Signal Auto-Naming Options

• HYPERSIM has an automatic name assignment feature that ensures that every signal object created has a distinct name. Signal auto-naming is enabled by default when a new design is created, unless the selected template has specifically disabled it.
• When Auto-Naming is enabled, all signals are given a default name when they are created. In addition, whenever an editing operation causes a single signal to be broken into two, or part of a signal to be copied without a visible name label, a new, unique name will be auto-assigned. This ensures that every object in a design has a unique name.
• The program generates new names using a specified prefix and the signal’s token number, which will produce a unique name in most cases. However, the program does not check for uniqueness. If you have manually assigned a name to another signal that matches the auto-assigned format, there is the possibility that an auto-assigned name may already exist.

Auto-Naming options

Auto-Naming options are available with the Options>Signal Naming Options command:

If the Make auto-assigned names visible option is selected, the default name is displayed on the signal.

The Default signal name prefix text box allows you to specify the characters to be used as a basis for auto-generated names. Changing this value does not affect existing names.

How Names are Generated

• The auto-generated name consists of two parts, the fixed prefix, and the numeric suffix. The prefix portion is derived from the signal name prefix.
• The numeric portion of the name is generated from the signal's token value. This value is guaranteed to be unique within a circuit level, but no attempt is made to fill in unused values. Thus, in a design that has been edited, sequential numbering is not guaranteed.
• The program does not check names for uniqueness. If you have manually assigned a name to another signal that matches the auto-assigned format, there is the possibility that an auto-assigned name may already exist.

Using the Auto-Naming Features

Two features are available to simplify the naming of groups of related signals. These features are enabled after entering the signal name mode using the Naming tool.

The above method allows creating the sequential names for the device shown below.

Bundles

The bundle facility in HYPERSIM allows any combination of named signals to be represented by a single line and any subset of these to be brought out through a breakout at any point along the bundle line.

• A bundle can be also called a signal bus, but such a bus is different from a 3-phase power system bus. In some cases, HYPERSIM messages and help section may mention the word bus for bundle.
• A bundle is treated by HYPERSIM as a signal with special properties. Thus, bundle lines can be drawn and modified on the screen using all the same editing features available for signals. Note these properties of bundles:
• Only bundle pins on devices can be connected directly to a bundle. All other connections must be made by using a breakout to access the desired internal signals. A breakout is created using the New Breakout command in the Home>Tools menu.
• You do not need to specify in advance what signals will be contained in a given bundle. Any signals that are present in a breakout or bundle pin attached to a bundle will become part of that bundle and can be brought out through another breakout anywhere along with the bundle.
• Any two bundles can be joined together, regardless of their internal signals. When two different bundles are merged, any signal in either bundle becomes available anywhere along with the combined bundle.
• If you select a bundle line, then do a Bundle Info command (right-click menu), the displayed info box will show a list of the signals currently contained in the bundle.
• A given signal can be present only in one bundle. If you attempt to connect together two signals in different bundles, a warning box will be displayed and the connection will be canceled.
• A bundle can be created by drawing the bundle lines first, then creating the breakouts to attach, or by creating a breakout and extending the bundle line starting at the bundle pin. Bundle lines are drawn or extended using exactly the same techniques as for signals, except that the Draw Bundle command (Home>Tools>Draw Signal) or cursor is used instead of Draw Signal.

Creating a Bundle

A bundle can be created through any one of these methods:

• Select the Draw Bundle tool. Draw any desired contiguous set of lines on the diagram using the usual signal drawing techniques. This bundle will have no internal signals initially. Signals will be added implicitly when it is connected to any breakout or bundle pin.
• Create a breakout symbol using the New Breakout (Home>Tools) or Ctrl+B command discussed in Using Bundle Breakouts: New Breakout. The bundle pin (backbone) of the breakout can now be extended using the normal pointer or the Draw Bundle cursor. The bundle will contain all signals specified in the breakout.

