Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Getting Started

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ID 683463
Date 10/04/2021
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Introduction to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition 2. Managing Intel® Quartus® Prime Projects 3. Design Planning 4. Introduction to Intel® FPGA IP Cores 5. Migrating to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides 6. Document Archives
1. Introduction to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition x
1.1. Selecting an Intel® Quartus® Prime Software Edition 1.2. Introduction to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Revision History
2. Managing Intel® Quartus® Prime Projects x
2.1. Viewing Basic Project Information 2.2. Intel® Quartus® Prime Project Contents 2.3. Managing Project Settings 2.4. Managing Logic Design Files 2.5. Managing Timing Constraints 2.6. Integrating Other EDA Tools 2.7. Exporting Compilation Results 2.8. Migrating Projects Across Operating Systems 2.9. Archiving Projects 2.10. Command-Line Interface 2.11. Managing Projects Revision History
2.1. Viewing Basic Project Information x
2.1.1. Using the Compilation Dashboard 2.1.2. Viewing Project Reports 2.1.3. Viewing Project Messages 2.1.4. Automated Problem Reports
2.1.3. Viewing Project Messages x
2.1.3.1. Suppressing Message Display 2.1.3.2. Promoting Critical Warnings to Errors
2.2. Intel® Quartus® Prime Project Contents x
2.2.1. Project File Best Practices
2.3. Managing Project Settings x
2.3.1. Specifying the Target Device or Board 2.3.2. Optimizing Project Settings
2.3.2. Optimizing Project Settings x
2.3.2.1. Optimize Settings with Design Space Explorer II 2.3.2.2. Optimize Settings with Project Revisions 2.3.2.3. Back-Annotate Optimized Assignments
2.4. Managing Logic Design Files x
2.4.1. Including Design Libraries 2.4.2. Creating a Project Copy
2.7. Exporting Compilation Results x
2.7.1. Exporting a Version-Compatible Compilation Database 2.7.2. Importing a Version-Compatible Compilation Database 2.7.3. Creating a Design Partition 2.7.4. Exporting a Design Partition 2.7.5. Reusing a Design Partition 2.7.6. Viewing Quartus Database File Information 2.7.7. Clearing Compilation Results
2.7.6. Viewing Quartus Database File Information x
2.7.6.1. QDB File Attribute Types
2.8. Migrating Projects Across Operating Systems x
2.8.1. Migrating Design Files and Libraries 2.8.2. Design Library Migration Guidelines
2.8.1. Migrating Design Files and Libraries x
2.8.1.1. Use Relative Paths
2.9. Archiving Projects x
2.9.1. Manually Adding Files To Archives 2.9.2. Archiving Projects for Service Requests 2.9.3. Archiving Projects for External Revision Control 2.9.4. Creating Database-Only Archives
2.9.3. Archiving Projects for External Revision Control x
2.9.3.1. Project Files to Include In External Revision Control
2.10. Command-Line Interface x
2.10.1. Project Revision Commands 2.10.2. Project Archive Commands 2.10.3. Project Database Commands
2.10.3. Project Database Commands x
2.10.3.1. quartus_cdb Executables to Manage Version-Compatible Databases
3. Design Planning x
3.1. Design Planning 3.2. Create a Design Specification and Test Plan 3.3. Plan for the Target Device 3.4. Plan for Intellectual Property Cores 3.5. Plan for Standard Interfaces 3.6. Plan for Device Programming 3.7. Plan for Device Power Consumption 3.8. Plan for Interface I/O Pins 3.9. Plan for other EDA Tools 3.10. Plan for On-Chip Debugging Tools 3.11. Plan HDL Coding Styles 3.12. Plan for Hierarchical and Team-Based Designs 3.13. Design Planning Revision History
3.3. Plan for the Target Device x
3.3.1. Device Migration Planning
3.8. Plan for Interface I/O Pins x
3.8.1. Simultaneous Switching Noise Analysis
3.9. Plan for other EDA Tools x
3.9.1. Third-Party Synthesis Tools 3.9.2. Third-Party Simulation Tools
3.11. Plan HDL Coding Styles x
3.11.1. Design Recommendations 3.11.2. Recommended HDL Coding Styles 3.11.3. Managing Metastability
3.12. Plan for Hierarchical and Team-Based Designs x
