Hello. This is Ume Onigiri.
I would like to introduce PowerPlay Power Analyzer, a power consumption estimation tool.
PowerPlay Power Analyzer
The PowerPlay Power Analyzer is a function that allows you to estimate power consumption on Quartus® II.
The tool is intended to be used with a completed design.
It can be run from the PowerPlay Power Analyzer Tool in the Processing menu.
It is very easy to use.
All you have to do is press the Start button since the design has already been completed.
It is well known that the toggle rate of a signal has a significant impact on estimating power consumption.
PowerPlay Power Analyzer provides two methods of estimating power consumption: one is to calculate power consumption based on the toggle rate set by the user, and the other is to calculate power consumption by simulating the signal and calculating the toggle rate from the output waveform.
Simulation provides a more accurate toggle rate and therefore more accurate power consumption estimation.
I understand that simulation is used to calculate the toggle rate and estimate power consumption, but what value should the user set for the toggle rate?
What is the toggle rate?
The toggle rate is the rate at which the internal node changes relative to the rising clock edge.
For example, as shown in the figure below, if only one of the four nodes changes at the rising edge of the clock, the toggle rate is 25%.
This calculation is done for all clock rises, and the averaged value is the toggle rate that should be input.
This is extremely difficult for a human to calculate.
By default, the toggle rate is set to 12.5%.
This is said to be a typical toggle rate for 16-bit counters.
If the toggle rate is set too low, the power consumption will also be set too low.
Therefore, it is recommended that the toggle rate be set to at least 12.5% or higher.
The toggle rate can be set by starting the PowerPlay Power Analyzer Tool, as shown in the figure below.
Conclusion
We have found that there are two different tools for estimating power consumption in Altera FPGAs.
・PowerPlay Early Power Estimator
・PowerPlay Power Analyzer
We hope that users will estimate power consumption according to their development stage.
*The calculated power consumption is only an estimate and may differ slightly from the actual power consumption on the board.
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