Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide

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ID 683445
Date 10/04/2021
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Overview of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator 2. Setting Up the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator 3. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface 4. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Pages 5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator 6. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide Archive 7. Document Revision History for the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide A. Measuring Static Power
1. Overview of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator x
1.1. Intel® FPGA PTC Power Model Status 1.2. Definitions of Power Terms Used in this Document
2. Setting Up the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator x
2.1. Availability 2.2. Obtaining the Standalone Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator 2.3. Estimating Power Consumption with the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator 2.4. Power Analysis for Dual-Core 1SG10M Intel® Stratix® 10 Devices
2.3. Estimating Power Consumption with the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator x
2.3.1. Estimating Power Consumption Before Starting the FPGA Design 2.3.2. Estimating Power Consumption While Creating the FPGA Design Importing a File Importing Data into the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Importing .qptc Data for Intel® Stratix® 10 Devices into the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator for Intel® Agilex™ Devices Importing an Early Power Estimator file from an Earlier Version to the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator (For Intel® Stratix® 10 devices only) 2.3.3. Estimating Power Consumption After Completing the FPGA Design
3. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface x
3.1. Intel® FPGA PTC Select Family Dialog Box 3.2. Intel® FPGA PTC Basic GUI Components
3.2. Intel® FPGA PTC Basic GUI Components x
3.2.1. Intel® FPGA PTC Data Entry Pages 3.2.2. Intel® FPGA PTC Field Types 3.2.3. Intel® FPGA PTC Input Field Dependencies 3.2.4. Intel® FPGA PTC Data Entry Error Messages
4. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Pages x
4.1. Intel® FPGA PTC - Power Summary 4.2. Intel® FPGA PTC - Common Page Elements 4.3. Intel® FPGA PTC - Device Selection and Thermal Analysis Windows 4.4. Intel® FPGA PTC - Main Page 4.5. Intel® FPGA PTC - Logic Page 4.6. Intel® FPGA PTC - RAM Page 4.7. Intel® FPGA PTC - DSP Page 4.8. Intel® FPGA PTC - Clock Page 4.9. Intel® FPGA PTC - PLL Page 4.10. Intel® FPGA PTC - I/O Page 4.11. Intel® FPGA PTC - I/O-IP Page 4.12. Intel® FPGA PTC - Transceiver Page 4.13. Intel® FPGA PTC - HPS Page 4.14. Intel® FPGA PTC - HBM Page ( Intel® Stratix® 10 Devices Only) 4.15. Intel® FPGA PTC - Thermal Page 4.16. Intel® FPGA PTC - Report Page
4.12. Intel® FPGA PTC - Transceiver Page x
4.12.1. Estimating E-Tile Channel PLL Power with the Intel Power and Thermal Calculator
5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator x
5.1. Toggle Rate 5.2. I/O Bank Allocation
1. Overview of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator
2. Setting Up the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator
3. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface
4. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator Pages
5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator
6. Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide Archive
7. Document Revision History for the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide
A. Measuring Static Power

2.3.2. Estimating Power Consumption While Creating the FPGA Design

If your FPGA design is partially complete, you can import a .qptc file (<revision name>.qptc) generated by the Intel® Quartus® Prime software into the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator. After importing the information from the .qptc file into the Intel® FPGA PTC, you can edit the Intel® FPGA PTC data to reflect the device resource estimates for your final design.

If you have instructed the Intel® Quartus® Prime Power Analyzer (QPA) to produce a .qptc file (see the Processing > Power Analyzer menu in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software), the following assignment is written to the .qsf file: 

set_global_assignment -name POWER_AND_THERMAL_CALCULATOR_EXPORT_FILE <filename>

When you open the Intel® FPGA PTC with a Quartus project (either from the Tools menu, or if you specified a project on the quartus_ptc command line) it looks for this QSF assignment and attempts to open the specified file. If the specified file isn't found, an error message occurs. After dismissing the error message, you are free to use the Intel® FPGA PTC to enter design information. If you want, you can remove this QSF assignment to suppress the error message when opening the Intel® FPGA PTC.

