Plexim has released PLECS Spice, an extension that integrates SPICE device-level simulation directly into its PLECS 5.0 environment. This eliminates the need to maintain duplicate models across separate software tools, allowing engineers to perform both system-level and device-level analysis within a single platform.

For decades, power electronics design has forced a trade-off: top-down system tools like PLECS offered speed for controller development, while bottom-up SPICE simulators provided detailed semiconductor validation. Engineers often had to rebuild models between platforms, a time-consuming and error-prone process that fragmented workflows.

The new extension adds a netlist parser for multiple dialects, optimized compact models, and a mixed-formulation solver using Modified Nodal Analysis. This enables true top-down workflows where designers can selectively replace ideal switches with detailed SPICE netlists for critical components like power stages, while keeping controls and other subsystems in standard PLECS.