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New users should start with the Quick Start Guide document (see File > Help & Support > Help Documentation > Quick Start Guide in HYPERSIM, or Quick Start). 

Design Structure

In HYPERSIM the term 'design' refers to a complete, independent logical entity saved in a single file.

The following rules outline how a design is stored:

• A single design is stored in a single file and no logical connections are made between designs. All information required to display and edit a design is stored in the design file.

• A design never makes reference to external library files. When a library device is used, all information needed is read from the library and stored with the design. Changing the original library definition will not automatically update the design. More information on the relationship between symbol libraries and designs can be found in About Device Symbols.

• When a design file is opened, the entire contents of the design are read into memory. This means that design sizes are limited by the available memory in your computer and increasing the memory allocated to the program will increase the size of the designs you can work with.

• A number of user-settable parameters are stored with the design and affect the entire design when changed.

These include:

• attribute and pin number text style settings

• the attribute definition table

• signal and device auto-naming settings

• display options, such as crosshairs and printed page breaks

• page reference format

• hierarchy mode

In a hierarchical design (that is, one in which a symbol can represent a nested circuit block), all hierarchy levels are stored in a single file.

What is a Circuit?

A circuit in HYPERSIM® has the following characteristics:

• A circuit can be drawn on one or more pages (up to 1000 in this version). You can elect to draw the entire circuit on a single page or divide it up functionally onto a number of pages.

• Each page is viewed in a separate circuit window (tab) and any or all pages in a circuit can be displayed on the screen simultaneously.

• A page is drawn on the screen as if it was a single piece of paper, although it may have to be broken up into a number of individual sheets of paper for printing or plotting.

• Logical connections can be made between pages using a page connector device. Three versions of this device can be found in the built-in "Signal Routing" library. The "Page connector, control output/input" device is used to interconnect control signals across pages. The "Page connector, power signal" is used to interconnect power signals across pages. The “Page connector, bundle” is used to interconnect bundles across pages.

Types of Objects in a Circuit

An HYPERSIM® circuit is made up of five types of entities: devices, pins, signals, text objects, and picture objects.

• A device is an object having a symbol, signal connection points called "pins", and optional text attributes, internal circuit and simulation information. A device in HYPERSIM® can correspond to a physical device in a circuit, or it can represent a sub-circuit block or a pseudo-device, such as a page connector.

• A pin is a connection point on a device. A pin is not an independent entity since it only exists as part of a device and cannot be created or deleted separately. However, pins can have attributes, pin numbers and other parameters that may be different from pin to pin on the same device. A bus (bundle) pin is a special type of pin that represents an arbitrary number of internal pins. The internal pins are not visible on the schematic but can still have the same logical properties as other pins.

• A signal is a conductive path between devices. Signal connections can be made visually by drawing lines between device pins or logically by name.

• A text object is used to place a title block or other notation on the diagram. Text can be typed and edited directly within HYPERSIM®, or can be created externally and pasted onto the diagram from the clipboard. Text objects are not associated with any other object and are not accessible through net or component lists. The attribute facilities should be used to associate text with specific devices or signals.

• A picture object is used to place any graphics item imported from another program or the symbol editor tool via the clipboard. The Schematic tool cannot edit picture objects directly, other than moving, deleting and copying them whole. They can, however, be pasted into a symbol editor (or other application) window

How Design Templates Work

A design template is simply a normal design file that has its sheet size, attribute fields, hierarchy mode and other settings pre-defined for the application at hand. The simplest way to create a template may be to take an existing design that is set up the way you like it, delete all the circuit elements and extra pages out of it and save it in the appropriate template directory.

When you create a new design and select one of the template files listed, HYPERSIM® just reads the file in the normal way, then renames it "Circuit1" (or the next available number), and dissociates it from the original file so that it cannot accidentally be Saved on top of the template. In all other respects, creating a new design using the New command is the same as doing an Open on the template design. All the settings and contents of the design template file become part of the new design.

More information on "Design Templates" can be found in Design Templates.

HYPERSIM® File Types

HYPERSIM® deals with a number of different types of files. The most important type is the design file, which contains all the stored data of your schematics. Operations on design files are discussed in this chapter. 

Top menus

The first ribbon is the File ribbon or File menu. The “>” (greater than, or Shift + period) character is used to denote sub-menus. Each time a menu item (sub-menu) is highlighted a tooltip appears for explaining its function.

The following bullets provide documentation links to the non-obvious options.