Digital Design Tip: FPGA Escape Planning

Whether you implement FPGA designs individually or as part of a team, planning your escape routes early can save you from multiple downstream iterations and a possibly unroutable printed-circuit board. To avoid these issues, work with the system designer or layout engineer early to determine component placement so you can best decide the appropriate region or bank and lock pin assignments early. Once you have determined the best escape direction, don't let the FPGA software determine your pin assignments. Instead, constrain the signal assignments so the bits appear sequentially on adjacent pins where possible (see the figure). You can submit your useful digital design and debug tips to [email protected]