Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Third-party Simulation

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ID 683870
Date 12/04/2023
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics 2. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support 3. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support 4. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Support 5. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support 6. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide Third-party Simulation Archive A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides
1. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics x
1.1. Intel FPGA Simulation Essential Elements 1.2. Overview of Simulation Tool Flow 1.3. Simulation Tool Flow 1.4. Supported Simulation Types 1.5. Supported Hardware Description Languages 1.6. Supported Simulators 1.7. Post-Fit Simulation Support by Intel FPGA Family 1.8. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics Revision History
1.2. Overview of Simulation Tool Flow x
1.2.1. Compilation Stage 1.2.2. Elaboration Stage 1.2.3. Simulation Stage
1.3. Simulation Tool Flow x
1.3.1. Specifying Logical Libraries 1.3.2. Compiling Files Into Library Directories 1.3.3. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library 1.3.4. Understanding Elaboration 1.3.5. Commands To Configure and Run Simulation 1.3.6. Intel FPGA Simulation Generic Workflow
1.3.1. Specifying Logical Libraries x
1.3.1.1. Why Do We Need Logical Library Names?
1.3.2. Compiling Files Into Library Directories x
1.3.2.1. Inputs to Compilation Commands 1.3.2.2. Order of Files for Compilation Commands 1.3.2.3. Compilation Command Line Options 1.3.2.4. Module Definitions in Library Directories
1.3.3. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library x
1.3.3.1. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library Compiler 1.3.3.2. Running the Simulation Library Compiler in a Terminal 1.3.3.3. Running the Simulation Library Compiler in the GUI 1.3.3.4. Finding Logical Library Names in Simulation Library Compiler Output
1.3.4. Understanding Elaboration x
1.3.4.1. Elaboration Binding Phase 1.3.4.2. Elaboration Checks 1.3.4.3. Elaboration Options
2. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support x
2.1. Quick Start Example (QuestaSim* with Verilog) 2.2. QuestaSim* Simulator Guidelines 2.3. QuestaSim* Simulation Setup Script Example 2.4. Sourcing QuestaSim* Simulator Setup Scripts 2.5. Unsupported Features 2.6. QuestaSim* Simulator Support Revision History
2.2. QuestaSim* Simulator Guidelines x
2.2.1. Passing Parameter Information from Verilog HDL to VHDL 2.2.2. Viewing Simulation Messages 2.2.3. Generating Signal Activity Data for Power Analysis 2.2.4. Viewing Simulation Waveforms
3. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support x
3.1. Quick Start Example (VCS with Verilog) 3.2. VCS and VCS MX Guidelines 3.3. VCS Simulation Setup Script Example 3.4. Sourcing Synopsys VCS* MX Simulator Setup Scripts 3.5. Sourcing Synopsys VCS* Simulator Setup Scripts 3.6. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support Revision History
4. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Support x
4.1. Quick Start Example (Active-HDL VHDL) 4.2. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Guidelines 4.3. Using Simulation Setup Scripts 4.4. Sourcing Aldec ActiveHDL* or Riviera Pro* Simulator Setup Scripts 4.5. Aldec Active-HDL* and Riviera-PRO * Support Revision History
5. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support x
5.1. Using the Command-Line Interface 5.2. Generating Simulator Setup Script Templates 5.3. Sourcing Cadence Xcelium* Simulator Setup Scripts 5.4. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support Revision History
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics
2. Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator Support
3. Synopsys VCS* and VCS MX Support
4. Aldec Active-HDL and Riviera-PRO Support
5. Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator Support
6. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide Third-party Simulation Archive
A. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides

1.3.3. The Intel® Quartus® Prime Simulation Library

The Intel® Quartus® Prime software includes the Intel® Quartus® Prime simulation library. This library is comprised of Verilog HDL and VHDL files in the following directory: 

<quartus_installation>/quartus/eda/sim_lib

This library includes simulation models for all low-level blocks that you instantiate in your design. The library includes the following different types of low level blocks:

Table 1.  Low Level Blocks in Simulation Library
Low-Level Blocks Description
Gate-Level Primitives Gate-level primitives include simple, non-parameterized modules, such as AND gates and flip-flops. altera_primitives.v and altera_primitives.vhd define the gate-level primitives. These primitives are only used in RTL designs. Post-synthesis and post-fit netlists do not include these primitives. Rather, these netlists include ATOMs.
Basic IP Function Blocks Previously known as "megafuctions," these are basic parameterized blocks for functions such as FIFOs and multipliers. Only RTL designs use these blocks. Post-synthesis and post-fit netlists do not include these blocks.
ATOMs Also known as WYSIWYGs, ATOMs are the lowest level primitives in an Intel® Quartus® Prime design. There are different ATOM primitives, all of them parameterized modules with varying complexity. They represent the hardware blocks on the FPGA. For example there are ATOM modules that represent the I/O pins and buffers, FPGA lookup tables, DSP blocks, RAM blocks, and periphery blocks, such as high speed transceivers and hardened Ethernet and PCIe blocks. You are not expected to instantiate ATOMs directly in your RTL. Rather, the ATOMs are instantiated in the RTL files that the Intel® Quartus® Prime software generates. Since the Intel® Quartus® Prime synthesis maps the design to ATOMs, the post-synthesis and post-fit netlists are netlists of ATOMs, known as ATOM netlists. The Fitter places and routes the ATOM netlist.
HDL Library Files You compile the HDL library files into fixed logical locations, as Compiling Files into Library Directories describes. You must not compile the libraries for Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition. Instead use the included precompiled libraries.

Section Content
The Intel Quartus Prime Simulation Library Compiler
Running the Simulation Library Compiler in a Terminal
Running the Simulation Library Compiler in the GUI
Finding Logical Library Names in Simulation Library Compiler Output

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