Why DSIM Is Different
See how DSIM’s discrete-state, event-driven approach compares to the conventional simulation methods used by most power electronics tools today.
Limitations of Conventional Simulation
Most power electronics simulation tools were designed around fixed time-step solvers. Here are the common challenges engineers face.
Fixed Time-Stepping
Conventional simulators step through time at uniform intervals, computing at every step regardless of whether a switching event occurs. This wastes compute on long steady-state periods and limits the ability to resolve fast transients efficiently.
Convergence Failures
Traditional circuit solvers can struggle with convergence when simulating circuits with many active switches, high switching frequencies, or stiff systems with widely separated time constants.
Ideal Switch Approximations
Many simulation tools rely on ideal on/off switch models to improve speed. While fast, these models cannot capture the physical switching transients, parasitic effects, and device-level losses that matter for real hardware validation.
Simulation Time as a Bottleneck
As circuit complexity grows — more switches, higher frequencies, longer time horizons — conventional simulation times can scale to hours or days, making iterative design exploration impractical.
DSIM vs Conventional Approaches
| Capability | DSIM | Conventional Tools |
|---|---|---|
Event-driven solverComputes only at switching transitions, skipping fixed time-step intervals | ||
Physical switch models (SiC, GaN, IGBT)Models actual switching transients using physical device parameters, not ideal on/off behavior | Varies by tool | |
No convergence failuresSolver stability across complex topologies with hundreds of switches | Common issue | |
Electro-thermal co-simulationSimultaneous electrical and thermal domain simulation for loss and temperature analysis | Varies by tool | |
Parametric sweepsAutomated simulation runs across ranges of component or operating parameters | Varies by tool | |
AC sweep for switch-mode circuitsFast frequency sweep analysis for stability and loop gain in switching converters | Limited | |
Python API / scriptingProgrammatic control of simulations via Python | Varies by tool | |
FMI co-simulationFunctional Mock-up Interface standard for cross-tool model exchange | Varies by tool | |
MATLAB/Simulink co-simulationBidirectional data exchange with MATLAB and Simulink | Varies by tool | |
Custom C code blocksEmbed custom C code for control algorithms and behavioral models | Varies by tool | |
Scales to hundreds of switchesSimulate topologies with hundreds of active switches without performance degradation | Often impractical |
“Conventional Tools” refers to typical fixed time-step simulation approaches used by most power electronics software. Actual capabilities vary by vendor and product version.
DSIM Simulation Speed
Internal benchmarks comparing DSIM's event-driven solver to conventional fixed-step simulation methods on identical hardware. Actual performance varies based on topology complexity and system configuration.
AUV internal benchmarks. Actual performance varies by topology and hardware configuration. These results compare DSIM against conventional fixed-step methods, not against any specific named product.
Want to See DSIM in Action?
Book a personalized demo and our engineering team will run your topology on the DSIM platform.