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cjak's avatar
cjak
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1 month ago

Setup slack violations?

Hi,

I have a design implemented in a Cyclone 10LP device, but I am struggling a bit with the Timing Analyzer. I am using Quartus Prime Lite edition 24.1.

The setup-slack is violated for a number of paths, but I need some help interpreting the waveform shown in the attachment.

And, looking at the path in Technology Map viewer I also struggle on how to improve the timing. How can I attack the issue?

A pointer to relevant documentation is highly appreciated

Timing

8 Replies

  • cjak's avatar
    cjak
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    1 month ago

    Also, the from-node and to-node are the same net internal in the FPGA, so I do not see why it should be defined as false-path... maybe I have not understood if correctly?

  • cjak's avatar
    cjak
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    1 month ago

    Thanks for the quick response.... I have a follow question though...

    If I have understood how to constrain I/O's, the launch clock is an internal PLL-output and the latch-clock is a virtual clock to emulate the external device.  Is it required to insert CDC-constraints for all virtual clocks emulating latch-clock in external devices?

    What about I/O that is not latched in external devices? How do I constrain them?

    • ShengN_altera's avatar
      ShengN_altera
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      1 month ago

      May I confirm that the latch-clock is a virtual clock to emulate the external device means?

      Means 1: External device latches using its OWN internal clock. If yes, this is asynchronous.

      Means 2: FPGA sends a forwarded clock to the external device (external device clock derived from FPGA PLL/CLOCK). If yes, this is source synchronous.

      What about I/O that is not latched in external devices? How do I constrain them?                                         Simply mark as false path because there is no capture edge on the external side, so STA cannot define a setup or hold window. Any timing analysis from FPGA internal clock to that I/O is meaningless.

      • cjak's avatar
        cjak
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        1 month ago

        Hi,

        In this case it is asynchronous. The MCU latches the signal with its own internal clock. 

        I also have an ADC in my system which receives its clock from the FPGA (PLL-output/2). What are the considerations I need to make when constraining this? It is routed to PLL1_clkoutp-pin, but currently it is just a PLL-output divided by 2 (by inverting/toggling a signal based on the PLL-output frequency).

        I will insert false-paths for the IOs. Thanks!