Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Design Constraints

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ID 683143
Date 7/07/2025
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Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Constraining Designs 2. Interface Planning 3. Managing Device I/O Pins 4. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Design Constraints Document Archives A. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides
1. Constraining Designs x
1.1. Specifying Design Constraints in the GUI 1.2. Constraining Designs with Tcl Scripts 1.3. A Fully Iterative Scripted Flow 1.4. Constraining Designs Revision History
1.1. Specifying Design Constraints in the GUI x
1.1.1. Global Constraints and Assignments 1.1.2. Node, Entity, and Instance-Level Constraints 1.1.3. Probing Between Components of the Quartus® Prime GUI 1.1.4. Specifying Timing Constraints Create Clock Dialog Box
1.1.2. Node, Entity, and Instance-Level Constraints x
1.1.2.1. Specify Instance-Specific Constraints in Assignment Editor 1.1.2.2. Specify NoC Constraints in NoC Assignment Editor 1.1.2.3. Specify Dual Simplex Assignments in DS Assignment Editor 1.1.2.4. Specify I/O Constraints in Pin Planner 1.1.2.5. Plan Interface Constraints in Interface Planner and Tile Interface Planner 1.1.2.6. Adjust Constraints with the Chip Planner 1.1.2.7. Constraining Designs with the Design Partition Planner
1.1.2.1. Specify Instance-Specific Constraints in Assignment Editor x
1.1.2.1.1. Specifying Multi-Dimensional Bus Constraints
1.1.2.2. Specify NoC Constraints in NoC Assignment Editor x
1.1.2.2.1. NoC Assignment Editor Interface Controls 1.1.2.2.2. Troubleshooting NoC Assignment Editor
1.2. Constraining Designs with Tcl Scripts x
1.2.1. Create a Project and Apply Constraints 1.2.2. Assigning a Pin 1.2.3. Generating Quartus® Prime Settings Files 1.2.4. Synopsys* Design Constraint (.sdc) Files 1.2.5. Tcl-only Script Flows
2. Interface Planning x
2.1. Using Interface Planner 2.2. Using Tile Interface Planner 2.3. Interface Planning Revision History
2.1. Using Interface Planner x
2.1.1. Interface Planner User Interface 2.1.2. Interface Planner General Tool Flow 2.1.3. Interface Planner NoC Tool Flow 2.1.4. Interface Planner Reports
2.1.1. Interface Planner User Interface x
2.1.1.1. Flow Controls 2.1.1.2. Home Tab Controls 2.1.1.3. Assignments Tab Controls 2.1.1.4. Plan Tab Controls 2.1.1.5. Reports Tab Controls
2.1.2. Interface Planner General Tool Flow x
2.1.2.1. Step 1: Setup and Synthesize the Project 2.1.2.2. Step 2: Initialize Interface Planner 2.1.2.3. Step 3: Update Plan with Project Assignments 2.1.2.4. Step 4: Plan Periphery Placement 2.1.2.5. Step 5: Report Placement Data 2.1.2.6. Step 6: Validate and Export Plan Constraints
2.1.2.4. Step 4: Plan Periphery Placement x
2.1.2.4.1. Plan Clock Networks 2.1.2.4.2. Saving & Loading Floorplans
2.1.3. Interface Planner NoC Tool Flow x
2.1.3.1. Viewing the NoC in Interface Planner 2.1.3.2. Reporting NoC Performance
2.1.4. Interface Planner Reports x
2.1.4.1. Report Summary 2.1.4.2. Report Pins 2.1.4.3. Report HSSI Channels 2.1.4.4. Report Clocks 2.1.4.5. Report Periphery Locations 2.1.4.6. Report Cell Connectivity 2.1.4.7. Report Instance Assignments
2.2. Using Tile Interface Planner x
2.2.1. Tile Interface Planner Terminology 2.2.2. Tile Interface Planner Tool Flow 2.2.3. Constraining Dynamic Reconfiguration IP 2.2.4. Tile Interface Planner GUI Reference
2.2.2. Tile Interface Planner Tool Flow x
2.2.2.1. Step 1: Instantiate IP and Run Design Analysis 2.2.2.2. Step 2: Initialize Tile Interface Planner 2.2.2.3. Step 3: Update Plan with Project Assignments 2.2.2.4. Step 4: Create a Tile Plan 2.2.2.5. Step 5: Save Tile Plan Assignments 2.2.2.6. Step 6: Run Logic Generation and Design Synthesis
2.2.2.4. Step 4: Create a Tile Plan x
2.2.2.4.1. Placing IP Components 2.2.2.4.2. Constraining IP Building Blocks
2.2.3. Constraining Dynamic Reconfiguration IP x
2.2.3.1. Defining a Dynamic Reconfiguration Group 2.2.3.2. Assigning Dynamic Reconfiguration Group Placement