3.12.1. Flat Compilation without Design Partitions
4. Introduction to Intel® FPGA IP Cores x
4.1. IP Catalog and Parameter Editor 4.2. Installing and Licensing Intel® FPGA IP Cores 4.3. IP General Settings 4.4. Adding IP to IP Catalog 4.5. Best Practices for Intel® FPGA IP 4.6. Specifying the IP Core Parameters and Options ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition) 4.7. Modifying an IP Variation 4.8. Upgrading IP Cores 4.9. Simulating Intel® FPGA IP Cores 4.10. Simulating Platform Designer Systems 4.11. Synthesizing IP Cores in Other EDA Tools 4.12. Instantiating IP Cores in HDL 4.13. Support for the IEEE 1735 Encryption Standard 4.14. Introduction to Intel FPGA IP Cores Revision History
4.1. IP Catalog and Parameter Editor x
4.1.1. The Parameter Editor
4.2. Installing and Licensing Intel® FPGA IP Cores x
4.2.1. Intel® FPGA IP Evaluation Mode
4.2.1. Intel® FPGA IP Evaluation Mode x
4.2.1.1. Intel FPGA IP Versioning 4.2.1.2. Checking the IP License Status
4.6. Specifying the IP Core Parameters and Options ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition) x
4.6.1. IP Core Generation Output ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition) 4.6.2. Scripting IP Core Generation
4.8. Upgrading IP Cores x
4.8.1. Upgrading IP Cores at Command-Line 4.8.2. Migrating IP Cores to a Different Device 4.8.3. Troubleshooting IP or Platform Designer System Upgrade
4.9. Simulating Intel® FPGA IP Cores x
4.9.1. Generating IP Simulation Files 4.9.2. Scripting IP Simulation
4.9.2. Scripting IP Simulation x
4.9.2.1. Generating a Combined Simulator Setup Script ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition)
4.12. Instantiating IP Cores in HDL x
4.12.1. Example Top-Level Verilog HDL Module 4.12.2. Example Top-Level VHDL Module
5. Migrating to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition x
5.1. Keep Pro Edition Project Files Separate 5.2. Upgrade Project Assignments and Constraints 5.3. Upgrade IP Cores and Platform Designer Systems 5.4. Upgrade Non-Compliant Design RTL 5.5. Migrating to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Revision History
5.2. Upgrade Project Assignments and Constraints x
5.2.1. Modify Entity Name Assignments 5.2.2. Resolve Timing Constraint Entity Names 5.2.3. Verify Generated Node Name Assignments 5.2.4. Replace Logic Lock (Standard) Regions 5.2.5. Modify Signal Tap Logic Analyzer Files 5.2.6. Remove References to .qip Files 5.2.7. Remove Unsupported Feature Assignments
5.2.4. Replace Logic Lock (Standard) Regions x
5.2.4.1. Logic Lock Region Assignment Examples
5.4. Upgrade Non-Compliant Design RTL x
5.4.1. Verify Verilog Compilation Unit 5.4.2. Update Entity Auto-Discovery 5.4.3. Ensure Distinct VHDL Namespace for Each Library 5.4.4. Remove Unsupported Parameter Passing 5.4.5. Remove Unsized Constant from WYSIWYG Instantiation 5.4.6. Remove Non-Standard Pragmas 5.4.7. Declare Objects Before Initial Values 5.4.8. Confine SystemVerilog Features to SystemVerilog Files 5.4.9. Avoid Assignment Mixing in Always Blocks 5.4.10. Avoid Unconnected, Non-Existent Ports 5.4.11. Avoid Illegal Parameter Ranges 5.4.12. Update Verilog HDL and VHDL Type Mapping
5.4.1. Verify Verilog Compilation Unit x
5.4.1.1. Verilog HDL Configuration Instantiation
1. Introduction to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition
2. Managing Intel® Quartus® Prime Projects
3. Design Planning
4. Introduction to Intel® FPGA IP Cores
5. Migrating to Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition
A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides
6. Document Archives

3.8. Plan for Interface I/O Pins

In many design environments, FPGA designers want to plan the top-level FPGA I/O pins early to help board designers begin the PCB design and layout. The I/O capabilities and board layout guidelines of the FPGA device influence pin locations and other types of assignments. If the board design team specifies an FPGA pin-out, the pin locations must be verified in the FPGA placement and routing software to avoid board design changes.

