Xilinx Power Estimator

User Guide

UG440 (v2012.3/14.3) October 16, 2012

Notice of Disclaimer
The information disclosed to you hereunder (the “Materials”) is provided solely for the selection and use of Xilinx products. To the maximum
extent permitted by applicable law: (1) Materials are made available "AS IS" and with all faults, Xilinx hereby DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
AND CONDITIONS, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE; and (2) Xilinx shall not be liable (whether in contract or tort, including
negligence, or under any other theory of liability) for any loss or damage of any kind or nature related to, arising under, or in connection with,
the Materials (including your use of the Materials), including for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential loss or damage
(including loss of data, profits, goodwill, or any type of loss or damage suffered as a result of any action brought by a third party) even if such
damage or loss was reasonably foreseeable or Xilinx had been advised of the possibility of the same. Xilinx assumes no obligation to correct
any errors contained in the Materials or to notify you of updates to the Materials or to product specifications. You may not reproduce,
modify, distribute, or publicly display the Materials without prior written consent. Certain products are subject to the terms and conditions
of the Limited Warranties which can be viewed at http://www.xilinx.com/warranty.htm; IP cores may be subject to warranty and support
terms contained in a license issued to you by Xilinx. Xilinx products are not designed or intended to be fail-safe or for use in any application
requiring fail-safe performance; you assume sole risk and liability for use of Xilinx products in Critical Applications:
http://www.xilinx.com/warranty.htm#critapps.
© Copyright 2012 Xilinx, Inc. Xilinx, the Xilinx logo, Artix, ISE, Kintex, Spartan, Virtex, Vivado, Zynq, and other designated brands included
herein are trademarks of Xilinx in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Xilinx Power Estimator User Guide www.xilinx.com 2

UG440 (v2012.3/14.3) October 16, 2012
Revision History
The following table shows the revision history for this document.

Date Version Revision

04/24/12 14.1 Revisions to manual for 14.1 release:
• Added section describing all of the XPE wizards (Quick Estimate wizard and IP
Module wizards). See XPE Wizards (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only).
• Added section describing the new IP Manager sheet. See IP Manager Sheet (7
Series and Zynq-7000 Only).
• Added section describing the new Power Comparison Snapshot sheet. See Power
Comparison Snapshots Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only).
• Added section describing the new PS sheet. See PS Sheet (Zynq-7000 Only).
• Added section describing the new Other sheet. See Other Sheet (7 Series and
Zynq-7000).
07/25/12 2012.2/14.2 Revisions to manual for 2012.2/14.2 release:
• Added information about exporting and importing IP information from the IP
Manager sheet. See Exporting an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet and
Importing an IP Module Into the IP Manager Sheet.
• Added information about Importing Results from Vivado Power Analyzer.
• In 7 Series/Zynq 700 XPE spreadsheet, MMCM and PLL sheets were combined in
a single sheet. See Clock Management Resource Sheets (DCM, PMCD, PLL,
MMCM, Clock Manager).
• In 7 Series/Zynq 700 XPE spreadsheet, GT sheets include a PCIe selection and
PCIe sheet was removed.
• A scratch area has been added to the Summary sheet for user-supplied
information and calculations. See Summary Sheet.
• Added information about GT Power Up / Power Down Sequencing.
10/16/12 2012.3/14.3 Revisions to manual for 2012.3/14.3 release:
• Product name was changed to Xilinx Power Analyzer. Made changes throughout
manual to specify new product name.
• Documented changes to PS sheet. See PS Sheet (Zynq-7000 Only).
• Converted document to Vivado document template.

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UG440 (v2012.3/14.3) October 16, 2012
Table of Contents
Using Xilinx Power Estimator
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Getting Started with XPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Opening XPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Minimum User Input Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
XPE Calculations and Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Definitions/Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Supported Device Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Device Model Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Advance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Preliminary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Total Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Device Static Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Design Static Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Design Dynamic Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Activity Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Toggle Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Signal Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Fanout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Effective Θ JA (C/W) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Θ SA (C/W) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Θ JB (C/W) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Junction Temperature (°C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
User Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The XPE Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Import File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Export File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Quick Estimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Reset to Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Set Default Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
XPE Cell Color-Coding Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Exchanging Power Information with XPower Analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Importing Results from Vivado Power Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Data Import and Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Importing Data into XPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Exporting XPE Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
XPE Wizards (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Quick Estimate Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
IP Module Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Memory Generator Wizard (for Distributed Memory) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Memory Generator Wizard (for Block Memory) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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UG440 (v2012.3/14.3) October 16, 2012
 Memory Interface Configuration Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Transceiver Configuration Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Summary Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Settings Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Power Distribution Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
On-Chip Power Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Power Supply Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Summary Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Quick Estimate Wizard and the Summary Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Power Comparison Snapshots Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Adding a Snapshot of the Current Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Importing a Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Deleting Snapshots from the Power Comparison Snapshots Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
IP Manager Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Creating an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Deleting an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Exporting an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Importing an IP Module Into the IP Manager Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Resource Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Clock Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Logic Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Memory Generator Wizard and the Logic Sheet (Distributed Memory) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
I/O Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Memory Interface Configuration Wizard and the I/O Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Block RAM (BRAM) Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Preliminary BRAM Estimates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
For Better Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Memory Generator Wizard and the Block RAM Sheet (Block Memory) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Clock Management Resource Sheets (DCM, PMCD, PLL, MMCM, Clock Manager) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
DSP Sheet (MULT, DSP48). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Multi-Gigabit Transceiver Sheets (MGT, GT, GTP, GTX, GTH, GTZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Transceiver Wizard and the MGT Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
GT Power Up / Power Down Sequencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
TEMAC Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
PCIe Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
PPC440 (PowerPC) Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
PS Sheet (Zynq-7000 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Other Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
User Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Automating XPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Using Named Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Get available resource counts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Get device operating limits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Get and edit summary information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Using Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Using Visual Basic Macros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Scripting XPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Visual Basic Scripting Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Perl Scripting Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

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UG440 (v2012.3/14.3) October 16, 2012
 Appendix A: Additional Resources
Xilinx Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Solution Centers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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Using Xilinx Power Estimator

Introduction
The Xilinx Power Estimator (XPE) spreadsheet is a power estimation tool typically used in
the pre-design and pre-implementation phases of a project. XPE assists with architecture
evaluation, device selection, appropriate power supply components, and thermal
management components specific for your application.

XPE considers your design’s resource usage, toggle rates, I/O loading, and many other
factors which it combines with the device models to calculate the estimated power
distribution. The device models are extracted from measurements, simulation, and/or
extrapolation.

The accuracy of XPE is dependent on two primary sets of inputs:

• Device utilization, component configuration, clock, enable, and toggle rates, and other
information you enter into the tool
• Device data models integrated into the tool

For accurate estimates of your application, enter realistic information which is as complete
as possible. Modeling a certain aspect of the design over conservatively or without
sufficient knowledge of the design can result in unrealistic estimates. Some techniques to
drive the XPE to provide worst-case estimates or typical estimates are discussed in this
document.

XPE is a pre-implementation tool for use in the early stages of a design cycle or when the
RTL description is incomplete. After implementation, the XPower Analyzer (XPA) tool
(available in the ISE® Design Suite software) can be used for more accurate estimates and
power analysis. For more information about XPA, see the XPower Analyzer Help.

XPE is a spreadsheet, so all Microsoft Excel functionality is fully retained in the writable or
unprotected sections of the spreadsheet. XPE has additional functionality oriented to ease
of use. The drop-down menus and the comment-enabled cells are helpful features to inform
and guide you.

The XPE spreadsheet also includes the Quick Estimate Wizard, the Memory Interface
Configuration Wizard, the Memory Generator Wizard (for block memory and distributed
memory), and the Transceiver Configuration Wizard. These wizards help novice and expert

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 Getting Started with XPE

users to quickly enter the important configuration parameters, which will then generate
relevant lines in the I/O, Logic, Block RAM (BRAM), Transceiver, and Other sheets, helping
with accurate power analysis.

Getting Started with XPE

Opening XPE
1. XPE requires a licensed- version of Microsoft Excel 2003 or Microsoft Excel 2007 to be
installed.

Microsoft Excel 2010 is not officially supported in this release of XPE. OpenOffice and
Google Docs spreadsheet editors are not supported in this release of XPE.

2. Download the latest available spreadsheet for your targeted device. The XPE
spreadsheets are available at the Power Advantage webpage here:

http://www.xilinx.com/power

Note: The 7 series/Zynq™-7000 XPE spreadsheet is available in either .xlsm (Excel

Macro-Enabled Workbook) or .xls (Excel 97-2003 Workbook) format.
3. Make sure your Microsoft Excel settings allow macro executions. XPE uses several
macros built into the XPE spreadsheet.

° Microsoft Excel 2003 - By default, the macro security level is set to High, which
disables macros. To change the macro security level, follow these steps (actual
menu names will vary with language of Microsoft Excel):
a. On the Tools menu, point to Macro and click Security.
a. In the Security dialog box, click the Security Level tab.
b. Select Medium, then click OK.
c. Open or, if already open, reopen the XPE spreadsheet.
d. When prompted whether to enable or disable macros, click Enable Macros.

° Microsoft Excel 200 7 or Windows Vista - The following steps are required:
a. From the Microsoft Office button select Excel Options.
b. In the Options dialog, click on Trust Center.
c. In the Trust Center dialog, click on Trust Center Settings and select the Macro
Security tab.
d. Select Enable all macros, then click OK.
e. Open or, if already open, reopen the XPE spreadsheet.

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Note: The 7 series/Zynq™-7000 XPE spreadsheet is available in either .xlsm (Excel

Macro-Enabled Workbook) or .xls (Excel 97-2003 Workbook) format.

TIP: You can save an Excel 2007 or later spreadsheet as an .xlsm file (Macro Enabled Workbook), and
this will enable macro content. Calculations in XPE will not be affected if you decide to change to this
extension. You can also enable the macro content each time you open the workbook. Enabling macro
content by changing the Trust Center settings is a potentially dangerous way of enabling macro
content.

IMPORTANT: If you save an Excel 2007 or later spreadsheet as an .xlsx file (Excel Workbook) you will
lose the macro capability and render XPE nonfunctional. You will be warned of this if you try to save as
an .xlsx file.

Minimum User Input Required

Power estimation for programmable devices like FPGAs is a complex process, since it is
highly dependent on the amount of logic in the design and the configuration of that logic.
To produce accurate estimates, the power estimation process requires accurate input
values, such as resource utilization, clock rates, and toggle rates. To use this tool to its
minimum capability with reasonable accuracy, you need the following:

• A target device-package-grade combination

• A good estimate of resources you expect to use in the design (for example, flip-flops,
look-up tables, I/Os, block RAMS, DCMs, etc.)
• The clock frequency or frequencies for the design
• An estimate of the data toggle rates for the design
• The external memory and transceiver based interfaces with their data rates for the
design
• The thermal environment in which the design will be operating

As a general rule, input as much information about your design as available, then leave the
remaining settings to default values. This strategy will allow you to determine the device
power supply and heat dissipation requirements.

TIP: Use Excel formulas to link different cells together. For instance type '=CLOCK!E9' in the Logic sheet
lines which list the resources driven by this clock domain.

XPE Calculations and Results

XPE uses your design and environmental input, then combines this information with the
device data model to compute and present an estimated distribution of the power in the
targeted device.

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 Definitions/Terminology

XPE presents multiple views of the power distribution.

• Power by Voltage Supplies - For each required voltage source, this information is
useful to select and size power supply components such as regulators, etc. Supply
power includes both off-chip and on-chip dissipated power.
• Power by User Logic Resources - For each type of user logic in the design, XPE reports
the expected power. This allows you to experiment with architecture, resources, and
implementation trade-off choices in order to remain within the allotted power budget.
• Thermal Power - XPE lets you enter device environment settings and reports thermal
properties of the device for your application, such as the expected junction
temperature. With this information you can evaluate the need for passive or active
cooling for your design.

The Summary sheet in XPE shows the total power for the device. Other sheets show
usage-based power. Leakage within the unused portion of the considered resource (if any)
is not shown.

The following sections provide more details on how to enter settings and review results.

Definitions/Terminology
Supported Device Families
Separate spreadsheets are available depending on the targeted architecture. These
spreadsheets are updated when new device data become available or when new features
are added to XPE.

• 7 Series FPGAs and Zynq-7000 AP SoCs

° Artix™-7, Artix-7 Automotive grade, and Artix-7 Defense grade

° Kintex™-7 and Kintex-7 Defense grade

° Virtex ®-7 and Virtex-7 Defense grade

° Zynq™-7000, Zynq-7000 Automotive grade, and Zynq-7000 Defense grade

• Virtex-6 and Virtex-5 FPGAs

° Virtex-6, Virtex-6 Low Power, and Virtex-6Q Defense grade

° Virtex-5, Virtex-5Q Defense grade, and Virtex-5QV Space grade

• Virtex-4
• Spartan®-6 and Spartan-3A – This spreadsheet includes all sub-families, including
Spartan-6 Lower Power, Spartan-6 Automotive, Spartan-6Q Defense-grade,
Spartan-3AN, and Spartan-3A DSP

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 Definitions/Terminology

• Spartan-3E
• Spartan-3

IMPORTANT: Download the latest available spreadsheet from the Power Efficiency webpage on the
Xilinx website at this location: http://www.xilinx.com/products/technology/power.

Device Model Accuracy

The accuracy of the characterization data existing in the tool is reflected by accuracy
designations in the Characterization field on the Summary sheet of XPE. For most FPGAs,
the history of the accuracy designation is also displayed in the Release sheet. The accuracy
designations are Advance, Preliminary, and Production.

Advance
The data integrated into XPE with this designation is based primarily on measurements and
characterization data made on early production devices. A set of widely used device
resources are included in the characterization. Characterization data is limited to these few
blocks. This data is typically available within a year of product launch. Although the data
with this designation is considered relatively stable and conservative, some under-reporting
or over-reporting may occur. Advance data accuracy is considered lower than the
Preliminary and Production data.

Preliminary
The data integrated into XPE with this designation is based on complete early production
silicon. Almost all the blocks in the device fabric are characterized. Data for most of the
dedicated blocks like TEMAC and PCIe block are also characterized and integrated into XPE.
The probability of accurate power reporting is improved compared to Advance data.