2.2.4. Tile Interface Planner GUI Reference x
2.2.4.1. Flow Controls 2.2.4.2. Home Tab 2.2.4.3. Assignments Tab Controls 2.2.4.4. Plan Tab Controls 2.2.4.5. Tcl Console Window
2.2.4.4. Plan Tab Controls x
2.2.4.4.1. Design Tree and Filters 2.2.4.4.2. Reconfiguration Groups View 2.2.4.4.3. Legal Locations Pane
3. Managing Device I/O Pins x
3.1. I/O Planning Overview 3.2. Assigning I/O Pins 3.3. Importing and Exporting I/O Pin Assignments 3.4. Validating Pin Assignments 3.5. Verifying I/O Timing 3.6. Viewing Routing and Timing Delays 3.7. Scripting API 3.8. Managing Device I/O Pins Revision History
3.1. I/O Planning Overview x
3.1.1. Basic I/O Planning Flow 3.1.2. Integrating PCB Design Tools 3.1.3. Altera FPGA Device and I/O Terminology
3.2. Assigning I/O Pins x
3.2.1. Assigning to Exclusive Pin Groups 3.2.2. Assigning Slew Rate and Drive Strength 3.2.3. Assigning I/O Banks 3.2.4. Changing Pin Planner Highlight Colors 3.2.5. Showing I/O Lanes 3.2.6. Assigning Differential Pins 3.2.7. Entering Pin Assignments with Tcl Commands 3.2.8. Entering Pin Assignments in HDL Code
3.2.6. Assigning Differential Pins x
3.2.6.1. Overriding I/O Placement Rules on Differential Pins
3.2.8. Entering Pin Assignments in HDL Code x
3.2.8.1. Using Low-Level I/O Primitives
3.3. Importing and Exporting I/O Pin Assignments x
3.3.1. Importing and Exporting for PCB Tools 3.3.2. Migrating Assignments to Another Target Device
3.4. Validating Pin Assignments x
3.4.1. I/O Assignment Validation Rules 3.4.2. I/O Assignment Analysis 3.4.3. Understanding I/O Analysis Reports
3.4.2. I/O Assignment Analysis x
3.4.2.1. Early I/O Assignment Analysis Without Design Files 3.4.2.2. I/O Assignment Analysis With Design Files 3.4.2.3. Overriding Default I/O Pin Analysis
3.5. Verifying I/O Timing x
3.5.1. Running Advanced I/O Timing 3.5.2. Adjusting I/O Timing and Power with Capacitive Loading
3.5.1. Running Advanced I/O Timing x
3.5.1.1. Board Trace Models 3.5.1.2. Defining the Board Trace Model 3.5.1.3. Modifying the Board Trace Model 3.5.1.4. Specifying Near-End vs Far-End I/O Timing Analysis 3.5.1.5. Advanced I/O Timing Analysis Reports
3.7. Scripting API x
3.7.1. Generate Mapped Netlist 3.7.2. Reserve Pins 3.7.3. Set Location 3.7.4. Exclusive I/O Group 3.7.5. Slew Rate and Current Strength
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Constraining Designs
2. Interface Planning
3. Managing Device I/O Pins
4. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Design Constraints Document Archives
A. Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guides

1.1.4. Specifying Timing Constraints

You must specify timing constraints that describe the clock frequency requirements, timing exceptions, and I/O timing requirements of your design for comparison against actual conditions observed during timing analysis. You define timing constraints in one or more Synopsys* Design Constraints (.sdc) files that you add to the project.

You can specify timing constraints in the Timing Analyzer GUI, which automatically generates an .sdc based on your inputs. Click the Constraints menu in the Timing Analyzer to specify timing constraints that you can apply to your project.

Alternatively, you can create an initial .sdc with provided .sdc file templates, or manually in any text editor and then add the .sdc to the project.

In addition, generation of IP or Platform Designer systems may also automatically generate and add to your project .sdc constraints.

Figure 13. Constraint menu in Timing Analyzer

When you specify a constraint in the GUI, the dialog box displays the equivalent SDC command syntax.

Create Clock Dialog Box

Individual timing assignments override project-wide requirements.

  • To avoid reporting incorrect or irrelevant timing violations, you can assign timing exceptions to nodes and paths.
  • The Timing Analyzer supports point-to-point timing constraints, wildcards to identify specific nodes when making constraints, and assignment groups to make individual constraints to groups of nodes.

Refer to the following Related Information:

Related Information
Level Two Title