Step 3: Implementing the Design

Based on the specified constraints and the selected report files, you can now implement the design. The first stage of implementation is Translate, which runs NGDBuild. NGDBuild performs the following functions.

• Converts input design netlists and writes the results to a single merged NGD file.
  
  
• Adds the User Constraints File (UCF) to the merged netlist. The merged netlist describes the logic in the design and any location and timing constraints.
  
  

1. Click Run in the Implement dialog box to begin processing.
   
   This starts the Flow Engine to implement the design. Stages or processes in the design are graphically represented in the upper half of the Flow Engine window. The status of each stage is also depicted here.
   
   
2. In this tutorial, you want to stop after translation. To do this, you must set a break point to stop the Flow Engine at this point. To stop the program, click on the stop sign toolbar icon while Translate is running. Refer to the following figure.
   
   

   Figure 3.3 Translating Design

   The Stop After dialog box is displayed with the default setting of Configure. The list box only contains possible break points with respect to the current state of the design. Because the design is not processed yet, all possible break points are available.
   
   
3. Select Translate in the list box and click on OK to accept the break point. On your screen, the stop sign is now added to the flow between the Translate and Map phases. This stop allows you to run the flow until the break point.
   
   

   ---

   NOTE

   The status bar at the bottom of the Flow Engine is updated with the specified user constraints file (count8.ucf).

   ---

   Setting a break point after the Translate phase is useful when you want to perform a functional simulation of the design and copy out the resulting design.ngd file to your working directory. Once you have the design.ngd file copied, you can run the appropriate NGD2XXX program on the file to create functional simulation data. For more information on the NGD2XXX programs, see the appropriate chapter in the Development System Reference Guide.
   
   
4. After Translate is done, an Implement Status dialog box appears. Select OK.
   
   The Design Manager shows 'rev1' under the initial version of the count8 project. The status of the revision is noted as (Translated, OK). Translated refers to the state of the design and is updated throughout the tutorial as the different compilation stages are completed. OK is the status of the current state. So far, the design has not produced any errors.
   
   At the bottom of the Design Manager is the status bar. The status bar contains information such as the current project, target device, and currently selected version revision pair. The left-hand portion of the status bar is used to provide information on what is currently selected by the cursor.
   
   

   Figure 3.4 Design Manager Status Bar

   The toolbox, located on the right side of the Design Manager, becomes active with your first implementation revision. The icons contained in the toolbox are only active when a revision is selected. Icons in the toolbox (as shown in the following figure) represent the Flow Engine, Timing Analyzer, Floorplanner, PROM File Formatter, Hardware Debugger, and EPIC Design Editor.
   
   

   ---

   NOTE

   The toolbar has drag and drop capability.

   ---

   Figure 3.5 Design Manager Toolbox