Creating a New Implementation Revision

After you create a design version, you can try different implementation strategies on that design. For instance, you can reduce area, increase speed, and vary placement effort. Each set of implementation strategies makes up a new implementation revision. Generating new implementation revisions allows you to vary how your design is implemented in order to achieve your design objectives.

You can select new options or target a new device to change the way your design is implemented. Targeting a new device allows you to try your design in various devices to determine the most suitable fit. For example, if a particular device proves to be too large or too slow for your needs, you can select a smaller or faster target device from a different family.

Note: If you are using an HDL flow, it is strongly recommended that you create a new synthesis netlist when you change FPGA or CPLD families. This ensures that the tools make the best use of the target device.

When you create an implementation revision, an implementation revision icon is placed in the Design Manager project view. Each time you create a new implementation revision, a default revision name and the part used in the “last” revision are automatically selected. If you want to change these default values, you can enter your own revision name and change the target part. The implementation revision name, implementation state, implementation status, and any user comments for the implementation revision are indicated next to its icon in the project view when you process the implementation. Replace or delete implementation revisions that are no longer useful.

1. In the Design Manager project view, select a design version icon.
   
   
2. Choose Design New Revision from the Design Manager menu or click the New Revision toolbar button.
   
   
   
   The dialog box shown in the following figure appears.
   
   

   Figure 3.4 New Revision Dialog Box

3. To choose a device from the Part Selector, click Select.
   
   The dialog box shown in the following figure appears.
   
   

   Figure 3.5 Part Selector

4. Specify the desired settings in the Family, Device, Package, and Speed Grade pulldown menus. For more information on these settings, see the “Part Selector Dialog Box” section of the “Menu Commands” chapter.
   
   
5. Click OK.
   
   
6. Enter the name for the new implementation revision in the Revision Name field. Use the characters A through Z, a through z, 0 through 9, period (.), underscore (_), or hyphen (-) only. The name should be unique within the design version.
   
   
7. Enter any comments in the Revision Comment field. Use this field to note options and strategies.
   
   
8. If you want to copy data to your new revision from another revision or from a custom file, use the settings in the Copy Persistent Data field. Select None if you do not want to copy data.
   
   

   Note: By default, the Design Manager copies floorplan and constraints file data from the “last” revision. The “last” revision is the bottommost revision in the Design Manager project view. When initially creating a project, the Design Manager copies constraints file data from the project directory to the revision directory.

9. In the New Revision dialog box, click OK.
   
   The Design Manager creates a new implementation revision and displays its icon in the project view.