Production
The data integrated into XPE with this designation is released after enough production
silicon of a particular device family member has been characterized to provide full power
correlation over numerous production lots. Characterization data for all blocks in the device
fabric is included.

Total Power
The total FPGA power is calculated as follows:

Total FPGA power = Device Static + Design Static + Design Dynamic

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 Definitions/Terminology

The power estimates are modeled to account for temperature and voltage sensitivity.
Ambient temperature and regulated voltage on the system can be keyed into the
appropriate cells provided for that purpose.

Device Static Power

Also referred to as Leakage. Device static represents the transistor leakage power when the
device is powered and not configured.

Design Static Power

Design static represents the additional power consumption when the device is configured
and there is no switching activity. It includes static power in I/O DCI terminations, clock
managers, etc.

For design static power calculations, XPE starts by assuming a blank bitstream. To
"instantiate" design elements for the design static power calculations, you must enter the
appropriate resource counts on the sheets with count fields and non-zero clock frequencies
for the sheets without count fields. I/O termination must also be set to match the board and
the design.

Design Dynamic Power

Design dynamic represents the additional power consumption from the user logic
utilization and switching activity.

Activity Rates
XPE shows values for these types of activity rates:

• Toggle Rates
• Signal Rates

Toggle Rates
Providing accurate toggle rates in the various XPE sheets is essential to get quality power
estimates. This information, however, may not be readily available at the stage in the design
cycle where you enter data in XPE. Activity may be refined as the design gets more defined.
Below are guidelines you can follow to help you enter design toggle activity.

• For synchronous paths, toggle rate reflects how often an output changes relative to a
given clock input and can be modeled as a percentage between 0–100%. The max data
toggle rate of 100% means that the output toggles every active clock edge. For
instance, consider a free running binary counter with a 100MHz clock. For the Least
Significant Bit you would enter 100% in the Toggle Rate column since this bit toggles

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 Definitions/Terminology

every rising edge of the clock. For the second bit you would enter 50% since this bit
toggles every other rising edge of the clock.
• For non-periodic or event-driven state machine designs, toggle rates cannot be easily
predicted. An effective method of estimating average toggle rates for a given design is
to segregate the different sections of the design based on their functionality and
estimate the toggle rates for each of the sub-blocks. An average toggle rate can then
be arrived at by calculating the average for the entire design. Most logic-intensive
designs work at around 12.5% average toggle rate, which is the default toggle rate
setting in XPE. For a worst- case estimate, a toggle rate of 20% can be used. Average
toggle rates greater than 20% are not very common. Arithmetic-intensive modules of a
design seem to take toggle rates of up to 50%, which is representative of the absolute
worst case.

IMPORTANT: In all the sheets which do not have a dedicated Clock Enable column make sure you
scale the toggle rate to account for any signal which gates this logic. For example, if the data toggle
rate is modeled at 50% but the synchronizing clock is enabled 50 percent of the time, the resulting
toggle rate should be 25% (50% x 50%).

IMPORTANT: To appreciate what 100% toggle rate means, think of a constantly enabled toggle
flip-flop (TFF) whose data input is tied High. The T-output of this flip-flop toggles every clock edge.
Very few designs could possibly have an average toggle rate that high (100%).

Note: The IO sheet has a column to specify signal Data Rate. Make sure you adjust the Toggle
Rate and Data Rate columns accurately. For example, on an input signal which toggles on both
edges of the clock you would enter Toggle Rate = 100% and Data Rate = DDR (Dual Data Rate).

Signal Rates
Signal rate defines the number of millions of transitions per second for the element
considered. This is a read-only column that appears on some of the XPE sheets (for
example, the Logic, I/O, DSP, and Block RAM sheets). The general equation to calculate
signal rate is:

Signal Rate (Mtr/s) = Clock Frequency (Mhz) * Effective Toggle Rate (%)

Fanout
Fanout defined in XPE is similar to the fanout reported by the synthesis tool and can differ
from the fanout reported by the implementation tool. This difference is expected because
fanout will vary with placement and packing of the logic.

• In XPE fanout represents the number of individual loads or logic elements the
considered element is connected to (LUTs, flip-flops, block RAM, I/O flip-flops,
distributed RAM, and shift registers).

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• In the implementation tool (ISE PAR Report), fanout is the number of SLICEs the
considered net is routed to. A SLICE typically contains multiple logic elements and
users generally do not control packing of the different elements into SLICEs. XPE
algorithms will estimate this packing before calculating the power.

Effective Θ JA (C/W)
This coefficient defines how power is dissipated from the FPGA to the environment (device
junction to ambient air). Typically this option is calculated by XPE, taking into account,
among other things, the different environment parameters in the Settings panel of the
Summary sheet. Entering a value in this field will override XPE calculations. Use this option
if you have calculated this parameter by simulations. You may also want to use this feature
to factor out environmental parameters when analyzing power differences with another
spreadsheet in which environment settings have been set differently.

Θ SA (C/W)
Heatsink to ambient air thermal resistance. By default XPE obtains this value from a
representative selection of heatsink data matched to the device package, combined with
the Heat Sink value you set (Low Profile, Medium Profile, or High Profile) and the
Airflow value you set. The value used by XPE is shown in the Θ SA field on the Summary
sheet.

The heatsink values for Low Profile, Medium Profile, and High Profile for the different
device packages are defined in Table 1.

Table 1: Heat Sink Profile Definitions in Xilinx Power Estimator

Device Package Heat Sink Height (mm)
° Low Profile - 6.3 mm
FF324 ° Medium Profile - 9.5 mm
(19 mm) ° High Profile - 12.7 mm

° Low Profile - 6.3 mm

FF484 ° Medium Profile - 9.5 mm
(23 mm) ° High Profile - 12.7 mm

° Low Profile - 6.3 mm

FF665-676 ° Medium Profile - 9.5 mm
(27 mm) ° High Profile - 12.7 mm

° Low Profile - 6.3 mm

FF784 ° Medium Profile - 9.5 mm
(29 mm) ° High Profile - 12.7 mm

° Low Profile - 6.3 mm

FF1136-1158 ° Medium Profile - 9.5 mm
(35 mm) ° High Profile - 12.7 mm

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 User Interface

Table 1: Heat Sink Profile Definitions in Xilinx Power Estimator (Cont’d)

° Low Profile - 12.7 mm
FF1738-1760 ° Medium Profile - 14.6 mm
(42.5 mm) ° High Profile - 17.6 mm

° Low Profile - 14.6 mm

FF1923-1933 ° Medium Profile - 20.6 mm
(45 mm) ° High Profile - 27.6 mm

If you have the ΘSA information for your system you can enter your specific value. First
set the Heat Sink drop-down menu on the Summary sheet to Custom, then enter your
ΘSA value.

Θ JB (C/W)
Device junction to board thermal resistance. By default XPE estimates the junction to board
thermal resistance based on standard JEDEC four-layer measurements. If you have done
thermal simulations of your system you can enter your own specific value. First set the
Board Selection drop-down menu on the Summary sheet to Custom, then enter your ΘJB
value.

Junction Temperature (°C)

This field forces the value of the device junction temperature. XPE then adjusts the ambient
temperature to meet the specified junction temperature. This option could be used when
you need to work backward from a known or assumed worst case junction temperature and
define the environment that would ensure this temperature is not exceeded.

User Interface
XPE has these spreadsheet sheets:

• The Summary sheet lets you enter and edit all device and environment settings. This
sheet also displays a summary of the power distribution and provides buttons to
import data into XPE, export results, and globally adjust settings.
• Other sheets allow you to enter usage and activity details for the different resource
types available in the targeted device (for example, IO, Block RAM (BRAM), and
Multi-Gigabit Transceivers (MGTs)). These sheets report design power based on the
resource usage. Resource leakage power is shown on the Summary sheet.

TIP: XPE is intended to be intuitive to the novice spreadsheet-user. For information about a cell in the
spreadsheet, move the mouse over the comment indicators (red triangle at the top right corner of the
title cells) to read the relevant notes for the intended use (see Figure 1).

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 User Interface

X-Ref Target - Figure 1

Figure 1: Comment Indicators and Comment

The XPE Toolbar

To make data entry into the tool easier, XPE supports importing data from different sources
and allows settings to be changed globally. The toolbar is shown in Figure 2.

Note: The toolbar displayed below is the toolbar for the 7 series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet.
Toolbar buttons for earlier architecture spreadsheets may have different names than the names
displayed below.
X-Ref Target - Figure 2

Figure 2: XPE Toolbar (7 Series/Zynq-7000)

Import File
Depending on what stage your design is in the FPGA development cycle, use this dialog box
to import design information and activity into the spreadsheet. In the dialog box, select the
Files of type field to determine whether you will import an .xls or .xlsm, .mrp, or .xpe file.

For a description of the import feature, see Importing Data into XPE, page 21.

Export File
The Export File button lets you export the following information from the current
spreadsheet:

• The current settings for your design within XPE. These settings can be imported into an
XPower Analyzer session within the ISE Design Suite.
• A text power report, which allows you to analyze the power information in the XPE
spreadsheet in a textual format.

For a description of the export feature, see Exporting XPE Results, page 23.

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 User Interface

Quick Estimate
The Quick Estimate button opens the Quick Estimate wizard. This wizard is a simple
interface to allow novice and expert users to quickly enter the important parameters
required for an accurate power analysis of a design implemented in a Xilinx device.

For a description of the Quick Estimate wizard, see Quick Estimate Wizard and the Summary
Sheet, page 49.

Reset to Defaults
The Reset to Defaults button resets all user settings to their default values, except for
values in the Device selection table on the Summary sheet, and deletes all user entered
values on the block details sheets (Clock, Logic, etc.).

Set Default Rates

This button opens up a dialog box which lets you change the default frequency, toggle rates
or enable rates for the entire design or for specific sheets (see Figure 3).
X-Ref Target - Figure 3

Figure 3: Set Default Activity Rates Dialog Box

The fields in the dialog box are:

• Toggle Rates

Each field changes activity of the related sheet only. Acceptable range: 0 to 100%.

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 User Interface

To learn more about toggle rates, refer to Toggle Rates, page 12.

• Enable Rates

Each field changes activity of the related sheet only. Acceptable range: 0 to 100%.

• All Clock Nets

The clock frequency entered here applies to CLOCK, LOGIC, IO, BRAM and DSP sheets.
Acceptable range: 0 to 500MHz.

• Output Load

The equivalent capacitance seen by the output driver for the routing and components
connected to this board trace. This setting does not affect power calculations for inputs.

XPE Cell Color-Coding Scheme

To simplify data entry and review, the XPE cells are color coded. A color Legend appears at
the bottom of the Summary sheet (see Figure 4).
X-Ref Target - Figure 4

Figure 4: Color Legend (Summary Sheet)

A description of the spreadsheet’s color-coding scheme is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: XPE Cell Color-Coding Scheme

Cell Color Cell Use Available User Action
White Allows user to enter data Editable
Grey Displays a calculated value Read-only
Green Displays a summary value Read-only
Blue User override of cells normally calculated by XPE Editable
Flags a warning. Indicates that a resource is not
Orange Editable
available.
Flags an error.
Examples of errors are:

• A resource limit in the device has been

exceeded. Read-only. Edit other cells to correct
Red
the error.
• The limits of a device specification (for
example, junction temperature) have been
exceeded.

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 Exchanging Power Information with XPower Analyzer

Exchanging Power Information with XPower

Analyzer
To determine device power supply requirements and estimate thermal dissipation
throughout the design process, data exchange mechanisms are available between the
different power estimation tools, Xilinx Power Estimator (XPE) and XPower Analyzer (XPA),
which is in the ISE Design Suite (IDS). Details on the methodology and user flow are
presented in the Power Methodology Guide (UG786). This data exchange mechanism is
available for the Spartan-6, Virtex-6, Artix-7, Kintex-7, and Virtex-7 families.

• Export settings to XPower Analyzer

In a typical development process you will first perform power estimation in XPE to size
the voltage supply sources, evaluate thermal power dissipation paths, and allocate the
total power budget to the different blocks in the FPGA system. Later in the development
cycle you will want to perform post implementation power analysis in XPower Analyzer
to validate against your power and thermal goals. Instead of manually re-entering this
environmental data into XPA you can export to a file and have XPA read it for your next
analysis. This process exports all environment, thermal, and voltage settings which in
turn helps getting realistic power estimations in XPA that can easily be compared
between the two tools.

For step-by-step export instructions, see Exporting XPE Results, page 23.

• Import results from XPower Analyzer

This flow is useful in the following cases:

° The reported power exceeds your requirements and you want to evaluate different
scenarios, adjusting resources used, count, and configuration. You can also estimate
power gains from techniques such as logic gating or resource time sharing, without
modifying your code.

° Your project uses (or reuses) IP blocks already implemented in a previous design or
acquired. You can import these existing blocks into XPE to quickly get resource and
power usage for these blocks. You can then focus your efforts in XPE to enter data
for the new pieces of logic not yet defined.

° Team-based design – A project manager can regularly monitor power for the entire
design by integrating resource usage and power consumption for modules
developed by the different teams.

For step-by-step import instructions, see Importing Data into XPE, page 21.

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 Importing Results from Vivado Power Analyzer

Importing Results from Vivado Power Analyzer

A data exchange mechanism is available to import data from Vivado™ Power Analyzer into
Xilinx Power Estimator (XPE). This data exchange mechanism is available for the Artix-7
(including Artix-7 Automotive), Kintex-7 and Virtex-7 families.

This flow is useful in the following cases:

• The reported power exceeds your requirements and you want to evaluate different
scenarios, adjusting resources used, count, and configuration. You can also estimate
power gains from techniques such as logic gating or resource time sharing, without
modifying your code.
• Your project uses (or reuses) IP blocks already implemented in a previous design or
acquired. You can import these existing blocks into XPE to quickly get resource and
power usage for these blocks. You can then focus your efforts in XPE to enter data for
the new pieces of logic not yet defined.
• Team-based design - A project manager can regularly monitor power for the entire
design by integrating resource usage and power consumption for modules developed
by the different teams.

For step-by-step import instructions, see Importing Data into XPE, page 21.

