Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guide: Debug Tools

ID 683552
Date 9/24/2018
Public
Document Table of Contents

5.3.1. Assigning an Acquisition Clock

To control how the Signal Tap Logic Analyzer acquires data you must assign a clock signal. The logic analyzer samples data on every positive (rising) edge of the acquisition clock. The logic analyzer does not support sampling on the negative (falling) edge of the acquisition clock.

You can use any signal in your design as the acquisition clock. However, for best results in data acquisition, use a global, non-gated clock that is synchronous to the signals under test. Using a gated clock as your acquisition clock can result in unexpected data that does not accurately reflect the behavior of your design. The Intel® Quartus® Prime static timing analysis tools show the maximum acquisition clock frequency at which you can run your design. To find the maximum frequency of the logic analyzer clock, refer to the Timing Analysis section of the Compilation Report.

CAUTION:
Be careful when using a recovered clock from a transceiver as an acquisition clock for the Signal Tap Logic Analyzer. A recovered clock can cause incorrect or unexpected behavior, particularly when the transceiver recovered clock is the acquisition clock with the power-up trigger feature.

If you do not assign an acquisition clock in the Signal Tap Logic Analyzer Editor, Intel® Quartus® Prime software automatically creates a clock pin called auto_stp_external_clk. You must make a pin assignment to this pin, and make sure that a clock signal in your design drives the acquisition clock.