User Guide

Terms You Need to Understand 1
-7
External specifications
An external specification is composed of measurement data,
which are defined in an external data file that is read by the
PSpice Optimizer.
Tar
g
et value
A target value is the ideal operating value for
a characteristic of the design as defined by a goal or constraint
specification.
Goal
A goal defines the performance level that the design
should attempt to meet (e.g., minimum power consumption). A
goal specification includes:
• The name of the goal.
• A target value and an acceptable range.
• A circuit file to simulate.
• An evaluation for measuring performance.
• An analysis type used for simulation-based evaluations.
The goal specification can also include:
• The name of the file containing Probe goal function
definitions (.prb file).
• When using an external specification, the name of the file
containing measured data and the columns of data to be used
as reference.
Note
Typically, the PSpice
Optimizer measures
performance usin
g
an
evaluation that requires a
simulation, and therefore, you
must specify the circuit file for
the simulation. However,
when measurin
g
performance
usin
g
PSpice Optimizer
expressions which do not
require a simulation, you do
not need to specify a circuit
file.