National Instrument - MultiSim - Component details

Hi,

Suggested by Rajesh today, I tried to opt out of using Xilinx, which is too much troublesome (for me at least) and use MultiSim (from National Instrument) instead. By far, it has been much more reliable than Xilinx, with just a little problem when started learning (due to the vast component library).


The software can be downloaded at
https://lumen.ni.com/nicif/us/academicevalmultisim/content.xhtml

Here, I will try to document the components and their usage, hope it serves as a good start.
Also, you may want to refer to this getting started tutorial:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2956aws7pekd20p

Here is the list of components (plz note that the name in bold is the comprehensive one that I give it)
The format will be:

---

<Component name>

Component Image

Purpose: <Usage of this component>
Group: <Group>
Family: <Family>
Component: <Component Name>
Component value list

• <Value 1>: <Usage 1>
• <Value 2>: <Usage 2>
• ...
• <Value n>: <Usage n>

List

---

Selection Switch

Purpose: To Select between two different value, interactively. This correspond to a physical switch.
Group: Basic
Family: Switch
Component: SPDT
Component value list

• Key for toogle: During simulation, you can toggle between the two values by pressing the key specified here. In this example, pressing "Space" will toggle the switch

---

VCC

Purpose: 5 Volt Vcc Logic
Group: Sources
Family: Power_Sources
Component: VCC
Component value list: None

---

Dip Switch Pack


Purpose: Used to toggle voltage input
Group: Basic
Family: Switch
Component: DSWPK_X where X is the number of switches
Component value list

• Switch 1 key: Toggle switch no.1
• Switch 2 key: Toggle switch no.2
• ...
• Switch X key: Toggle switch no.X

 There is a need for explanation here, as it took me half an hour figuring out the operation of the switches here.
Basically, to perform our desired function, you can't simply connect Vcc and the switch. Since when you turn it OFF (disconnecting the input from the output), you make the ouput become FLOATING (not connected to any electrical sources, and this is not a good thing to do in circuit design).

by connecting the switch with a resistor, you created this schematic:

When the switch is turn ON, pin 1 is connected to Ground, hence, it output 0V
When the switch is turn OFF, pin 1 is connected toVcc via the resistor. Normall, there will be a voltage drop and V1 will be less than Vcc. However, if we choose the resistor to be that of high-impedance (high resistance), the current - as derived form Ohm's law - will be very small. Hence, voltage drop is negligible and V1 is approximately equal to Vcc.