Extend a line out from an existing bundle pin on a device using the normal pointer or the Draw Bundle cursor. The bundle contains all signals specified in the bundle pin on the device. Connections between bundle internal pins and bundle internal signals can be changed using the Bundle Pin Info command on the bundle pin's pop-up menu. See Using Bundle Pins for more information on bundle pins.

Bundle signal names

It is important to remember that bundle signals names are preceded by the bundle name. In the example shown below, the actual bundle signal as seen in HYPERSIM is BUND_D4 and not D4.

Important Information for Bundle Naming

• Only alphanumeric (numbers are letters) characters are acceptable for bundle signal names.
• The signal name notation that appears on a breakout pin is actually a pin attribute. It can, therefore, be edited by the usual attribute editing mechanisms. You can double-click on the name and change it.
• You must always remember that the signal connecting to a bundle pin automatically inherits the bundle pin name prefixed by the bundle name. This is also true for existing signals. In the example below, the bus named X existed before connecting to the bundle pin X. When it connects to the pin, its name automatically changes to BUND_X. This is also true for the other bus named X which was connected by name. The two buses remain connected. If you delete the connection to the bundle pin, the bus name will revert back to X.

The above example also demonstrates that contrary to a general signal, the 3-phase signal automatically inherits the bundle prefix when connecting by name to a bus connected to a bundle pin. This is only true when a power system bus is initially used to connect to a bundle pin. In the case of a general signal, it is still possible to achieve connectivity by name by manually showing the signal name connected to the bundle pin. In this case, the name is D1 and L1 is connected to the bundle signal D1 at its plus terminal.

You must remember that the signal name coming out of a bundle pin must be the same as the bundle pin name. If you manually change the signal name, as in the drawing below, then you will create a new signal in the bundle. In this case, a new pin name DNEW has appeared after manually changing the name of D1 to DNEW.

Even though the above options are available in HYPERSIM, connecting bundle signals by name is not recommended and can be avoided in most cases by simply reusing the bundle at the desired location. This is demonstrated below by simply naming the bundles and redrawing for each connection to any one of its pins. Naming a new bundle with the same name as an existing bundle automatically inherits the existing bundle pin list.

Getting Bundle Information: Bus (Bundle) Info

A list of internal signals can be seen by selecting a bundle and using the Ctrl+I command, or by right-clicking on the bundle and selecting the Bundle Info command. This action will display the following box:

Here is a summary of the options presented in the bundle information box:

Getting Information on Signals Inside a Bundle

Information on signals that are contained in a bundle can be accessed in several ways:

• Select the parent bundle and select the Properties command, or right-click the bundle and select the Bundle Info command, then use the signal list and Signal Info button to display the signal infobox.
• Right-click any bundle pin attached to the bundle, then choose the signal in the signal list and click the Signal Info button.

Using Bundle Breakouts: New Breakout

Signals are attached to a bundle via a special type of pseudo-device symbol called a breakout. It is not legal to attach a signal line directly to a bundle line and any attempt to do so will elicit a warning box. In HYPERSIM, a breakout is treated as a device with certain special properties. This means that it can be placed in any desired orientation, moved, duplicated, etc. using any of the device editing features available.

Any breakout can always be attached to any bundle. When a breakout is attached that contains signals unknown in that bundle, the signals are implicitly added to the bundle.

Creating a Breakout

To create a breakout, select New Breakout command in the Home>Tools toolbar, or right-click the bundle that the breakout is to connect to and select the Breakout command. If the new breakout is to be similar to an existing one, first select the similar breakout or the bundle to which the new breakout is to be connected. This dialog box will appear:

If a bundle or breakout was selected on the circuit diagram then the breakout info box will display a list of the signals in that bundle or breakout, otherwise, it will be empty. If this list already matches the signals you want in the new breakout, then just click the OK button or hit Enter on the keyboard. Otherwise, edit the signal list, noting these options:

• blanks or commas can be used to separate individual names in this list, therefore bussed signals cannot have names containing a blank or comma.

