FPGA and PCB co-design

FPGA designers and librarians can import pin assignment information directly from FPGA design suites such as Intel Quartus II, Xilinx ISE Design Suite, Microsemi Libero SoC Design Software, Lattice + ispLEVER/Diamond and Aldec Active-HDL. Alternatively BSDL, VHDL/Verilog or CSV files can be used. GPM also offers an extensive library of FPGA vendor device kits for Intel, Xilinx, Microsemi and Lattice, providing additional key attributes for I/Os, such as differential pairs, pin type, I/O bank and power/groundassignments. Zuken offers up-to-date device kit downloads from our website to access the latest devices from FPGA vendors.

Once part information is loaded into GPM, users access easy-to-use wizards to automatically divide and generate symbols for immediate use in logical circuit design. GPM is also integrated with the library, so users can easily associate the required physical footprints and export directly to the library for fast part creation. Once the pin assignment is defined in GPM, the pin report file is exported to the FPGA design tools.

As the initial FPGA is simulated and synthesized, engineers can load the logical and physical circuit design within GPM. Engineers may review the current pin assignment and each of the constraints and rules associated with each I/O, then use the extensive set of utilities to visualize the FPGA on the PCB. The FPGA can be viewed with colored I/O banks, or as the sub-element model defined when dividing the component. This means analyzing the FPGA structure and identifying how interconnects relate to other components is straightforward.

GPM also provides a ratsnest view of the board, showing the connection between pins and from partially routed signals. For rules-driven optimization of the I/Os, users can conduct pin swaps interactively, using visual indicators to highlight the candidates for swapping with the selected net. The automatic pin assignment optimization feature then untangles the ratsnest for the selected FPGA components.