Altera PowerPlay Early Power Estimator - Manual (Page 8)

Estimating Power Consumption Before Starting the FPGA Design
Table 2-1: Advantage and Constraints of Power Estimation before Designing FPGA
Advantage Constraint
You can obtain power estimation before starting
your FPGA design.
• Accuracy depends on your inputs and your
estimation of the device resources; where this
information may change (during or after your
design is complete), your power estimation
results may be less accurate.
• The PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet uses averages
and not the actual design implementation
details; for example ALUT input usage and
routing. The PowerPlay Power Analyzer has
access to the full design details.
To estimate power consumption with the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet before starting your FPGA design,
follow these steps:
1. On the Main worksheet of the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet, select the target family, device, and package
from the Family, Device, and Package drop-down list.
2. Enter values for each worksheet in the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet. Different worksheets in the
PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet display different power sections, such as clocks and phase-locked loops
(PLLs).
3. The calculator displays the total estimated power consumption in the
Total FPGA
and
Total
SoC
(if applicable) cells of the Main worksheet.
Entering Information into the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator
You can either manually enter power information into the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet or load a
PowerPlay EPE file generated by the Quartus II software. You can also clear all current values in the
PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet by clicking the Reset button on the Main worksheet.
To use the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet, enter the device resources, operating frequency, toggle rates, and
other parameters in the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet. If you do not have an existing design, you must
estimate the number of device resources your design uses and enter the information into the PowerPlay
EPE spreadsheet.
Related Information
Estimating Power Consumption Before Starting the FPGA Design on page 2-3
Manually Entering Values
You can manually enter values into the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet in the appropriate section. White
unshaded cells are input cells that you can modify. Each section contains a column that allows you to
specify a module name based on your design.
Estimating Power Consumption While Creating the FPGA Design
If your FPGA design is partially complete, you can import the PowerPlay EPE file ( _
early_pwr.csv ) generated by the Quartus II software to the PowerPlay EPE spreadsheet. After importing the
UG-01070
2015.01.20
Estimating Power Consumption Before Starting the FPGA Design 2-3
Setting Up the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator Altera Corporation
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