You can create a preliminary pin-out for an Intel FPGA with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Pin Planner before you develop the source code, based on standard I/O interfaces (such as memory and bus interfaces) and any other I/O requirements for your system.

Figure 38. Pin Planner

The Intel® Quartus® Prime I/O Assignment Analysis checks that the pin locations and assignments are supported in the target FPGA architecture. You can then use I/O Assignment Analysis to validate I/O-related assignments that you create or modify throughout the design process. When you compile your design in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software, I/O Assignment Analysis runs automatically in the Fitter to validate that the assignments meet all the device requirements and generates error messages.

Early in the design process, before creating the source code, the system architect has information about the standard I/O interfaces (such as memory and bus interfaces), the IP cores in your design, and any other I/O-related assignments defined by system requirements. You can use this information with the Early Pin Planning feature in the Pin Planner to specify details about the design I/O interfaces. You can then create a top-level design file that includes all I/O information.

The Pin Planner interfaces with the IP core parameter editor, which allows you to create or import custom IP cores that use I/O interfaces. You can configure how to connect the functions and cores to each other by specifying matching node names for selected ports. You can create other I/O-related assignments for these interfaces or other design I/O pins in the Pin Planner, as described in this section. The Pin Planner creates virtual pin assignments for internal nodes, so internal nodes are not assigned to device pins during compilation.

You can use the I/O analysis results to change pin assignments or IP parameters even before you create your design, and repeat the checking process until the I/O interface meets your design requirements and passes the pin checks in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software. When you complete initial pin planning, you can create a revision based on the Intel® Quartus® Prime-generated netlist. You can then use the generated netlist to develop the top-level design file for your design, or disregard the generated netlist and use the generated Intel® Quartus® Prime Settings File (.qsf) with your design.

During this early pin planning, after you have generated a top-level design file, or when you have developed your design source code, you can assign pin locations and assignments with the Pin Planner.

With the Pin Planner, you can identify I/O banks, voltage reference (VREF) groups, and differential pin pairings to help you through the I/O planning process. If you selected a migration device, the Pin Migration View highlights the pins that have changed functions in the migration device when compared to the currently selected device. Selecting the pins in the Device Migration view cross-probes to the rest of the Pin Planner, so that you can use device migration information when planning your pin assignments. You can also configure board trace models of selected pins for use in “board-aware” signal integrity reports generated with the Enable Advanced I/O Timing option . This option ensures that you get accurate I/O timing analysis. You can use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to start the I/O planning process if you normally use a spreadsheet in your design flow, and you can export a Comma-Separated Value File (.csv) containing your I/O assignments for spreadsheet use when you assign all pins.

When you complete your pin planning, you can pass pin location information to PCB designers. The Pin Planner is tightly integrated with certain PCB design EDA tools, and can read pin location changes from these tools to check suggested changes. Your pin assignments must match between the Intel® Quartus® Prime software and your schematic and board layout tools to ensure the FPGA works correctly on the board, especially if you must make changes to the pin-out. The system architect uses the Intel® Quartus® Prime software to pass pin information to team members designing individual logic blocks, allowing them to achieve better timing closure when they compile their design.

Start FPGA planning before you complete the HDL for your design to improve the confidence in early board layouts, reduce the chance of error, and improve the overall time to market of the design. When you complete your design, use the Fitter reports for the final sign-off of pin assignments. After compilation, the Intel® Quartus® Prime software generates the Pin-Out File (.pin), and you can use this file to verify that each pin is correctly connected in board schematics.

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