A range of numbered signals can be specified using these formats:

D0..7 or D0..D7
is equivalent to
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7
D15..0
is equivalent to
D15 D14 D13 D12 D11 D10 D9 D8 … D0
D15..D00
is equivalent to
D15 D14 D13 D12 D11 D10 D09 D08 D07 … D00

Note that the .. format means that bundle (bussed) signal names cannot contain periods.

• The signals specified always appear in the order given in this list from top to bottom in standard orientation. We recommend always specifying numbered signals from lowest numbered to highest, as in the first example above, since this matches the standard library symbols.
• There is no fixed limit on the number of signals in a bundle, but we recommend dividing bundles up by function for ease of editing.

Any combination of randomly-named signals can be included in the list, as in these examples:

D0..15 AS UDS LDS
CLK FC0..3 MEMOP BRQ0..2

Once the list has been entered, click  the OK button or hit the Enter key. An image of the breakout now follows your mouse movements and can be placed and connected just like any other type of device.

Setting Breakout Pin Spacing

The number in the Pin Spacing box will be the spacing between signal pins on the breakout symbol, in grid units. The default value is 2 to match the standard HYPERSIM libraries, but any number from 1 to 100 can be entered.

Using Bundle Pins

• HYPERSIM supports user-created bundle pins on devices. A bundle pin can be defined to have any collection of named internal pins. Note these properties of bundle pins:
• The bundle pin itself does not represent a physical device pin. It is only a graphical place-holder on the schematic representing a group of internal pins.
• The internal pins represent physical device pins. Even though they do not appear on the schematic, they can have all the same parameters as normal devices pins, including pin numbers and attributes. These parameters can be accessed using the Bundle Pin Info command in the pin pop-up menu.
• When a device with a bundle pin is placed, it has a pre-created bundle attached to it by default. This bundle will contain one signal for each internal pin, with the initial name of the signal being the same as the name as the pin.
• A splicing box can be displayed using the Bundle Pin Info command in the pin pop-up menu. This box allows any internal pin to be connected to any signal in the attached bundle.
• In this example, the device has a bundle pin and contains two signals rad and mag. The bundle name has been optionally turned on and changed to emphasize that the actual signal names are Y_OUTy1 to Y_OUTy8.

• Such devices are providing a fixed set of pin names that can be connected to signals. Any number of such devices can exist in a given circuit, each using its own bundle name.
• You can add other signals into the bundle, but only the existing initial signals will be recognized by the device. The extra signals can use the Y_OUT bundle for other channeling needs. You can add signals into an existing bundle by right-clicking on the bundle and selecting the Breakout command.
• You can also change a signal name connected to a bundle pin, but such an action (not recommended) will miss the connection into the device and simply create a new signal in the bundle. In this example, the new signal unew8 is simply channeling through the bundle and is not connected to the device pin u8 that exists in the bundle pin. Note also that Gain1 is actually connected to BN_unew8 and not unew8.

It is not recommended to use manual signal names when connecting into bundle pins. This also makes things more complex when duplicating and copying. It can be avoided in the majority of cases.

For more information on creating device symbols with bundle pins, see Placing a Bundle Pin.

Bundles and connectivity by name

It is strongly recommended not to use connectivity by name (virtual connectivity) when working with bundle pin signals, unless absolutely necessary. In such exceptional cases, you must always remember to precede the signal name with the bundle name. Preceding the signal name creates the connectivity in the Netlist, but does not show it on the drawing when you double-click on the signal. There is however an exception to this case when working with 3-phase buses (see Bundle signal names).

When using bundle pins, you must avoid using signals that do not exist in the bundle pin.

The principle is that if you need to connect two bundled signals located far from each other in a design circuit, then you can use the bundle name to connect by name. In this example, the black bundle is created after the red bundle BUND, but it is given the same name. If you right-click on the black bundle and select Breakout, it will list the pin L to which you can connect with L2. Place the breakout on the black bundle.

The left pins of both L1 and L2 are now connected by name. Since you can select only the desired pins in a breakout list, you can always use this technique to create connectivity through graphically disconnected bundles.