Data Import and Export

Depending on the stage in the FPGA development cycle your design is in, XPE provides
multiple mechanisms to simplify data entry and manage output data.

This flow is useful in the following cases:

• The reported power exceeds your requirements and you want to evaluate different
scenarios, adjusting resources used, count, and configuration. You can also estimate
power gains from techniques such as logic gating or resource time sharing, without
modifying your code.
• Your project uses (or reuses) IP blocks already implemented in a previous design or
acquired. You can import these existing blocks into XPE to quickly get resource and
power usage for these blocks. You can then focus your efforts in XPE to enter data for
the new pieces of logic not yet defined.
• Team-based design - A project manager can regularly monitor power for the entire
design by integrating resource usage and power consumption for modules developed
by the different teams.

For step-by-step import instructions, see Importing Data into XPE, page 21.

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 Data Import and Export

Importing Data into XPE

In the Summary sheet, click the Import... button to open the dialog box shown in Figure 5.
This dialog box varies slightly depending on device architecture, since newer family
spreadsheets offer more import capabilities.
X-Ref Target - Figure 5

Figure 5: Import Dialog Box (Virtex-7)

This dialog box lets you select among the following import options:

• Import Existing Xilinx Power Estimator Spreadsheet (*.xls*)

Use this option to import an existing XPE workbook (.xls or .xlsm file). This option is
useful when starting a new design which reuses previous IP blocks or when updating the
design information into the latest spreadsheet version. This action deletes all data in the
current spreadsheet, then imports all data from the selected spreadsheet.

IMPORTANT: When the import is complete, make sure to verify and adjust the imported data where
appropriate. For example, adjust utilization and resources count columns when porting a design to a
new architecture.

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 Data Import and Export

• Import Implementation Results From ISE or Vivado (*.xpe)

Use this option to further analyze your design by importing complete designs or IP
blocks. The .xpe file you are importing can come from either the ISE Design Suite or the
Vivado Design Suite.

° ISE Design Suite - The .xpe file was produced by XPower Analyzer or by the -xpe
option to the xpwr command. See the XPower Analyzer Help or the description of
the -xpe option to the xpwr command line in the Command Line Tools User Guide
(UG628) for details on how to generate this interoperability file.

° Vivado Design Suite - The .xpe file was produced by the report power tool or by the
-xpe option to the report_power Tcl command. See the Vivado User Guide:
Power Analysis and Optimization (UG907) for details on how to generate this
interoperability file.

Benefits and use model for this flow are presented in Exchanging Power Information
with XPower Analyzer, page 19 or Importing Results from Vivado Power Analyzer,
page 20.

To import this data into the spreadsheet:

a. In the Summary sheet of the XPE spreadsheet, click Import File.

b. In the import dialog box, browse and select the .xpe file to import.
c. (Optional. 7 series and Zynq-7000 devices only) In the Design Data section of the
dialog box, select whether you want the imported data to override any previously
entered data in the spreadsheet or rather append to the existing results.
d. (Optional. 7 series and Zynq-7000 devices only) In the Advanced Options section of
the dialog box, specify data to include during the import (environment settings, I/O
details, Voltage level and Device selection).
• Import Implementation Results from ISE Map Report (*.mrp)

Select the import from Map Report (.mrp file) when portions of the design have been
implemented in the ISE Design Suite. You can import the exact resource count from a
Map Report to get a more accurate power estimation after the design is placed. This
flow is also used when portions of the design are implemented while others are still
being designed, so you can add details for the expected remaining logic and evaluate
the total design power distribution.

Note: This process overwrites any utilization data, but preserves environment settings.

TIP: After import you will notice resources used are grouped into a minimum set of lines. The map
report only contains the counts of the various blocks and you will need to set the bit width, data rate,
clock, mode, enable, and other configurations on each XPE sheet to match your design.

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TIP: The I/O and BRAM sheets are populated based on unique configuration. I/Os are grouped by bus
and all BRAMs with the same configuration appear on a single line. You may therefore need to add
additional rows and adjust the counts to group by clock domain, module, or functionality.

Exporting XPE Results

In the Summary sheet click the Export File button to open the dialog box shown in
Figure 6.
X-Ref Target - Figure 6

Figure 6: Export Dialog Box

In the dialog box the Save as type field lets you select among the following data formats:

• Export as XPA Settings (*.xpa) file

Use this format to export XPE settings so they can then be applied to an XPower
Analyzer session. This tool is typically used later in the design cycle when you are ready
to perform a post place and route power analysis. The tool will create an .xpa file which
contains all the environment settings, such as thermal, board and voltage properties.
This simplifies the analysis setup in XPower Analyzer and ensures power data can be
compared between the two tools.

Note: To read the data exported from XPE into XPower Analyzer, enter the Settings file name
(*.xpa) in the dialog box that appears when you open a design in XPower Analyzer (File > Open
Design).

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Note: In the XPower (XPWR) command line tool, which performs a power analysis on your
design within the ISE Design Suite, use the -x <file_name> switch to read in the XPE exported
data.
• Export as Text Power Report (*.pwr)

Use this format to export XPE Summary sheet results in a text format. XPE will save all
the information on the Summary sheet in a sequence of tables so the information is easy
to read. This feature can be used to archive or compare multiple scenarios. It can also
help if your design flow uses scripts to parse and use XPE results.

• Export as XPA Exchange (*.xpe) file (7 series and Zynq-7000 only)

Use this format to export the contents of an XPE spreadsheet in a smaller file, and then
restore it by importing it into another spreadsheet.

XPE Wizards (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

The XPE Wizards, available in the 7 series/Zynq-7000 Xilinx Power Estimator spreadsheet,
are simple interfaces to allow novice and expert users to quickly enter the important
parameters required for an accurate power analysis of a design implemented in a Xilinx
device.

There are two types of XPE Wizards:

• Quick Estimate wizard - The Quick Estimate wizard populates the XPE sheets with
information about your entire design, allowing XPE to perform a rough power estimate
for the design. The Quick Estimate wizard is often used as the first step in specifying
your design in XPE to determine its power requirements.
• IP Module wizards - The IP Module Wizards extend XPE to allow you to easily populate
the XPE spreadsheet with information about:

° Various types of external memory interfaces (for example, DDR3, DDR3L, LPDDR2,
QDR+, and RLDRAM).

° Transceiver based interfaces (for example, 10GBASE-R, Interlaken, PCIe, Aurora, and
CPRI.

° Block memory and distributed memory used in your design.

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Quick Estimate Wizard

The Quick Estimate wizard populates the XPE sheets with information about your entire
design, allowing XPE to perform a rough power estimate for the design. After you run this
rough estimate using the Quick Estimate wizard, you can view the data the wizard entered,
modify the spreadsheet entries the wizard created, and add entries of your own to describe
your design more completely.

If you run the Quick Estimate wizard a second time, you will replace all the spreadsheet
entries from the previous run with entries from the current run.

The following manuals will help you supply information to the Quick Estimate Wizard:

• 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic Block User Guide (UG474)

• 7 Series FPGAs Memory Resources User Guide (UG473)
• 7 Series FPGAs GTX/GTH Transceivers User Guide (UG476)
• 7 Series FPGAs GTP Transceivers User Guide (UG482)
• 7 Series FPGAs Memory Interface Solutions User Guide (UG586)

To populate the 7 Series XPE sheets using the Quick Estimate wizard:

1. In the Summary sheet Settings Panel specify the target part, including the Speed
Grade and Temp Grade.
2. On the Summary sheet, click the Quick Estimate button.

3. In the XPE Quick Estimate dialog box, fill out the information in the dialog box for your
design.

The entries available in the dialog box depend on the Xilinx device in which you will
implement your design.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 7

Figure 7: XPE Quick Estimate Dialog Box (Virtex-7)

The fields in the XPE Quick estimate dialog box are:

° Conditions

This selection allows you to choose:

- A Typical process and nominal voltages at the specified Ambient temperature.

OR

- A Maximum process and maximum voltages, with the Junction temperature set
for a worst case power analysis at the specified temperature grade limit.

° Environment

Allows you to select the airflow environment under which your device will operate
(Still Air, 250 LFM, or 250 LFM (w/Heatsink)).

° Voltage

Allows you to specify whether XPE will calculate power assuming the device is
operating with all supplies at their Nominal or Maximum voltages.

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° Design Activity

For the Logic (configurable logic blocks (CLBs) and interconnect) and BRAM (block
RAM), enter these values:

- Clock

Specify a single clock frequency, in MHz. The Clock frequency defaults to

different values for the different device families (Artix-7 (including Artix-7
Automotive), Kintex-7, and Virtex-7), but you may set the Clock frequency to any
value.

- Toggle

Enter a single Toggle rate (in %). This toggle rate will apply to all the resources in
the Logic or to the BRAM.

- Enable

Enter a single Enable rate (in %). The Enable rate will apply to the slice clock
enable in the Logic or to the BRAM enable.

° Design Utilization

Enter the number of each resource (LUT, FF, BRAM, and DSP) you estimate your
design will use.

The % column shows the percentage of utilization for the resource in the specified
device.

You can enter a number in the box provided or use the spin buttons (the up and
down arrowheads) to increase or decrease the utilization % by 5% each click.

If you try to enter a value greater than the total number of the resource in the device
(for example, you try to enter 10,000 LUTs for a device that only contains 9600 LUTs),
the value displayed will change to the total number of the resource in the device (in
this example, 9600 LUTs) and the utilization % will be 100%.

° Physical Interfaces

For the memory interface (Memory) you specify, enter a bit width (Width) and a
data rate (Rate) in Mb/s.

For the transceiver interfaces (GTP, GTX, etc.) you specify, enter a bit width (Width)
and a data rate (Rate) in Gb/s.

For LVDS, specify the number of input pins (In), output pins (Out), and the data rate
(Rate) in Mb/s.

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4. When you have filled out the values for your design, click OK.

After a DRC (Design Rules Check) runs, the sheets in Xilinx Power Estimator spreadsheet
will be populated based on the values you entered, and XPE will estimate power for the
design you specified.

IP Module Wizards
The IP Module wizards extend XPE to allow you to easily enter various types of external
memory interfaces (e.g. DDR3, DDR3L, LPDDR2, QDR+, RLDRAM), transceiver based
interfaces (e.g. 10GBASE-R, Interlaken, PCIe, Aurora, and CPRI) and block memory or
distributed memory.

The IP Module wizards are:

• Memory Generator Wizard (for Distributed Memory)

• Memory Generator Wizard (for Block Memory)
• Memory Interface Configuration Wizard
• Transceiver Configuration Wizard

Memory Generator Wizard (for Distributed Memory)

In the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet, the Memory Generator wizard allows you to
enter distributed memory information in the Logic sheet. You can access the Memory
Generator Wizard by clicking the Manage IP button on the IP Manager sheet or the Add
Memory button on the Logic sheet. The XPE Memory Generator wizard provides a
simplified method of populating the Logic sheet with rows related to distributed memory.

To understand the capabilities of the 7 series/Zynq-7000 distributed memory and the

settings you will enter within XPE refer to the 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic Block User
Guide (UG474).

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To populate the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 Logic sheet using the XPE Memory Generator Wizard:

1. Open the Memory Generator wizard by doing one of the following:

° On the Logic Sheet, click the Add Memory button.

X-Ref Target - Figure 8

OR

° On the IP Manager Sheet:

a. Click the Manage IP button.
X-Ref Target - Figure 9

b. In the IP Manager dialog box, select the Create IP tab.

c. In the dialog box IP Catalog, select Distributed Memory.
d. In the dialog box, click the Create button.
2. In the Distributed Memory tab of the XPE Memory Generator dialog box, fill out the
information in the dialog box for one distributed memory Memory Type in your design.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 10

Figure 10: Distributed Memory Tab - XPE Memory Generator Dialog Box
(Virtex-7)
The fields in the Distributed Memory tab are:

° Memory Type

Select the type of memory your design will use.

- Single Port RAM

- Simple Dual Port RAM
- Single Port ROM
- Dual Port ROM

For a description of these memory types, see the 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic
Block User Guide (UG474).

° Clock

Enter the clock frequency at which the distributed memory will operate.

For dual-port memory types, XPE assumes the same clock frequency for both ports.

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° Toggle

Enter the average toggle rate of the data signals. A toggle rate of 50% means that
half of the data signals toggle each clock cycle.

° Width

Enter the bit width for each word in the memory.

° Depth

Enter the depth of the memory. Width × Depth is the total number of bits in the
memory.

° Registered Inputs

Specify whether the memory inputs will be registered (Registered Inputs selected)
or not (Registered Inputs deselected).

For a description of input registering, see the 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic Block
User Guide (UG474).

° Registered Outputs

Specify whether the memory outputs will be registered (Registered Outputs

selected) or not (Registered Outputs deselected).

For a description of output registering, see the 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic
Block User Guide (UG474).

° Module name

Allows you to assign a name to the generated distributed memory configuration.

This will help to distinguish multiple configurations in the XPE sheets.

3. When you have filled out the values for this distributed memory, click Apply.

A row in the Logic sheet will be filled in with the information you entered in the dialog
box.

4. For each distributed memory type in your design, fill out the dialog box and click Apply.

Each time you click Apply a row will be added to the Logic sheet.

5. When you have configured all of the distributed memory in your design, click Close to
close the XPE Memory Generator dialog box.

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Memory Generator Wizard (for Block Memory)

In the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet, the Memory Generator wizard allows you to
enter block memory information in the spreadsheet. You can access the Memory Generator
Wizard by clicking the Manage IP button on the IP Manager sheet or the Add Memory
button on the Block RAM sheet. The XPE Memory Generator wizard provides a simplified
method of filling in the Block RAM sheet in XPE.

To understand the capabilities of the 7 series block memory and the settings you will enter
within XPE refer to the 7 Series FPGAs Memory Resources User Guide (UG473).

To populate the 7 Series Block RAM sheet using the XPE Memory Generator Wizard:

1. Open the Memory Generator wizard by doing one of the following:

° On the Block RAM sheet, click the Add Memory button.

