Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Partial Reconfiguration

ID 683834
Date 7/31/2023
Public

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2.6.9.1. Generating PR Bitstream Files

For Intel® Stratix® 10 and Intel Agilex® 7 designs, the Assembler generates a configuration .rbf automatically at the end of compilation. For Intel® Arria® 10 and Intel® Cyclone® 10 GX designs, use any of the following methods to process the PR bitstreams and generate the Raw Binary File (.rbf) file for reconfiguration.
Note: The Assembler generates a configuration .rbf automatically at the end of compilation for Intel® Stratix® 10 and Intel Agilex® 7 designs. You do not need to separately generate these files when targeting these devices.

Generating PR Bitstreams During Compilation ( Intel® Arria® 10 and Intel® Cyclone® 10 GX Designs)

Follow these steps to generate the .rbf file during compilation for Intel® Arria® 10 and Intel® Cyclone® 10 GX designs:

  1. Add the following assignments to the revision .qsf to automatically generate the required PR bitstreams following compilation:
    set_global_assignment -name GENERATE_PR_RBF_FILE ON
    set_global_assignment -name ON_CHIP_BITSTREAM_DECOMPRESSION OFF
  2. To compile the revision and generate the .rbf, click Processing > Start Compilation.

Generating PR Bitstreams with Convert Programming Files Dialog Box ( Intel® Arria® 10 and Intel® Cyclone® 10 GX Designs)

Follow these steps to generate the .rbf with the Convert Programming Files dialog box:

  1. Click File > Convert Programming Files. The Convert Programming Files dialog box appears.
  2. Specify the output file name and Programming file type as Raw Binary File for Partial Reconfiguration (.rbf).
  3. To add the input .pmsf file to convert, click Add File.
  4. Select the newly added .pmsf file, and click Properties.
  5. Enable or disable any of the following options and click OK:
    • Compression—enables compression on PR bitstream.
    • Enhanced compression—enables enhanced compression on PR bitstream.
    • Generate encrypted bitstream—generates encrypted independent bitstreams for base image and PR image. You can encrypt the PR image even if your base image has no encryption. The PR image can have a separate encryption key file (.ekp). If you enable Generate encrypted bitstream, enable or disable the Enable volatile security key, Use encryption lock file, and Generate key programming file options.
  6. Click Generate. The PR bitstream files generate according to your specifications.
Figure 18. PMSF File Properties Bitstream Encryption