Table 2.  Advantages and Constraints of Power Estimation if your FPGA Design is Partially Complete
Advantage Constraint
  • You can perform power estimation early in the FPGA design cycle.
  • You can adjust design resources and parameters and see how those changes affect total power consumption.
  • Provides the flexibility to automatically populate the Intel® FPGA PTC based on the Intel® Quartus® Prime software compilation results.
  • Accuracy depends on your inputs and your estimate of the device resources; where this information may change (during or after your design is complete). Your power estimation results may be less accurate.
  • Unlike the Power Analyzer, which has access to the full design details, the Intel® FPGA PTC uses averages and not the actual design implementation. For example, the Intel® FPGA PTC uses average values for ALM configuration, while the Power Analyzer uses an exact configuration for each ALM.

Importing a File

Importing a .qptc file saves you time and effort otherwise spent on manually entering all the information into the Intel® FPGA PTC. You can also manually change any of the values after importing a file.

You can create a .qptc file for an Intel® Agilex™ -based or Intel® Stratix® 10-based design, by selecting Generate Power and Thermal Calculator Import File from the Project menu in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software.

Importing Data into the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator

You must import the .qptc file into the Intel® FPGA PTC before modifying any information. Also, you must verify all your information after importing a file.

Importing a file from the Intel® Quartus® Prime software populates all input values based on your design and design settings that were specified in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software. Alternatively, you can import values exported from an earlier version of the Intel® FPGA PTC.

To import data into the Intel® FPGA PTC, follow these steps:

  1. On the File menu, click Open.
  2. Browse to an existing Intel® FPGA PTC file generated by the current or earlier version of the Intel® FPGA PTC or the Intel® Quartus® Prime software, and click Open.
  3. After the file is imported into the Intel® FPGA PTC, the mouse cursor changes from busy to normal. If there are any warnings during the import, the Intel® FPGA PTC displays the PTC Import Warnings dialog box. Analyze each warning carefully to understand the cause; if any of the warnings are unexpected, you must manually modify the corresponding fields in the Intel® FPGA PTC after the import is completed. You can save all warning messages to a text file for future reference by clicking Save. When you are finished you can close or minimize the PTC Import Warnings dialog box. (Examples of warnings that could occur, would be if device ordering codes had changed such that previous values for Device Grade, Device, and Package and Transceiver Grade fields could not be imported directly, or if the VCC voltage isn't applicable to the selected device.)

Importing .qptc Data for Intel® Stratix® 10 Devices into the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator for Intel® Agilex™ Devices

If you want to import a data file originally exported from the Intel® Quartus® Prime software based on a design targeting Intel® Stratix® 10 devices, for use in the Intel® Agilex™ version of the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator, follow these steps:

  1. In the Intel® Stratix® 10 version of the Power and Thermal Calculator, open the existing .qptc file generated by the Intel® Quartus® Prime software based on a design targeting an Intel® Stratix® 10 device.
  2. Save the file as a .ptc file, and exit the Intel® Stratix® 10 Power and Thermal Calculator.
  3. Launch the Intel® Agilex™ version of the Power and Thermal Calculator, and open the .ptc file created in step 2.
  4. Select the appropriate Intel® Agilex™ device and modify resources and other settings to reflect your planned design targeting the Intel® Agilex™ device.

Importing an Early Power Estimator file from an Earlier Version to the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator (For Intel® Stratix® 10 devices only)

If you want to import a .csv file originally exported from the Intel® Quartus® Prime software version 19.4, or from the Early Power Estimator spreadsheet version 19.4, for a design targeting an Intel® Stratix® 10 device, for use in the Intel® Stratix® 10 version of the Power and Thermal Calculator version 20.3 or later, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Early Power Estimator .csv file exported from the 19.4 version of the Intel® Quartus® Prime software or Early Power Estimator spreadsheet in the Intel® Stratix® 10 version of the Power and Thermal Calculator.
  2. Save the file as a .ptc file, and exit the Intel® Stratix® 10 Power and Thermal Calculator.
Note:

Some general points about the import process:

  • A .qptc file created for an Intel® Agilex™ or Intel® Stratix® 10 design, can always be imported into the Intel® FPGA PTC for use with the same device family.
  • A .ptc file created for an Intel® Stratix® 10 design can be imported into the Intel® FPGA PTC for use with the similar design targeting an Intel® Agilex™ device.
  • A .qptc file created for an Intel® Agilex™ design, cannot be imported into the Intel® FPGA PTC for use with an Intel® Stratix® 10 design.
  • Some power-consuming resources — such as transceivers — of an original Intel® Stratix® 10 design might not be carried through the import process.
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