Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guide: Design Compilation

ID 683283
Date 10/22/2021
Public
Document Table of Contents

2.5.2.8. Do Not Use Internal Tri-States

Internal tri-state signals are not recommended for FPGAs because the device architecture does not include internal tri-state logic. If designs use internal tri-states in a flat design, the tri-state logic is usually converted to OR gates or multiplexing logic. If tri-state logic occurs on a hierarchical partition boundary, the Quartus® Prime software cannot convert the logic to combinational gates because the partition could be connected to a top-level device I/O through another partition.

The figures below show a design with partitions that are not supported for incremental compilation due to the internal tri-state output logic on the partition boundaries. Instead of using internal tri-state logic for partition outputs, implement the correct logic to select between the two signals. Doing so is good practice even when there are no partitions, because such logic explicitly defines the behavior for the internal signals instead of relying on the Quartus® Prime software to convert the tri-state signals into logic.

Figure 22. Unsupported Internal Tri-State Signals
Figure 23. Merged Partition Allows Synthesis to Convert Internal Tri-State Logic to Combinational Logic

Do not use tri-state signals or bidirectional ports on hierarchical partition boundaries, unless the port is connected directly to a top-level I/O pin on the device. If you must use internal tri-state logic, ensure that all the control and destination logic is contained in the same partition, in which case the Quartus® Prime software can convert the internal tri-state signals into combinational logic as in a flat design. In this example, you can also merge all three partitions into one partition, as shown in the bottom figure, to allow the Quartus® Prime software to treat the logic as internal tri-state and perform the same type of optimization as a flat design. If possible, you should avoid using internal 
tri-state logic in any Altera FPGA design to ensure that you get the desired implementation when the design is compiled for the target device architecture.