Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Simulation User Guide

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ID 730191
Date 4/01/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Introduction to the Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Simulator 2. FPGA Simulation Basics 3. Simulating with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition 4. Revision History for Questa Intel FPGA Edition Simulation User Guide A. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides
1. Introduction to the Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Simulator x
1.1. Simulator Versions and Licensing 1.2. Accessing Siemens EDA-Provided Simulator Documentation 1.3. Document Prerequisites
1.1. Simulator Versions and Licensing x
Other Supported Third-Party Simulators 1.1.1. Comparing Simulator Versions 1.1.2. Post-Fit Simulation Support by FPGA Family
2. FPGA Simulation Basics x
2.1. FPGA Simulation Essential Elements 2.2. Overview of Simulation Tool Flow 2.3. Simulation Tool Flow 2.4. Supported Hardware Description Languages 2.5. Supported Simulation Types 2.6. Supported Simulators 2.7. Post-Fit Simulation Support by FPGA Family 2.8. Automating Simulation with the Run Simulation Feature 2.9. Intel FPGA Simulation Basics Revision History
2.2. Overview of Simulation Tool Flow x
2.2.1. Compilation Stage 2.2.2. Elaboration Stage 2.2.3. Simulation Stage
2.3. Simulation Tool Flow x
2.3.1. Specifying Logical Libraries 2.3.2. Compiling Files Into Library Directories 2.3.3. The Quartus® Prime Simulation Library 2.3.4. Understanding Elaboration 2.3.5. Commands To Configure and Run Simulation 2.3.6. FPGA Simulation Generic Workflow
2.3.1. Specifying Logical Libraries x
2.3.1.1. Why Do We Need Logical Library Names?
2.3.2. Compiling Files Into Library Directories x
2.3.2.1. Inputs to Compilation Commands 2.3.2.2. Order of Files for Compilation Commands 2.3.2.3. Compilation Command Line Options 2.3.2.4. Module Definitions in Library Directories
2.3.3. The Quartus® Prime Simulation Library x
2.3.3.1. The Quartus® Prime Simulation Library Compiler 2.3.3.2. Running the Simulation Library Compiler in a Terminal 2.3.3.3. Running the Simulation Library Compiler in the GUI 2.3.3.4. Finding Logical Library Names in Simulation Library Compiler Output
2.3.4. Understanding Elaboration x
2.3.4.1. Elaboration Binding Phase 2.3.4.2. Elaboration Checks 2.3.4.3. Elaboration Options
2.8. Automating Simulation with the Run Simulation Feature x
2.8.1. Setting Up the Run Simulation Feature 2.8.2. Run RTL Simulation using Run Simulation in Batch Mode (Command-Line)
2.8.1. Setting Up the Run Simulation Feature x
2.8.1.1. Installation Paths for Supported EDA Simulators (EDA Tool Options Page) 2.8.1.2. Simulation Options (Board and IP Settings Page) 2.8.1.3. Simulation Flow Settings (EDA Tool Settings Page) 2.8.1.4. More EDA Netlist Writer Settings (EDA Tool Settings Page)
2.8.2. Run RTL Simulation using Run Simulation in Batch Mode (Command-Line) x
2.8.2.1. Specifying Required Simulation Settings for Run Simulation (Batch Mode) 2.8.2.2. Optional Simulation Settings for Run Simulation (Batch Mode) 2.8.2.3. Launching Simulation with the Run Simulation Feature 2.8.2.4. Running RTL Simulation using Run Simulation 2.8.2.5. Output Directories and Files for Run Simulation
3. Simulating with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition x
3.1. Types of Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Commands 3.2. Commands to Invoke Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition 3.3. Commands to Compile, Elaborate, and Simulate 3.4. Why You Should Only Use Precompiled Questa Intel FPGA Edition Libraries 3.5. Generating a msim_setup.tcl Simulation Script for RTL Simulation 3.6. Using the Qrun Flow 3.7. Performing RTL Simulation with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition 3.8. Performing Gate-Level Simulation with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition
3.3. Commands to Compile, Elaborate, and Simulate x
3.3.1. Compilation Command Examples 3.3.2. Finding Logical Library Names in Simulation Library Compiler Output 3.3.3. Elaboration Command Examples 3.3.4. Simulation Command Examples 3.3.5. Complete Tcl Script Example
3.3.1. Compilation Command Examples x
3.3.1.1. Compilation Example 1: Compile File foo.sv into a Logical Library 3.3.1.2. Compilation Example 2: Compile File design1.sv to Default Library (work) 3.3.1.3. Compilation Example 3: Compile All .sv Files into Logical Library foo 3.3.1.4. Compilation Example 4: Compile File foo.sv into Work with Verilog Macro FAST Set to 1 3.3.1.5. Compilation Example 5: File my_pkg.sv Defines SystemVerilog Package my_pkg and File foo.sv Imports my_pkg 3.3.1.6. Compilation Example 6: File my_pkg.sv Defines Systemverilog Package my_pkg and File foo.sv Imports my_pkg
3.3.3. Elaboration Command Examples x
3.3.3.1. Elaboration Example 1: Elaborate the Test Top-level Testbench Module 3.3.3.2. Elaboration Example 2: Elaborate the Test Top-level Testbench Module and Preserve All Signals 3.3.3.3. Elaboration Example 3: Elaborate Top-Level Testbench Module my_test
3.3.4. Simulation Command Examples x
3.3.4.1. Simulation Example 1: Run Simulation Until the End, while Capturing Waveforms of All Top-Level Signals in the Testbench 3.3.4.2. Simulation Example 2: Run Simulation for 30 Milliseconds, while Capturing Waveforms of All Top-Level Signals in the Hierarchy 3.3.4.3. Simulation Example 3: Run Simulation Until the End, while Capturing Waveforms of Top-Level Design Instance
3.5. Generating a msim_setup.tcl Simulation Script for RTL Simulation x
3.5.1. Commands Defined in msim_setup.tcl 3.5.2. Example Using msim_setup.tcl without Customization 3.5.3. Example my_sim.tcl Simulation Script 3.5.4. Passing In Custom Compilation and Elaboration Options for msim_setup.tcl 3.5.5. Finding All Custom Variables
3.6. Using the Qrun Flow x
3.6.1. Specifying Simulation File Generation Settings 3.6.2. Generating the Simulation Model and Setup Scripts 3.6.3. Generating the Testbench System 3.6.4. Generating Example Design Simulation Files
3.7. Performing RTL Simulation with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition x
3.7.1. Simulating an RTL Design without IP Variants or Platform Designer Systems 3.7.2. Simulating an RTL Design that has IP Variants or Platform Designer Systems
3.7.2. Simulating an RTL Design that has IP Variants or Platform Designer Systems x
3.7.2.1. Compilation Stage - Simulation with IP 3.7.2.2. Elaboration Stage - Simulation with IP 3.7.2.3. Simulation Stage - Simulation with IP
3.7.2.1. Compilation Stage - Simulation with IP x
3.7.2.1.1. Customizing the Generated Simulation Script
3.8. Performing Gate-Level Simulation with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition x
3.8.1. Post-Synthesis and Post-Fit Netlists for Simulation 3.8.2. Files Required for Gate-Level Simulation 3.8.3. Step 1: Generate Gate-Level Netlists for Simulation 3.8.4. Step 2: Identify Simulation Files and Compilation Options for Gate-Level Simulation 3.8.5. Step 3: Determine Elaboration Options for Gate-Level Simulation 3.8.6. Step 4: Assemble and Run the Gate-Level Simulation Script
4. Revision History for Questa Intel FPGA Edition Simulation User Guide x
4.1. Questa Intel FPGA Edition Simulation User Guide Archive
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Introduction to the Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Simulator
2. FPGA Simulation Basics
3. Simulating with Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition
4. Revision History for Questa Intel FPGA Edition Simulation User Guide
A. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides

1.1. Simulator Versions and Licensing

There are two versions of the Questa* Intel FPGA simulator available: Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition and Questa* Intel® FPGA Starter Edition. Both editions are available from the FPGA Software Download Center page. You must purchase Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition along with your purchase of the Quartus® Prime software. Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition is known as the paid edition when distinguishing between the two editions. Questa* Intel® FPGA Starter Edition is free to all users and is known as the free edition.

The Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software and the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition include both the free and paid editions of the software.

Both the free and paid editions require licenses for performing elaboration and simulation, but not for compilation. Simply installing Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition is insufficient for running simulations. For all editions, you must first obtain licenses and install the simulators before running any simulations, as Intel FPGA Software Installation and Licensing describes.

Table 1.   Quartus® Prime and Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Version Support
Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Version Licensing Supported Quartus® Prime Version Performance Difference
Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition version 2023.3 Licenses are required and must be purchased. Each edition supports the same user interface commands, GUI options, and behavior as the Siemens EDA Questa* Core simulator. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition version 23.4 (Windows, Linux) Reduced speed and instance count1 capacity limits in comparison with Siemens EDA Questa* Core.
Questa* Intel® FPGA Starter Edition 2023.3 Licenses are required but are free. Each edition supports the same user interface commands, GUI options, behavior, and number of module instances as the Siemens EDA Questa* Core simulator. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition version 23.4 (Windows, Linux) Reduced speed and instance count capacity limits in comparison with Siemens EDA Questa* Core. The Starter Edition has further reduced performance levels.
Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition version 2023.3 Licenses are required and must be purchased. Each edition supports the same user interface commands, GUI options, and behavior as the Siemens EDA Questa* Core simulator. Quartus® Prime Standard Edition version 23.1 (Windows, Linux) Reduced speed and instance count capacity limits in comparison with Siemens EDA Questa* Core.
Questa* Intel® FPGA Starter Edition 2023.3 Licenses are required but are free. Each edition supports the same user interface commands, GUI options, behavior, and number of module instances as the Siemens EDA Questa* Core simulator Quartus® Prime Standard Edition version 23.1 (Windows, Linux) Reduced speed and instance count capacity limits in comparison with Siemens EDA Questa* Core. The Starter Edition has further reduced performance levels.

Other Supported Third-Party Simulators

The current version of the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software also supports the following third-party simulator versions:

Table 2.   Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Supported Simulators
Vendor Simulator Version Platform Supports

Siemens EDA

Verification IP
Aldec Active-HDL* 13.0 Windows* 64-bit No
Aldec Riviera-PRO* 2023.04 Windows, Linux, 64-bit No
Cadence Xcelium* Parallel Simulator 22.09.001 Linux 64-bit Yes
Siemens EDA QuestaSim* Simulator2 2022.4 Windows, Linux, 64-bit Yes
Synopsys* VCS*, VCS MX T-2022.06-SP2-3 Linux 64-bit Yes

Section Content
Comparing Simulator Versions
Post-Fit Simulation Support by FPGA Family

Related Information
1 Instance count is the number of Verilog modules or VHDL entity instances in the simulation.
2 QuestaSim* is the generic name for Questa Core and Questa Prime simulators from Siemens EDA.
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