Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Debug Tools

ID 683819
Date 10/13/2021
Public

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6. Design Debugging Using In-System Sources and Probes

The Signal Tap Logic Analyzer and Signal Probe allow you to read or “tap” internal logic signals during run time as a way to debug your logic design.

Traditional debugging techniques often involve using an external pattern generator to exercise the logic and a logic analyzer to study the output waveforms during run time.

You can make the debugging cycle more efficient when you can drive any internal signal manually within your design, which allows you to perform the following actions:

  • Force the occurrence of trigger conditions set up in the Signal Tap Logic Analyzer
  • Create simple test vectors to exercise your design without using external test equipment
  • Dynamically control run time control signals with the JTAG chain

The In-System Sources and Probes Editor in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software extends the portfolio of verification tools, and allows you to easily control any internal signal and provides you with a completely dynamic debugging environment. Coupled with either the Signal Tap Logic Analyzer or Signal Probe, the In-System Sources and Probes Editor gives you a powerful debugging environment in which to generate stimuli and solicit responses from your logic design.

The Virtual JTAG IP core and the In-System Memory Content Editor also give you the capability to drive virtual inputs into your design. The Intel® Quartus® Prime software offers a variety of on-chip debugging tools.

The In-System Sources and Probes Editor consists of the ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core and an interface to control the ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core instances during run time. Each ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core instance provides you with source output ports and probe input ports, where source ports drive selected signals and probe ports sample selected signals. When you compile your design, the ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core sets up a register chain to either drive or sample the selected nodes in your logic design. During run time, the In-System Sources and Probes Editor uses a JTAG connection to shift data to and from the ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core instances. The figure shows a block diagram of the components that make up the In-System Sources and Probes Editor.
Figure 103. In-System Sources and Probes Editor Block Diagram


The ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core hides the detailed transactions between the JTAG controller and the registers instrumented in your design to give you a basic building block for stimulating and probing your design. Additionally, the In-System Sources and Probes Editor provides single-cycle samples and single-cycle writes to selected logic nodes. You can use this feature to input simple virtual stimuli and to capture the current value on instrumented nodes. Because the In-System Sources and Probes Editor gives you access to logic nodes in your design, you can toggle the inputs of low-level components during the debugging process. If used in conjunction with the Signal Tap Logic Analyzer, you can force trigger conditions to help isolate your problem and shorten your debugging process.

The In-System Sources and Probes Editor allows you to easily implement control signals in your design as virtual stimuli. This feature can be especially helpful for prototyping your design, such as in the following operations:

  • Creating virtual push buttons
  • Creating a virtual front panel to interface with your design
  • Emulating external sensor data
  • Monitoring and changing run time constants on the fly

The In-System Sources and Probes Editor supports Tcl commands that interface with all your ALTSOURCE_PROBE IP core instances to increase the level of automation.