Device Configuration - 2020.2 English

Xilinx Power Estimator User Guide for Versal ACAP (UG1275)
Document ID
UG1275
Release Date
2020-12-04
Version
2020.2 English

Device selection is a crucial step for an application based on resource, performance, power, and package requirements. The recommendation is to select the smallest device that meets your requirements.

Important: Larger devices exhibit higher device static power consumption, however Versal with its hard IPs, improved device architecture such as the DSP58, processing subsystem, and network on chip can reduce resource requirement and potentially mean a smaller device is required therefore lowering the static power associated with a design.

Currently Versal AI Core, Versal Prime, and Versal Premium series are supported. They are followed by the device/part name itself which is an unique identifier to represent a device under a specific family. Similarly, there are different package offerings under a device according to type, assembly, characteristics and transceiver/IO resource combinations. Refer to the product table for the detailed product naming and resource information. Device Grade includes both temperature and speed grade of the device. Versal devices support the following temperature grades, each having an impact on power.

  • Industrial-operating temperature range is -40°C to 100°C.
  • Extended-operating temperature range is 0°C to 100°C.
    Tip: Certain speedgrades of Versal devices may operate between 100 and 110°C for 3% of their lifetime. For more information, see the Extending the Thermal Solution by Utilizing Excursion Temperatures (WP517) and Versal ACAP Data Sheet.
  • Q-grade operating temperature range is -40°C to 125°C.

The unique power binning strategy of Xilinx enables lower static power for Industrial grade compared to Extended grade devices. Versal devices offer enhanced voltage scaling options, which is key for highest performance/watt on these devices. Versal devices support the following operating modes:

  • High Performance-Core operating voltage is 0.88V (VHP)
  • Mid/Balanced Power/Performance-Core operating voltage is 0.80V (VMP)
  • Low Power-Core operating voltage is 0.70V (VLP)
Figure 1. Device Configuration in Summary Sheet

The Process represents the manufacturing process variation of the device, which significantly influences leakage power. The Process variation model is a common industry practice to meet the yield requirements without violating the device specification. During device manufacturing, the silicon process (doping, lithography) alters the transistor characteristics a bit, resulting in variations between devices. Typical is the median boundary where the device meets both performance and power specification. Then move towards higher performance distribution and set the maximum limit where it still meets specific temperature grade specification on both power and performance.

Recommended: Set Typical for device selection or comparison or battery powered low operating temperature applications. For all other use cases, set Process to Maximum for worst case power estimation which is important for power supply (board) and thermal design for higher power consuming applications.