Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide

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ID 683445
Date 5/08/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Calculator 2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Calculator 3. Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface 4. Power and Thermal Calculator Pages 5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the PTC 6. Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide Archive 7. Document Revision History for the Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide A. Measuring Static Power
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Calculator x
1.1. Accessing the Power and Thermal Calculators 1.2. PTC Power Model Status 1.3. Definitions of Power Terms Used in this Document
2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Calculator x
2.1. Estimating Power Before Starting the FPGA Design 2.2. Estimating Power While Creating the FPGA Design 2.3. Estimating Power After Completing the FPGA Design 2.4. Estimating Power for Dual-Core Devices
2.2. Estimating Power While Creating the FPGA Design x
2.2.1. Importing a .qptc File Generated in the Quartus® Prime Power Analyzer
3. Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface x
3.1. PTC Select Family Dialog Box 3.2. PTC Primary GUI Components 3.3. PTC - IP Wizard 3.4. PTC Searchable Drop-Down Lists 3.5. Deleting Rows from Data Entry Pages 3.6. Finding Resources Using the Find Dialog Box
3.2. PTC Primary GUI Components x
3.2.1. PTC Data Entry Pages 3.2.2. PTC Design Hierarchy 3.2.3. PTC IP Power Summary 3.2.4. PTC Field Types 3.2.5. PTC Data Entry Error Messages
3.2.2. PTC Design Hierarchy x
3.2.2.1. Using Design Hierarchies in the Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) 3.2.2.2. Entering Hierarchy Information Into the PTC 3.2.2.3. Exporting, Importing, Duplicating, Renaming, and Deleting Hierarchies in the PTC 3.2.2.4. Bulk Editing Hierarchies in the PTC
3.2.4. PTC Field Types x
3.2.4.1. PTC Input Field Dependencies
4. Power and Thermal Calculator Pages x
4.1. PTC - Power Summary/Navigation 4.2. PTC - Common Page Elements 4.3. PTC - Main Page 4.4. PTC - Logic Page 4.5. PTC - RAM Page 4.6. PTC - DSP Page 4.7. PTC - Clock Page 4.8. PTC - PLL Page 4.9. PTC - I/O Page 4.10. PTC - Transceiver Page 4.11. PTC - HPS Page 4.12. PTC - Crypto Page 4.13. PTC - NOC Page 4.14. PTC - HBM Page 4.15. PTC - Thermal Page 4.16. PTC - Report Page
4.3. PTC - Main Page x
4.3.1. PTC - Device Selection and Thermal Analysis Windows
4.10. PTC - Transceiver Page x
4.10.1. Estimating E-Tile Channel PLL Power with the Power and Thermal Calculator
5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the PTC x
5.1. Toggle Rate 5.2. I/O Bank Allocation
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Calculator
2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Calculator
3. Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface
4. Power and Thermal Calculator Pages
5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the PTC
6. Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide Archive
7. Document Revision History for the Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide
A. Measuring Static Power

2.1. Estimating Power Before Starting the FPGA Design

Table 2.  Advantage and Constraints of Power Estimation before Designing FPGA
Advantage Constraint
  • Obtain power estimates before starting your FPGA design.
  • Adjust design resources and parameters and see how those changes affect total power consumption.
  • Accuracy depends on your inputs and your estimate of the device resources. Where this information may change (during or after your design is complete), your power estimation results are less accurate.
  • The Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) uses averages and not the actual design implementation details. The Power Analyzer has access to the full design details. For example, the PTC uses average values for ALM configuration, while the Power Analyzer uses an exact configuration for each ALM.

To estimate power consumption with the PTC before starting your FPGA design, follow these steps:

  1. Open PTC, as Accessing the Power and Thermal Calculators describes.
  2. On the Main page of the PTC, select the target device, device grade, package, and transceiver grade from the Device, Device Grade, Package, and Transceiver Grade drop-down lists.
  3. Enter values for each data entry page in the PTC. Each page allows you to specify the properties of different power-consuming FPGA resources in your design. To include design hierarchy information, refer to Entering Hierarchy Information Into the PTC.

    The calculator displays the total estimated power consumption in the Total Power cell of the Power Summary. By default, the Total Power on the Main page is calculated using Maximum Power with a fixed and uniformly distributed junction temperature of 25° C. When performing power estimates for power delivery or thermal solution design, it is important to utilize the most accurate power estimation. You can also use the calculation modes on the Thermal page.

  4. Save the file as <project_name>.ptc for later use.
Note: For information on the individual pages of the PTC, refer to the Power and Thermal Calculator Pages chapter.
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