Xilinx® tools provide complete solutions that include power estimates, power analysis, and power optimization. Power and cooling specifications for an FPGA design often must be determined early in a product’s design cycle, even before the logic within the FPGA is designed. An accurate, worst-case power analysis early in the cycle mitigates the pitfalls of overdesigning or underdesigning the product’s power and cooling systems.

This technical digest describes how Xilinx tools address the key challenges of power consumption for all phases of the design cycle. The Xilinx Power Estimator (XPE) can perform a power analysis at any time during the design cycle. At each stage of the design, the Xilinx Power Analyzer (XPA) can provide a post-mapping and post place and route power analysis. Lastly, the Xilinx power-driven implementation can optimize for power by using different power optimization techniques in conjunction with other optimization algorithms.

Author:  Douang Phanthavong, Xilinx