Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGA Network-on-Chip (NoC) User Guide

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ID 768844
Date 5/22/2023
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Answers to Top FAQs 2. Network-on-Chip (NoC) Overview 3. Hard Memory NoC in Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGAs 4. NoC Design Flow in Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition 5. NoC Real-time Performance Monitoring 6. Simulating NoC Designs 7. NoC Power Estimation 8. Hard Memory NoC IP Reference 9. Document Revision History of Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGA Network-on-Chip (NoC) User Guide
2. Network-on-Chip (NoC) Overview x
2.1. Introduction to Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGAs 2.2. Terminology for Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGAs 2.3. General NoC Architecture and Applications
2.3. General NoC Architecture and Applications x
2.3.1. General NoC Architecture 2.3.2. Example NoC Applications
2.3.2. Example NoC Applications x
2.3.2.1. Parallel Computing NoC Application 2.3.2.2. SmartNIC NoC Application
3. Hard Memory NoC in Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGAs x
3.1. High-Level Architecture 3.2. NoC Segments 3.3. Fabric NoC 3.4. NoC Protocol Support 3.5. NoC Design Considerations
3.2. NoC Segments x
3.2.1. UIB Segments 3.2.2. GPIO-B Segments 3.2.3. GPIO-B and HPS Segment 3.2.4. SDM Segment 3.2.5. PLL and SSM Segment
3.4. NoC Protocol Support x
3.4.1. AXI4 Protocol Support 3.4.2. AXI4 Handshaking Support 3.4.3. Quality of Service (QoS) Support 3.4.4. Transaction Ordering Support 3.4.5. AXI4 Lite Protocol Support
3.5. NoC Design Considerations x
3.5.1. Determining the Number of NoC Targets 3.5.2. Determining the Number of NoC Initiators 3.5.3. Fabric NoC Considerations 3.5.4. Latency Considerations 3.5.5. Initiator and Target Bandwidth Considerations 3.5.6. Horizontal Bandwidth Considerations 3.5.7. GPIO-B Bypass Mode and Initiators
4. NoC Design Flow in Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition x
4.1. Hard Memory NoC Design Flow Overview 4.2. Using NoC Example Designs 4.3. NoC Building Blocks 4.4. Connecting NoC IP 4.5. Making NoC Logical Assignments 4.6. (Recommended) Make NoC Physical Assignments Using Interface Planner 4.7. Compiling the NoC Design
4.1. Hard Memory NoC Design Flow Overview x
4.1.1. Options for Specifying NoC Connectivity and Addressing
4.3. NoC Building Blocks x
4.3.1. NoC Initiators 4.3.2. NoC Targets 4.3.3. NoC Clock Control
4.4. Connecting NoC IP x
4.4.1. General NoC IP Connectivity Guidelines 4.4.2. Connecting NoC IP 4.4.3. NoC Initiator Connectivity Guidelines 4.4.4. NoC Target Connectivity Guidelines 4.4.5. NoC Clock Control Connectivity Guidelines
4.5. Making NoC Logical Assignments x
4.5.1. Creating NoC Assignments for Compilation 4.5.2. Using the NoC Assignment Editor
4.5.2. Using the NoC Assignment Editor x
4.5.2.1. Step 1: Make Group Assignments in the NoC Assignment Editor 4.5.2.2. Step 2: Make Connection Assignments in the NoC Assignment Editor 4.5.2.3. Step 3: Make Attribute Assignments in the NoC Assignment Editor 4.5.2.4. Step 4: Validate Logical NoC Assignments and Generate Simulation File
4.6. (Recommended) Make NoC Physical Assignments Using Interface Planner x
4.6.1. Using Interface Planner 4.6.2. Recommended Placement Order for NoC Elements in Interface Planner 4.6.3. Hard Memory NoC Locations in Interface Planner 4.6.4. NoC Performance Reports in Interface Planner
4.7. Compiling the NoC Design x
4.7.1. Fitter NoC Reports 4.7.2. Viewing NoC Elements in Chip Planner
6. Simulating NoC Designs x
6.1. Adding NoC Connectivity and Address Mapping to the Simulation Netlist 6.2. Generating a Simulation Registration Include File ( Intel® Quartus® Prime Compilation Flow) 6.3. Generating a Simulation Registration Include File (Optional Early RTL Simulation Flow) 6.4. Contents of Simulation Registration Include File
7. NoC Power Estimation x
7.1. Using the Intel FPGA PTC to Estimate NoC Power
8. Hard Memory NoC IP Reference x
8.1. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP 8.2. NoC Clock Control Intel FPGA IP
8.1. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP x
8.1.1. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP Parameters 8.1.2. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP Interfaces
8.1.2. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP Interfaces x
8.1.2.1. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP AXI4/AXI4 Lite Interfaces 8.1.2.2. NoC Initiator AXI4 User Interface Signals 8.1.2.3. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP AXI4 Lite User Interface Signals 8.1.2.4. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP Clock and Reset Signals 8.1.2.5. NoC Initiator Intel FPGA IP Platform Designer-Only Signals
8.2. NoC Clock Control Intel FPGA IP x
8.2.1. NoC Clock Control Intel FPGA IP Parameters 8.2.2. NoC Clock Control Intel FPGA IP Interfaces 8.2.3. NoC Clock Control Intel FPGA IP Platform Designer-only Signals
1. Answers to Top FAQs
2. Network-on-Chip (NoC) Overview
3. Hard Memory NoC in Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGAs
4. NoC Design Flow in Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition
5. NoC Real-time Performance Monitoring
6. Simulating NoC Designs
7. NoC Power Estimation
8. Hard Memory NoC IP Reference
9. Document Revision History of Intel® Agilex® 7 M-Series FPGA Network-on-Chip (NoC) User Guide

2.3.1. General NoC Architecture

The NoC subsystem comprises a network of switches connected with high-speed data links. The NoC initiators and NoC targets connect into these switches. Initiators are bridges that interface with manager logic in your design that initiates read or write transactions.

Figure 1. General NoC Architecture illustrates an example of a high-bandwidth, high-speed Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnect architecture.

Figure 1. General NoC Architecture Abstraction


NoC targets are bridges that interface with subordinate IP that respond to these read or write transactions. Some subordinate IP, such as the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2E) Interface Intel® Agilex® 7 FPGA IP, may connect to multiple targets. The NoC initiators and targets translate between the AXI4 and the internal NoC format.

In a typical transaction, an AXI manager posts transactions which are then converted to the internal format of the NoC by the initiator block. These transaction steps then reverse when the transaction translates back to AXI upon arrival at the subordinate memory IP. Multiple managers can issue read or write transactions simultaneously to different subordinates. The switch network routes each request independently, arbitrating between traffic, as necessary.

You can use the hardened NoC architecture to transport transactions to external memory. The hardened NoC infrastructure applies the advantages of large-scale networks to FPGAs. The NoC subsystem provides highly structured, flexible, and scalable on-chip memory access solutions for bandwidth demanding applications, such as real-time audio and video, network processing, high-performance computing, and other applications.

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