HomSPICE: Simulator with homotopy algorithms for finding DC and steady-state solutions of nonlinear circuits

We describe the use of homotopy (also called parameter embedding and continuation) methods for finding de operating points and steady-state solutions of BJT and MOS transistor circuits. Past implementation of homotopy algorithms in proprietary industrial circuit simulators proved that they were viable options to resolving convergence difficulties for finding circuits' de operating points. In this paper we describe a software implementation of publicly available homotopy algorithms (from the software package called HOMPACK) in the UCB SPICE circuit simulator. The new simulator, called HomSPICE, provides options for finding a circuit's de operating points and steady-state solutions via three homotopy algorithms. We illustrate the performance of HomSPICE on several simulation examples.