Thermal Design User Guide: Agilex™ 3 FPGAs and SoCs

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ID 851249
Date 5/12/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Introduction to Agilex™ 3 FPGA Thermal Design Guidelines 2. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Mechanical Construction 3. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Compact Thermal Model (CTM) Construction 4. Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) 5. Thermal Design Process 6. General FPGA Thermal Design Considerations 7. Design Examples 8. Heat Sinks 9. Document Revision History for the Thermal Design User Guide: Agilex™ 3 FPGAs and SoCs A. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Product Keys and Package Drawings
1. Introduction to Agilex™ 3 FPGA Thermal Design Guidelines x
1.1. Thermal Design Requirements 1.2. Thermal Design Flow 1.3. Definitions of Thermal and Power Terms Used in this Document
2. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Mechanical Construction x
2.1. Built-in Temperature Sensors
2.1. Built-in Temperature Sensors x
2.1.1. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Temperature Rating
3. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Compact Thermal Model (CTM) Construction x
3.1. CTM File Format 3.2. Thermal Modeling with the CTM 3.3. CTM Top Temperature, TCASE Virtual Sensor 3.4. Obtaining the CTM
4. Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) x
4.1. PTC Thermal Tab Parameters 4.2. Thermal Analysis with the PTC 4.3. PTC Thermal Tab Calculation Options 4.4. Thermal Resistances and Low Power Devices 4.5. Sensor Temperatures on the PTC Thermal Tab
5. Thermal Design Process x
5.1. Package Heat Flow Path 5.2. Variables Affecting the Heat Flow Path 5.3. Recommended Thermal Design Method
6. General FPGA Thermal Design Considerations x
6.1. FPGA Power Considerations
6.1. FPGA Power Considerations x
6.1.1. FPGA Maximum Allowed Power Dissipation 6.1.2. Static, Dynamic, and Standby Power 6.1.3. Future-Proofing an FPGA Thermal Design
7. Design Examples x
7.1. Example 1: Find Cooling Solution for Maximum Junction Temperature Limit 7.2. Example 2: Find Available Thermal Margin for Cooling Solution 7.3. Example 3: Find the Ambient Temperature for a Specified Cooling Solution
8. Heat Sinks x
8.1. Attachment Force 8.2. Thermal Interface Material (TIM)
8.2. Thermal Interface Material (TIM) x
8.2.1. Common TIM2 Materials
8.2.1. Common TIM2 Materials x
8.2.1.1. TIM2 Performance Parameters And Challenges 8.2.1.2. Understanding Resistance and Pressure Map Curves
1. Introduction to Agilex™ 3 FPGA Thermal Design Guidelines
2. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Mechanical Construction
3. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Compact Thermal Model (CTM) Construction
4. Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC)
5. Thermal Design Process
6. General FPGA Thermal Design Considerations
7. Design Examples
8. Heat Sinks
9. Document Revision History for the Thermal Design User Guide: Agilex™ 3 FPGAs and SoCs
A. Agilex™ 3 FPGA Product Keys and Package Drawings

4. Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC)

The Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) calculates power for any use case and generates a power map based on the powers-per-IP-block and the total power consumption of an Agilex™ 3 FPGA. Based on the power map, it generates a temperature map of the die and calculates thermal parameters for the prescribed thermal mode or evaluates an existing cooling thermal solution. The generated temperature map can have as much as 5°C between the hottest point and the coolest point on the die.

There are two versions of the PTC:

  • A standalone version that you can use without having an actual RTL design. You provide all input to this version manually. The standalone version is essential at the early stages of projects when power and cooling requirements must be determined, and no RTL design is yet available.
  • The Quartus® Prime Power Analyzer, which is part of the Quartus® Prime software, can be used for thermal analysis of Agilex™ 3 devices. The power analyzer can perform a thermal analysis of the detailed power map of a compiled design. You should use this version whenever possible, because it provides the most accurate thermal data.

The Quartus® Prime Power Analyzer can export a .qptc file, that you can import into the PTC for ease of use and what-if analysis.

The PTC can export a .ptc file that you can import into the PTC for ease of use and faster what-if analysis.

The following figure shows an example of the temperature map generated by Altera design tools.

Figure 5. Temperature Map of an Agilex™ 3 Die

This is also available for you to view in the Quartus® Prime Power Analyzer, to gain an understanding of temperature variations. This is also a key reason to not use a constant die temperature for any analysis (either power or thermal analysis).

This document assumes the PTC version 25.1. Whenever possible, you should always use the latest version of the PTC, because power models may evolve over time. The status of the power model of a device is shown on the Main tab of the PTC, and is listed as either Preliminary or Final. For more information, refer to:

FPGA Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide.


Section Content
PTC Thermal Tab Parameters
Thermal Analysis with the PTC
PTC Thermal Tab Calculation Options
Thermal Resistances and Low Power Devices
Sensor Temperatures on the PTC Thermal Tab

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