Altera PowerPlay Early Power Estimator for Altera CPLDs - Manual (Page 5)

December 2010 Altera Corporation PowerPlay Early Power Estimator for Altera CPLDs User Guide
1. PowerPlay Early Power Estimator
Overview
This user guide describes the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator (EPE) support for
MAX
® II and MAX V device families and provides a step-by-step explanation of how
to use this tool at any stage of the CPLD design. There are also details about thermal
analysis and the factors that contribute to CPLD power consumption. You can
calculate the CPLD power with the Microsoft Excel-based PowerPlay EPE
spreadsheet
or the PowerPlay Power Analyzer in the Quartus ® II software by entering
the device resources, operating frequency, toggle rates, and other parameters into the
PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet.
1 Altera recommends using these calculations as an estimation of power, not as a
specification. It is important that you verify the actual power during device operation
as the information is sensitive to the actual device design and the environmental
operating conditions.
f For more information about available device resources, I/O standard supports, and
other device features, refer to the respective device family handbook.
The features of the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet include:
■ Estimating the power consumption of your design before creating the design or
during the design process
■ Importing device resource information from the Quartus II software into the
PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet with the use of the Quartus II-generated PowerPlay
EPE file
■ Performing preliminary thermal analysis of your design
Setting Up the PowerPlay EPE
This section describes how to set up the PowerPlay EPE, estimating power
consumption, and entering information into the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet.
Download and Install the PowerPlay EPE
f
The PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet for Altera ® devices is available from the PowerPlay
Early Power Estimators (EPE) and Power Analyzer on the Altera website. You can
download the Microsoft Excel (.xls) file and begin the power analysis for your
designs.
By default, the macro security level in Microsoft Excel 2003 and Microsoft Excel 2007
is set to High and macros are automatically disabled. For the features in the
PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet to function properly, you must enable macros.