X-Ref Target - Figure 11

OR

° On the IP Manager Sheet:

a. Click the Manage IP button.
X-Ref Target - Figure 12

b. In the IP Manager dialog box, select the Create IP tab.

c. In the dialog box IP Catalog, select Block Memory.
d. In the dialog box, click the Create button.
2. In the Block Memory tab of the XPE Memory Generator dialog box, fill out the
information in the dialog box for one block memory Memory Type in your design.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 13

Figure 13: Block Memory Tab - XPE Memory Generator Dialog Box (Virtex-7)
The fields in the Block Memory tab are:

° Memory Type

Select the type of memory your design will use.

- Single Port RAM

- Simple Dual Port RAM
- True Dual Port RAM
- Single Port ROM
- Dual Port ROM

For a description of these memory types, see the 7 Series FPGAs Memory Resources
User Guide (UG473).

° Clock

Enter the clock frequency at which the block RAM will operate.

For dual-port memory types, XPE will assume the same clock frequency for both
Port A and Port B.

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° Algorithm

Specify which of these algorithms the Xilinx design tools will use to configure block
RAM primitives and connect them together:

- Minimum Area

The memory is generated using the minimum number of block RAM primitives.

- Low Power

The memory is generated such that the minimum number of block RAM
primitives are enabled during a Read or Write operation.

° Toggle

Enter the average toggle rate of the data signals. A toggle rate of 50% means that
half of the data signals toggle each clock cycle.

° Port A and Port B

If you have selected a single port Memory Type, you will enter information for Port
A only. If you have selected a dual port Memory Type, you will enter information for
both Port A and Port B.

- Width

Enter the bit width for each word in the port.

- Depth

Enter the depth of the port. Width × Depth is the total number of bits in the
memory.

- Enable

Enter the percentage of time that the port will be enabled.

- Mode

Select the operating mode for the block RAM: READ_FIRST, WRITE_FIRST, or
NO_CHANGE.

For a description of these modes, see the 7 Series FPGAs Memory Resources User
Guide (UG473).

° Module name

Allows you to assign a name to the generated block memory configuration. This will
help to distinguish multiple configurations in the XPE worksheets.

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3. When you have filled out the values for this block memory, click Apply.

A row in the Block Ram sheet and a row in the Logic sheet will be filled in with the
information you entered in the dialog box.

4. For each block memory type in your design, fill out the dialog box and click Apply.

Each time you click Apply a row is added to the Block RAM sheet and the Logic sheet.

5. When you have configured all of the block memory in your design, click Close to close
the XPE Memory Generator dialog box.

Memory Interface Configuration Wizard

For the 7 Series XPE spreadsheet, you can enter information for the I/Os involved in the
interface between the FPGA and external memory by using the Memory Interface
Configuration wizard. The Memory Interface Configuration wizard provides a simplified
method of filling in the memory interface I/Os in the XPE spreadsheet.

When you configure a memory interface using the wizard, rows will be added to the I/O
sheet for each output line (for example, Data, Address, and Clock) from the FPGA that will
be applied to the external memory. The wizard will also place rows on the Clock sheet and
on the sheet for any clock manager (for example, PLL or MMCM) that is part of the memory
interface.

The Memory Interface Configuration wizard does not support all memory interface
standards or all interface parameters for the supported standards. The wizard covers many
of the common Memory Interface Standards. For a specific standard there could be more
pins associated than configured by the wizard. In these cases you may need to modify the
output of the wizard or enter the extra pins manually in the I/O sheet for your specific case.
Also, if a selection is not available for a specific field, you may be able to manually override
the selections in the field.

To understand the 7 series memory interfaces and the settings you will enter within XPE
refer to the 7 Series FPGAs Memory Interface Solutions User Guide (UG586).

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To add memory interface I/Os to the 7 series I/O sheet using the Memory Interface
Configuration Wizard:

1. Open the Memory Interface Configuration wizard by doing one of the following:

° On the I/O sheet, click the Add Memory Interface button.

X-Ref Target - Figure 14

OR

° On the IP Manager Sheet:

a. Click the Manage IP button.
X-Ref Target - Figure 15

b. In the IP Manager dialog box, select the Create IP tab.

c. In the dialog box IP Catalog, select Memory Interface.
d. In the dialog box, click the Create button.
2. In the XPE Memory Interface Configuration dialog box, fill out the information in the
dialog box for one memory interface in your design.
X-Ref Target - Figure 16

Figure 16: XPE Memory Interface Configuration Dialog Box (Virtex-7)

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The fields in the XPE Memory Interface Configuration dialog box are:

° Standard

The Memory Interface Configuration wizard supports these I/O Standards:

- DDR2
- DDR3
- DDR3L
- QDR2+
- RLDRAM2
- RLDRAM3
- LPDDR2

You can also manually enter a memory interface of any other standard in the XPE
spreadsheet.

For a listing of the supported I/O standards and limits for your specific device, see
the appropriate data sheet:

- Virtex-7 FPGAs Data Sheet: DC and Switching Characteristics (DS183)

- Kintex-7 FPGAs Data Sheet: DC and Switching Characteristics (DS182)
- Artix-7 FPGAs Data Sheet: DC and Switching Characteristics (DS181)

° Bank Type

Select the appropriate Bank Type, where the choice exists.

° Data Rate

Enter the target Data Rate for your memory device.

° Termination (DQ/S)

Refers to the DQ (data) and DQS (data strobe) pins. For memory interfaces using the
HP banks DCI termination is used as appropriate depending on the Standard
selected. For the HR banks INTERM_40, INTERM_50, INTERM_60 or external
termination (no entry) may be selected.

° Data Width

Values from 8-144 in increments of 8 are supported, with memory type and device
restrictions. Address, data, and control signals must be in the same I/O column so
the limit is often lower than 144. Stacked Silicon Interconnect (SSI) technology
devices are limited to a width of 72 due to this restriction.

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° Address Width

The total number of address lines used in the interface, which includes Row, Col,
Bank, and, if used, Rank and CS lines.

° Number of Interfaces

Enter the number of memory interfaces that will use the settings that you are
currently entering in the dialog box. When the I/O sheet is populated with the
outputs to external memory, the number of pins for each type of line (for example,
Address, Data, and Clock lines) will reflect the number of Interfaces you specify.

° Read/Write (%)

Specifies the percentage of the time the memory interface is used for reading from
and writing to the external memory. The total must be less than or equal to 100%
and the interface is assumed to be idle for 100% - (Read% + Write%) of the time. This
is reflected in the Output Enable, Term Disable and IBUF Disable percentages.

° Module Name

Allows you to assign a name to the generated configuration. This will help to
distinguish multiple configurations on the I/O sheet.

3. When you have filled out the values for this memory interface, click Apply.

Rows in the I/O sheet will be populated with the information you entered in the dialog
box.

4. For each memory interface in your design, fill out the information in the XPE Memory
Interface Configuration dialog box and click Apply.

Each time you click Apply rows will be added to the I/O sheet.

5. When you have configured all of the memory interfaces in your design, click Close to
close the XPE Memory Interface Configuration dialog box.

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 XPE Wizards (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

Transceiver Configuration Wizard

For the 7 Series XPE spreadsheet, you can enter transceiver information in an MGT sheet
(GTP, GTH, GTX, or GTZ) by using the Transceiver Configuration wizard. The Transceiver
Configuration wizard provides a simplified method of filling in the MGT sheets in the XPE
spreadsheet.

IMPORTANT: The Transceiver Configuration wizard does not support all transceiver protocols or all
transceiver parameters for the supported protocols. Any options not available in a dialog box field need
to be entered manually in the field. Any cases where a quad has transceivers using both CPLL and
QPLL, different transmit and receive rates, or different power modes, will also have to be entered
manually. The wizard covers many common protocols, but you may need to modify the output of the
wizard or enter the data manually in the MGT sheet for your specific case.

To understand the capabilities of the 7 series MGTs and the settings you will enter within
XPE refer to the 7 Series FPGAs GTX/GTH Transceivers User Guide (UG476) and the 7 Series
FPGAs GTP Transceivers User Guide (UG482).

To populate the 7 Series MGT sheet using the XPE Transceiver Configuration Wizard:

1. Open the Transceiver Configuration wizard by doing one of the following:

° On the applicable MGT sheet, click the Add GT Interface button (sample shown
below).
X-Ref Target - Figure 17

OR

° On the IP Manager Sheet:

a. Click the Manage IP button.
X-Ref Target - Figure 18

b. In the IP Manager dialog box, select the Create IP tab.

c. In the dialog box IP Catalog, select Transceiver Interface.
d. In the dialog box, click the Create button.
2. In the XPE Transceivers Configuration dialog box, fill out the information in the dialog
box for one set of transceivers in your design.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 19

Figure 19: XPE Transceiver Configuration Dialog Box (Virtex-7)

The fields in the XPE Transceivers Configuration dialog box are:

° Protocol

Allows you to select from a list of available protocols. Device, package, and speed
grade limitations will limit the choices available. In some cases the number of
Channels, Data Mode and Clock Source selections will default to values defined by
the Protocol. The GTP configuration will not have Power Mode or Clock Source
selections. The Data Rate and number of Channels will also be reflected in the PCIe
information (on a GTX, GTP, or GTH sheet) as appropriate. No clocks or fabric are
populated in their respective sheets.

° Data Rate

After selecting the Protocol the Data Rate will either display as a fixed value
defined by the Protocol or allow you to enter the specific Data Rate used in your
system. Except for the rare cases where receive and transmit rates are different, both
RX and TX rates will match.

° Channels

Some protocols (for example, PCIe) have specific restrictions for the number of
channels and others allow you to enter the number of channels used in your system.

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° Operation Mode

By default the Transceiver configuration is used, but you can select Transmitter or
Receiver only operation.

° Fabric Width and Data Mode

The width of the port can be configured to be two, four, or eight bytes wide. With
8b/10b encoding used the port widths can be 16, 32 or 64 bits. With 64b/66b
encoding used the port width must be 64 bits. In Raw mode the port widths can be
16, 20, 32, 40, 64, or 80 bits.

° Power Mode

Where the choice exists (as defined by the target transceiver) you can choose to use
the power-efficient adaptive linear equalizer mode called the Low Power mode
(LPM) or the high-performance, adaptive decision feedback equalization (DFE)
mode.

° Clock Source

Where the choice exists (as defined by the target device and data rate) you can
choose to use the LC tank (QPLL) or ring oscillator (CPLL) based PLL.

° Module name

Allows you to assign a name to the generated configuration. This will help to
distinguish multiple configurations in the XPE worksheets.

3. When you have filled out the values for this set of transceivers, click Apply.

A row in the MGT Sheet will be filled in with the information you entered in the dialog
box.

4. For each set of transceivers in your design, fill out the dialog box and click Apply.

Each time you click Apply a row will be added to the MGT sheet.

5. When you have configured all of the transceivers in your design, click Close to close the
XPE Transceivers Configuration dialog box.

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 Summary Sheet

Summary Sheet
The Summary sheet is the default sheet on launch and allows you to enter all device and
environment settings. On this sheet the tool also reports estimated power rail-wise and
block-wise so you can quickly review thermal and supply power distribution for your design
(see Figure 20).

You can ad a description, short details about the design, or calculations related to the
design in the following places:

• A Project field at the top of the Summary sheet allows you to add a description of the
design.
• In the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 spreadsheet, an area of boxes to the right of the Summary
sheet allows you to add a description, details about the design, or calculations related
to the design. In this area you can add links, data tables, graphics, or any other object
you can enter in a regular Excel document.
• In spreadsheets for pre-7 series devices, a Comment field at the bottom of the
Summary sheet allows you to add a description or short details about the design.
• If your data does not fit in the boxes on the Summary sheet, go to the User sheet.
There you can add links, data tables, graphics, or any other object you can enter in a
regular Excel document.

TIP: The Spartan-3, Spartan-3E and Virtex-4 spreadsheets have a slightly different layout for this
sheet. The description of the different user settings and data presented in this view is, however,
applicable to these spreadsheets.
X-Ref Target - Figure 20

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 Summary Sheet

Figure 20: Summary Sheet (Kintex-7) - Adjust Settings and Display Power Results

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 Summary Sheet

Settings Panel
Use the Settings panel to specify details of the device, board, cooling and ISE Design Suite
settings. This panel varies slightly depending on the targeted device. A Virtex-6 example is
presented in Figure 21.

Some settings are dependent on other settings. When this occurs the dependent cell
becomes un-editable and turns to a grey background.
X-Ref Target - Figure 21

Figure 21: Settings Panel (Virtex-6)

The sections in the Settings panel are:

• Device

Select the smallest device which meets your requirements.

IMPORTANT: Larger devices exhibit higher device static power consumption.

The 7 series spreadsheet has a Voltage ID Used entry, which applies to Virtex®-7, -1
Speed Grade, Commercial Temp Grade, and Maximum Process FPGAs only. If Voltage
ID Used is set to Yes, XPE will perform all of its power calculations based on the device
operating at the Voltage ID voltage. The Voltage ID (VID) voltage is the minimum
possible VCCINT voltage at which the FPGA can run and still meet its performance

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 Summary Sheet

specifications. This voltage is tested when the FPGA is manufactured and the value is
programmed into the DNA eFuse register on the FPGA. Activating the VID feature in
your design to operate the FPGA at this VID voltage can result in a significant power
savings over operating the FPGA at its nominal voltage.

• Environment

For XPE to report the estimated junction temperature it needs to understand how the
device logic is configured and activated. It also needs a description of the device
environment. The information of how heat can be transferred into the surrounding air
(ΘSA) or PCB (ΘJB) affects the device junction temperature. If these parameters are
known enter them; otherwise, select from the different drop-down menus the
environment settings closest to your specific project. This will help to indirectly
determine Effective ΘJA.

For more details about the thermal parameters of the Xilinx Power Estimator, please
refer to Chapter 3: Thermal Management & Thermal Characterization Methods &
Conditions in the Device Package User Guide (UG112).

• Design optimization options available in Vivado and ISE implementation

This section is labeled:

° Implementation (7 series)

° PL Implementation (Zynq-7000)

° ISE (earlier FPGA architectures)

Settings in this section are available to focus the synthesis and implementation tools on
minimizing towards different objectives. Adjust this area to best match the ISE or Vivado
Design Suite settings you plan on using. This option affects the core dynamic power by
an amount seen in a suite of customer designs.

