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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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11 years ago

Stratix 1 to Arria V conversion

I've been tasked with converting a 10 year old Stratix 1 design (EP1S25F672I7, Quartus 3.0, SP1) to a Arria V design (5AGXBA1D4F27I5, Quartus 13.1). So, I have to deal with migrating to a different device family and a large leap in the Quartus tool rev. Is there a automated way to do this conversion so I'm not manually re-entering pins, constraints, etc? The original design does use some Altera macrofunctions so I will probably need to update these library functions (.TDF files) but found an app note saying pre-12.0 functions will not automatically update. I assume I would have to identify the files and do a manual add/replace files to target the newer library functions? Any special re-compile need to be done after this? Also looks like a .SDC file is needed for timing constraints but the older design does not contain that file, so how does this get generated? Bottom line is I'm looking for design flow for the steps to make this conversion. I haven't worked FPGAs in about 10 years so I'm the old dog trying to learn new tricks. Thanks, Joe

2 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    11 years ago

    Here's what I'd recommend;

    1. Download Quartus 3.0sp1 and rebuild the design.

    This step confirms that you have a known-good starting point.

    2. Copy-and-paste the project to a new folder and open that copy with the last version of Quartus that supports the Stratix 1 series (which might be 14.0, but you'd have to check).

    3. Rebuild the project; fix issues related to old IP and missing SDC constraints.

    At this point you have basically upgraded the Stratix 1 design. You'd then work on the switch to Arria V.

    Pin constraints and other assignments can be written into a Tcl script. At the end of this process, it would be possible for you to have a Tcl script that can synthesize the project code for either the Stratix 1 board or the new Arria V board. That Tcl script would decide which constraints to pull into the project.

    For now, stick with the GUI and gain a sense of how many issues you're going to face.

    Cheers,

    Dave
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    11 years ago

    Sounds like a good plan, I'll give it a shot.

    Thanks,

    Joe

    And Cheers to you too!