While design verification and circuit simulation are the two most essential and critical elements of the design process, engineers should not view them as distinct and unrelated stages in the development process. Most engineers recognize that integration of design and test would improve product development, but are limited by disparate tools for each phase.    

For the first time in the industry, Electronics Workbench and National Instruments now offer integrated design and test software through the Multisim virtual benchtop. Multisim fully integrates with National Instruments LabVIEW and SignalExpress to deliver a streamlined approach to benchtop electronics design. With tight software integration throughout the design flow, world-class circuit simulation, and the inclusion of real-world measurements early in the design process, the virtual benchtop offers a highly productive solution, increasing designers’ productivity and reducing time-to-market by bridging the traditional disconnect between popular design and test tools.
Read Full Article.

Company and Product News
Introduction to MultiMCU and ELVIS Courseware
This tutorial will provide you with an introduction to Multisim's latest add-on feature, MultiMCU. In particular, this tutorial emphasizes the ease-of-use of MultiMCU and how it can be used in a teaching and learning environment. As well, this tutorial will demonstrate how MultiMCU, together with NI ELVIS, brings theory to life.
Learn more.

Circuit Design Tool Benefits from LabVIEW Links Electronics Weekly.com
Electronics Workbench announces Multisim 9 Electronicstalk.com
Series 9 DesignSuite integrating design and test EE Times
Multisim 9 Enhances Simulation, Testing Desktop Engineering
Learn more.

Events
Multisim & Ultiboard Training Classes Available in Your Region
Looking for the fastest way to become productive with Multisim or Ultiboard? Sign up for a professional training course that will help you capture, simulate, and lay out your designs. These hands-on courses let you immediately apply and practice what you learn.
Learn more.

Web Event on Demand: Closing the Loop on Board Level Design and Test
With Electronics Workbench Multisim and NI SignalExpress, engineers can now more easily close the hardware design loop. This combination provides design engineers with input and feedback never before available, helping them efficiently test and verify both circuits and simulations.  During this 45-minute Web Event, technical experts from Electronics Workbench and National Instruments demonstrate how design engineers can shorten their time spent on design verification and prototype evaluation.
View this Web Event on Demand.

PCB Design Conference West
March 26 - 31 - Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA
Be sure to visit us at Booth # 612 .
Learn more.

Development Resources

Request a New Multisim Component
To keep the Multisim component library as up-to-date as possible with relevant new models, we would like to hear from you which models you would like to have.  Share your component needs with our R&D team through the link below.
Request a component.

Patch Available for Version 9 Software
As always, as an active Support and Upgrade customer, you will receive notification of patches automatically through your software. Additionally, the latest patch is available for current Support and Upgrade members on the Service Packs & Patches webpage on www.electronicsworkbench.com.
Download patch.

Schematic Capture: Fast, Efficient Part Placement in Multisim
Use Multisim’s Dynamic Look-Up to quickly find the parts you need. Instead of scrolling through a long list of components, simply type the part number or value that you are looking for. The Component Browser will only show the parts that match your search string.

Steps for fast, efficient part placement:

• Navigate to the appropriate group and family in the component browser Type the value of the component that you would like to place Select the part from the filtered list and click OK

• Place the part on the schematic

Tips for enhanced productivity:

• The search string is displayed at the bottom of the component browser window
• You will need to make sure that the component browser is you active window before typing the search string
• If you do not know the entire string, you can start the search string with a wild card, “*”
• Use the “Backspace” key to delete the last character
• Use the “Delete” key to delete the entire entry

Simulation: Plotting Current in Analysis
It is often useful to plot current as the dependant variable of an analysis. Unlike voltage, which is common across an entire net, current flow depends on the branch of the net. Therefore, you need to isolate the branch you are interested in. As an example, we will plot the current through a load resistor. There are two ways to plot current through a branch in the circuit.

The first way is to look at the current through a power supply or signal source. You can see in the “Variables in Circuit” window above that there are two currents listed, one through the branch of the voltage source, v1, and one through voltage source, v2. These currents are represented by the variables, vv1#branch and vv2#branch respectively, where vv1 represents voltage source v1 and #branch represents the current through that source. If you wanted to plot the current through the load resistor, you could add a 0V DC voltage source in series with the load resistor.

The second method requires no changes to the schematic. Simply click on the “More” button on the “Output” tab of the Transient analysis dialog box, and then click on the “Add device/model parameter” button. You can then select the current through the resistor “rload” as shown in the figure below.

You can now add the variable “@rrload(i)” to the “Selected Variables for Analysis” window and run the simulation.

Tip: You may need to change the “Variables in Circuit” drop-down box back to “All Variables” in order to display the new variable along with the voltage and current variables.

Academic Resources

Free Evaluation Software for Academia
Electronics Workbench and National Instruments have created a truly integrated laboratory offering to increase student comprehension of both electronics theory and practical application. Electronics Workbench Multisim helps you teach circuit theory with a large number of education-specific features, and integrated NI technology such as NI ELVIS and LabVIEW give students hands-on experience.

Electronics Workbench is pleased to provide a 90-day complementary evaluation software to instructors at accredited educational institutions to learn more about incorporating an integrated approach into design curricula.
Request evaluation software.