Optimization settings are:

° Area Reduction– Minimize slice usage

° Balanced – Default ISE or Vivado Design Suite options

° Minimum Runtime

° Power Optimization – Minimize core dynamic power

° Timing Performance

° Powered Off (Zynq-7000 only)

These options are described in the ISE Design Suite documentation for Design Goals
and Strategies.

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 Summary Sheet

TIP: In a 7 series spreadsheet, this section is labeled Implementation, and only Balanced and Power
Optimization settings are available. In a Zynq-7000 spreadsheet, this section is labeled PL
Implementation, and Balanced, Power Optimization, and Powered Off settings are available.

• Power mode

This setting allows you to review the estimated power for the different active and power
down modes of the device. Power Mode is available for some device families.

Power Distribution Panels

There are two separate aspects to evaluate when integrating Xilinx FPGAs in a system.
Typically designers first evaluate the FPGA current drawn on each voltage supply to ensure
all voltage sources can provide enough power for the device to function properly. Second,
designers need to know how much of that supplied power is consumed by the device itself
as opposed to power supplied to off-chip components such as board termination networks.
The power consumed on-chip, also referred to as thermal power, generates heat which must
be transferred to the environment in order to maintain the device junction temperature
within the normal operating range. Figure 22 shows the on-chip power contributing to
junction temperature (On-Chip Power panel) and the total supply power (Power Supply
panel).
X-Ref Target - Figure 22

Figure 22: Power Distribution Panels (Kintex-7)

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On-Chip Power Panel

The On-Chip Power panel presents the total power consumed within the device. It includes
device static and user design dependent static and dynamic power. The total is broken out
by resource type. This view can help determine the amount of power being consumed and
dissipated by the device. It also helps identify potential areas in the user logic where
trade-offs or power optimization techniques could be used to meet the targeted power
budget.

In this view you can click on the resource name to directly jump to the detailed sheet for this
resource.

For design static power calculations, XPE starts by assuming a blank bitstream. To
"instantiate" design elements for the design static power calculations, you must enter the
appropriate resource counts on the sheets with count fields and non-zero clock frequencies
for the sheets without count fields. I/O termination must also be set to match the board and
the design.

Power Supply Panel

The Power Supply panel displays the device estimated power across the different supply
sources. This information can be used for instance to size or review voltage supply
components, such as regulators. The table includes all power required by the internal logic
along with power eventually sourced and consumed outside the FPGA, such as in external
board terminations. This view includes both static and dynamic power.

You can adjust individual voltages within the supported range and XPE will calculate and
display the total current required. When Maximum Process is selected in the Device table
and any power-on supply current values exceed the estimated operating current
requirements, the Power Supply panel will display the minimum power-on supply
requirements, in blue. If any current values do appear in blue, the total power indicated in
the Power Supply panel will not match the Total On-Chip power in the Summary Panel.

Multiple power supplies are required to power an FPGA. For logic resources typically
available in Xilinx FPGAs, Table 3 presents the voltage source that typically powers them.
This table is provided only as a guideline because these details may vary across Xilinx device
families.

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 Summary Sheet

Table 3: FPGA Resources and the Power Supply that Typically Powers Them
Power Supply Resources Powered
VCCINT • All CLB resources
& • All routing resources
VCCBRAM(3) • Entire clock tree, including all clock buffers
• Block RAM/FIFO (1)
• DSP slices (1)
• All input buffers
• Logic elements in the IOB (ILOGIC/OLOGIC) (1)
• ISERDES/OSERDES (1)
• PowerPC™ processor(1)
• Tri-Mode Ethernet MAC(1)
• Clock Managers (DCM, PLL, etc.) (minor)
• PCIE and PCS portion of MGTs
VCCAUX • Clock Managers (MMCM, PLL, DCM, etc.) (1)
& • IODELAY/IDELAYCTRL(1)
VCCAUX_IO(4) • All output buffers
• Differential Input buffers
• V REF-based, single-ended I/O standards, e.g., HSTL18_I
• Phaser
VCCO • All output buffers
• Some input buffers
• Digitally Controlled Impedance (DCI) circuits, also referred to as
On-Chip Termination (OCT) (2)
MGT* • PMA circuits of transceivers

Notes:
1. These resources are available only in certain device families. Refer to the appropriate data sheets
and user guides for more information.
2. VCCO in bank 0 (VCCO_0 or VCCO_CONFIG) powers all I/Os in bank 0 as well as the configuration
circuitry. See the applicable Configuration User Guide.
3. Xilinx 7 series Block RAM/FIFO only.
4. Xilinx 7 series High Performance (HP) I/O banks only.

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 Summary Sheet

Summary Panel
The Summary panel presents in a concise format the main data of interest (see Figure 23).
X-Ref Target - Figure 23

Figure 23: Summary Panel (Virtex-7)

• Junction Temperature

Estimated junction temperature as the design operates. Each device operates within a
temperature grade specified in the datasheet. The background for this cell turns orange
when the value is outside the operating range (timing may be affected) and turns red
when outside the absolute maximum temperature (device damage possible). The
background color turns light blue when the value is set by user.

• Total On-Chip Power

Includes power consumed and dissipated by the device across all supply sources. Also
referred to as thermal power. This cell follows the color scheme of the Junction
Temperature cell described above.

• Thermal Margin

Temperature and power margin up to or in excess of the maximum accepted range for
this device Grade. Thermal margin is negative when estimated junction temperature
exceeds the maximum specified value. In this case, use this information to decide how
best to address the excess power consumed on-chip.

• Effective ΘJA

The calculated Effective Thermal Resistance (Effective ΘJA) summarizes how heat is
transferred from the die to the environment. The value is calculated from the settings
entered in the Environment panel. If you have run thermal simulations of your
environment then you may also override this value (in the Environment panel).

Quick Estimate Wizard and the Summary Sheet

The Quick Estimate wizard populates the XPE sheets with information about your entire
design, allowing XPE to perform a rough power estimate for the design. The Quick Estimate
wizard is often used as the first step in specifying your design in XPE to determine its power
requirements.

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 Power Comparison Snapshots Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

The Quick Estimate wizard can be started from the Summary sheet by clicking the Quick
Estimate button.
X-Ref Target - Figure 24

For a description of the Quick Estimate wizard and how you can run the wizard from the
Summary sheet, see Quick Estimate Wizard, page 25.

The following manuals will help you supply information to the Quick Estimate Wizard:

• 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic Block User Guide (UG474)

• 7 Series FPGAs Memory Resources User Guide (UG473)
• 7 Series FPGAs GTX/GTH Transceivers User Guide (UG476)
• 7 Series FPGAs GTP Transceivers User Guide (UG482)
• 7 Series FPGAs Memory Interface Solutions User Guide (UG586)

Power Comparison Snapshots Sheet (7 Series and

Zynq-7000 Only)
The Power Comparison Snapshots sheet allows you to capture a series of snapshots of the
power status of your design under varying conditions or at different points in its design
cycle. Each snapshot displays device part, environmental information, the power consumed
by your design, and the current across each of the power supply sources used in the design.
You can use the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet to compare the power consumed
under different conditions and the power calculated at different points in the design cycle.

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 Power Comparison Snapshots Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

X-Ref Target - Figure 25

Figure 25: Power Comparison Snapshots Sheet (7 Series)

A snapshot can represent:

• Power information for this XPE spreadsheet, captured at a certain time. When you
create the snapshot, all of this information is copied from the Summary sheet of this
spreadsheet to the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet.
• Power information for a different XPE spreadsheet, captured at a certain time. When
you create the snapshot, all of this information is copied from the Summary sheet of
the other spreadsheet to this Power Comparison Snapshots sheet.
• Power information for a design implemented in ISE, captured at a certain time. When
you create the snapshot, the power information is imported from the ISE Power Report
into the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet.

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The Power Comparison Snapshots sheet allows you to explore What If? scenarios, changing
the part or the environmental conditions under which the part will operate and observing
the effect on power the changes will have. You can also create a snapshot of the power
calculated when your design is implemented in ISE, to see how the power calculated for the
implemented design compares to the power calculated before the design was
implemented.

Using snapshots, you can explore What If scenarios such as:

• How will power consumption change if I implement a design in different Xilinx

architectures? What is the difference in power consumption when the same design is
implemented in a Kintex device versus an Artix device?
• How does a design’s power consumption vary as a function of junction temperature?
• How does a design’s GT Power consumption change as a function of device type?
• How much power could be saved by using power optimization, or by choosing a -2L
(low power) or a 0.9V part?
• How does the power and temperature vary under nominal versus maximum operating
conditions?
• How does the design’s power consumption vary as the design undergoes revision with
respect to power, features, and performance?
• How does the power consumption vary between the Xilinx Power Estimator (XPE) and
XPower Analyzer (XPA) estimations?
• How does the power consumption vary with changing clock frequencies?
• How did my pre-design estimate compare with post-design results and imported
design data?

The four sections in the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet are:

• Settings - Displays the following:

° The name of the snapshot (top line in the table)

° Source and version of the snapshot data creator (for example, “ISE: 13.4” for an
imported snapshot)

° Data and Time the snapshot was created

° The filename of XPE or the imported source

° The Part (device, package, and speed grade) for which the power values were
calculated.

° The value for Ambient Temperature under which the device will operate, as
specified when the snapshot was taken.

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° The Process (Typical or Maximum) specified when the snapshot was taken. The
Process setting accounts for the power dissipation caused by the manufacturing
process.

° The Implementation (Balanced, Power Optimization, or Powered Off) specified

when the snapshot was taken. This setting focuses the synthesis and
implementation tools in the ISE Design Suite on minimizing towards different
objectives when the design is implemented in the ISE Design Suite.
• Summary - Displays the following:

° Total On-Chip Power - The total power consumed within the device for each
snapshot. It includes device static and design dependent static and dynamic power.

° The values for Junction Temperature and Effective ΘJA under which the device
will operate, as specified when the snapshot was taken.
• On-Chip Power - The On-Chip Power section presents the total power consumed
within the device by each resource type.

In some cases, more than one resource will be included in a single row. For example, the
Clocking row may include the power associated with clock nets as well as the power
associated with clock managers such as the PLL and the MMCM, and the Transceiver
row may include the power associated with Multi-Gigabit Transceivers (MGTs) as well as
the power associated with a PCIe block.

• Supply Summary - Displays the estimated current across the different supply sources.
The table includes all power required by the internal logic along with power eventually
sourced and consumed outside the FPGA, such as in external board terminations. This
view includes both static and dynamic power.

Adding a Snapshot of the Current Spreadsheet

To add a snapshot of the current XPE spreadsheet to the Power Comparison Snapshots
sheet:

1. Click the Snapshot button on the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet.

X-Ref Target - Figure 26

A snapshot for the current XPE spreadsheet appears in the far right column of the table
in the sheet.

2. If desired, rename the snapshot at the top row of the table.

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Importing a Snapshot
You can import a snapshot containing power values calculated from a different XPE
spreadsheet or power values calculated when the design is implemented in the ISE Design
Suite.

Note: When you import power information into the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet, the FPGA
or AP SoC device represented in the imported data does not have to match the device specified in
the current XPE spreadsheet.

To import a snapshot into the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet:

1. Click the Import button at the top of the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet.
X-Ref Target - Figure 27

A snapshot for the current XPE spreadsheet will appear in the far right column of the
table in the sheet.

2. In the Select XPE File to Import dialog box, select the following in the Files of type box:

° XPE Workbook (*.xls*), if you are importing information from a different XPE
spreadsheet.

° Power Report (*.pwr), if you are importing information from a Power Report
generated within the ISE Design Suite.
3. Browse to the file you will import and click Open.

A snapshot appears in the far right column of the table in the Power Comparison Snapshots
sheet. If desired, rename the snapshot at the top row of the table.

Deleting Snapshots from the Power Comparison Snapshots

Sheet
To delete a single snapshot, click the box with the red “X” at the top of the snapshot.

To delete all of the snapshots on the Power Comparison Snapshots sheet, click the Clear All
button at the top of the sheet.

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 IP Manager Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

IP Manager Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

The IP Manager sheet lets you create, view, and delete IP modules created using the IP
Module wizards. You can also export IP modules (to be imported into other XPE
spreadsheets), and import modules from other XPE spreadsheets into your currently active
spreadsheet.

Each IP module displayed in the IP Manager sheet represents the device resources used to
implement one of the following in a Xilinx device:

• Block memory - Created using the Memory Generator Wizard (for Block Memory).
• Distributed memory - Created using the Memory Generator Wizard (for Distributed
Memory).
• Memory interface - Created using the Memory Interface Configuration Wizard.
• Transceiver interface - Created using the Transceiver Configuration Wizard.
X-Ref Target - Figure 28

Figure 28: IP Manager Sheet (Kintex-7)

The IP Modules table indicates the power associated with each IP module created, as well
as the power associated with the resource sheets populated by the IP module. As shown in
the IP Modules table in Figure 28, IP modules may populate more than one resource sheet.
For example, a block memory IP module may place rows in both the Block RAM sheet
(BRAM column) and the Clock sheet (Clocking column).

n some cases, more than one resource will be included in a single column in the IP Modules
table. For example, the Clocking column may include the power associated with clock nets
as well as the power associated with clock managers such as the PLL and the MMCM, and
the Transceiver column may include the power associated with Multi-Gigabit Transceivers
(MGTs) as well as the power associated with a PCIe block.

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 IP Manager Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000 Only)

Creating an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet

For a description of how to create IP modules from the IP Manager sheet, see the following:

• Block Memory - See Memory Generator Wizard (for Block Memory), page 32.
• Distributed Memory - See Memory Generator Wizard (for Distributed Memory),
page 28.
• Memory Interface - See Memory Interface Configuration Wizard, page 35.
• Transceiver Interface (7 Series only) - See Transceiver Configuration Wizard, page 39.

Deleting an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet

To delete an IP module from the IP Manager sheet:

1. Click the Manage IP button on the IP Manager sheet.

X-Ref Target - Figure 29

2. In the Manage IP tab of the IP Manager dialog box, select the IP module you want to
delete and click Delete.

All of the rows in the appropriate resource sheets are deleted, and the IP Module is
removed from the IP module table on the IP Manager sheet.

