Method and apparatus for compiling intellectual property systems design cores using an incremental compile design flow

1. A method for designing a system on a target device, the method comprising:

determining whether third party logic has registered boundaries on signals coupling the third party logic to user logic;

including registers from the user logic with the third party logic to provide registered boundaries on the signals when compiling the third party logic in response to determining that the third party logic has unregistered boundaries on the signals;

compiling the third party logic to be implemented on the target device, wherein the compiling satisfies user specified placement and routing requirements for the system; and

compiling the user logic after the third party logic has been compiled, wherein at least one of the determining, including, and compilings is performed by a processor.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

partitioning the third party logic from the user logic; and

setting the user logic partition to empty.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising locking down routing of the third party logic, determined from compiling the third party logic, prior to compiling the user logic.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein compiling the third party logic comprises:

synthesizing a design for the third party logic;

placing the third party logic on the target device; and

routing the third party logic on the target device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user specified requirements comprises timing requirements for the system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user specified requirements comprises placement requirements for the system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user specified requirements comprises pin out requirements for the system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third party logic comprises a portable description of a function.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising programming the target device with the compiled third party logic and compiled user logic.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein including registers from the user logic with the third party logic comprises:

identifying a non-registered signal in the third party logic that is connected to the user logic;

identifying a register in the user logic that corresponds to the non-registered signal; and

recognizing the register in the user logic as part of the third party logic for the purpose of partitioning and compilation.

11. A non-transitory machine readable medium including sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform a method comprising:

determining whether third party logic has registered boundaries on signals connecting the third party logic to user logic;

partitioning a section in a system design to include the third party logic and registers from the user logic if the third party logic does not have registered boundaries on the signals; and

compiling the section to be implemented on a target device such that it satisfies user specified requirements for the system prior to compiling other partitions.

12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the third party logic includes a controller.

13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises setting the user logic partition to empty.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises locking down routing of the third party logic, determined from compiling the section, prior to compiling the other partitions.

15. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11 , wherein compiling the section comprises:

synthesizing a design for the section;

placing the section on the target device; and

routing the section on the target device.

16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises compiling remaining partitions.

17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises programming the target device with the compiled section and the compiled remaining partitions.

18. A system designer comprising:

a design partition unit operable to partition a section in a system design to include third party logic, wherein the design partition unit is operable to partition the section to include the third party logic and registers from a user logic if the third party logic does not have registered boundaries on signals; and

placement and routing units operable to place and route the third party logic to be implemented on a target device, such that it satisfies user specified requirements for a system, prior to performing place and route on other partitions, wherein the system designer is implemented on a computer system.

19. The system designer of claim 18 , wherein the design partition unit comprises a signal identification unit operable to determine whether the third party logic has registered boundaries on the signals connecting the third party logic to a user logic.

20. The system designer of claim 18 , further comprising a lock down unit operable to lock down routing of the section prior to routing the other partitions.