AUSPICE-an expert system to assist simulations with SPICE

The authors discuss an expert system, called AUSPICE, which gives assistance to the user of the SPICE circuit simulator. AUSPICE has the knowledge of an expert in both circuit and numerical problems applied to electrical simulation, and is capable of finding a way out of nonconvergence cases as well as some circuit specification mistakes. An expert system running both on a personal computer and on a DEC VAX was developed, using a goal-driven shell. Another expert system running on a VAX and using a production system is now being tested. The ultimate goal of the project is to integrate AUSPICE into a SPICE environment. Knowledge representation schemes, inference mechanisms, and significant operating examples are presented.<>