Intel® Hyperflex™ Architecture High-Performance Design Handbook

ID 683353
Date 12/08/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

2.1.2. Experiment and Iterate

Experiment with settings and design changes if design performance does not initially meet performance requirements. Intel FPGA reprogrammability allows experimentation to achieve your goals. Design performance typically becomes inadequate as technology requirements increase over time. For example, if you apply an existing design element to a new context at a wider parameterization, the speed performance likely declines.

When experimenting with circuit timing, there is no permanent risk from experimentation that temporarily breaks the circuit to collect a data point. You can add registers in functionally illegal locations to determine the effect on overall timing. If the prospective circuit then meets the timing objective, you can focus on design floorplanning.

If a circuit remains too slow, even when liberally inserting registers, you can reconsider more basic elements of the design. Moving up or down a speed grade, or compressing circuitry in Logic Lock regions are good techniques for investigating performance.