FPGA, Synthesis Interview Questions

FPGA, Synthesis Interview Questions
What is FPGA ?
A field-programmable gate array is a semiconductor device containing programmable logic components called "logic blocks", and programmable interconnects. Logic blocks can be programmed to perform the function of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex combinational functions such as decoders or mathematical functions. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of memory. A hierarchy of programmable interconnects allows logic blocks to be interconnected as needed by the system designer, somewhat like a one-chip programmable breadboard. Logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed by the customer or designer, after the FPGA is manufactured, to implement any logical function—hence the name "field-programmable". FPGAs are usually slower than their application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) counterparts, cannot handle as complex a design, and draw more power (for any given semiconductor process). But their advantages include a shorter time to market, ability to re-program in the field to fix bugs, and lower non-recurring engineering costs. Vendors can sell cheaper, less flexible versions of their FPGAs which cannot be modified after the design is committed. The designs are developed on regular FPGAs and then migrated into a fixed version that more resembles an ASIC.
What logic is inferred when there are multiple assign statements targeting the same wire?
It is illegal to specify multiple assign statements to the same wire in a synthesizable code that will become an output port of the module. The synthesis tools give a syntax error that a net is being driven by more than one source.
However, it is legal to drive a three-state wire by multiple assign statements
1) What is minimum and maximum frequency of dcm in spartan-3 series fpga?
Spartan series dcm’s have a minimum frequency of 24 MHZ and a maximum of 248
2)Tell me some of constraints you used and their purpose during your design?
There are lot of constraints and will vary for tool to tool ,I am listing some of Xilinx constraints
a) Translate on and Translate off: the Verilog code between Translate on and Translate off is ignored for synthesis.
b) CLOCK_SIGNAL: is a synthesis constraint. In the case where a clock signal goes through combinatorial logic before being connected to the clock input of a flip-flop, XST cannot identify what input pin or internal net is the real clock signal. This constraint allows you to define the clock net.
c) XOR_COLLAPSE: is synthesis constraint. It controls whether cascaded XORs should be collapsed into a single XOR.
For more constraints detailed description refer to constraint guide.
3) Suppose for a piece of code equivalent gate count is 600 and for another code equivalent gate count is 50,000 will the size of bitmap change?in other words will size of bitmap change it gate count change?
The size of bitmap is irrespective of resource utilization, it is always the same,for Spartan xc3s5000 it is 1.56MB and will never change.
4) What are different types of FPGA programming modes?what are you currently using ?how to change from one to another?
Before powering on the FPGA, configuration data is stored externally in a PROM or some other nonvolatile medium either on or off the board. After applying power, the configuration data is written to the FPGA using any of five different modes: Master Parallel, Slave Parallel, Master Serial, Slave Serial, and Boundary Scan (JTAG). The Master and Slave Parallel modes
Mode selecting pins can be set to select the mode, refer data sheet for further details.
5) Tell me some of features of FPGA you are currently using?
I am taking example of xc3s5000 to answering the question .
Very low cost, high-performance logic solution for
high-volume, consumer-oriented applications
- Densities as high as 74,880 logic cells
- Up to 784 I/O pins
- 622 Mb/s data transfer rate per I/O
- 18 single-ended signal standards
- 6 differential I/O standards including LVDS, RSDS
- Termination by Digitally Controlled Impedance
- Signal swing ranging from 1.14V to 3.45V
- Double Data Rate (DDR) support
• Logic resources
- Abundant logic cells with shift register capability
- Wide multiplexers
- Fast look-ahead carry logic
- Dedicated 18 x 18 multipliers
- Up to 1,872 Kbits of total block RAM
- Up to 520 Kbits of total distributed RAM
• Digital Clock Manager (up to four DCMs)
- Clock skew elimination
• Eight global clock lines and abundant routing
6) What is gate count of your project?
Well mine was 3.2 million, I don’t know yours.!
7) Can you list out some of synthesizable and non synthesizable constructs?
not synthesizable->>>>
initial
ignored for synthesis.
delays
ignored for synthesis.
events
not supported.
real
Real data type not supported.
time
Time data type not supported.
force and release
Force and release of data types not supported.
fork join
Use nonblocking assignments to get same effect.
user defined primitives
Only gate level primitives are supported.

synthesizable constructs->>
assign,for loop,Gate Level Primitives,repeat with constant value...
8)Can you explain what struck at zero means?
These stuck-at problems will appear in ASIC. Some times, the nodes will permanently tie to 1 or 0 because of some fault. To avoid that, we need to provide testability in RTL. If it is permanently 1 it is called stuck-at-1 If it is permanently 0 it is called stuck-at-0.
Difference between FPGA and CPLD?
FPGA:
a)SRAM based technology.
b)Segmented connection between elements.
c)Usually used for complex logic circuits.
d)Must be reprogrammed once the power is off.
e)Costly
CPLD:
a)Flash or EPROM based technology.
b)Continuous connection between elements.
c)Usually used for simpler or moderately complex logic circuits.
d)Need not be reprogrammed once the power is off.
e)Cheaper
What are dcm's?why they are used?
Digital clock manager (DCM) is a fully digital control system that
uses feedback to maintain clock signal characteristics with a
high degree of precision despite normal variations in operating
temperature and voltage.
That is clock output of DCM is stable over wide range of temperature and voltage , and also skew associated with DCM is minimal and all phases of input clock can be obtained . The output of DCM coming form global buffer can handle more load.
what is slice,clb,lut?
I am taking example of xc3s500 to answer this question
The Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) constitute the main logic resource for implementing synchronous as well as combinatorial circuits.
CLB are configurable logic blocks and can be configured to combo,ram or rom depending on coding style
CLB consist of 4 slices and each slice consist of two 4-input LUT (look up table) F-LUT and G-LUT.
Can a clb configured as ram?
YES.
The memory assignment is a clocked behavioral assignment, Reads from the memory are asynchronous, And all the address lines are shared by the read and write statements.
What is purpose of a constraint file what is its extension?
The UCF file is an ASCII file specifying constraints on the logical design. You create this file and enter your constraints in the file with a text editor. You can also use the Xilinx Constraints Editor to create constraints within a UCF(extention) file. These constraints affect how the logical design is implemented in the target device. You can use the file to override constraints specified during design entry.
What is FPGA you are currently using and some of main reasons for choosing it?
Draw a rough diagram of how clock is routed through out FPGA?