Altera PowerPlay Early Power Estimator - Manual (Page 11)

Altera Corporation 2–1
January 2007 Preliminary
Chapter 2. Setting Up
PowerPlay Early Power
Estimator
System
Requirements The PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet requires:
■ A PC running the Windows NT/2000/XP operating system
■ Microsoft Excel 2002 or higher
■ Quartus II software version 6.1 or higher if generating a file for
import
Download &
Install the
PowerPlay Early
Power Estimator The PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet for Altera devices is
available from the Altera website (www.altera.com). After reading the
terms and conditions and clicking I Agree, you can download the
Microsoft Excel file to your hard drive.
1
By default, the Microsoft Excel 2002 macro security level is set to
High
. When the macro security level is set to High, macros are
automatically disabled. To change the macro security level in
Microsoft Excel 2002, click Options on the Tools menu. On the
Security
tab of the Options window, click Macro Security. On
the Security Level tab of the Security dialog box, chose
Medium
. When the macro security level is set to Medium, a
pop-up window asks you whether to enable macros or disable
macros each time you open a spreadsheet that contains macros.
After changing the macro security level, you have to close the
spreadsheet and re-open it in order to use the macros.
Estimating
Power You can estimate power at any point in your design cycle. You can use the
PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet to estimate the power
consumption if you have not begun your design, or if your design is not
complete. While the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator spreadsheet can
provide you with an estimate for your complete design, it is highly
recommended to use the PowerPlay Power Analyzer in the Quartus II
software to obtain this estimate. In general, using the PowerPlay Power
Analyzer in the Quartus II software should be your preferred method of
generating power estimates due to the fact that it knows your exact
routing and various modes of operation.
f
For more information on the power estimation feature in Quartus II
software, refer to the PowerPlay Power Analysis chapter in the Quartus II
Handbook.