Using PSpice Behavior Modeling to Teach Communications Topics

A greater understanding of the principles taught in an undergraduate communications course can be achieved through the use of analog behavior models available in PSpice. The ability to easily create signals and systems suitable for simulation allows students insight as to how signals are represented and manipulated in both the time and frequency domains; a topic which present a challenge for many students. Modulation, demodulation, and filtering examples using a combination of behavior and circuit models, were created for use in an undergraduate introductory communications course. The use of PSpice for these examples has several advantages including speed of simulation, student familiarity, integration with other systems, and ease of parameter manipulation