Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guide: Design Compilation

ID 683283
Date 9/24/2018
Public
Document Table of Contents

2.5.2.2. Minimize Cross-Partition-Boundary I/O

Minimize the number of I/O paths that cross between partition boundaries to keep logic paths within a single partition for optimization. Doing so makes partitions more independent for both logic and placement optimization.

This guideline is most important for timing-critical and high-speed connections between partitions, especially in cases where the input and output of each partition is not registered. Slow connections that are not timing-critical are acceptable because they should not impact the overall timing performance of the design. If there are timing-critical paths between partitions, rework or merge the partitions to avoid these inter-partition paths.

When dividing your design into partitions, consider the types of functions at the partition boundaries. The figure shows an expansive function with more outputs than inputs in the left diagram, which makes a poor partition boundary, and, on the right side, a better place to assign the partition boundary that minimizes 
cross-partition I/Os. Adding registers to one or both sides of the cross-partition path in this example would further improve partition quality.

Figure 10. Minimizing I/O Between Partitions by Moving the Partition Boundary

Another way to minimize connections between partitions is to avoid using combinational ”glue logic” between partitions. You can often move the logic to the partition at one end of the connection to keep more logic paths within one partition. For example, the bottom diagram includes a new level of hierarchy C defined as a partition instead of block B. Clearly, there are fewer I/O connections between partitions A and C than between partitions A and B.

Figure 11. Minimizing I/O between Partitions by Modifying Glue Logic