Managing Large Designs

The following subsections explain how to manage large designs.

Design Optimization

With Foundation, you can control optimization of the design on a module-by-module basis. This means that you have the ability to, for example, optimize certain modules of your design for speed and some for area. In addition, an effort level for the optimization engine can be set to either high or low.

For the Schematic Flow projects, the optimization goals may be set in the HDL Editor, by selecting Synthesis Options.

For Foundation HDL Flow projects, the optimization goals are set for individual modules in the “module” tab of the Express Constraints Editor. (The module tab is shown in the following figure.)

Setting Constraints Prior to Synthesis

With the Foundation Express product you can set performance constraints and attributes to guide the optimization process on a module-by-module basis. Select Edit Synthesis/Implementation Constraints in the Synthesis/Implementation settings dialog box to access the Express Constraints Editor window. This window contains tabs with spreadsheets and dialog boxes specific to the target architecture. You need to select View Estimated Performance after Optimization in the Synthesis/Implementation settings dialog box to view spreadsheets containing the results obtained as a result of setting the constraints. Refer to the“Using Constraints in an HDL Design” section for more information on constraints in HDL designs.