Exporting an IP Module From the IP Manager Sheet

An IP module can be exported from the currently active XPE spreadsheet, for importing into
another XPE spreadsheet. IP modules are exported as .xpe (XPE Exchange) files.

To export an IP module from the IP Manager sheet:

1. Click the Manage IP button on the IP Manager sheet.

X-Ref Target - Figure 30

2. In the Manage IP tab of the XPE IP Manager dialog box, select the IP module you want
to export and click Export.
3. In the Export Xilinx Power Estimator IP Module dialog box, specify a File name for the
.xpe file representing the selected IP module. Then click Save.

The selected IP module is exported to an .xpe (XPE Exchange) file. This file can be
imported into another XPE spreadsheet.

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 Resource Sheets

Importing an IP Module Into the IP Manager Sheet

An IP module can be imported into the IP Manager sheet. IP modules are imported as .xpe
(XPE Exchange) files. The imported .xpe file represents an IP module exported from another
XPE spreadsheet.

To import an IP module into the IP Manager sheet:

1. Click the Manage IP button on the IP Manager sheet.

X-Ref Target - Figure 31

2. In the Manager IP tab of the XPE IP Manager dialog box, click Import.
3. In the Import Xilinx Power Estimator IP Module dialog box, specify the File name of the
.xpe file to be imported. Then click Save.

The selected .xpe file is imported into the IP Manager sheet.

Resource Sheets
The following sections provide details for entering data into or interpreting results in the
different available resource sheets. XPE only shows sheets available on the particular FPGA
family and device selected. These resource sheets are organized with a center table where
you enter utilization, configuration, and activity of the device resources you use. Above this
main table are tables representing the total utilization and a summary of the resource’s
contribution to the total power per voltage supply.

These sheets represent usage based power; therefore, they include all power related to the
utilization and configuration of the specified resource. The sheets do not include the
leakage power contribution, since this is accounted for on the Summary sheet.

RECOMMENDED: On sheets in which you specify a clock frequency for resources, XPE will assume that
all resources on a single row in the sheet (for example, 4000 Shift Registers and 3000 FFs in a single row
on the Logic sheet) are in the same clock domain. For an accurate power estimation, make sure to enter
resources in different clock domains on separate rows in the spreadsheet.

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 Resource Sheets

Clock Sheet
Important factors in dynamic power calculation are the activity and the load capacitance
that needs to be switched by each net in the design. Some of the factors in determining the
loading capacitance are fanout, wire length, etc. With clocks typically having higher activity
and fanouts, the power associated with clock nets can be significant and thus is reported in
a separate worksheet sheet (see Figure 32).
X-Ref Target - Figure 32

Figure 32: Clock Tree Power Sheet (Virtex-7)

• Buffer Type Column

Xilinx devices have different types of buffers capable of driving the clock routing
structures and these types are modeled within XPE. Refer to the applicable Device User
Guide to select the appropriate buffer type.

• Clock Fanout Column

The number of synchronous elements driven by this clock.

• Clock Buffer Enable Column

Gates the clock net at its source. The value is the percentage of the time in which the
clock buffer is active. Reduce this percentage if you plan on disabling the clock net at
the source when this portion of the design is not used. This reduces power.

• Slice Clock Enable Column

Gates the clock net at its loads. Reduce this percentage if you plan on disabling some of
the clock loads with slice level Clock Enable signals. This reduces power.

Note: Some algorithms in software such as “Intelligent Clock Gating” will remap or change the
packing in order to minimize this number.

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 Resource Sheets

Logic Sheet
The Logic sheet (see Figure 33) is used to estimate the power consumed in the CLB
resources. The estimated power accounts for both the logic components and the routing.
Two types of information should be entered:

• Utilization – Enter the number of LUTs configured as Logic, Shift Registers and
LUT-based RAMs and ROMs. If your design or a previous generation has been
implemented within ISE use the Import button in the Summary sheet to automatically
import this information. Otherwise, use your experience to estimate utilization required
to implement the desired functionality.
• Activity – Enter the Clock domain this logic belongs to. Then enter the Toggle Rate
the logic is expected to switch and the Average Fanout.

TIP: The default setting for Toggle Rate (12.5%) and Average Fanout (3) are based on an average
extracted from a suite of customer designs. In the absence of a better estimate for your specific design,
Xilinx recommends using the default setting.

Note: The Signal Rate column defines the number of millions of transitions per second for the
considered element. This is a read-only column.

Signal Rate is computed in this way:

Signal Rate (Mtr/s) = Clock Frequency (Mhz) * Toggle rate (%)

X-Ref Target - Figure 33

Figure 33: Effect of LUT Configuration, Toggle Rates and Average Fanout on Power Estimation (Virtex-7)

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 Resource Sheets

To enter information on the Logic sheet related to distributed memory, you can use the XPE
Memory Generator wizard, which appears when you click the Add Memory button on the
Logic sheet. The XPE Memory Generator wizard provides a simplified method of adding
memory-related rows to the Logic sheet. For information about using this wizard, see
Memory Generator Wizard and the Logic Sheet (Distributed Memory), page 60.

Memory Generator Wizard and the Logic Sheet (Distributed Memory)

For the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet, you can enter distributed memory
information in the Logic sheet by using the Memory Generator wizard. The Memory
Generator wizard provides a simplified method of populating the Logic sheet with rows
related to distributed memory, displayed as Distributed RAMs on the Logic sheet.

The Memory Generator wizard can be started from the Logic sheet by clicking the Add
Memory button.
X-Ref Target - Figure 34

For a description of the Memory Generator wizard and how you can run the wizard from the
Logic sheet, see Memory Generator Wizard (for Distributed Memory), page 28.

To understand the capabilities of the 7 series/Zynq-7000 distributed memory and the

settings you will enter within XPE refer to the 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic Block User
Guide (UG474).

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 Resource Sheets

I/O Sheet
With higher switching speeds and capacitive loads, switching I/O power can be a
substantial part of the total power consumption of an FPGA. Because of this, it is important
to accurately define all I/O related parameters. In the I/O sheet XPE helps you calculate the
on-chip and, eventually, off-chip power for your I/O interfaces.

For 7 series devices, XPE provides a Memory Interface Configuration wizard to allow you to
quickly enter the important parameters required for an accurate power estimate of the I/Os
involved in the FPGA’s interface to external memory. For step-by-step instructions about
how to use the wizard to fill out the memory interface information in the I/O sheet, see
Memory Interface Configuration Wizard and the I/O Sheet, page 66.

Figure 35 shows the top section of the I/O sheet (for the 7 series spreadsheet). Note that
this sheet, as well as other sheets in the 7 series spreadsheet, contains a button to display
applicable documentation from the Xilinx website (in this case, the 7 Series FPGAs SelectIO
Resources User Guide).
X-Ref Target - Figure 35

Figure 35: I/O Sheet - Top Section (7 Series)

Figure 36 illustrates the three main types of information entered on the I/O sheet: IO
Settings, Activity, and, if needed, External Termination.

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 Resource Sheets

X-Ref Target - Figure 36

Figure 36: I/O Sheet - Effect of Output Enable Rate on Power Estimates for Inputs, Outputs, and
Bidirectional I/Os (7 Series)

The following paragraphs provide more information on how to fill in each of these columns.

• I/O Settings

° I/O Standard

Specify here the expected I/O standard you will use for this interface. Configurations
which use the on-chip terminations are shown with a DCI suffix in this drop-down
menu. Differential I/O standards have a (pair) suffix. For calculations, XPE assumes
the standard VCCO level (for example, 3.3V) that is closest to the nominal listed in the
datasheet for that I/O standard.

Note: For Spartan-6 FPGAs, the open drain standards I2C and SMBUS can use a VCCO from
2.7V to 3.45V, with a 3.0V nominal voltage. In XPE these are calculated using a VCCO of 3.3V.

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 Resource Sheets

TIP: To minimize on output signals always use the weakest driver settings which meet your
performance goals (lpowerower the drive strength and slew rate).

TIP: Using on-chip terminated standards is a good way to improve the signal integrity of the
waveforms seen by the receiver. Since the terminations are embedded inside the FPGA, the termination
power will contribute to raising the device junction temperature. In order to minimize this power try to
use the tri-statable on-chip terminated standards (denoted T_DCI) whenever possible.

° I/O Direction Columns

Enter the number of Input, Output and Bidir (bidirectional) signals for each I/O
interface.

TIP: Since toggling activity of inputs and outputs is often very different, Xilinx recommends you place
each direction on a separate row.

TIP: Enter one pin for each differential I/O pair. For instance, if your memory has four differential DQS
pairs, enter 4 on the Input Pins column.

° I/O Performance Settings

These performance settings, such as IO LOGIC SERDES or IO DELAY, are family

dependent. Enter the configuration in which you expect to program these I/Os.

TIP: Typically performance settings increase power consumption. Try to enable these setting only if
your I/O interface absolutely requires them.

• Activity

Enter in these four columns the expected activity for each I/O interface.

° Clock (MHz)

Synchronous signals: Enter the frequency of the clock capturing or generating these
signals.

Asynchronous signals: Calculate the equivalent frequency of the signal. For instance,
if you can determine the signal will toggle (change state) 2 million times per second
then enter 1 in this column (when converting signal rate to frequency you need 2
transitions to make a period: the transition from 0 to 1 and the transition from 1 to
0).

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° Toggle Rate

Synchronous elements: Enter how often compared to the clock this signal is
expected to change state. For instance if the data changes every 8 clock cycles on
average, enter 12.5% (1/8, converted to a percentage).

Asynchronous elements: As explained in the Clock (MHz) description above, enter

the equivalent frequency in the Clock (MHz) column then enter 100% in this
column.

° Data Rate

Synchronous elements: Enter DDR if the signal is sampled on both the positive and
negative edges of the clock.

Asynchronous elements: This column is not applicable (leave value at SDR).

° Output Enable

Input only signals: This column has no effect.

Output and bi-directional signals: Specify for a long period of time how much of this
time the output buffer is driving a value (compared to the time the driving buffer is
disabled or tri-stated.

TIP: As shown in Figure 36 (red frame) for line 1 and 2, setting Output Enable to 100% is a common
mistake which degrades the tool accuracy.

° Signal Rate

Defines the number of millions of transitions per second for the considered element.
This is a read-only column.

Signal Rate is computed in this way:

For Inputs:

Signal Rate (Mtr/s) = Clock Frequency (Mhz) * Toggle rate (%) * Data Rate

For Outputs:

Signal Rate (Mtr/s) = Clock Frequency (MHz) * Toggle Rate (%) * Data Rate *
Output Enable Rate (%)

• External Termination

When not using the available on-chip termination you can use XPE to calculate the
power supplied by the FPGA to off-chip components such as external board
termination resistor networks. When the Show External Board Termination

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Settings checkbox is checked, additional columns appear in the table. Also, a

graphic appears below the table and shows the supported Output Termination
Topologies, so you can easily understand which column to fill depending on the
topology you want to build.

Multiple termination types are supported for I/Os configured as outputs. External
input terminations are not supported since calculations often require details of the
driver side but these details are not available to XPE.

° Term. Type

Select the appropriate topology from this drop-down menu.

° R/RDIFF and RS

Some termination schemes require two resistor values while others require only a
single value. Refer to the termination graphic then enter the resistor value on the
appropriate column. Figure 37 shows the supported I/O termination topologies in
this release.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 37

Figure 37: External I/O Termination Topologies (Virtex-6)

Memory Interface Configuration Wizard and the I/O Sheet

For the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet, you can enter information for the I/Os
involved in the interface between the FPGA and external memory by using the Memory
Interface Configuration wizard. The Memory Interface Configuration wizard provides a
simplified method of filling in the memory interface I/Os in the XPE spreadsheet.

When you configure a memory interface using the wizard, rows will be added to the I/O
sheet for each output line (for example, Data, Address, and Clock) from the FPGA that will
be applied to the external memory.

The Memory Interface Configuration wizard can be started from the I/O sheet by clicking
the Add Memory Interface button.

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For a description of the Memory Interface Configuration wizard and how you can run the
wizard from the I/O sheet, see Memory Interface Configuration Wizard, page 35.

To understand the 7 series memory interfaces and the settings you will enter within XPE
refer to the 7 Series FPGAs Memory Interface Solutions User Guide (UG586).

Block RAM (BRAM) Sheet

FPGA devices have dedicated block RAM resources. To accurately set Block RAM parameters
in XPE, a good understanding of device resources and configuration possibilities is
recommended. This information is available in the BRAM section of the device family Device
User Guide. If implementation details for the block RAM are known, follow the guidelines
described in For Better Accuracy, page 69. Otherwise, refer to Preliminary BRAM Estimates,
page 68.

Note: Distributed RAM/ROM and SRL usage should be specified in the Logic Sheet.

To enter information on the Block RAM sheet, you can use the XPE Memory Generator
wizard, which appears when you click the Add Memory button on the Block RAM sheet.
The XPE Memory Generator wizard provides a simplified method of adding rows to the
Block RAM sheet. For information about using this wizard, see Memory Generator Wizard
and the Block RAM Sheet (Block Memory), page 69.

Some details about columns in the Block RAM sheet:

• Enable Rate column

Use the Enable Rate to specify the percentage of time each block RAM’s ports are
enabled for reading and/or writing. To save power, the RAM enable can be driven Low
on clock cycles when the block RAM is not used in the design. BRAM Enable Rate,
together with Clock rate, are important parameters that must be considered for power
optimization.

• Write Rate column

The Write Rate represents the percentage of time that each block RAM port performs
write operations. The read rate is understood to be 100% – write rate.

• Signal Rate column

Defines the number of millions of transitions per second for the considered BRAM
output port. This is a read-only column which takes into account port enable rates and
a weighted average of the port widths.

Figure 38 illustrates the effect of block RAM configuration modes and bit widths on power
estimates.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 38

Figure 38: Block RAM Sheet - Effect of Block RAM Configuration Modes and Bit Widths on Power
Estimates (Kintex-7)

Preliminary BRAM Estimates

If the exact block RAM types and modes to be used in the design are unknown, the best
approach is to determine how many kilobytes of memory are needed in the design and use
the appropriate number of basic 18k True dual-port RAMs. If the data width of memory
access is known, select this from the drop-down menu for each port. Depth and width are
the two most important characteristics of a memory.

