AR# 9990: 3.1i Virtex Map - In FPGA Express designs, I'm having problems getting I/O registers to pack in IOBs.
AR# 9990
3.1i Virtex Map - In FPGA Express designs, I'm having problems getting I/O registers to pack in IOBs.
Description
Keywords: Express, Flop, Register, I/O, IOB, Pack
Urgency: Standard
Problem Description: Cases have been seen where netlists from FPGA Express contain IOB=False attributes unbeknownst to the user. These attributes take precedence over the general map option to pack registers into IOBs (-pr b).
This attribute setting is the default behavior of Express version 3.4. It can be changed in the Express constraints editor, under the "Use I/O Reg" column.
Solution
The 2nd quarterly update to 3.1i, which will also be known as Service Pack Six, will contain an upgrade to Express 3.5. This upgrade defaults to a value of "NONE", meaning that no IOB attribute will be passed to the netlist by default.
The attribute can be overridden in the UCF file using the following syntax on the register instance name: