Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Design Compilation

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Date 6/21/2022
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Answers to Top FAQs 2. Design Compilation 3. Reducing Compilation Time 4. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide Design Compilation Archives A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides
2. Design Compilation x
2.1. Compilation Overview 2.2. Using the Compilation Dashboard 2.3. Design Netlist Infrastructure (DNI) 2.4. Design Synthesis 2.5. Design Place and Route 2.6. Incremental Optimization Flow 2.7. Fast Forward Compilation Flow 2.8. Full Compilation Flow 2.9. Exporting Compilation Results 2.10. Integrating Other EDA Tools 2.11. Synthesis Language Support 2.12. Compiler Optimization Techniques 2.13. Synthesis Settings Reference 2.14. Fitter Settings Reference 2.15. Design Compilation Revision History
2.1. Compilation Overview x
2.1.1. Compilation Flows 2.1.2. Compilation Hierarchy 2.1.3. Compilation Monitoring
2.3. Design Netlist Infrastructure (DNI) x
DNI Flow (Beta) DNI Netlist Five-box Data Model Executing Tcl Commands Example Use of Tcl Commands Retrieving Top-level Input Ports (highlighted in the schematic) Retrieving the inst_1 Instance Retrieving the in_1 Instance Port of the inst_1 Instance Retrieving Nets of the inst_1|out1 Instance Listing the Properties Available on the net Object Type 2.3.1. Exploring the RTL Analyzer 2.3.2. Sweep Hints Viewer
2.3.1. Exploring the RTL Analyzer x
2.3.1.1. Instances Bundling and Auto-hiding Unconnected Pins
2.4. Design Synthesis x
2.4.1. Running Synthesis 2.4.2. Viewing Synthesis Reports
2.4.1. Running Synthesis x
2.4.1.1. Preserving Registers During Synthesis 2.4.1.2. Preserving Signals for Monitoring and Debugging
2.5. Design Place and Route x
2.5.1. Running the Fitter 2.5.2. Viewing Fitter Reports
2.5.1. Running the Fitter x
2.5.1.1. Fitter Commands 2.5.1.2. Disabling or Enabling Physical Synthesis Optimization
2.5.2. Viewing Fitter Reports x
2.5.2.1. Plan Stage Reports 2.5.2.2. Place Stage Reports 2.5.2.3. Route Stage Reports 2.5.2.4. Retime Stage Reports 2.5.2.5. Finalize Stage Reports
2.5.2.2. Place Stage Reports x
2.5.2.2.1. Global Signal Visualization Report
2.5.2.3. Route Stage Reports x
2.5.2.3.1. Global Router Congestion Hotspot Summary Report 2.5.2.3.2. Global Router Wire Utilization Map Report
2.6. Incremental Optimization Flow x
2.6.1. Concurrent Analysis During Synthesis or Fitting 2.6.2. Analyzing Compiler Snapshots 2.6.3. Validating Periphery (I/O) after the Plan Stage
2.6.2. Analyzing Compiler Snapshots x
2.6.2.1. Running Snapshot Viewer
2.6.2.1. Running Snapshot Viewer x
2.6.2.1.1. Analyzing Failing Paths with Snapshot Viewer 2.6.2.1.2. Analyzing Clocking with Snapshot Viewer 2.6.2.1.3. Analyzing High Fan-out Nets with Snapshot Viewer 2.6.2.1.4. Validating Timing Constraints with Snapshot Viewer 2.6.2.1.5. Analyzing Congestion with Snapshot Viewer
2.7. Fast Forward Compilation Flow x
2.7.1. Step 1: Run Register Retiming 2.7.2. Step 2: Review Retiming Results 2.7.3. Step 3: Run Fast Forward Compile 2.7.4. Step 4: Review Fast Forward Results 2.7.5. Step 5: Implement Fast Forward Recommendations 2.7.6. Retiming Restrictions and Workarounds
2.7.2. Step 2: Review Retiming Results x
2.7.2.1. Locate Critical Chains
2.7.3. Step 3: Run Fast Forward Compile x
2.7.3.1. Fast Forward Compile By Hierarchy 2.7.3.2. HyperFlex Settings
2.7.4. Step 4: Review Fast Forward Results x
2.7.4.1. Clock Fmax Summary Report 2.7.4.2. Fast Forward Details Report
2.8. Full Compilation Flow x
2.8.1. Full Compilation Flow with Temporary Optimization Mode
2.9. Exporting Compilation Results x
2.9.1. Exporting a Version-Compatible Compilation Database 2.9.2. Importing a Version-Compatible Compilation Database 2.9.3. Creating a Design Partition 2.9.4. Exporting a Design Partition 2.9.5. Reusing a Design Partition 2.9.6. Viewing Quartus Database File Information 2.9.7. Clearing Compilation Results
2.9.6. Viewing Quartus Database File Information x
2.9.6.1. QDB File Attribute Types
2.10. Integrating Other EDA Tools x
2.10.1. Generating a VQM Netlist for other EDA Tools
2.11. Synthesis Language Support x
2.11.1. Verilog and SystemVerilog Synthesis Support 2.11.2. VHDL Synthesis Support
2.11.1. Verilog and SystemVerilog Synthesis Support x
2.11.1.1. Verilog HDL Input Settings (Settings Dialog Box) 2.11.1.2. Design Libraries 2.11.1.3. Verilog HDL Configuration 2.11.1.4. Initial Constructs and Memory System Tasks 2.11.1.5. Verilog HDL Macros
2.11.1.3. Verilog HDL Configuration x
2.11.1.3.1. Hierarchical Design Configurations
2.11.2. VHDL Synthesis Support x
2.11.2.1. VHDL Input Settings (Settings Dialog Box) 2.11.2.2. VHDL Standard Libraries and Packages 2.11.2.3. VHDL wait Constructs 2.11.2.4. VHDL-2019 Conditional Analysis Tool Directives
2.12. Compiler Optimization Techniques x
2.12.1. Compiler Optimization Modes 2.12.2. Allow Register Retiming 2.12.3. Automatic Gated Clock Conversion 2.12.4. Enable Intermediate Fitter Snapshots 2.12.5. Fast Preserve Option 2.12.6. Fractal Synthesis Optimization
2.12.6. Fractal Synthesis Optimization x
2.12.6.1. Enabling or Disabling Fractal Synthesis
2.13. Synthesis Settings Reference x
2.13.1. Advanced Synthesis Settings
3. Reducing Compilation Time x
3.1. Factors Affecting Compilation Results 3.2. Strategies to Reduce the Overall Compilation Time 3.3. Reducing Synthesis Time and Synthesis Netlist Optimization Time 3.4. Reducing Placement Time 3.5. Reducing Routing Time 3.6. Reducing Static Timing Analysis Time 3.7. Setting Process Priority 3.8. Reducing Compilation Time Revision History
3.2. Strategies to Reduce the Overall Compilation Time x
3.2.1. Running the ECO Compilation Flow 3.2.2. Enabling Multi-Processor Compilation 3.2.3. Using Block-Based Compilation
3.3. Reducing Synthesis Time and Synthesis Netlist Optimization Time x
3.3.1. Settings to Reduce Synthesis Time and Synthesis Netlist Optimization Time 3.3.2. Use Appropriate Coding Style to Reduce Synthesis Time
3.4. Reducing Placement Time x
3.4.1. Placement Effort Multiplier Settings
3.5. Reducing Routing Time x
3.5.1. Identifying Routing Congestion with the Chip Planner
3.5.1. Identifying Routing Congestion with the Chip Planner x
3.5.1.1. Areas with Routing Congestion 3.5.1.2. Congestion due to HDL Coding style
1. Answers to Top FAQs
2. Design Compilation
3. Reducing Compilation Time
4. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide Design Compilation Archives
A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides

