Editing Electrical network (section)

===Piecewise-linear approximation===
Software such as the [[PLECS]] interface to [[Simulink]] uses [[Piecewise linear function|piecewise-linear]] approximation of the equations governing the elements of a circuit.  The circuit is treated as a completely linear network of [[Diode modelling#Mathematically idealized diode|ideal diode]]s.  Every time a diode switches from on to off or vice versa, the configuration of the linear network changes.  Adding more detail to the approximation of equations increases the accuracy of the simulation, but also increases its running time.