VHDL propagation time
 

Hi,

I am a newbie, and I have a question about VHDL(FPGA) propagation time.
For example, a signal is triggered by another, then there is a
propagation time between these two signals, in Quartus II I find the
time is about 6 ns. I would like to know how this value is determined,
it is decided by the IC chip or other settings?

And I also noticed that we can point a time for signal change such as:

q0 <= 0 after 10ns;

How to implement this 10ns delay and what is the relationship with the
propagation time?

Thanks in advance.

Binary Chen

Re: VHDL propagation time
 

Binary wrote:


> I am a newbie, and I have a question about VHDL(FPGA) propagation time.
> For example, a signal is triggered by another, then there is a
> propagation time between these two signals, in Quartus II I find the
> time is about 6 ns. I would like to know how this value is determined,
> it is decided by the IC chip or other settings?

Somebody has measured it or has developed a model for the propagation
time, that fits close enough to reality.
It depends on the driving strength of the gates and their capacitive load.


> And I also noticed that we can point a time for signal change such as:
>
> q0 <= 0 after 10ns;
>
> How to implement this 10ns delay and what is the relationship with the
> propagation time?

There is no way, because this statement is not synthesizable.

The common way to "make a delay" is to use a (fast) clock, count it for
a number of times and then do something.

Ralf

Re: VHDL propagation time
 

Hi Ralf,

But I noticed some example use the word 'after' havily, so these
examples all just can be simulated but not synthesizable to actual
chip?

Thanks.

Binary Chen

Re: VHDL propagation time
 

Binary wrote:
> Hi Ralf,
>
> But I noticed some example use the word 'after' havily, so these
> examples all just can be simulated but not synthesizable to actual
> chip?

At least with the synthesizers of which I'm aware, an 'after' clause
doesn't prevent synthesis -- the logic part of the statement is
synthesized, and the 'after' part is ignored. For example:

output <= input1 or input2 after 1 ns;
and:
output <= input1 or input2 after 100 ns;

would both synthesize perfectly well -- but they'll produce identical
results: an OR gate, with no extra delay added at all.

As mentioned elsethread, if you want a delay in your circuit, you'll
have to do it yourself, typically by counting clock pulses.

Re: VHDL propagation time
 

Hi,

Binary schrieb:

> But I noticed some example use the word 'after' havily, so these
> examples all just can be simulated but not synthesizable to actual
> chip?

Take it the other way round:
You can't have a signal travelling aorund without any delay in real
chips.
If you use after clause, you could have a bit delay for simulation.
This delay won't hit the actual chip, but give you a feeling.

Another point is that the following code will behave different in
simulation and real HW, this could be fixed by using after clause, when
updating signals inside clocked process.

clk1<=clk2;
p1: process (clk1)
begin
a<=b;
end
p2: process (clk2)
begin
b<=a;
end

Last point is that after clause help you delay output to clk so you
could easier see, if a signal transaction is before or after a rising
edge of clock.

Of course you need to know that after is simulation only, and you need
to know what happens if you use after the wrong way(eg after > clk
periode).

bye Thomas