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

ID 683819
Date 10/02/2023
Public

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3.9.4.1.1. Partition Boundary Ports Method

Partition boundary ports expose core partition nodes to the top-level partition. Boundary ports simplify the management of hierarchical blocks by tunneling through layers of logic without making RTL changes. The partition boundary ports method includes these high-level steps:
  1. In the project that exports the partition, define boundary ports for all potential Signal Tap nodes in the core partition. Define partition boundary ports with the Create Partition Boundary Ports assignment in the Assignment Editor. When you assign a bus, the assignment applies to the root name of the debug port, with each bit enumerated.
  2. In the project that exports the partition, create a black box file that includes the partition boundary ports, to allows tapping these ports as pre-synthesis or post-fit nodes in another project.
  3. In the project that reuses the partition, run Analysis & Synthesis on the reused partition. All valid ports with the Create Partition Boundary Ports become visible in the project. After synthesis you can verify the partition boundary ports in the Create Partition Boundary Ports report in the In-System Debugging folder under Synthesis reports.
  4. Tap the partition boundary ports to connect to a Signal Tap instance in the top-level partition. You can also tap logic from the top-level partition to this Signal Tap instance. When using this method, the project requires only one Signal Tap instance to debug both the top-level and the reused core partition.

The following procedures explain these steps in more detail.