Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guide: Power Analysis and Optimization

ID 683506
Date 9/24/2018
Public
Document Table of Contents

2.5.3. Architectural Optimization

Design-level architectural optimizations allow you to take advantage of device architecture features. These features include dedicated memory, DSPs, or multiplier blocks that can perform memory or arithmetic-related functions. You can reduce power consumption by choosing blocks in place of LUTs. For example, you can build large shift registers from RAM-based FIFO buffers instead of building the shift registers from the LE registers.

The Stratix® device family allows you to efficiently target small, medium, and large memories with the TriMatrix memory architecture. Each TriMatrix memory block is optimized for a specific function. M512 memory blocks are more power-efficient than the distributed memory structures in some competing FPGAs. With M4K memory blocks you can implement buffers for a wide variety of applications, including processor code storage, large look-up table implementation, and large memory applications. The M-RAM blocks are useful in applications when storing a large volume of data on-chip is necessary. Effective utilization of these memory blocks can have a significant impact on power reduction in the design.

The latest Stratix® and Cyclone® device families have configurable M9K memory blocks that provide memory functions such as RAM, FIFO buffers, and ROM.