Patent ID: 8527256

Claim:
A circuit simulator for simulating characteristics of a circuit including a multilayer capacitor, comprising a processor configured to perform a circuit analysis method that comprises: determining an equivalent circuit for the multilayer capacitor to be one of a first equivalent circuit and a second equivalent circuit, the first equivalent circuit including: a first parallel circuit connecting a capacitance (C 1 ) and a resistance (Rc 1 ); a first series circuit connecting the first parallel circuit in series with a capacitance (Cm); a second parallel circuit connecting a capacitance (Cp) in parallel with a resistance (Rp 2 ); a second series circuit connecting a resistance (Rp 1 ) in series with the second parallel circuit; a third parallel circuit connecting the first series circuit, the second series circuit, and a capacitance (C 0 ) in parallel; a third series circuit connecting an inductance (L 1 ) and a resistance (RL 1 ) in series; and a fourth parallel circuit connecting an inductance (Lm) in parallel to the third series circuit, wherein the third parallel circuit, an inductance (Ls), the fourth parallel circuit, and a resistance (Rs) are connected in series, the second equivalent circuit including: a first parallel circuit connecting a resistance (Rc 1 ) and a capacitance (C 1 ) in parallel; a second parallel circuit connecting a capacitance (C 2 ) and a resistance (Rc 2 ) in parallel; a third parallel circuit connecting a capacitance (C 3 ) and a resistance (Rc 3 ) in parallel; a first series circuit connecting the first parallel circuit, the second parallel circuit, the third parallel circuit, and a mutual capacitance (Cm) in series; a fourth parallel circuit connecting a capacitance (Cp) in parallel with a resistance Rp 2 ; a second series circuit connecting a resistance (Rp 1 ) in series with the fourth parallel circuit; a fifth parallel circuit connecting the first series circuit, the second series circuit, and a capacitance (C 0 ) in parallel; a third series circuit connecting an inductance (L 1 ) and a resistance (RL 1 ) in series; a fourth series circuit connecting an inductance (L 2 ) and a resistance (RL 2 ) in series; a fifth series circuit connecting an inductance (L 3 ) and a resistance (RL 3 ) in series; and a sixth parallel circuit connecting the third series circuit, the fourth series circuit, the fifth series circuit, and an inductance (Lm) in parallel, wherein the fifth parallel circuit, an inductance (Ls), the sixth parallel circuit, and a resistance (Rs) are connected in series; determining optimum circuit constants of the equivalent circuit using actually measured characteristics of the multilayer capacitor; and calculating frequency characteristics of the equivalent circuit in accordance with the determined optimum circuit constants for the equivalent circuit.