SIGs/SciTech/Electronics

= Electronics =

 draft by ChitleshGoorah

Below is a list of packages available for the electronics fields

Octave
GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It provides a convenient command line interface for solving linear and nonlinear problems numerically, and for performing other numerical experiments using a language that is mostly compatible with Matlab. It may also be used as a batch-oriented language. Octave has extensive tools for solving common numerical linear algebra problems, finding the roots of nonlinear equations, integrating ordinary functions, manipulating polynomials, and integrating ordinary differential and differential-algebraic equations. It is easily extensible and customizable via user-defined functions written in Octave's own language, or using dynamically loaded modules written in C++, C, Fortran, or other languages.

kst
Kst is a real-time data viewing and plotting tool with basic data analysis functionality. Kst contains many powerful built-in features and is expandable with plugins and extensions. Kst is a KDE application.

Main features of kst include: such as histograms, equations, and power spectra.
 * Robust plotting of live "streaming" data.
 * Powerful keyboard and mouse plot manipulation.
 * Powerful plugins and extensions support.
 * Large selection of built-in plotting and data manipulation functions,
 * Color mapping and contour mapping capabilities for three-dimensional data.
 * Monitoring of events and notifications support.
 * Filtering and curve fitting capabilities.
 * Convenient command-line interface.
 * Powerful graphical user interface.
 * Support for several popular data formats.
 * Multiple tabs or windows.

geomview
Geomview is an interactive 3D viewing program for Unix. It lets you view and manipulate 3D objects: you use the mouse to rotate, translate, zoom in and out, etc. It can be used as a standalone viewer for static objects or as a display engine for other programs which produce dynamically changing geometry. It can display objects described in a variety of file formats. It comes with a wide selection of example objects, and you can create your own objects too.

python-numarray
Numarray provides array manipulation and computational capabilities similar to those found in IDL, Matlab, or Octave. Using numarray, it is possible to write many efficient numerical data processing applications directly in Python without using any C, C++ or Fortran code (as well as doing such analysis interactively within Python or PyRAF). For algorithms that are not well suited for efficient computation using array facilities it is possible to write C functions (and eventually Fortran) that can read and write numarray arrays that can be called from Python.

plplot
PLplot is a library of functions that are useful for making scientific plots.

PLplot can be used from within compiled languages such as C, C++, FORTRAN and Java, and interactively from interpreted languages such as Octave, Python, Perl and Tcl.

The PLplot library can be used to create standard x-y plots, semilog plots, log-log plots, contour plots, 3D surface plots, mesh plots, bar charts and pie charts. Multiple graphs (of the same or different sizes) may be placed on a single page with multiple lines in each graph.

A variety of output file devices such as Postscript, png, jpeg, LaTeX and others, as well as interactive devices such as xwin, tk, xterm and Tektronics devices are supported. New devices can be easily added by writing a small number of device dependent routines.

There are almost 2000 characters in the extended character set. This includes four different fonts, the Greek alphabet and a host of mathematical, musical, and other symbols. Some devices supports its own way of dealing with text, such as the Postscript and LaTeX drivers, or the png and jpeg drivers that uses the Freetype library.

ghdl
GHDL is a VHDL simulator, using the GCC technology. VHDL is a language standardized by the IEEE, intended for developing electronic systems. GHDL implements the VHDL language according to the IEEE 1076-1987 or the IEEE 1076-1993 standard. It compiles VHDL files and creates a binary that simulates (or executes) your design. GHDL does not do synthesis: it cannot translate your design into a netlist.

Since GHDL is a compiler (i.e., it generates object files), you can call functions or procedures written in a foreign language, such as C, C++, or Ada95.

kicad
Electronic schematic diagrams and printed circuit board artwork. Kicad is an open source (GPL) software for the creation of electronic schematic diagrams and printed circuit board artwork up to 16 layers.

Kicad is a set of four softwares and a project manager:

- Eeschema: schematic entry

- Pcbnew: board editor

- Gerbview: GERBER viewer (photoplotter documents)

- Cvpcb: footprint selector for components used in the circuit design

- Kicad: project manager