IP Library Granted Patent US 8,499,262
Granted Patent B1
US 8,499,262 · App. 12/807,959 · Granted Jul 30, 2013

Method and apparatus for implementing a parameterizable filter block with an electronic design automation tool

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,499,262
App. No.
12/807,959
Granted
Jul 30, 2013
Kind
B1
Abstract

An electric design automation (EDA) tool for generating a design of a system on a field programmable gate array. (FPGA) includes a graphical user interface to create a block based schematic. The EDA tool includes a library that includes a parameterizable filter block selectable by a designer to include in the block based schematic to represent a component in the design that filters data. The EDA tool includes a design adjustment unit to automatically modify previously programmed and selected components and wires in the block based schematic without input from the designer upon determining a change made to the parameterizable filter block by the designer.

Claims (35)

1. An electric design automation (EDA) tool for generating a design of a system on a target device, comprising:

a library unit comprising a user selectable parameterizable component for inclusion in a block based schematic, the user selectable parameterizable component configured to represent a component that processes data; and

a design adjustment unit configured to automatically modify selected wires in the block based schematic to new wires that support a greater amount of data in response to a change made to the user selectable parameterizable component which requires a greater amount of data and a lesser amount of data in response to a change made to the user selectable parameterizable component which requires a lesser amount of data, wherein at least one of the library unit and design adjustment unit is implemented by a processor.

2. The EDA tool of claim 1 , wherein the user selectable parameterizable component comprises a parameterizable filter block which allows a user to make changes during a design process.

3. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein the change made to the parameterizable filter block comprises a change to an interpolation rate of the parameterizable filter block.

4. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein the change made to the parameterizable filter block comprises a change to a decimation rate of the parameterizable filter block.

5. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein the change made to the parameterizable filter block comprises a change to a number of channels supported by the parameterizable filter block.

6. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein the change made to the parameterizable filter block comprises a change to a clock rate of the parameterizable filter block.

7. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein parameterizable filter block comprises a cascaded integrator-comb (CIC) filter.

8. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein the parameterizable filter block comprises a finite infinite response (FIR) filter.

9. The EDA tool of claim 2 , wherein the filter block is operable to support a plurality of channels, wherein a cumulative sample rate of the plurality of channels is greater than or equal to a clock rate of the system.

10. The EDA tool of claim 9 further comprising an intermediate representation generator operable to generate an intermediate representation of the system from functional units selected from the library, wherein for each parameterizable filter block, a sub-filter is assigned to each channel.

11. The EDA tool of claim 2 further comprising an intermediate representation generator operable to generate an intermediate representation of the system from a description of the system that does not include any pipeline delays, the description of the system generated from functional units selected from the library.

12. The EDA tool of claim 2 further comprising a high level synthesis unit operable to generate a register transfer language (RTL) representation of the system to be implemented on a user specified target device from an intermediate representation of the system, the RTL representation including pipelined delays for satisfying a maximum frequency of a clock as implemented on the target device.

13. The EDA tool of claim 1 , wherein the design adjustment unit is operable to modify a selected component by enabling the component to support processing of an additional amount of data.

14. The EDA tool of claim 1 , wherein the design adjustment unit is operable to modify a selected component by enabling the component to support processing of a lesser amount of data than the selected component.

15. The EDA tool of claim 1 further comprising a graphical user interface operable to display the block based schematic.

16. A method for designing a system to be implemented on a target device, the method comprising:

providing a library of user selectable functional units to generate a block based schematic of the system to be implemented on the target device, the library of user selectable functional units comprising a user selectable parameterizable component operable to process data; and

automatically modifying previously selected wires in the design to new wires that support a greater amount of data in response to a change made to the user selectable parameterizable component which requires a greater amount of data and a lesser amount of data in response to a change made to the user selectable parameterizable component which requires a lesser amount of data, wherein one of the providing and modifying procedures is performed by a processor.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the user selectable parameterizable component comprises a parameterizable filter block which allows a user to make the change during a design process.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the change made comprises a change to an interpolation rate of the parameterizable filter block.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the change made comprises a change to a decimation rate of the parameterizable filter block.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the change made comprises a change to a number of channels supported by the parameterizable filter block.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the change made comprises a change to a clock rate of the parameterizable filter block.

22. The method of claim 16 , wherein modifying comprises enabling the user selectable functional units to support processing of an additional amount of data.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which when executed by a computer causes a machine to perform a method, comprising:

providing a library of selectable functional units selectable by a user to generate a description of a system, the library of selectable functional units comprising a parameterizable filter block operable to represent a component that filters data; and

responsive to a user changing the parameterizable filter block during design, automatically modifying previously selected functional units and automatically modifying previously selected wires in the design to new wires that support one of a greater or lesser amount of data.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising generating an intermediate representation of the system from the functional units selected from the library, wherein for each parameterizable filter block, a sub-filter is assigned to each channel.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , further comprising generating an intermediate representation of the system from a description of the system that does not include any pipeline delays, the description of the system made up from functional units selected from the library.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the change made comprises a change to an interpolation rate of the parameterizable filter block.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the change made comprises a change to a decimation rate of the parameterizable filter block.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the change made comprises a change to a number of channels supported by the parameterizable filter block.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the change made comprises a change to a clock rate of the parameterizable filter block.

Assignments (2)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 12, 2025
From: ALTERA CORPORATION
To: BARCLAYS BANK PLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 073431/0309 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 17, 2010
From: PERRY, STEVEN
To: ALTERA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 025058/0696 →