Parameterized, family-dependent representations of WYSIWYG primitives that correspond to device features, such as logic cells, I/O elements, product terms, and Embedded System Blocks (ESBs). Atoms are contained in Verilog Quartus^® Mapping Files (.vqm) and EDIF Input Files (.edf) generated by other EDA tools, as well as in Altera-generated library of parameterized modules (LPM) functions. If a VQM File, EDIF Input File, or LPM function contains WYSIWYG primitives, the Quartus^® II Compiler creates atom representations from those WYSIWYG primitives as it synthesizes the design so that the atoms preserve the WYSIWYG structure of the netlist file. The atoms generated by the Quartus II software are similar to the WYSIWYG primitives in netlist files generated by other EDA tools. Variations of atoms include I/O, CAM, RAM, ClockLock^® PLL, gigabit transceiver block (GXB), PLL, LCELL, and MCELL atoms. Verilog Output Files (.vo) and VHDL Output Files (.vho), generated by the Quartus II Compiler for simulation with other EDA tools, also describe designs using atoms.

WYSIWYG primitives and their Quartus II–generated atom representations allow other EDA synthesis tools to achieve better implementation of a design. WYSIWYG primitives and atoms also give AMPP^SM partners more control over how their designs are implemented in a device. Altera^® provides simulation models of atoms for functional and timing simulation in the \quartus\eda\sim_lib directory.

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