If L2 is made part of a subcircuit, then the signal BUND can be sent into the subcircuit by naming the subcircuit bundle BUND:

Changing Bundle Pin Connections: Bundle Pin Info

When a bundle is connected to a bundle pin on a device or hierarchical block, the bundle internal pins will by default connect to signals with the same name in the bundle.

To change these default connections, use the Bundle Pin Info command in the bundle pin pop-up (right-click) menu.

This menu item is enabled only when a bundle pin on a device is selected. It allows the association between the bundle internal pins on the device and the signals in the bundle to be changed. This box is displayed:

This is an advanced feature and should be used carefully.

The left-hand list shows the names of the pins contained in the selected bundle pin. The right-hand list shows all the signals in the attached bundle. For each pin in the pin list, the signal in the same row in the signal list is the one attached to it. Signals in the signal list beyond the end of the pin list are not connected in this bundle pin. The following sections describe the operations available in this box.

Changing Signal Connections in a Bundle Pin

Two buttons are provided to change the association between pins and signals. 

• The Join button causes the selected pin in the pin list to be joined to the selected signal in the signal list. If the selected signal is already attached to another pin in the list, then the signals will be swapped (i.e. a signal can only connect to one pin and vice versa). The signal list will be updated to show the new relationship. If in the example above, the pin mag is joined to the signal Xnew, then the signals mag will not be connected to the device ph_1 anymore and will become independent.
• The Join Sequential button provides a quick method of joining multiple numbered pins and signals. The selected pin is joined to the selected signal, as with Join, above. If the signal and pin names both have a numeric part, both numbers are incremented and the corresponding signal and pin are joined. This process is repeated until either the signal or pin name is not found in the list.

For example, if pin D0 and signal D4 are selected, then Join Sequential will join D0-D4, D1-D5, D2-D6, and D3-D7. Since there are no more numbered pins, the process would stop. Note that although the signal and pin names are the same in this example, this is not a requirement.

Adding Pins to the Bundle Pin

The Add Pins button (see the Bundle Pin Info panel above) allows you to add internal pins to the selected bundle pin. When this option is clicked, the following box is displayed:

In this case the NewPin is being added as Output (for control signal of output type) pin.

A list of pins can be typed into this box using the same format as the New Breakout command described in Using Bundle Breakouts: New Breakout. A pin-type can be selected and applies to all pins created using this operation. This is related to the application.

Deleting Pins from the Bundle Pin

Clicking the Delete Pins button will remove all internal pins currently selected in the list from the bundle pin. This operation does not become permanent until you close the Bundle Pin Info box.

This operation effectively modifies the definition of the symbol and any subcircuit it may contain, making it different from its original library definition. The pin changes are not permanent until the Bundle Pin Info box is closed. It is not allowed to use this option with built-in devices since it will result in data corruption.

Inter-page Connections

The page creation methods have been presented in Adding, Deleting and Titling Circuit Pages. This section explains how to show signal interconnections for signals appearing on several pages. Due to the HYPERSIM ability to connect signals by name (see Connecting Signals by Name) signals with the same name appearing on different pages are automatically connected. The inter-page connections are used to place a visual marker and provide a mechanism for jumping between pages through connected signals.

Inter-page connections are made using the Page Connector devices from the Signal Routing library. When attached to a signal line, the Page Connector makes the name of that signal known across all pages, i.e. any like-named signal on another page which also has a page connector will be logically connected to this one.

The Page Connector can be placed anywhere along the signal line although it is normally convenient to place it at the edge of the page.

The Page Connector itself can be named (in order to take advantage of the automatic page references mechanism described below), but it must have the same name as the attached signal. Changing the name of the Page Connector (using the naming procedure for devices) will also change the name of the attached signal. Likewise, changing the name of the signal will rename any attached Page Connectors.

Automatic Display of Page References

HYPERSIM has an Automatic Page Reference facility which displays the page number and position of any Page Connectors associated with a given signal. These page references are automatically displayed immediately adjacent to any Page Connector as soon as multiple Page Connectors are attached to the same signal. There are separate page connectors for power signals and control signals.

