12 www.xilinx.com Clocking Resources
UG362 (v1.6) January 17, 2011
Chapter 1: Clocking Resources
Global Clock Inputs
Virtex-6 FPGAs contain specialized global clock input locations for use as regular user
I/Os if not used as clock inputs. There are eight global clock inputs per device. Clock
inputs can be configured for any I/O standard, including differential I/O standards. Each
clock input can be either single-ended or differential. All eight clock inputs can be
differential if desired. When used as outputs, global clock input pins can be configured for
any output standard. Each global clock input pin supports any single-ended output
standard or any output differential standard. The global clock inputs are distributed across
four banks in the inner I/O columns for the most flexible selection of I/O standards.
Global Clock Input Buffer Primitives
The primitives in Table 1-1 are different configurations of the input clock I/O input buffer.
These two primitives work in conjunction with the Virtex-6 FPGA SelectIO™ resource by
setting the IOSTANDARD attribute to the desired standard. Refer to Chapter 1 of the
Virtex-6 FPGA SelectIO Resources User Guide for a complete list of possible I/O standards.
Clock Gating for Power Savings
The Virtex-6 FPGA clock architecture provides a straightforward means of implementing
clock gating for the purposes of powering down portions of a design. Most designs contain
several unused BUFGCE resources. A clock can drive a BUFGCE input, and a BUFGCE
output can drive distinct regions of logic. For example, if all the logic that is required to
always be operating is constrained to a few clocking regions, then the BUFGCE output can
drive those regions. Toggling the enable of the BUFGCE provides a simple means of
stopping all dynamic power consumption in the logic regions available for power savings.
The Xilinx Power Estimator (XPE) or the Xilinx Power Analyzer (XPower) tools are used to
estimate power savings. The difference is calculated by setting the frequency on the
corresponding clock net to 0 MHz or providing the appropriate stimulus data to the tool.
Global Clock Buffers
There are 32 global clock buffers in every Virtex-6 device. A global clock input can directly
connect from the P-side of the differential input pin pair to any global clock buffer input.
There are eight global clock pin inputs. The top/bottom half rules from previous Virtex
architectures no longer apply. Each differential global clock pin pair can connect to either a
differential or single-ended clock on the PCB. If using a single-ended clock, then the P-side
of the pin pair must be used because a direct connection only exists on this pin. For pin
naming conventions please refer to the Virtex-6 FPGA Packaging and Pinout Specification. If
a single-ended clock is connected to the P-side of a differential pin pair, then the N-side can
not be used as another single-ended clock pin. However, it can be used as a user I/O.
MMCMs in the top half of the device can only drive the BUFGs in the top half of the device
and MMCMs in bottom half can only drive BUFGs in the bottom half. Similarly, only
BUFGs in the same half of the device can be used as feedback to the MMCMs in the same
half of the device.
Table 1-1: Clock Buffer Primitives
Primitive Input Output Description
IBUFG I O Input clock buffer for single-ended I/O
IBUFGDS I, IB O Input clock buffer for differential I/O