Comparative Evaluation of Numerical and Symbolic Software Tools for the Simulation and Analysis of Electrical Filters

The design and analysis of electrical filters rely on a wide range of numerical and symbolic software environments, each providing different computational and analytical capabilities. However, comprehensive comparative studies that evaluate both approaches using identical filter configurations and common performance criteria remain limited. This paper presents a systematic comparative evaluation of representative active electrical filter structures using SPICE, TINA-TI, MATLAB, MAPLE, ECAP, SYSEG, and TFSYG. The investigated filters are analyzed using a unified methodology based on frequency-domain, time-domain, and symbolic indicators, including magnitude and phase responses, cutoff frequencies, pole-zero distributions, transient responses, and transfer functions. The main contribution is a reproducible cross-platform framework comparing numerical and symbolic environments using equivalent filter models, identical component values, and common analysis criteria. Unlike tool- or topology-specific evaluations, the methodology applies the same comparative procedure to representative active-filter families, distinguishing software-dependent differences from those associated with the underlying circuit model. The results show close agreement for directly comparable quantities while highlighting the complementary capabilities of numerical and symbolic analysis. The proposed methodology provides practical guidelines for selecting appropriate software tools for electrical filter analysis, design, optimization, and engineering education, supporting the combined use of numerical and symbolic techniques in analog circuit development.