Altera

As designs get larger and add more system functions implemented on FPGAs, and as advanced silicon process technology moves into smaller geometries, power consumption becomes a greater concern. In printed circuit board (PCB) design, obtaining an accurate estimate of power consumption is essential to the design of a system's power supplies, voltage regulators, heat sink, and cooling system, and is crucial to developing an appropriate power budget for the entire system.

This paper discusses the major challenges associated with accurately predicting power consumption in FPGAs, and how Altera addresses these challenges through the PowerPlay early power estimator and the Quartus II PowerPlay power analyzer. The paper demonstrates the accuracy of the model by comparing predicted power consumption with actual silicon measurements.