Altera Cyclone II PowerPlay Early Power Estimator - Manual (Page 10)

2–2 Altera Corporation
PowerPlay Early Power Estimator User Guide For Cyclone II FPGAs May 2006
Estimating Power
an existing design, then you need to estimate the number of device
resources your design will use in order to enter the information into the
PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet.
Estimating Power Before Starting the FPGA Design
FPGAs provide the convenience of a shorter design cycle and faster time-
to-market than ASICs or ASSPs. This means that the board design often
takes places during the FPGA design cycle, and the power planning for
the device can happen before any of the FPGA design is complete.
Table 2–1 shows the advantages and disadvantages of using the
PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet before you begin the
FPGA design.
To estimate power usage with the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator
spreadsheet if you have not started your FPGA design, perform the
following steps.
1. Download the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet from
the Altera website (www.altera.com).
2. Select the target device and package from the PowerPlay Early
Power Estimator spreadsheet’s Device section.
3. Enter values in the fields on each section of the PowerPlay Early
Power Estimator spreadsheet. Different worksheets in the file
display different power sections, such as clocks and PLLs. Power is
calculated automatically, and subtotals are given for each section.
4. The calculator displays the estimated power usage in the Total
section.
Estimating Power While Creating the FPGA Design
When the FPGA design is partially complete, you can use the power
estimation file (<revision name>_early_pwr.csv) generated by the
Quartus II software to supply information to the PowerPlay Early Power
Estimator spreadsheet. After importing the power estimation file
Table 2–1. Power Estimation Before Designing FPGA
Advantages Disadvantages
Power estimation can be done
before any FPGA design is
complete ● Accuracy depends on user input and
estimate of the device resources
● Process can be time consuming