FPGA AI Suite: Compiler Reference Manual

ID 768972
Date 12/16/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

3.4. Estimating the Area and Power of an Architecture

To estimate the FPGA resource usage (area) and power consumption of an IP parameterization described by an architecture (.arch) file, use the --fanalyze-area option.

Running the FPGA AI Suite compiler with this option displays a report that shows area usage and generates a .ptc file (power-parameters.ptc) that you can open with the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator. The Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator can then provide you with estimates for the static power, dynamic power, and total power consumption of the architecture. For more information about the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator, refer to the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide

Option

Description

--fanalyze-area [Required] Enable the area estimator and generate a .ptc file that you can open with the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator to view power consumption estimates for the architecture.
--march [Required] The architecture parameterization to assume.
--fdump-area-report [Optional] Path specifying an output file for the area estimate summary.
--fdump-ptc-report [Optional] Path specifying a .ptc output file for use with the Intel® FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator.
The simplest command format for estimating the area of an FPGA AI Suite IP instance is as follows:
dla_compiler \
   --fanalyze-area \
   --march <path to .arch file>

Example Command

dla_compiler \
   --fanalyze-area \
   --march $COREDLA_ARCH/example_architectures/A10_Generic.arch