  ESA's PLATO mission aims the detection and characterization of terrestrial
planets around solar-type stars as well as the study of host star properties.
The noise-to-signal ratio (NSR) is the main performance parameter of the PLATO
instrument, which consists of 24 Normal Cameras and 2 Fast Cameras. In order to
justify, verify and breakdown NSR-relevant requirements the software simulator
PINE was developed. PINE models the signal pathway from a target star to the
digital output of a camera based on physical models and considers the major
noise contributors. In this paper, the simulator's coarse mode is introduced
which allows fast performance analyses on instrument level. The added value of
PINE is illustrated by exemplary applications.
