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vcd file creation in Quartus 10

Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Hi, 

 

I am trying to do power analysis for which i need vcd file as an input. For this I enabled " Generate Value Change Dump(VCD) Script" in settings (EDA Tool settings ->Simulation ) of Quartus 10.1.  

 

Is this enough to generate vcd file? In the output folder I see a vcd file with zero bytes after I am done simulating using Modelsim Altera. Is there anything wrong?Why am I getting a zero byte vcd file? (The simulation waveform indeed shows transitions) 

 

Do I need to do something more in Modelsim console? Like this(http://www.ehow.com/how_5017235_create-vcd-file-modelsim.html) webpage says to run source <design>_dump_all_vcd_nodes.tcl in modelsim. When I do this I am getting this error : 

 

The default VCD output file "<design>.vcd" is already opened. Use the 'vcd files' command to create multiple VCD files. 

 

Can anyone help me with this... 

 

Thanks, 

Amjad
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
1,604 Views

Ok am following this link now.. 

 

http://www.altera.com/support/kdb/solutions/rd10272005_812.html 

 

now the size of vcd file is 1kb but i dont find any useful info regarding signal activity in it..... 

 

the file contents are :  

--------------------------------------------------- 

$date 

Tue Dec 28 22:20:00 2010 

$end 

$version 

ModelSim Version 6.6c 

$end 

$timescale 

1ps 

$end 

 

----------------------------------------------------- 

 

Any suggestion/advice as to what I am missing...?:(
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Ohk...finally solved it....i was using <design> name rather than <design_testbench> name as "Design instance name" in the settings for "Options for Power Estimation"... 

 

this link helped me: :) 

 

http://quartushelp.altera.com/10.1/master.htm#mergedprojects/eda/quartus2/eda_pro_specify_hdl_out.htm
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
1,604 Views

Hi amjad163, 

 

What type of file that need to apply all the settings? It is main file or testbench file?
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Hi dt_conan, if i remember correctly, the settings are to be done in the tool options and not in a file. Follow this link for more details: http://quartushelp.altera.com/10.1/master.htm#mergedprojects/eda/quartus2/eda_pro_specify_hdl_out.htm 

 

Note : Its been seven months and I did not look into this after that. Let me know if you still need help.
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
1,604 Views

Hi amjad163, 

 

I face same problem to do the power analysis. I will try follow the link you give first. I will ask again if have problem. Thanks for reply
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
1,604 Views

Hi amjad163, 

 

I have follow the steps in the link given and its look okay. But, when I try to simulate in ModelSim using command:  

source <design>_dump_all_vcd_nodes.tcl 

 

this error occur:# couldn't read file "haar_dump_all_vcd_nodes.tcl": no such file or directory 

 

I have check my output folder, the haar_dump_all_nodes.tcl file is there (exist). Why the error occur?..
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Hi, I have the same problem where I have the following contents in the generated vcd file: 

 

$date 

Tue Dec 28 22:20:00 2010 

$end 

$version 

ModelSim Version 6.6c 

$end 

$timescale 

1ps 

$end 

 

I am using Verilog, and hence I do not have any 'Design instance name' as opposed to that of VHDL. Correct me if I'm wrong. Any idea here?
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Hello, 

 

I had a qsys system generated successfully and I imported that in my quartus project. Currently, I don't have any test bench. Now I want to measure the power for this design. Can I do it without test bench as it requires the "design instance name"? 

 

And, 

VCD dumps right after compiling in quartus or do we need to run the "Value Change Dump File script" in modelsim to dump the .vcd file.?? 

 

Please suggest.
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Hello, 

 

Now I am able to dump the .vcd file. But when I import that .vcd in Quartus for Power Analyzer, the report shows: 

 

Total Thermal Power Dissipation 70.79 mW 

Core Dynamic Thermal Power Dissipation 0.00 mW 

Core Static Thermal Power Dissipation 47.36 mW 

I/O Thermal Power Dissipation 23.43 mW 

Power Estimation Confidence Low: user provided insufficient toggle rate data 

 

Is this dynamic+static power consumption of my design during execution ?? 

If not, how to get that. And why I am getting the "Power Estimation Confidence" as Low ??? 

 

Need Help. Kindly suggest.
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