AN 738: Intel® Arria® 10 Device Design Guidelines

ID 683555
Date 6/30/2017
Public
Document Table of Contents

1.7.1. Selecting a Synthesis Tool

Table 54.  Selecting a Synthesis Tool Checklist
Number Done? Checklist Item
1   Specify your synthesis tool and use the correct supported version.

The Quartus® Prime software includes advanced and easy-to-use integrated synthesis that fully supports Verilog HDL and VHDL, as well as the Intel hardware description language (AHDL) and schematic design entry. You can also use industry-leading third-party EDA synthesis tools to synthesize your Verilog HDL or VHDL design, and then compile the resulting output netlist file in the Quartus® Prime software. Specify a third-party synthesis tool in the New Project Wizard or the EDA Tools Settings page of the Settings dialog box to use the correct Library Mapping File (.lmf) for your synthesis netlist.

Intel recommends using the most recent version of third-party synthesis tools, because tool vendors are continuously adding new features, fixing tool issues, and enhancing performance for Intel devices.

Different synthesis tools can give different results. If you want to select the best-performing tool for your application, you can experiment by synthesizing typical designs for your application and coding style and comparing the results. Be sure to perform placement and routing in the Quartus® Prime software to get accurate timing analysis and logic utilization results.

Your synthesis tool might offer the capability to create a Quartus® Prime project and pass constraints such as the EDA tool setting, device selection, and timing requirements that you specified in your synthesis project. You can use this capability to save time when setting up your Quartus® Prime project for placement and routing.