2.3. Design Netlist Infrastructure (DNI)

Design Netlist Infrastructure (DNI) modernizes foundational aspects of the Intel® Quartus® Prime software. It enables new features that allow faster design convergence and a better user experience.

The following are some significant benefits of the DNI flow in the current release:

  • Access to a new productivity tool (RTL Analyzer (Beta)).
  • Uniform and comprehensive scripting interface.
  • More granular synthesis flow enabling faster iterations.
  • Access to Sweep Hints Viewer.

DNI will support more features and capabilities in the subsequent Intel® Quartus® Prime software releases.

DNI Flow (Beta)

The DNI flow (beta) provides a complete and unmodified view of your design early in the DNI-based compilation flow. It serves as a platform to better understand your design and improve it. With this Beta feature, the monolithic Analysis & Synthesis stage splits into Analysis & Elaboration and Synthesis stages.

To invoke the DNI flow, you must run the Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software with --dni option as follows: 

quartus --dni <project>

Once you enable the flow, the compilation dashboard gets updated. You can now access the preview modes of the Analysis & Elaboration stage, as shown in the following image:

Figure 3. Analysis & Elaboration and Synthesis Stages

The following diagram illustrates the detailed breakdown of the Analysis & Synthesis stage:

Figure 4. Analysis & Synthesis in the DNI Flow

The Analysis & Elaboration stage is composed of a series of transformations, and you can preview your design at each stage as shown in Analysis & Elaboration and Synthesis Stages, where:

  1. Elaborated: Provides an unmodified preview of your design captured directly from RTL.
  2. Instrumented: Provides an instrumented preview with system-level debugging (debug fabric and Signal Tap logic analyzer inserted in your design).
  3. Constrained: Provides a design preview with SDC constraints.
  4. Swept: Provides a design preview with unnecessary logic removed from your design.

For information about the Synthesis stage, refer to Design Synthesis.

DNI Netlist Five-box Data Model

DNI introduces a conventional netlist five-box data model used in most Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and commonly uses Tcl commands to traverse the netlist. Consider the following two instances example: 

module top (input PI_1,
            input PI_2,
            input PI_3,
            output PO_4);
 
    wire net_2;
    wire net_3;
 
    AND_OR inst_1(PI_1, PI_2, PI_3, net_2);
    AND_OR inst_2(PI_3, PI_2, PI_1, net_3);
    assign PO_4 = net_2 | net_3;
endmodule
 
module AND_OR (input in_1,
                input in_2,
                input in_3,
                output out_1);
 
    wire net_1;
 
    assign net_1 = in_1 & in_2;
    assign out_1 = net_1 | in_3;
 
endmodule

A DNI netlist consists of modules, instances, ports, instance ports, and nets, as shown in the following color-coded diagram:

Figure 5. DNI Netlist Five-box Data Model

The following table describes the core elements of this netlist data model:

Table 3.  Core Elements of the Netlist Data Model
Data Model Elements Description Tcl Command
Module A collection of connected netlist objects, such as instances, ports, nets, and instance ports. It is similar to the Verilog module or VHDL entity.

Each design has only a single top module.

 –
Port A terminal of a module.

In the DNI Data Model, PI_1, PI_2, PI_3, and PO_4 are ports.

dni::get_ports
Instance

An instantiation of a module or primitive.

In the DNI Data Model, inst_1, inst_2, AND_1, OR_2, and OR_3 are instances.

Note: Multiple unique objects can reference an instance if it exists in a netlist instantiated more than once.
dni::get_cells
Instance port (inst_port) A terminal of an instance.

In the DNI Data Model, inst_1|in_1, inst_2|AND_1|in_1 are few examples of instance ports.

dni::get_pins
Net A wire that connects terminals of instantiations or a netlist. In the DNI Data Model, Net_1, Net_2, Net_3, Net_4 and so on are nets. dni::get_nets

Executing Tcl Commands

The Intel® Quartus® Prime software GUI (quartus) and Synthesis tool (quartus_syn) support Tcl commands.

