1.5 Monitoring, Protection and Communication Requirements

Given the high-performance demands of FPGA-based applications, robust monitoring and protection mechanisms are essential to ensure reliable operation. Continuous monitoring of each power rail supplying the FPGA is strongly recommended to detect and address any deviations from specified parameters. If a power rail falls outside its defined limits, the FPGA should be promptly notified so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken.

The power management system should also be capable of alerting the FPGA when operational thresholds—such as excessive temperature or high power consumption—are approached. This enables the system to implement measures such as performance throttling to reduce power dissipation or to initiate memory preservation and transition to a predefined safe state, as specified by the system architect.

In the event of critical failures, the power management system must respond immediately to prevent damage to the FPGA and other system components. For example, during severe thermal events or significant overload conditions, power rails should be safely and systematically shut down to protect the integrity of the system.

To support these requirements, it is recommended to use a combination of dedicated fault pins for rapid error signaling and a communication bus for system-wide self-diagnosis and detailed fault analysis. This approach enables both immediate response to critical events and comprehensive monitoring for ongoing system health.