Experiment No.

Introduction to NI Multisim

ESSENTIALS
NI Multisim (formerly MultiSIM) is an electronic schematic capture and
simulation program which is part of a suite of circuit design programs,
along with NI Ultiboard. Multisim is one of the few circuit design programs to employ the original Berkeley SPICE based software simulation. Multisim was originally created by a company named Electronics
Workbench, which is now a division of National Instruments. Multisim
includes microcontroller simulation (formerly known as MultiMCU), as
well as integrated import and export features to the Printed Circuit
Board layout software in the suite, NI Ultiboard.
Multisim is widely used in academia and industry for circuits education, electronic schematic design and SPICE simulation.
The goal of this activity is to become familiar with the usage of NI Multisim as a simulation tool and understand the difference between real,
virtual, ideal and interactive parts, including basic circuitry and virtual
wiring.

APPARATUS
Computer or Laptop
NI Multisim Software

SPECIFICATIONS
Family
Capacitors
Resistors
Potentiometer
Operational Amplifier
Voltage Source
Signal Generator

DHdeLuna

Value
270 pF
40.2 k
191 k
1k
LM358N
15 V
40 kHz 0.3V

Quantity
2
1
1
1
1
2
1

Page 1

Experiment No. 1

Introduction to NI Multisim

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

Figure 1.1 - Bandpass Filter Circuit Diagram

PROCEDURE
1. Open Multisim. Multisim opens to a default Circuit1 file and
workspace.
2. Save the default circuit file as ECE4111L1C1Section (e.g.
ECE4111L1C1ECE4A). This can be done by selecting FILE SAVE
AS, browse the folder you are saving for completed exercises, in
the File name field type ECE4111L1C1Section and click SAVE.
3. Setting the Sheet Properties parameters.
a. Select OPTIONS SHEET PROPERTIES.
b. select Sheet visibility tab; in the selection check/uncheck
the Component subsection parameters like Labels, RefDes, Values and preview the result on the left pane picture. Configure as desired.
c. In the Net Names subsection, you choose if you want to
have net names shown for all nets, hide all, or a netspecific setting (recommended). For this experiment,
please choose Show All.
d. In the Color section you can change the colors used in
the workspace. The default is a pre-configured White
Background option. If you want to customize the colors
select Custom from the drop-down list or choose from the
pre-configured options.
e. Select the Workspace tab. In this tab you can turn on or
off the grid, page bounds and the page border. You can
also change the sheet size.
f. Select the Wiring tab. Set the Wire Width to 1 and the Bus
Width to 3. Set Bus Wiring Mode as Busline.
g. Select the Font tab. You can customize the font to be
used in different sections of Multisim, use the Change All
and Appy To sections to define how the changes need to
be applied. Leave the defaults.
h. Select the PCB tab. In this tab you can change options
DHdeLuna

Page 2

Experiment No. 1

Introduction to NI Multisim

that are applicable when you transfer your design to PCB

Layout. Leave the defaults.
i. Select the Visibility tab. In this tab you can add custom
annotation layers if needed. Leave the defaults.
j. Click OK to close the Sheet visibility dialog.
4. Set Global Preferences parameters.
a. Select Options Global Preferences.
b. Select the Paths tab and set the Circuit Default Path to
C:\ECE4111\Multisim\. Click Apply.
The Paths tab also configures the location of the databases (Master Corporate and User) as well your User Configuration file.
c. Select the Save tab. Configure if you want to have Security Copy created every time you save the circuit, an Auto-backup that will save the circuit every interval you
specify, and if you want to Save simulation data with instruments, which allows you to specify how much data
will be saved with the instruments included in your schematic.
d. Select the Parts tab. In this tab you can select how the
Component Browser behaves every time you place a
component, what Symbol standard to use, Phase Shift direction options and Digital Simulations Settings preference. Leave the defaults.
e. Select the General tab. You can customize the behavior
of many tasks in this tab such as selecting components,
using the mouse-wheel, moving components and most
importantly, Wiring. Leave the defaults.
f. Click OK to close the Global Preferences dialog.
5. Placing of components. Build you own circuit as shown in the
Figure 1.1. Instructions and location of components are given in
the next steps.
a. Select Place Components. Select the Master database
and select Sources Group.
b. Select the Signal_Voltage_Sources Family and then select
the CLOCK_VOLTAGE component.
c. To place this component on the workspace, you can
double-click the component and then click to the place;
or you can click the OK button and then click to place.
d. If the Component Browser is set to return after you place
the component you can continue placing new components or click Close to finish.
e. The following table provides the location for each component:
Group
Sources