For example, in this next case, both pages have signals named P1 with power Page Connectors Page Conn Power Signal attached. Note that both Page Connectors are notated with the page number and grid reference:

When a name is applied to the Page Connector itself, the page reference will appear under the name.

As long as automatic updating is enabled, these references will be updated automatically when any Page Connectors or attached signals are added, deleted, moved or renamed.

The Page Conn Power Signal is used for power signals and the Page Conn output signal is used for control signals.

You can place one or more Page Connectors on the same page. You can also place two-page connectors on the same page for connecting signals with the same name. This provides an extra visual referencing method for virtually connected signals (see Connecting Signals by Name).

Enabling and Disabling Automatic Page References

Automatic page reference updating is controlled by the Design Preferences command in the Options> Design toolbar. Automatic references are enabled in the Page Refs tab whenever the Enable Automatic Page References box is checked. This means that page reference text will automatically be placed next to any named Page Connector that is placed in the design, and will be updated whenever any page connector is moved. If they are disabled, the current page reference settings will be left untouched when any schematic editing is done.

Manually Updating Page References

If automatic page references are disabled, page references will be updated only when the Update Now button in the Design Preferences box is clicked. This can be used for large designs where page reference updating may cause delays while editing.

Setting Page Reference Format

• To change the page reference format, select the Design Preferences command in the Options>Design toolbar. Two aspects of the page reference format can be controlled:
  • The Format text item controls the appearance of each page reference in the reference list.
  • The Max Width item controls the number of references that will appear on each line before creating a new line. For signals with many connections, this prevents unwieldy page reference strings.

Three characters are special in the format string:

• P will be replaced by the page number
• X will be replaced by the X grid position
• Y will be replaced by the Y grid position

The default format is P-XY which generates pages of references like 2-C4 (i.e. page 2, grid position C4). All characters other than the special ones above will be placed in the page reference list verbatim.

The maximum length of a format string is 16 characters.

Connecting Bundles Across Pages

Bundles can also be connected (show to be connected) between pages by the same method, except that the Page Conn Bundle Connector must be used. This is illustrated in this simple circuit:

The bundle page connector is used to show the connection between bundles. It is noticed that you can also use page connectors for individual signals in a bundle. The signals in a bundle are connected by name if they have the same name and the same bundle name.

Changing the Page Connector Symbol

Note that the symbol for the Page Connector device can be changed using the device symbol editor tool just as with any other device. In order that the resulting symbol is recognized by the program as a Page Connector, you must either start with an existing Page Connector symbol or set the primitive typesetting appropriately.

See Creating a Page Connector for specific information on creating Page Connector symbols.

Tracing Connections Through Page Connectors

If a Page Connector device is selected in the schematic, then right-click Properties command displays this box:

This is essentially the same box as is displayed for the signal Pin Lis command, except that only Page Connectors are listed. Following on each item is the page number and grid reference of the item.

To (jump to) display the selected page connector, either select the item in the list and click the Go To button of double-click on the item in the list.

Adding Text and Pictures to the Drawing

Using Text and Picture Objects

Text and picture objects are used only to enhance the graphical appearance of a schematic diagram. They have no logical significance in the design.

Text objects are not associated with any particular device or signal on the screen and should not be used to set a name or attributes for devices or signals. The text in these boxes is not accessible in the HYPERSIM Netlist. Use the naming and attribute features to attach text to devices and signals.

Creating a Text Block

If you click the pencil (Name tool in Home>Tools) cursor on the diagram not near a device or signal line a blinking cursor will appear at that point and you will be able to type any desired text on the diagram.

The Return key can be used to enter multiple lines in a single text block. Text entry is terminated by the Enter key. You can also enter text using the Text tool on the Home>Tools>Draw Graphics toolbar. This is the same as using the Name tool but exclusively reserved to text only and not for device attributes.

