JohnG300c
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I'm working on an 8-layer PCB design where an Altera Arria II GX is hooked up to a DDR2 SO-DIMM. I'm using Altium Designer Summer 09. Due to the large number of signals and layers I would like to set up my PCB project to use the pin swapping and FPGA/PCB pin synchronization feature built into Altium Designer.
I have read all related PDFs and online documentation so I know that I should create an FPGA project that contains the top-level ports. The ports should be named the same as the signals on the PCB. I then create a constraint file containing the initial pin assignments. After pin-swapping, I update the synchronization via ECOs and the "FPGA Workspace Map dialog"
I'm having big trouble setting things up to make this FPGA/PCB synchronization working. Some of the initial problems are (not limited to the below but I'll bring these issues up for starters):
1) My custom Arria II GX symbol/footprint is not recognized as an FPGA by Altium Designer so the FPGA Workspace Map shows 'No FPGAs in PCB Document'. I created my own symbol and footprint in my own schematic and PCB libraries. Must I create an integrated library or do something else for the 'PCB to FPGA Wizard' to recognize my FPGA component as an FPGA?
2) When trying to fan out my FPGA footprint in the PCB editor nothing is fanned out but a dialog shows up saying that "the FPGA is already fanned out".
3) How should a custom FPGA not supported in Altium Designer be integrated such that FPGA/PCB synchronization will work properly? I came across the 'NexusDeviceID' FPGA schematics symbol parameter that supposedly would make AD understand that the symbol is an FPGA but adding it didn't make any difference.
In general, I understand how the pin swapping is supposed to work but I'm having trouble getting started. I would greatly appreciate if someone could give me some useful pointers in the right direction :grin:
I have read all related PDFs and online documentation so I know that I should create an FPGA project that contains the top-level ports. The ports should be named the same as the signals on the PCB. I then create a constraint file containing the initial pin assignments. After pin-swapping, I update the synchronization via ECOs and the "FPGA Workspace Map dialog"
I'm having big trouble setting things up to make this FPGA/PCB synchronization working. Some of the initial problems are (not limited to the below but I'll bring these issues up for starters):
1) My custom Arria II GX symbol/footprint is not recognized as an FPGA by Altium Designer so the FPGA Workspace Map shows 'No FPGAs in PCB Document'. I created my own symbol and footprint in my own schematic and PCB libraries. Must I create an integrated library or do something else for the 'PCB to FPGA Wizard' to recognize my FPGA component as an FPGA?
2) When trying to fan out my FPGA footprint in the PCB editor nothing is fanned out but a dialog shows up saying that "the FPGA is already fanned out".
3) How should a custom FPGA not supported in Altium Designer be integrated such that FPGA/PCB synchronization will work properly? I came across the 'NexusDeviceID' FPGA schematics symbol parameter that supposedly would make AD understand that the symbol is an FPGA but adding it didn't make any difference.
In general, I understand how the pin swapping is supposed to work but I'm having trouble getting started. I would greatly appreciate if someone could give me some useful pointers in the right direction :grin: