Describes the basic concepts of a new piecewise linear circuit simulation program called PLATO. Piecewise linear modeling is a very generic and powerful approach to the modeling of electronic components. It allows for the use of macro modeling and mixed-level simulation because all components are modeled in a uniform way. Models are stored in a compact matrix notation. Default models can easily be redefined or modified without affecting the program code by simply editing the component library. Powerful algorithms are available for solving the piecewise linear equations, yielding global instead of local convergence, this way eliminating convergence problems occurring in more conventional simulators. Latency behaviour is utilized by the application of multirate integration techniques together with efficient sparse matrix methods. Results show that computational effort is mainly restricted to active circuit parts.
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