Power and Thermal Analyzer User Guide

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ID 865226
Date 9/29/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Analyzer 2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Analyzer 3. Power and Thermal Analyzer (PTA) Graphical User Interface 4. Power and Thermal Analyzer Resource Types 5. Command Line Options and Scripting 6. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Power and Thermal Analyzer 7. Document Revision History for the Power and Thermal Analyzer User Guide A. Measuring Static Power B. Tcl Command Reference
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Analyzer x
1.1. Accessing the Power and Thermal Analyzer 1.2. PTA Power Model Status 1.3. Definitions of Power Terms Used in this Document
2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Analyzer 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
3. Power and Thermal Analyzer (PTA) Graphical User Interface x
3.1. PTA - Device Selector Dialog Box 3.2. PTA - Primary GUI Components 3.3. PTA - Hierarchical Design Editor 3.4. PTA - Using Design Hierarchies in the Power and Thermal Analyzer 3.5. PTA - Entering Hierarchy Information Into the PTA 3.6. PTA - Current Drawn per Supply Tab 3.7. PTA - Temperature and Cooling Tab 3.8. PTA - Resource Utilization Panel 3.9. PTA - Register Dynamic Power in Agilex Devices 3.10. PTA - Input Fields 3.11. PTA - Data Entry Error Messages 3.12. PTA - Search Features 3.13. PTA - Filtered Searches 3.14. PTA - Using the Tcl Console to Perform Searches
4. Power and Thermal Analyzer Resource Types x
4.1. PTA - Power Summary 4.2. PTA - Root Entry 4.3. PTA - Instance 4.4. PTA - Logic Resource Type 4.5. PTA - RAM Resource Type 4.6. PTA - DSP Resource Type 4.7. PTA - Clock Resource Type 4.8. PTA - PLL Resource Type 4.9. PTA - I/O Resource Type 4.10. PTA - Transceiver Resource Type 4.11. PTA - Crypto Resource Type 4.12. PTA - NOC Resource Type 4.13. PTA - HBM Resource Type
4.10. PTA - Transceiver Resource Type x
4.10.1. PTA - Estimating E-Tile Channel PLL Power
5. Command Line Options and Scripting x
5.1. Invoking the Power and Thermal Analyzer from the Command Line 5.2. Running Scripts with the Power and Thermal Analyzer
6. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Power and Thermal Analyzer x
6.1. Toggle Rate 6.2. I/O Bank Allocation
B. Tcl Command Reference x
B.1. add B.2. copy B.3. delete B.4. edit B.5. export_design_file B.6. find_instances B.7. get_available_ips B.8. get_available_resource_types B.9. get_available_values B.10. get_first_error B.11. get_properties B.12. get_report B.13. get_report_names B.14. get_results B.15. get_value B.16. import_design_file B.17. move B.18. open_design_file B.19. pta::get_active_design B.20. pta::get_defaults B.21. pta::get_designs B.22. pta::locate B.23. pta::set_active_design B.24. pta::set_family B.25. recalculate_power B.26. redo B.27. save B.28. set_device B.29. set_view B.30. undo
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Analyzer
2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Analyzer
3. Power and Thermal Analyzer (PTA) Graphical User Interface
4. Power and Thermal Analyzer Resource Types
5. Command Line Options and Scripting
6. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Power and Thermal Analyzer
7. Document Revision History for the Power and Thermal Analyzer User Guide
A. Measuring Static Power
B. Tcl Command Reference

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 Analyzer (PTA) uses averages and not the actual design implementation details. The Power Analyzer has access to the full design details. For example, the PTA uses average values for ALM configuration, while the Power Analyzer uses an exact configuration for each ALM.

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

  1. Open the PTA as described in the Accessing the Power and Thermal Analyzer topic.

    Alternatively, if the PTA is already open, select the device by clicking Select Device in the Device Selection dialog box:

    Note: Only devices of the currently selected device family ( Agilex™ or Stratix® 10) are available in the Select Device dialog. To open a device of another family, select File > New.
  2. Enter values for each data entry page in the PTA. For each level you can specify the properties of different power-consuming FPGA resources in your design. To include design hierarchy information, refer to PTA - Entering Hierarchy Information Into the PTA.
  3. The PTA displays the total estimated power consumption in the Total Power section of the Power Summary panel. By default, the Total Power 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.
  4. Save the file as <project_name>.pta for later use.
Note: For information on the individual resource types of the PTA, refer to the Power and Thermal Analyzer Resource Types chapter.
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