Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guide: Third-party Simulation

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ID 683080
Date 2/05/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics 2. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support 3. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support 4. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support 5. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Support A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guides
1. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics x
1.1. Intel FPGA Simulation Essential Elements 1.2. Overview of Simulation Tool Flow 1.3. Simulation Tool Flow 1.4. Supported Simulation Types 1.5. Supported Simulation Flows 1.6. Supported Hardware Description Languages 1.7. Supported Simulators 1.8. Using NativeLink Simulation ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition) 1.9. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics Revision History
1.2. Overview of Simulation Tool Flow x
1.2.1. Compilation Stage 1.2.2. Elaboration Stage 1.2.3. Simulation Stage
1.3. Simulation Tool Flow x
1.3.1. Specifying Logical Libraries 1.3.2. Compiling Files Into Library Directories 1.3.3. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library 1.3.4. Understanding Elaboration 1.3.5. Commands To Configure and Run Simulation 1.3.6. Intel FPGA Simulation Generic Workflow
1.3.1. Specifying Logical Libraries x
1.3.1.1. Why Do We Need Logical Library Names?
1.3.2. Compiling Files Into Library Directories x
1.3.2.1. Inputs to Compilation Commands 1.3.2.2. Order of Files for Compilation Commands 1.3.2.3. Compilation Command Line Options 1.3.2.4. Module Definitions in Library Directories
1.3.3. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library x
1.3.3.1. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library Compiler 1.3.3.2. Running the Simulation Library Compiler in a Terminal 1.3.3.3. Running the Simulation Library Compiler in the GUI 1.3.3.4. Finding Logical Library Names in Simulation Library Compiler Output
1.3.4. Understanding Elaboration x
1.3.4.1. Elaboration Binding Phase 1.3.4.2. Elaboration Checks 1.3.4.3. Elaboration Options
1.8. Using NativeLink Simulation ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition) x
1.8.1. Setting Up NativeLink Simulation ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition) 1.8.2. Running RTL Simulation (NativeLink Flow) 1.8.3. Running Gate-Level Simulation (NativeLink Flow)
2. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support x
2.1. Quick Start Example (QuestaSim* with Verilog) 2.2. QuestaSim* Simulator Guidelines 2.3. QuestaSim* Simulation Setup Script Example 2.4. Sourcing QuestaSim* Simulator Setup Scripts 2.5. Unsupported Features 2.6. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support Revision History
2.2. QuestaSim* Simulator Guidelines x
2.2.1. Passing Parameter Information from Verilog HDL to VHDL 2.2.2. Viewing Simulation Messages 2.2.3. Generating Signal Activity Data for Power Analysis 2.2.4. Viewing Simulation Waveforms
2.2.3. Generating Signal Activity Data for Power Analysis x
2.2.3.1. Generating Standard Delay Output for Power Analysis
3. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support x
3.1. Quick Start Example (VCS with Verilog) 3.2. VCS and VCS MX Guidelines 3.3. VCS Simulation Setup Script Example 3.4. Sourcing Synopsys VCS* MX Simulator Setup Scripts 3.5. Sourcing Synopsys VCS* Simulator Setup Scripts 3.6. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support Revision History
3.2. VCS and VCS MX Guidelines x
3.2.1. Simulating Transport Delays 3.2.2. Disabling Timing Violation on Registers 3.2.3. Generating Power Analysis Files
4. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support x
4.1. Generating Simulator Setup Script Templates 4.2. Sourcing Cadence Xcelium* Simulator Setup Scripts 4.3. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support Revision History
5. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Support x
5.1. Quick Start Example (Active-HDL VHDL) 5.2. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Guidelines 5.3. Using Simulation Setup Scripts 5.4. Sourcing Aldec ActiveHDL* or Riviera Pro* Simulator Setup Scripts 5.5. Aldec Active-HDL* and Riviera-PRO * Support Revision History
5.2. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Guidelines x
5.2.1. Compiling SystemVerilog Files 5.2.2. Disabling Timing Violation on Registers
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics
2. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support
3. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support
4. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support
5. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Support
A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guides

1.3.6. Intel FPGA Simulation Generic Workflow

The following describes the high level workflow for simulation of any Intel® Quartus® Prime design using any supported simulator:

Figure 5. Generic Intel FPGA Simulation Workflow


  1. Identify all of the HDL simulation files, including design files, simulation library files, and HDL testbench files.
  2. Identify the top-level test bench module for simulation.
  3. For each HDL simulation file, determine the logical library for compilation, and any compilation options for compiling the file.1
  4. Determine any simulator-specific elaboration options required for elaborating the top- level testbench module, as Understanding Elaboration describes.
  5. Use the information gathered in previous steps to assemble a simulation script to compile, elaborate, and simulate the design. This script must include commands to perform the following:

The Intel® Quartus® Prime software can generate simulator-specific simulation scripts to automate some of the simulation processing in your preferred simulation environment.

The Intel® Quartus® Prime software can generate a simulator specific simulation script for an IP core, or a Platform Designer system, for use in RTL simulation. The script includes commands to compile all the IP RTL files, as well as an elaboration command with any simulator specific options.

The Intel® Quartus® Prime software can generate a simulation library compilation script for a given simulator, device family, and language. This script includes commands to compile the simulation library files for the specified simulator, device family, and language. You can use this script for RTL simulation and gate-level simulation.

1 In general, you can compile most HDL simulation files into the default work library.
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