TL;DR
SPICE, originally developed at UC Berkeley, was celebrated as a four-decade open-source success with an IEEE Milestone designation and a roundtable at the Computer History Museum. The discussion traced contributions from university research, key commercial ports, and the ecosystem that made circuit simulation ubiquitous in industry.
What happened
SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis) marked its 40th anniversary with recognition from the IEEE and a roundtable at the Computer History Museum on February 23, where principal contributors recounted the tool’s evolution. The project began at UC Berkeley as a student course project (originally called CANCER) run by Ron Rohrer; Larry Nagel took that work through SPICE2 as a graduate project. Panelists included Rohrer, Nagel, Kim Hailey (co-founder of Meta-Software, creator of HSPICE), Ken Kundert (developer of Cadence’s Spectre), and moderator David Hodges. Conversation emphasized technical breakthroughs such as sparse matrix methods that allowed SPICE to scale beyond initial size limits, and the open-source approach that spread the tool through academia and industry. Parallel commercial efforts — notably Meta-Software’s HSPICE ports to many minicomputers and device-modeling services — converted broad familiarity with SPICE into a sustainable ecosystem, with HSPICE selling over 11,000 copies by the time of its acquisition.
Why it matters
- SPICE became the de facto simulation tool for integrated-circuit designers, influencing tools, libraries and workflows across industry and academia.
- Open distribution from a publicly funded university project enabled widespread adoption, teaching, and ongoing community development.
- Technical advances like sparse matrix techniques made circuit simulation scalable to larger designs than originally anticipated.
- Commercial offerings such as HSPICE provided platform ports, support and device-model services that made professional use practical and 'sticky' for engineers.
Key facts
- IEEE designated the development of SPICE as a Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing.
- A celebration and roundtable was held at the Computer History Museum on February 23 (year of the article).
- SPICE originated at UC Berkeley from a student project called CANCER, taught by Ron Rohrer.
- Larry Nagel developed SPICE2 as his graduate work and played a central role in the program’s implementation.
- Sparse matrix methods were a key technical advance that improved SPICE’s efficiency and scalability.
- Meta-Software (co-founded by Kim and Shawn Hailey) commercialized HSPICE and ported it to many machines, at one point supporting 22 different platforms.
- By the time Meta-Software was acquired by Avant!, over 11,000 copies of HSPICE had been sold.
- Ken Kundert led development of Cadence’s Spectre simulator, which later differentiated itself through integration with Cadence tools.
- The open-source distribution at Berkeley helped seed an ecosystem of users, contributors and commercial partners.
What to watch next
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Quick glossary
- SPICE: A circuit simulator (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis) used to analyze analog and mixed-signal circuits.
- Sparse matrix: A computational technique that stores and manipulates only the nonzero entries of matrices, improving memory use and speed for large systems.
- HSPICE: A commercial, enhanced implementation and port of SPICE developed by Meta-Software to run on a variety of computer systems with vendor support.
- Spectre: A commercial circuit simulator developed at Cadence focused on integration within design frameworks and toolchains.
Reader FAQ
Who started SPICE?
SPICE began as a UC Berkeley student project run by Ron Rohrer; Larry Nagel implemented SPICE2 as graduate work.
Why did SPICE spread so widely?
Its open distribution from a public university project, combined with adoption in classrooms and ongoing student-driven development, helped it proliferate across industry and academia.
Was SPICE ever commercialized?
Yes. Meta-Software created HSPICE, ported it to many machines, provided device modeling and support, and sold over 11,000 copies before acquisition.
Did industry recognize SPICE’s impact?
Yes. The IEEE designated SPICE’s development as an engineering and computing Milestone.
SCOPE GURU ON SIGNAL INTEGRITY SPICE: a 40-year old open-source success story MARCH 1, 2011 BY MICHAEL DEMLER COMMENTS 0 Advertisement SPICE, the Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis, has…
Sources
- Spice: A 40-year old open-source success story (2011)
- SPICE
- Ngspice, the open source Spice circuit simulator – Intro
- SPICE: 40 Years of Open-Source, Circuit Simulation …
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