Family
Signal_Voltage_Sources

Component
CLOCK_VOLTAGE

Sources
Sources
Basic
Basic
Basic
Basic
Analog

Power_Sources
Power_Sources
Resistor
Resistor
Potentiometer
Capacitor
OpAmp

DC_POWER
GROUND
40.2 k
191 k
1k
270p
LM358N

Value
40kHz,
0.3V
15V

Section
A

RefDes
V1
V2, V3
R1
R2
R3
C1
U1

6. Rotate components. Place the DC_SOURCE (V2) by following

DHdeLuna

Page 3

Experiment No. 1

Introduction to NI Multisim

the same procedure as the CLOCK_VOLTAGE (V1) and referencing the previous table. Once the component is attached to
the mouse cursor press <CTRL+R> on your keyboard, you will see
how the components rotates, click to place. If the component
is already placed, select the component with the mouse and
press the <CTRL+R> keys.
7. Configure virtual components. To change the value of the virtual components such as the clock source and the voltage
source, double-click the component, and from the properties
dialog change the parameters according to the circuit diagram as shown in Figure 1.1.
8. The In Use List.
a. As you can see in the circuit diagram, there are two 15V
voltage sources, V2 and V3, if you already placed V2 and
configured it instead of going back to the Component
Browser to select a second voltage source, you can use
the In Use List on the Main toolbar (see the following figure), click the list and select DC_POWER. An exact copy
will be attached to the mouse cursor and you can place
it on the workspace to create V3.
b. Place the GROUND reference and use the In Use List to
place the other ground references needed.

Figure 1.2 In Use List

9. Using the Filter to locate components.
a. In the Component Browser, select the Basic group, select
the Resistor family and at the top of the component you
are looking for (40.2k).
b. Place the other resistor (R2), the capacitor (C1) and the
potentiometer (R3).
10. Searching for components.
a. You will now place the OpAmp. In the Component
Browser click the Search button.
b. In the Component field, type *358* and click Search. You
are searching for every component that has the string
358 on its name.
c. From the list on the results dialog select the LM358N component then click OK, this will take you to the exact location where the OpAmp is.
d. On the Model Manuf.\ID field select the Motorola model
and click OK to place the component. Since this is a multi-section component, the Selection Selector dialog will
appear, click section A and place the component.
11. Flip the symbol of a component.
a. Notice how the input terminals (+ and -) of the OpAmp
are reversed on the circuit diagram. Select the OpAmp
on the workspace, right-click and select Flip Vertical, the
DHdeLuna

Page 4

Experiment No. 1

Introduction to NI Multisim

OpAmp you placed on the workspace should now exactly as the one in the circuit diagram.
b. Move and position the components similar as in the circuit diagram.
12. Creating wires.
a. To wire your circuit, move the mouse pointer to any component pin, the pointer changes to a crosshair, left-click
and move the mouse to start a wire branch.
b. Left-click again in the workspace to insert a branch turn,
left-click at the destination pin to finish the wire.
c. Experiment creating a blind wire. Click at any component
pin, then the mouse to start a wire, double-click the workspace area and the wire will be fixed in the workspace.
d. Select the previously created wire and press <Delete> on
your keyboard to delete the wire.
e. Complete the wiring of your circuit.
13. Modify wire properties.
a. Double-click the net of the positive terminal of the clock
source (V1) and change the Net name to input.
b. Double-click the net of the output terminal of the OpAmp
(U1A) and change the Net name to output.
14. Placing other objects.
a. Select Place Text, create one label with the letter A and
one with the letter B and reference the circuit diagram to
position them.
b. Select Place Junction, place the two junction dots located underneath each letter label.
15. Your circuit should now look similar to the circuit diagram of Figure 1.1.
16. Add a second capacitor (C2) between labels A and B with automatic wiring.
a. Use the In Use List to select the CAPACITOR_VIRTUAL
component.
b. With the capacitor attached to the mouse pointer, rotate
the capacitor to a horizontal orientation and then place
it on top of the wire branch and click to place. This is an
effective way of doing automatic wiring.
17. The completed circuit is:

Figure 1.3 Completed Circuit

DHdeLuna

Page 5

Experiment No. 1

Introduction to NI Multisim

18. Save the circuit by selecting File Save. Leave Multisim open.
19. Now lets start the simulation process. Take some time to learn
how to start a circuit simulation and how interactive and animated parts work. Load a circuit file.
a. Select
File

Open.
Browse
to
file:
C:\ECE4111\Multisim\ECE411L1C2.ms12.
b. Click Open. An up-down counter circuit is built for you.

Figure 1.4 Up-Down Counter

20. Simulate the circuit.
a. Click the Run/Resume Simulation button on the Simulation
toolbar to start the simulation.
b. You can tell that the simulation is running if you see the
green squares moving in and out the lower right corner of
the screen.
21. Interactive and animated parts.
a. With the simulation running, you can toggle the position
of any of the switches if you click the switch itself. These
are interactive components.
b. You can also toggle the switch position by pressing the
assigned key shown at the symbol.
c. Toggle the switches and observe the 7-segment LED display, this is an animated component; observe the behavior of the Digital Probes as well.
22. Stop the simulation. Close all open circuit files.
a. Click the Stop Simulation button.
b. Close all open circuit files. Select File Close All.

DHdeLuna

Page 6