Milestone-Nomination:Birthplace of the SPICE Circuit Simulation Program, 1971
Docket Number: 2010-01
Proposal Link: https://ethw.org/Milestone-Proposal:Birthplace_of_the_SPICE_Circuit_Simulation_Program,_1971
In the space below the line, please enter your proposed citation in English, with title and text. Text absolutely limited to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons. NOTE: The IEEE History Committee shall have final determination on the wording of the citation
SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) was created at UC Berkeley as a class project in 1969-1970. It evolved to become the worldwide semiconductor industry standard circuit simulator. SPICE has been used to train many students in the intricacies of circuit simulation. It has served many more as an essential tool employed in virtually all integrated circuit design courses.
[1] L. W. Nagel, "CANCER: Computer Analysis of Nonlinear Circuits Excluding Radiation," Masters Report, Dept of EECS, Univ of California, Berkeley, CA, December 11, 1970.
[2] R. A. Rohrer, L. W. Nagel, R. Meyer, and L. Weber, "CANCER: Computer Analysis of Nonlinear Circuits Excluding Radiation," 1971 IEEE Intl Solid-State Circuit Conference, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 1971, pp. 124-125, ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/srchabstract.jsp
[3] L. Nagel and R. Rohrer, "Computer Analysis of Nonlinear Circuits, Excluding Radiation (CANCER)," IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, Vol SC-6, No 4, August 1971, pp. 166-182,ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp
[4] L. W. Nagel and D. O. Pederson, "Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE)," presented at 16th Midwest Symp on Circuit Theory, Ontario, Canada, April 12, 1973 and available as Memorandum No ERL-M382, Electronics Research Laboratory, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1973/ERL-382.pdf
[5] L. W. Nagel, "SPICE2: A Computer Program to Simulate Semiconductor Circuits," PhD dissertation, Univ of California, Berkeley, CA, May 9 1975 and available as Memorandum No ERL-M520, Electronics Research Laboratory, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1975/ERL-520.pdf
[6] E. Cohen, “Program Reference for SPICE2,” University of California, Berkeley, ERL Memo UCB/ERL M75/520, May 1975, www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1976/ERL-592.pdf
[7] A. Vladimeriscu and S. Liu, "The Simulation of MOS Integrated Circuits Using SPICE2," University of California, Berkeley, UCB/ERL M80/7, October 1980, www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1980/ERL-80-7.pdf
[8] A. Vladimirescu, K. Zhang, A. R. Newton, D. O. Pederson and A. L. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, “SPICE Version 2G User’s Guide,” Dept. of EECS, University of California, Berkeley, August 1981.
[9] T. L. Quarles, "Analysis of Performance Issues and Convergence in Circuit Simulation," University of California, Berkeley, ERL Memo UCB/ERL M89/42. April 1989, www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1980/ERL-80-7.pdf
[10] T. L. Quarles, ”SPCIE3 Version 3C1 User’s Guide,” University of California, Berkeley, ERL Memo UCB/ERL M89/46, April 1989, www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1989/ERL-89-46.pdf
Please also include references and full citations, and include supporting material in an electronic format (GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC) which can be made available on the IEEE History Center’s Web site to historians, scholars, students, and interested members of the public. All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. If you are including images or photographs as part of the supporting material, it is necessary that you list the copyright owner.
In the space below the line, please describe the historic significance of this work: its importance to the evolution of electrical and computer engineering and science and its importance to regional/national/international development.
SPICE was the first computer program for simulating the performance of integrated circuits that was readily available to undergraduate students for study of integrated circuit design. Hundreds of graduates from UC Berkeley and other universities became the backbone of the engineering workforce that moved the US to microelectronics to industry leadership in the 1970s. Graduates of Berkeley became leaders of today's largest firms delivering design automation capabilities for advanced microelectronics. ♦
What features or characteristics set this work apart from similar achievements?
SPICE was much more than a simple program for instructional use. It was the first to incorporate sparse matrix analysis to permit economic simulation of large circuits, adjoint analysis for sensitivity to component variations and noise, built-in device models for "first-cut" design, and a simple user interface that evolved through the transitions from punched cards to dumb terminals to sophisticated workstations. For the first time, the developers of SPICE made source code widely available, enabling others to contribute more sophisticated device models and additional analysis capabilities. These factors contributed to its dominant status in the subsequent development of both open-source and proprietary circuit simulation software.
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