Verifying That No Clocks Are Missing - 2022.1 English

UltraFast Design Methodology Guide for Xilinx FPGAs and SoCs (UG949)

Document ID
UG949
Release Date
2022-06-08
Version
2022.1 English

After the clock network report shows that all clock networks are constrained, you can begin verifying the accuracy of the generated clocks. Because the Vivado tools automatically propagate clock constraints through clock-modifying blocks, it is important to review the constraints that were generated. Use report_clocks to show which clocks were created with a create_clock constraint and which clocks were generated.

Note: MMCMs, PLLs, and clock buffers are clock-modifying blocks. For UltraScaleâ„¢ devices, GTs are also clock-modifying blocks.

The report_clocks results show that all clocks are propagated. The difference between the primary clocks (created with create_clock) and the generated clocks is displayed in the attributes field:

  • Clocks that are propagated (P) only are primary clocks.
  • Clocks that are derived from other clocks are shown as both propagated (P) and generated (G).
  • Clocks that are generated by a clock-modifying block are shown as auto-derived (A).
  • Other attributes indicate that an auto-derived clock was renamed (R), a generated clock has an inverted waveform (I) relative to the incoming master clock, or a primary clock is virtual (V).

You can also create generated clocks using the create_generated_clock constraint. For more information, see the Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Using Constraints (UG903).

Figure 1. Clock Report Shows the Clocks Generated from Primary Clocks

Tip: To verify that there are no unconstrained endpoints in the design, see the Check Timing report (no_clock category). The report is available from within the Report Timing Summary or by using the check_timing Tcl command.