Use one of the following suitable methods to execute your Tcl commands:

Intel® Quartus® Prime Software GUI (quartus)

Perform the following steps in the GUI after you have enabled the DNI flow:

  1. On the Compilation Dashboard, run Analysis & Synthesis > Analysis & Elaboration task to generate the DNI netlist.

  2. Click the magnifier icon to Invoke the RTL Analyzer.
  3. Execute your DNI Tcl command in the Tcl Console .

Synthesis Tool (quartus_syn)
  1. Enable the DNI flow for your project with the following command:
    quartus_syn --dni --analysis_and_elaboration <project_name>
  2. Load your design.
    > quartus_syn --dni -s
<... Quartus Info Message...>
tcl> project_open top
tcl> dni::load_design -checkpoint elaborated
dms_path::sandboxes::sandbox_1239_0::design
  3. Execute your DNI Tcl commands:
    tcl> foreach_in_collection p [dni::get_pins -of_objects [dni::get_cells inst_1|out_1]] {puts [dni::get_property -name name -object $p]}
a[0]
a[1]
o
tcl> foreach_in_collection p [dni::get_pins -of_objects [dni::get_cells inst_1|out_1]] {puts [dni::get_property -name direction -object $p]}
input
input
output
tcl>

Example Use of Tcl Commands

The following examples enumerate how you can easily script a few routine tasks by using different features of the get command, such as attribute-based object filtering, name-based searching, or traversing object relationships:

Retrieving Top-level Input Ports (highlighted in the schematic)

In some scenarios, you may need a list of top-level ports. For example, to ensure all input ports are constrained with set_input_delay, you must retrieve all ports in the design and filter based on direction using the dni::get_ports tcl command, as shown in the following: 
dni::get_ports -filter direction==input

The tcl command returns a collection of input ports in the design, such as PI_1, PI_2, and PI_3. You can use the returned collection to pass or chain into other get_object commands. To access members of the collection, use collection iterators, such as foreach_in_collection. For example: 

foreach_in_collection p [dni::get_ports -filter direction=input] { puts $p }
port::top::PI_1
port::top::PI_2
port::top::PI_3

Retrieving the inst_1 Instance

Within your design, you can search for a specific object (for example, instance) by name. To find an instance, use the dni::get_cells tcl command, as shown in the following: 
dni::get_cells inst_1

The tcl command returns the inst_1 instance in the design. You can use the returned instance to pass or chain into other get_object commands. For example: 

foreach_in_collection p [dni::get_ports -filter direction=input] { puts [dni::get_property -name name -object $p] }
inst_1

Retrieving the in_1 Instance Port of the inst_1 Instance

During connectivity traversal, you may want to find a specific instance pin of an instance. In such scenarios, use the -of_object interface of the dni::get_pins command to traverse instance-to-instance pin relationship as shown in the following: 
dni::get_pins -of_objects [dni::get_cells inst_1] -filter name==in_1

The tcl command returns in_1 instance port of the inst_1 instance in the design. You can use the returned instance port to pass or chain into other get_object commands. For example: 

foreach_in_collection p [dni::get_pins -of_objects [dni::get_cells inst_1] -filter name==in_1] { puts $p] }
inst_port::top::inst_1|in_1

Retrieving Nets of the inst_1|out1 Instance

During connectivity trace, you may want to traverse all nets connected to an instance. In such a scenario, use the -of_objects interface of the dni::get_nets command to traverse nets connected to an instance. For example: 

dni::get_nets -of_objects [dni::get_cells inst_1|out_1]

The tcl command returns nets of the inst_1|out1 instance in the design. You can use the returned collection to pass or chain into other commands. For example: 

foreach_in_collection p [dni::get_nets -of_objects [dni::get_cells inst_1|out_1] ] { puts $p] }
inst_port::top::inst_1|out_1|Net_7
inst_port::top::inst_1|out_1|Net_6
inst_port::top::inst_1|out_1|Net_8

Listing the Properties Available on the net Object Type

The DNI tcl interface allows you to access object schema via the dni::list_properties tcl command. You can use this command to list accessible properties of any object type as follows: 
dni::list_properties -type net
name parent_name number_of_ports ports net_bus_name source_file source_line is_user_declared

Section Content
Exploring the RTL Analyzer
Sweep Hints Viewer

Level Two Title