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For Better Accuracy

If the breakdown of the memory usage of your design is known, the XPE spreadsheet allows
you to specify which block RAM modes are being used. The Mode column has selectable
values from a drop-down menu that lists the different ISE primitive names and modes of the
block RAM. Depending on the target family, this includes:

• BRAM - Simple dual-port or True dual-port Block RAM,

• FIFO - Dedicated built-in FIFO,
• CASC (pair) - Cascaded block RAM blocks (built from two RAM blocks),
• ECC - When the block RAM is configured in ECC mode.

In True dual-port mode the following data write mode options are available:

• WRITE_FIRST – The port will first write to the location and then read out the newly
written data.
• READ_FIRST – The old data is first read out and then the new data is written in. This
mode effectively allows 4 operations per clock cycle (saving power or resource
utilization) – as the old data can be read out and replaced with new data on the same
clock cycle of each port.
• NO_CHANGE – When a Write happens the block RAM outputs remain unchanged.

Memory Generator Wizard and the Block RAM Sheet (Block Memory)
For the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet, you can enter block memory information in
the Block RAM sheet by using the Memory Generator wizard. The Memory Generator wizard
provides a simplified method of populating the Block RAM sheet with rows related to block
memory, displayed as BRAMs on the Block RAM sheet.

The Memory Generator wizard can be started from the Block RAM sheet by clicking the Add
Memory button.

For a description of the Memory Generator wizard and how you can run the wizard from the
Block RAM sheet, see Memory Generator Wizard (for Block Memory), page 32.

To understand the capabilities of the 7 series block memory and the settings you will enter
within XPE refer to the 7 Series FPGAs Memory Resources User Guide (UG473).

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Clock Management Resource Sheets (DCM, PMCD, PLL, MMCM,

Clock Manager)
Xilinx FPGA families have different clock generation and management capabilities. To enter
information in these sheets, first review the Device User Guide to understand how to
parameterize these resources in XPE. Depending on the step in the project development
cycle you may or may not already know all the clocking details for your design. Enter what
is known or can be estimated first, then later you can always reopen and complete the
spreadsheet as design details become available.

The clock management resource sheets are presented in a different way in the XPE
spreadsheets that support the various FPGA and AP SoC architectures.

• In the 7 Series/Zynq 7000 XPE spreadsheet, information for the two clock managers,
MMCM and PLL, is supplied on a single sheet, the Clock Manager Power sheet. An
MMCM or PLL column in the Clock Manager Power sheet lets you specify whether you
are supplying information for the MMCM or the PLL.
• In spreadsheets for earlier devices (for example, the Virtex-5/Virtex-6 spreadsheet or
the Spartan-3A/Spartan-6 spreadsheet), there will be a different sheet for each clock
manager used. For example, separate DCM Power and PLL Power sheets may be
displayed in these earlier spreadsheets.

Figure 39 shows a sample clock management resource sheet (the PLL Power sheet).

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X-Ref Target - Figure 39

Figure 39: PLL Power Sheet (Virtex-5)

DSP Sheet (MULT, DSP48)

Xilinx FPGA families have different Digital Signal Processing (DSP) blocks with different
capabilities. To enter information in these sheets first review the Device User Guide to
understand the parameters in the DSP sheet.

TIP: For random input data, a good Toggle Rate approximation for DSP operations is 50%.

TIP: DSP slices have clock enable (CE) ports. When entering data in the Toggle Rate column remember
to multiply your data input toggle rate with the DSP slice clock enable rate. For example, if random
data (typically ~38% data toggle rate) is input into the DSP slice and the slice is clock enabled only
50% of the time, then the output data toggle rate should be scaled by the CE rate such that the data
toggle rate becomes 19% (38% x 50%). see Figure 40 for a Virtex-7 example.

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TIP: For families which have a register within the multiplier (MREG), using this pipeline register helps
lower dynamic power.
X-Ref Target - Figure 40

Figure 40: DSP48E1 Power Sheet (Virtex-7) - Effect of Clock, Toggle Rate, and MREG on Power
Estimates

Multi-Gigabit Transceiver Sheets (MGT, GT, GTP, GTX, GTH, GTZ)

Different Xilinx FPGA families have Multi-Gigabit Transceivers (MGT), which are very high
performance serial I/Os. Transceivers typically use separate voltage supplies for the PCS,
PMA and termination. To understand each family MGT capabilities and how to enter
settings within XPE refer to the applicable Transceiver User Guide.

IMPORTANT: In the 7 series/Zynq 7000 XPE spreadsheet, PCI Express (PCIe) information is specified on
a GTX, GTP, or GTH sheet. Spreadsheets for earlier Xilinx FPGA devices have a separate PCIe sheet.

To simplify data entry, drop-down menus are provided with parameter preferred or required
values. Figure 41 shows an example Kintex-7 XC7K325T design. The tables in the sheet
header report design power and currents. Device leakage for each supply is reported on the
Summary sheet.

For 7 series devices, XPE provides a Transceiver Interface Configuration wizard to allow you
to quickly enter the important parameters required for an accurate transceiver power
estimate. For step-by-step instructions about how to use the wizard to fill out the MGT
sheets, see Transceiver Configuration Wizard, page 39.

XPE calculates power for each channel including the power of all associated circuits, shared
resources between channels, IO buffers, reference clock circuitry, etc. You therefore do not
have to enter resource usage on any other sheet (for example, Clock or I/O) to describe the
transceiver resources used.

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XPE presents the MGT information in an architecture-specific way. Entering 2 or any

multiple of 2 channels for a GTP/GTX_DUAL entry assumes that those channels use the
minimum number of DUALs. Similarly, for GTHE1 and GTXE2 4 channels share common
circuitry, so XPE assumes each line uses the minimum number of quads. To use 2 channels
from one quad and 2 from another, simply specify them on two rows in XPE.

TIP: For Spartan-6 FPGAs, you can specify a GTPA1_DUAL with different settings for each channel by
entering each channel on a separate row using the same base name suffixed with _0 and _1 (for
example, GTP_0 and GTP_1). A red border around the cells of two adjacent rows indicates the two
GTPA1s are inferred to be in the same GTPA1_DUAL.

The Power Planes field in the MGT sheet represents the number of power planes used in
the design. MGT transceivers require multiple analog power supplies for the PMA (Physical
Medium Attachment). The number of power planes varies by device and package. When not
all available MGTs are used, it may be possible to ground unused power planes to reduce
the static power.

In the 7 series/Zynq-7000 spreadsheet, the GTX, GTP, and GTH sheets have an OOB Used
column. The OOB feature uses out-of band (OOB) signaling for PCIe and other protocols
where the physical connection may be unplugged during operation. OOB is supported
using high-speed amplitude detection on the inputs and squelch on the corresponding
outputs. A Yes in the OOB Used column indicates that your design will use this feature.

XPE does not support all of the possible MGT configurations. See the specific Transceiver
User Guide for more information.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 41

Figure 41: GT Power Sheet (Kintex-7) Illustrating Data Rate and Power Estimates

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Transceiver Wizard and the MGT Sheet

For the 7 Series/Zynq-7000 XPE spreadsheet, you can enter transceiver information in a GT
sheet (GTP, GTH, GTX, or GTZ) by using the Transceiver Configuration wizard. The
Transceiver Configuration wizard provides a simplified method of filling in the GT sheets in
the XPE spreadsheet.

The Transceiver Configuration wizard can be started from a GT sheet by clicking the Add GT
Interface button (sample shown below).

For a description of the Memory Generator wizard and how you can run the wizard from the
GT sheet, see Transceiver Configuration Wizard, page 39.

To understand the capabilities of the 7 series GTs and the settings you will enter within XPE
refer to the 7 Series FPGAs GTX/GTH Transceivers User Guide (UG476) and the 7 Series FPGAs
GTP Transceivers User Guide (UG482).

GT Power Up / Power Down Sequencing

When your design has been programmed into the Xilinx FPGA, the recommended GT
transceiver power-on sequence to achieve minimum current draw is specified in the Data
Sheet: DC and Switching Characteristics for the applicable device. The recommended
power-off sequence is the reverse of the power-on sequence to achieve minimum current
draw.

If the recommended sequences are not followed, current drawn can be higher than
specifications during power-up and power-down. XPE calculates GT power assuming the
recommended power-up, power-down sequence is used by the design, and the power
numbers reflect this.

To calculate the extra power as a result of not following the recommended power up/down
sequence, consult the Xilinx Answer Records.

TEMAC Sheet
Different Xilinx device families contain Tri-Mode Embedded Ethernet Media Access
Controller (MAC) blocks, which are used in Ethernet applications. The Ethernet MACs are
paired within a TEMAC block, share a common host and DCR interface, but are
independently configurable to meet all common Ethernet system connectivity needs. Refer
to the applicable EMAC User Guide for a detailed description of the block capabilities and
configuration.

In XPE, you need only enter the TEMAC operating clock frequency (See Figure 42). You
typically need to know the mode and operating speed to obtain the correct clock frequency.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 42

Figure 42: TEMAC Power Sheet (Virtex-6)

PCIe Sheet
Different Xilinx device families have Integrated Endpoint Block for PCI Express® designs
(integrated Endpoint block). For detailed PCIe information, refer to the applicable PCIe User
Guide and enter in XPE the settings which correspond to your application.

Note: The 7 series/Zynq 7000 XPE spreadsheet does not have a PCI Express sheet. For these devices,
PCIe information is specified on the Multi-Gigabit Transceiver sheets. See Multi-Gigabit Transceiver
Sheets (MGT, GT, GTP, GTX, GTH, GTZ).
X-Ref Target - Figure 43

Figure 43: PCIE Power Sheet (Virtex-6)

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PPC440 (PowerPC) Sheets

Some Xilinx FPGA families contain high-performance PowerPC® microprocessor embedded
blocks.

For power estimation, these blocks are represented in a separate sheet within XPE. Details
for each PowerPC’s settings are available in the applicable Device User Guide. Typically you
can provide the processor main clock frequency along with details of the processor local
bus, memory and eventual DMA controllers. Figure 44 presents a Virtex-5 example.
X-Ref Target - Figure 44

Figure 44: PPC440 Power Sheet (Virtex-5)

PS Sheet (Zynq-7000 Only)

The PS sheet allows you to estimate power for the Processor System (PS) in a Zynq-7000 AP
SoC device.

The PS has between two and five voltage sources depending on the exact configuration.
The VCCO_DDR voltage is dependent on the memory interface selected and the VCCO_MIO0
and VCCO_MIO1 voltages are dependent on the I/O interfaces and standards used in the
respective banks.

• Processor

The processor used in the PS is a dual core Cortex A9. The number of A9 Cores used and
their clock frequency (Clock (MHz)) are required information. Processor Load of 50% is
for average usage and may be adjusted up or down as needed to reflect the processor
loading in a specific design.

• Memory Interface

DDR2, LPDDR2 and DDR3 memory interfaces (Memory Type) are supported in either 16
or 32 bit Data Width. The clock frequency (Clock (MHz)) is half the data rate since
these are all DDR interfaces. The Read Rate and Write Rate represent the usage and
may be set to any values that together are less than or equal to 100%.

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The Data Toggle Rate is the average for the data lines with 50% being random data. The
Output Load is the board capacitance and the external termination (External Term) is
the far end parallel termination used for the data lines.

• I/O Interface

The PS supports a variety of standard interfaces (I/O Standard) and some general
purpose I/O. There are two I/O banks and all interfaces on a bank must use the same
voltage. Available I/O Interfaces, I/O Standards, Number of Interfaces, and I/O Bank
placement are represented in the XPE tool.

• PLLs

There are three PLLs in the PS that must be set to the correct frequency (MHz) when
used. By default the Processor and Memory PLLs run at twice their associated clock
frequency.
X-Ref Target - Figure 45

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Figure 45: PS Power Sheet (Zynq-7000)

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Other Sheet (7 Series and Zynq-7000)

The Other sheet allows you to calculate the power associated with these device features:

• XADC - The XADC (Xilinx® Analog-to-Digital Converter) is the basic building block that
enables agile mixed signal functionality in Xilinx® 7 series devices. The XADC includes
a dual 12-bit, 1 Mega sample per second (MSPS) ADC and on-chip sensors.

In the XADC table, XADC Clock (MHz) specifies the frequency of the DRP clock if your
design uses the XADC. Leave this blank if your design does not use the XADC.

The XADC is described in the 7 Series FPGAs XADC Dual 12-Bit 1MSPS Analog-to-Digital
Converter User Guide (UG480).

• Config - The Config (Configuration) table allows you to specify these device
configuration features:

° Readback CRC Clock (MHz) - Xilinx 7 series devices include a feature to do

continuous readback of configuration data in the background of a user design. This
feature is aimed at simplifying detection of Single Event Upsets (SEUs) that cause a
configuration memory bit to flip and can be used in conjunction with the FRAME
ECC feature for advanced operations such as SEU corrections. In the Config table,
enter the ReadBack CRC Clock frequency to include this feature in the XPE power
estimate. Leave this blank if your design does not use the Readback CRC feature.

Readback CRC is described in the 7 Series FPGAs Configuration User Guide (UG470).

° Config Bank Voltage - Specifies the setting of the Configuration Bank Voltage
Select (CFGBVS), which determines the I/O voltage operating range and voltage
tolerance for the configuration-related I/O banks in the device.

Configuration bank voltage is described in the 7 Series FPGAs Configuration User

Guide (UG470).

• PHASER - Phaser blocks are available in 7 Series devices to simplify the interface with
high-speed memory devices. For power estimation, these blocks are represented in a
table on the Other sheet. Details for each Phaser setting are available in the 7 Series
FPGAs Memory Interface Solutions User Guide (UG586).

In the Phaser table, the Phaser INs column is used to specify the number of PHASER_IN
and PHASER_IN_PHY blocks used. Similarly, the Phaser OUTs column is used for both
PHASER_OUT and PHASER_OUT_PHY blocks.

