Specifications

CHAPTER 6: BLOCK-BASED DESIGN
USING LOGICLOCK REGIONS
116 ■ INTRODUCTION TO QUARTUS II ALTERA CORPORATION
Using LogicLock Regions
A LogicLock region is defined by its size (height and width) and location on
the device. You can specify the size and location of a region, or direct the
Quartus II software to create them automatically. Table 1 lists the major
properties of LogicLock regions that you can specify in the Quartus II
software.
With the LogicLock design flow, you can define a hierarchy for a group of
regions by declaring parent and child regions. The Quartus II software
places child regions completely within the boundaries of a parent region.
You can lock a child module relative to its parent region without
constraining the parent region to a locked location on the device.
Table 1. LogicLock Region Properties
Property Values Behavior
State Floating or
Locked
Floating regions allow the Quartus II software to
determine the region’s location on the device. Locked
regions have a user-defined location. Locked regions
are shown in the floorplan with a solid boundary and
floating regions shown by a dashed boundary in the
floorplan. A locked region must have a fixed size.
Size Auto or Fixed Auto-sized regions allow the Quartus II software to
determine the appropriate size of a region given its
contents. Fixed regions have a user-defined shape and
size.
Reserved On or Off The reserved property allows you to define whether
the Quartus II software can use the resources within a
region for entities that are not assigned to the region.
If the reserved property is on, only items assigned to
the region can be placed within its boundaries.
Soft On or Off Soft regions give more deference to timing
requirements, and allow some entities to leave a
region if it improves the performance of the overall
design. Hard regions do not allow the Quartus II
software to place contents outside the boundaries of
the region.
Origin Any Floorplan
Location
The origin defines the placement of the LogicLock
region in the floorplan.