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SDavi9's avatar
SDavi9
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
26 days ago
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Agilex Migration Issue

I am using a Agilex 5 chip A5EC008BM16AI4S which I am trying to ensure correct migration with the following 2 compatible chips : A5EC013BM16AI4S or A5EC028BM16AI4S. For the pins T22, U22 & V22 so it appears that with regard to functionality the A5EC008BM16AI4S = A5EC013BM16AI4S = N/C. However for the A5EC028BM16AI4S = VCCERT_GTSL1A. Thus if the A5EC028BM16AI4S is to be used a +1.0V will need to be supplied to this pin. Isn't this a migration issue ? I couldn't find any info\warnings in the Intel Docs. I know that the Quartus software is meant to check this but I am not ready yet to start this part of the design. A similar issue I have found with pins  V10, W10, W22 & Y22.

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  • FvM's avatar
    FvM
    11 days ago

    Hi,

    according to my reading, pin connection guidelines clearly state that N.C. pins can be connected either to ground, power, signal trace or left floating when required by migration compatibility. Normally you don't need jumpers. That means that all conditional ground and power pins are connected to the respective rails in migration aware PCB design. 

    Side remark, migration can also involve pins that are either IO or power/ground, e.g. for many Cyclone series. They get power/ground connection in migration PCB.

    Regards Frank

5 Replies

  • FvM's avatar
    FvM
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    11 days ago

    Hi,

    according to my reading, pin connection guidelines clearly state that N.C. pins can be connected either to ground, power, signal trace or left floating when required by migration compatibility. Normally you don't need jumpers. That means that all conditional ground and power pins are connected to the respective rails in migration aware PCB design. 

    Side remark, migration can also involve pins that are either IO or power/ground, e.g. for many Cyclone series. They get power/ground connection in migration PCB.

    Regards Frank

    • SDavi9's avatar
      SDavi9
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      11 days ago

      Dear Frank,

      Thank you for this information and response - it solves my problem. So in the end I will not need the jumper and just route the appropriate Supply that fits with my required migration ! 

  • AqidAyman_Altera's avatar
    AqidAyman_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    11 days ago

    Hi,

     

    Yes, this was expected for conditional migration. Conditional migration is different from vertical migration, where vertical migration has no impact on the board design requirement. Conditional migration, however, needs the user to follow certain board design guidelines and to consider the differences between devices. This was mentioned in the document from the link that I provided to you before.

     

    To know if the device falls under vertical migration, you will need to use the Design Migration feature in Quartus. I did the checking and found out that A5EC028BM16AI4S is not listed. So, this is confirmed that it falls under conditional migration.

     

     

    Regards,
    Aqid

  • SDavi9's avatar
    SDavi9
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    20 days ago

    Thank you for getting back to me !

    If I am going to migrate between these chips then a jumper will be required to the supply I mentioned. I would have thought that this was an important thing to document no ? 

  • AqidAyman_Altera's avatar
    AqidAyman_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    20 days ago

    In the Device Migration Guidelines, it states that "Migration of XCVR can happen between packages that do not offer the same number of transceiver count."

    https://docs.altera.com/r/docs/813955/current/device-migration-guidelines-agilextm-5-fpgas-and-socs-e-series/power

     

    Since VCCERT_GTSL1A is a transceiver power supply pin, I would say that this is expected if 008 package and 028 package have difference in the transceiver count. It will be easier for you to checking the compatibility of the devices when you are ready to use Quartus software later.