Adding Existing Block Designs - 2022.1 English

Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Designing IP Subsystems Using IP Integrator (UG994)

Document ID
UG994
Release Date
2022-04-20
Version
2022.1 English

You can add an existing BD as a design source to a new project, either from an existing project or from a remote directory location.

Assuming that a BD was created using a project-based flow, and all the directory structure including and within the BD folder is available, the BD can be added to a new Vivado project.

The only limitation is that the target part or platform board for the current project must be the same as the original project in which the BD was created.

Important: If the target devices of the projects are different, even within the same device family, the IP used in the block design will be locked, and the design must be re-generated. In that case the behavior of the new block design might not be the same as the original block design.
  1. To add a remote BD, select Flow Navigator > Project Manager > Add Sources.

    Alternatively, you can right-click in the Sources window, and select Add Sources.

  2. In the Add Sources wizard, select Add Existing Block Design Sources, as shown in the following figure, and click Next.

  3. In the Add Existing Block Design Sources page, click Add Files, or click the + icon.
  4. In the Add Sources File window, navigate to the folder where the block design is located, select the BD (.bd) file, and click OK.

  5. In the Add Existing Block Design Sources page, you can select Copy sources into project as needed for your current project.

    You can reference the BD from its original location, or copy it into the local project directory.

    However, if someone edits the remote BD, they could inadvertently change your referenced copy. To avoid that, you can select Copy sources into project, as seen above, so that you can change the BD when needed, but remote users will not be able to affect your design.

    You can also set the BD as read-only to prevent modification. See Adding Read-Only Block Designs for more information.

    Tip: When adding a block design from a remote location, ensure that the design is reserved for your project by copying the remote block design locally into the project.
  6. Click Finish to close the Add Sources wizard and add the BD to your project.

    In the Sources window, you can see the BD added under Design Sources, as shown in the following figure.



  7. Double-click the BD to open it in the Vivado IP integrator.
    Tip: You might need to update the IP used in the block design, or validate the block design, generate a wrapper, and synthesize and implement the design. These topics were previously described in this document.