Altera PCI Compiler - Manual (Page 21)

Altera Corporation User Guide Version 11.1 9
October 2011
About PCI Compiler
Selecting the
Appropriate
Flow for Your
Design Table 3 summarizes the guidelines for selecting a particular flow over
another. In most cases, the PCI Compiler with SOPC Builder flow is the
appropriate choice.
PCI Compiler With SOPC Builder Flow
This section lists the advantages and disadvantages of the PCI Compiler
with the SOPC Builder flow.
Advantages
■ Dramatically faster time-to-market
■ Requires minimal PCI bus protocol design expertise
■ Very short learning curve
■ Access to rich feature set
■ Uses simple and flexible GUI to create complete PCI system within
hours
■ Predesigned ‘back end’ and ‘local side’ interconnect
■ Uses an automatically-generated simulation environment
■ Create custom components and integrate them by using the
component wizard
■ All components are automatically interconnected
Disadvantages
■ Does not allow you to customize PCI transaction behavior
■ Some applications may have excessive overhead in size and
performance
Table 3. PCI Compiler Parameterization Flow Selection Guidelines
SOPC Builder Flow MegaWizard Plug-in Manager Flow
● You would like to quickly integrate
multiple system blocks.
● You are creating a new PCI design.
● You have limited PCI bus protocol
experience.
● You are migrating a design that
uses a previous version of PCI
Compiler.
● You require features that are not
supported with the SOPC Builder
flow.