In this article, we will show you how to calculate the appropriate capacitance using Intel's PDN tool.
Intel's PDN tool (2.0 is the latest version as of September 15, 2015) is a tool to calculate the appropriate capacitance, number, and shape of decoupling capacitors for a board on board (PCB) design with an FPGA on it.
Click here for the PDN software DL and manual ↓.
Using the capacitance calculated by the PDN tool as a guide, power supply devices can be optimized, and in some cases, the capacitance can be changed to easily calculate the appropriate capacitance for both the FPGA and power supply devices, greatly improving board design efficiency.
We will again use Cyclone V SoC as a base for this introduction.
Let's take a look at how to use the PDN tool.
Step 1: Select FPGA
Select the FPGA family and part number, and determine the power supply configuration.
<Image 1>
Step 2: Input the power supply configuration and values calculated by Early Power Estimator (EPE)
Enter the values calculated by EPE, select the power supply device or filter, and select X or X/related to create the power supply configuration.
＜Image 2>
Step 3: Select power supply devices, regulators, number of Via's, resistors, number of board layers, etc.
<Image 3>
Step 4: Enter the number of capacitors
<Image 4>
Step 5: Check the logarithmic graph on the PDN tool (vertical axis: impedance, horizontal axis: frequency) and adjust the number of capacitors so that the Zeff value meets the specified value.
<Image 5>
The PDN tool provided by Intel can be used to easily calculate the capacitance, number, and shape of decoupling capacitors, which can be utilized in the design of power circuits for FPGA-based applications to increase efficiency.
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