Quartus II PowerPlay Power Analysis and Optimization Technology
Altera's tradition of software technology leadership continues with the Quartus® II software PowerPlay power analysis and optimization technology. PowerPlay technology enables you to accurately analyze and optimize both dynamic and static power consumption. The PowerPlay power analysis tools also enable push-button optimization of static and dynamic power consumption, as well as speed and area requirements.
Starting with version 6.1, Quartus II software PowerPlay power analysis and optimization technology includes support for Stratix® III Programmable Power Technology. With Programmable Power Technology, Quartus II software automatically routes high-performance paths and then programs the non-performance paths as low power. In addition, Quartus II software automatically powers down unused logic. The result is a dramatic overall reduction in power. For more details, refer to the Stratix III FPGA low power page.
The Quartus II PowerPlay tools allow you to estimate power consumption from early design concept through design implementation, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. PowerPlay Power Analysis and Optimization
PowerPlay Early Power Estimator
You can use the PowerPlay early power estimator spreadsheets to estimate static and dynamic power consumption during the design concept stage and to refine power estimations during design implementation.
PowerPlay Power Analyzer
The Quartus II software includes the PowerPlay power analyzer feature. This feature improves the accuracy of power consumption estimations given by the early power estimator spreadsheets by:
- Accounting for device resource usage and place-and-route results
- Accounting for functional and timing simulation input/output stimuli
- Performing statistical analysis of expected design-node activity rates when simulation vector inputs are not available
The Quartus II PowerPlay power analyzer produces detailed reports that can pinpoint which device structures, and even which design hierarchy blocks, are dissipating the most thermal power. Figure 2 shows the available PowerPlay power analyzer reports. You can now use these reports to optimize designs for lower power consumption.
Figure 2. PowerPlay Power Analyzer Report Tabs
Currently, FPGA and CPLD design tools can optimize designs for performance and area utilization automatically, but still leave power management largely to the designer. The Quartus II software includes push-button PowerPlay power optimization technology, which you can enable in the synthesis and fitter stages of the compilation flow. PowerPlay power optimization technology helps you optimize power consumption, speed, and area constraints in FPGA, CPLD, and structured ASIC designs, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. PowerPlay Power Optimization Design Flow
The combination of Quartus II PowerPlay power analysis and optimization technology, Altera's advanced silicon design techniques, and partnerships with leading power management component suppliers give you an edge in delivering high-performance, power-optimized designs on 90-nm and smaller process technologies.
|
Literature
> 