Editing a Text Block

If you click the pencil cursor inside an existing text item the insertion point will be positioned at the clicked point. You can then use normal Windows text editing techniques to modify the text. Note that text on the clipboard can be pasted into an existing text box using the Ctrl+V key equivalent for the Paste function.

The Paste menu command will cause the current text entry to be terminated and a new text box to be created. Similarly, the Ctrl key equivalents for Cut (X) and Copy (C) can also be used while editing a text box.

Text boxes can be Zapped, Duplicated, Cut, Copied, Pasted and dragged just like any other item on the screen. See the descriptions of these commands for more information.

Background and Border Objects

Either text or picture blocks can be set to be border or background objects. These two options will normally be used together, but can be enabled separately if desired. These two options are enabled by selecting the object in question and using the right-click menu Properties command.

Border Objects

• If a text or picture is marked as a border item, then it is considered to be part of the sheet border information for the page it is on. This has the following effects:
  • if a new page is added to the circuit using the Pages command, this item will automatically be copied to the same position on the new page.
  • if the page containing this item is used as the source for a Drawing>Import Sheet Info operation, this item will be copied to the destination.
  • if a Center in Page command (design right-click) is used, this object will not be repositioned since it is assumed to be part of the border.

Background Objects

Text or picture items marked as background objects cannot be selected, modified or deleted using normal circuit editing techniques. This is used to prevent custom sheet backgrounds or border graphics from interfering with circuit editing operations. This is normally used in combination with the border status discussed above.

To select a background object, hold the Ctrl and Shift keys pressed while clicking on it. The Properties command (Ctrl+I) can then be used to disable the background status. You can also hold the Ctrl and Shift keys and double-click on the background object.

Using Text Variables

The text facility allows special entries called variables to be placed in text boxes. When the text is displayed or printed, the appropriate system quantity or attribute field value is substituted for the variable name. Any variable name that is not recognized will be displayed verbatim. This facility is intended to assist in creating title blocks and similar additions to the schematic with information such as the date, page number, and title, revision level, engineer's name, etc. Using variables will allow this information to be entered in one place so that changes are reflected automatically on all schematic pages.

System Variables

Attribute Variables

Attribute variables start with a & mark and are used to refer to fields stored in the attributes for the design. These can be used to place information at multiple points on a diagram which will be updated automatically when the design attributes are changed. For example, if the design attribute field Revision was defined for the design with the following contents:

• 2.1A Mar 18, 2000 then the variable & Revision would appear as 2.1A Mar 18, 2000 on the diagram.

Editing Text with Variables

Text items on the schematic will normally be displayed with variables replaced by their values. When a text item is selected or clicked on with the Name cursor it is redisplayed in its raw format with the variable names shown without interpretation. This allows the items to be edited with the text in its actual stored position.

In some cases you will need to push the End keyboard key or use View > Zoom > Redraw to correctly refresh the information.

Text Frame Size with Variables

The framing rectangle for a text item is calculated after the variable substitution is done. This may cause the item to be highlighted or deleted incorrectly if the variable values are shorter than the names. These errors are not serious or permanent and disappear when the screen is updated (refreshed). The text box can be expanded as necessary by adding blanks at the end of any one line in the item.

Text Object Options

To set text display options and text style, select the text block by clicking on it with the Point cursor, then right-click to select Properties and then Background/Border tab. This displays the following box:

This summarizes the options available.

Creating a Picture

Pictures cannot be created from scratch right on the schematic diagram. They can be created either in another application or using the device symbol editor tool.

To do this:

• Enter the device symbol editor, or other paint, drawing or drafting program to create the graphics object.
• Select the desired object.
• Select the Copy command in the Edit menu. This places a copy of the graphics item on the clipboard.
• Select your HYPERSIM circuit.
• Select the Paste command from the Edit menu. A flickering image of the graphics object will follow the mouse movements until you click once in the desired position.

Setting Picture Characteristics (Picture Object Info)

If a picture object is selected, the Properties command displays the following box:

The following summarizes the options available for pictures.