its ability to reproduce waveforms closely resembling those of actual hardware with a high degree of accuracy. However, in the early stages of development, there was a demand to quickly select the optimal power device based on loss and thermal verification.
In response to this demand, Rohm has launched the Rohm PLECS Simulator, which specialises in loss and thermal calculations. This allows users to simulate power loss and temperature rise in a matter of seconds to minutes by selecting a power electronics circuit topology from a list on the website and choosing from the various power devices offered by Rohm.
This significantly reduces the time and effort required for optimal device selection during the early stages of circuit design. Twenty different topologies are already available, and Rohm plans to expand the range of device models and topologies in the future, including SiC devices, IGBTs and power modules.
Rohm says that by using the Rohm PLECS Simulator for rapid initial analysis and then the Rohm Solution Simulator for detailed, high-precision verification, it is possible to perform end-to-end simulation, ranging from design loss and thermal verification to waveform checking.
This simulator is available free of charge by registering as a user on the Rohm website.
