Altera Quartus II Scripting - Manual (Page 235)

Chapter 3: Tcl Packages & Commands 3–105
incremental_compilation
© July 2013 Altera Corporation Quartus II Scripting Reference Manual
auto_partition_design
Usage
auto_partition_design [-logic_max <param>] [-logic_min <param>] [-max_partitions
<param>] [-percent_to_partition <param>] [-top_level <param>]
Options
-logic_max <param>: Maximum logic (LEs/Comb ALUTs + Registers) in new partitions.
-logic_min <param>: Minimum logic (LEs/Comb ALUTs + Registers) in new partitions.
-max_partitions <param>: Maximum number of new partitions to create.
-percent_to_partition <param>: Target % of design to add to partitions
-top_level <param>: Top-level for partitioning. Top-level & decendents are partitioned
Description
Invokes the Quartus II Auto-Partitioner to automatically create design partitions for incremental
compilation.
The Quartus II Auto-Partitioner searches through an existing design hierarchy to extract modules that
make good candidates for partitioning. The partitioner uses previous compilation results, either after
Analysis & Synthesis and Partition Merge, or after the Fitter, to make partitioning decisions.
By default, the Quartus II Auto-Partitioner will consider making new partitions involving the design’s
top-level module and any of its corresponding descendant modules which are not already contained in
another design partition.
Use the -top_level <name> option to specify a particular design module to begin partitioning exploration
from. Only those design modules which are decendents of top_level in the hierarchy are considered for
partitioning.
Use the -max_partitions <number> option to specify the maximum number of new design partitions to
create on this partitioning iteration.
Use the -percent_to_partition <PCT> option to set a target on how much design logic should be added to
partitions as a percentage of overall design size.
Use the -logic_min <number> and -logic_max <number> options to specify ranges for the amount of logic
that can be contained in any identified partitions. For the purpose of this option, logic is computed as:
Logic = (LEs or Combinational ALUTS) + (Dedicated Logic Registers)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The Quartus II Auto-Partitioner does not remove or modify any existing design partitions defined prior to
auto-partitioning.
Device resource utilization changes after making design partitions. Device utilization thresholds used to
drive partitioning decisions are based on previous compilation results.
The Quartus II Auto-Partitioner is meant to serve as a guide for quickly creating an initial design
partitioning scheme. The ability of this feature to provide high-quality partitioning solutions depends
heavily on the suitability of the design HDL for use with incremental compilation.
For more information on best practices for creating partitions for use with Quartus II Incremental
compilation, please refer to the Quartus II Handbook.