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X-Ref Target - Figure 46

Figure 46: Other Power Sheet (Kintex-7)

User Sheet
This sheet is intentionally left blank and user editable. On this sheet you can provide any
documentation (text, image or hyperlinks), details about the project, assumed conditions,
or collect the results important to your application.

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Automating XPE
To simplify data entry and export or to assist with data manipulation Microsoft Excel offers
a variety of mechanisms which you can use to increase your productivity or the breadth of
your power estimation and analysis. The following section provides reference material and
examples to help you get started quickly with Excel internal automation features and
interface with some of the most common external scripting languages.

Using Named Cells

Excel provides a mechanism to name a cell or a range of cells so these can be used within
formulae or scripts without referring to them as cell XY coordinates. Since the XPE
spreadsheet is protected you cannot see 'named' cells defined on the protected areas. You
can however name cells in the unprotected area (User sheet). The following tables and
examples show the named cells within XPE that are available to facilitate user formulas and
scripting.

Get available resource counts.

The following named cells represent the maximum available resources available for the
considered device and package. None of these cells are visible in the spreadsheet, however
you can use these read only values in your calculations.

Resource Named Cells Description

LUTs NUM_LUTS Includes all LUTS
NUM_LUTRAM Shift Registers and Distributed Memories LUTs
Registers NUM_FFS
DSP blocks NUM_DSPS
BlockRAMs NUM_BRAMS
PLLs NUM_PLLS
MMCMs NUM_MMCMS
DCMs NUM_DCMS
Transceivers NUM_GTPS Lowest speed blocks
NUM_GTS Lower speed blocks
NUM_GTHS High Speed blocks
NUM_GTZS Highest Speed blocks

Examples:

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Formulas to quickly set device utilization and evaluate thermal effects when varying device,
package or cooling parameters:

= INT(NUM_LUTS * 0.75) Sets total LUT utilization to 75% of device capacity (if
entered on the Logic sheet)

= INT(NUM_DSPS * 0.90) Sets DSP block utilization to 90% of device capacity (if
entered in DSP sheet)

Get device operating limits.

The following named cells represent operating limits for the considered device, package,
speed grade and temperature grade. None of these cells are visible in the spreadsheet
however you can use these read only values in your calculations.

Table 4: Operating Limits - Named Cells

Resource Named Cells Description
Temperature TJ_MAX Maximum operating junction temperature (°C)
TJ_MIN Minimum operating junction temperature (°C)
Voltages VCC_MAX Maximum operating VCCINT voltage (V)
VCC_MIN Minimum operating VCCINT voltage (V)
Transceivers GTP_MAXRATE Maximum data rate of lowest speed blocks (Gbps)
GTX_MAXRATE Maximum data rate of lower speed blocks (Gbps)
GTH_MAXRATE Maximum data rate of high speed blocks (Gbps)
GTZ_MAXRATE Maximum data rate of highest speed blocks
(Gbps)

Example:

Formula to enter into the user Junction Temperature cell on the Summary sheet to force
the device junction temperature to the maximum allowed while evaluating different
temperature or device and package combination

= TJ_MAX

Get and edit summary information.

Many cells in the Summary sheet or tables at the top of the other sheets are named. To find
these names in Excel you can select the cell then if it is named the 'name box' area of the
formula bar will show that name. The following paragraph highlights some of the most
commonly used cells on the Summary sheet.

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Table 5: Summary Panel - Named Cells (See Figure 23)

Named Cell Description
JUNCTION_TEMP Estimated or forced Junction Temperature (°C)
THERMAL_MARGIN_C Temperature margin for the device temperature grade (°C)
TJA Estimated or specified Effective ΘJA (°C/W)
TOTAL_POWER Total On-Chip Power (W)
THERMAL_MARGIN_W Power margin for the device temperature grade (W)
OFFCHIP_POWER Total power supplied to off-chip devices (W)

Table 6: On-Chip Power Panel - Named Cells (See Figure 22)

Named Cell Description
CLOCK_POWER Clock tree power (W)
LOGIC_POWER CLB Logic power (W)
BRAM_POWER BlockRAM power
DSP_POWER DSP blocks power (W)
PLL_POWER PLL blocks power (W)
MMCM_POWER MMCM blocks power (W)
PHASER_POWER PHASER blocks power (W)
PCIE_POWER PCIE blocks power (W)
IO_POWER SelectIO blocks power (W)
GTP_POWER Lowest speed transceiver blocks power (W)
GTX_POWER Lower speed transceiver blocks power (W)
GTH_POWER High speed transceiver blocks power (W)
GTZ_POWER Highest speed transceiver blocks power (W)
STATIC_POWER Device static power (W)
PS_POWER Zynq-7000 processing system (PS) power (W)
PS_STATIC Zynq-7000 PS device static power (W)
PL_STATIC Zynq-7000 programmable logic (PL) device static power (W)

Table 7: Power Supply Panel - Named Cells (See Figure 22)

Named Cell Description
VCCINT VCCINT core voltage level (V)
VCCBRAM VCCBRAM voltage level (V)
VCCAUX VCCAUX voltage level (V)
VCCAUX_IO VCCAUX_IO voltage level (V)
VCCO33 VCCO 3.3V voltage level (V)

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Table 7: Power Supply Panel - Named Cells (See Figure 22)

Named Cell Description
VCCO25 VCCO 2.5V voltage level (V)
VCCO18 VCCO 1.8V voltage level (V)
VCCO15 VCCO 1.5V voltage level (V)
VCCO135 VCCO 1.35V voltage level (V)
VCCO12 VCCO 1.2V voltage level (V)

Table 8: Environment Table - Named Cells (See Figure 21)

Named Cell Description
AMBIENT_TEMP Ambient temperature (°C)
BOARD_TEMP Board temperature (°C)
CUSTOMTSA User specified Theta SA thermal resistance (°C/W)
CUSTOMTJB User specified Theta JB thermal resistance (°C/W)

Table 9: Miscellaneous Named Cells

Named Cell Description
PROJECT User description of the spreadsheet
VERSION Spreadsheet revision
RELEASE_DATE Spreadsheet release date

Using Formulas
With Excel formulas you can simplify data entry, spreadsheet parameterization or create
customer reports as explained in the following examples

Example1: Set clock frequency of all attached synchronous loads in a single place.

Typically a clock net may reach multiple types of resources. Instead of entering the clock
frequency on each sheet the following formula can be used on the resource sheets while the
clock frequency is only defined once in the Clock sheet. Any change of the clock frequency
would immediately be reflected on all the linked resource sheets

=CLOCK!E19

Example 2: Calculate the fanout sum of all the different loads driven by a clock.

On the clock sheet you may find it useful to enter formulas similar to:

=SUM(LOGIC!G10:I10,BRAM!E10,DSP!E8)
=SUM(IO!I10:K12)

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Example 3: Select the GTX data rates to the PCIe interface speed and number of lanes.
Entering the following formulae for GTX line rate and number of channels will track the PCIe
interface.

• Set channel data rate based on the PCIE bock configuration (if entered on the GTX
sheet)
=IF(PCIE!E8="GEN3",8,IF(PCIE!E8="GEN2",5,2.5))

• Set the number of GTX channels to reflect the number of PCIE lanes (if entered on the
GTX sheet)
=PCIE!G8

Example 4: Parameterize the spreadsheet entry using formulas and the User sheet.
Figure 47 illustrates how to evaluate power when a module is replicated more or fewer
times in the design. By varying the number of instances, the quantity of resources for the
base blocks, or clock frequency, an Excel formula can automatically recalculate the values
which need to be entered in other sheets. In Figure 47, the value for Number instance
(named num_inst) in the User sheet automatically calculates utilization and activity for cells
that appear in the Logic sheet.
X-Ref Target - Figure 47

Figure 47: Parameterizing Data Entry Using Formulas on the User Sheet

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Using Visual Basic Macros

The following examples define the public Visual Basic functions defined in the Xilinx 7
series XPE spreadsheet to help you with your automation needs. They provide convenient
ways to load files, create power reports, change parts, packages and environment settings
from Excel or another program.

• Create a text power report and save with name specified as argument.
Public Sub GeneratePowerReportFile(FileName As String)

• Create a settings file and save with name specified as argument. This file can later be
used in XPower Analyzer.
Public Sub GenerateXPAFile(FileName As String)

• Create an XPE file and save with name specified as argument. This file can later be used
to restore the current settings in XPE.
Public Sub GenerateXPEFile(FileName As String)

• Import an existing XPE spreadsheet (.xls* path/file specified as argument).

Public Sub ImportXPEFile(path As String)

• Import a place and route map report (.mrp path/file specified as argument).
Public Sub ImportMapReportFile(FileName As String)

• Import a implementation results in the .xpe format. Review the Import dialog options
for details and format of the different arguments.
Public Sub ImportXmlFile(FileName As String, Append As Boolean,DevSettings As
Boolean, EnvSettings As Boolean, VoltSettings As Boolean, IOSettings As Boolean)

• Set the default voltages for all supply voltages. Set argument to False for Nominal
voltages and to true for Maximum voltage levels.
Public Sub SetDefaultVoltages(Maximum As Boolean)

• Set the Device field on the Summary sheet (will automatically adjust the Family field if
required).
Public Function SetDevice(Device As String) As Boolean

• Set the Package field on the Summary sheet.

Public Function SetPackage(Package As String) As Boolean

• Set the Process field on the Summary sheet. Set argument to False for Typical process
and True for Maximum process.
Public Sub SetProcess (Maximum As Boolean)

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• Set the Temp Grade field on the Summary sheet. Options are "Commercial",
"Industrial", "Q-Grade", "Extended”, etc.
Public Function SetTemperatureGrade (Grade as String) as Boolean

• Set the Speed Grade field on the Summary sheet. Options are "-1", "-1L", etc.
Public Function SetSpeedGrade (Grade as String) as Boolean

• Set the Heat Sink field on the Summary sheet. Options are "Custom", "None", "Low
Profile"
Public Function SetHeatSink (Sink as String) as Boolean

• Set the Board Selection field on the Summary sheet. Options are "Custom", "JEDEC",
"Small", "Medium", "Large".
Public Function SetBoard (BoardSize as String, BoardLayers as Integer) as Boolean

• Set the User Override for the Junction Temperature, and value.
Public Function SetJunctionTemperature(Temperature As Double, OverRide As
Boolean) As Boolean

• Set the User Override for the Effective ThetaJA, and value.
Public Function SetEffectiveThetaJA(ThetaJA As Double, OverRide As Boolean) As
Boolean

Scripting XPE
Microsoft Excel capabilities described in the previous paragraphs can be accessed from any
framework with access to the COM interface. This Component Object Model (COM) is a
binary interface standard for software that enable interprocess communications in a large
range of programming languages (for example, Visual Basic, Perl, Java). The following
examples illustrate how you can set XPE environment parameters, run calculations and read
or export results from different languages.

Visual Basic Scripting Example

This simple example opens XPE, then export results into a text power report using the
Visual Basic scripting language.

Dim XPE As Workbook

XPEfilename = "C:\\Power\\7_Series_XPE_13_1.xls"

On Error Resume Next

Set XPE = Workbooks(XPEfilename)
' Opening XPE
On Error GoTo 0
If (XPE Is Nothing) Then
Set XPE = Application.Workbooks.Open(XPEfilename, UpdateLinks:=vbFalse,
ReadOnly:=vbTrue)
If XPE Is Nothing Then ' Open failed

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 Conclusion

MsgBox ("XPE Open Failed: " & XPEfilename & "Err=" & Err)
Exit Function
End If
End If
' Set Vccint voltage
XPE.Sheets("Summary").Range("VCCINT").Value = myVccint
TotalPower = XPE.Sheets("Summary").Range("TOTAL_POWER").Value
' Export XPE results into a text power report
XPESub = "'" & XPE.Name & "'!" & "ThisWorkBook.GeneratePowerReportFile"
Application.Run(XPESub, FileName)

Perl Scripting Example

This simple example opens XPE then export results into a text power report using Perl
scripting language.

use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Excel';

my $myXPEfilename = "C:\\Power\\7_Series_XPE_13_1.xls";

# Opening XPE
my $Excel = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application')
|| Win32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', 'Quit');
my $Book = $Excel->Workbooks->Open($myXPEfilename);
# Export XPE results into a text power report
$Excel->Run("ThisWorkBook.GeneratePowerReportFile", "$path/${design}.pwr");

Conclusion
The ability to estimate power consumption in a design is imperative for efficient part
selection, board design, and system reliability.

The Xilinx Power Estimator tool with its up to date power models and ease of use features
is meant to guide and simplify design utilization entry. Although gathering FPGA utilization
data may seem difficult in the early design development phases, with a little thought and
using XPE, accurate power estimations can be derived. XPE simplifies device selection and
helps parallel development of the FPGA logic and the Printed Circuit Board. Finally, XPE
helps exploration of alternative implementation and resource configuration when supply
power or thermal budgets are exceeded.

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 Appendix A

Additional Resources

Xilinx Resources
For support resources such as Answers, Documentation, Downloads, and Forums, see the
Xilinx Support website at:

www.xilinx.com/support.

For a glossary of technical terms used in Xilinx documentation, see:

www.xilinx.com/company/terms.htm.

Solution Centers
See the Xilinx Solution Centers for support on devices, software tools, and intellectual
property at all stages of the design cycle. Topics include design assistance, advisories, and
troubleshooting tips.

References
• The following are especially pertinent to the subject of this User Guide.

° Power Methodology Guide (UG786) - For ISE Design Tools

° Vivado Design Tools User Guide: Power Estimation and Optimization (UG907)

° Seven Steps to an Accurate Worst-Case Power Analysis Using Xilinx Power Estimator
(XPE) (WP353)

° Test Boards for Area Array Surface Mount Package Thermal Measurements

° 7 Series FPGAs Configurable Logic Block User Guide (UG474)

° Descriptions of the resources available in an FPGA can be found under Silicon

Devices at http://www.xilinx.com/documentation.

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 References

• Xilinx Design Tools: Installation and Licensing Guide (UG798):

http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/sw_manuals/xilinx14_3/iil.pdf
• Xilinx Design Tools: Release Notes Guide (UG631):
http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/sw_manuals/xilinx14_1/irn.pdf
• Xilinx® Documentation:
http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation

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