You can identify a cross-platform design by the blue label on the design summary panel that indicates it is compatible with other platforms.

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Also, in the properties pane of a cross-platform design, you can check that the Platform value is now a drop-down combo box to switch the base platform and the Compatible platforms list has at least one entry checked:

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Manage components

The way to work with cross-platform designs components is exactly the same as standard designs. You can add, edit or remove components of the design at your choice. However, note that the Smart IOmux application is filtering and limiting the type and amount of components you can add, including the MUX configuration of each component and even the settings of those components. This is how Smart IOmux ensures the design retains compatibility with all the selected platforms.

The list of available components only shows those that have a common pad mapping for all the platforms they must be compatible with. Should you need a component not in the list, you may need to sacrifice the compatibility with other platforms. See Remove cross-platform compatibility.

Cross-platform designs workflow

Cross-platform designs allow you to add and use most of the primary interfaces of the ConnectCore platforms. However, there may be scenarios where you want to maintain most of the design compatibility while adding extra interfaces for a specific platform, which can later be populated with link resistors in the hardware. Additionally, the MUX configuration of each compatible platform might require specific acommodation for some interfaces.

In these cases, the way to proceed is to create a copy of the design without cross-platform compatibility, setting the desired platform as the base platform of the design.

To achieve it, follow these steps:

  1. Lock all the common interfaces' MUXes. This action ensures that all the common components and their pads are not changed while adding new components for the specific platform.

  2. Switch the base platform of the design to the desired one.

  3. Remove cross-platform compatibility from the design. This action converts your cross-platform design into a standard one for the specific platform.

  4. Create a copy of the design using the save as option and provide a new name.

    If you need to create a copy for another specific platform, just add compatibility with the desired platform in your design and repeat steps 2 to 4.

  5. You can now work with the newly saved designs as standard ones, adding specific platform components and configurations.

Switch the base platform of the design

Once you have added and locked all the common elements in your cross-platform design, you can switch the base platform and remove the compatibility to continue with specific platform development while keeping the list of common components and their configuration intact. This can be done in cross-platform designs and not in standard ones because the pad mapping of the components does not change.

To switch the platform of a design:

  1. Select your design and go to the Configuration tab at the bottom of the pane.

  2. Locate the Platform property of the design.

  3. Open the drop-down and choose the platform you want to switch to. Remember that the list only contains the platforms that are defined in the compatible pinout selected for the design.

  4. Click OK to save the design when prompted.

  5. A confirmation dialog opens, indicating that all components and settings of the design except for electrical values will be kept intact. Click Yes to switch the platform.

    When you switch the base platform of a design, the electrical value of the pads cannot be kept because this value is platform-dependent and electrical values are set with the default value corresponding to that platform.

Add new compatible platform to the design

Sometimes you may want to add compatibility with a new platform in your existing design. You can achieve this by following these steps:

  1. Open the cross-platform design.

  2. Open the properties section of your design by selecting the platform in the components tree view of the configuration view.

  3. The Compatible platforms section displays the list of platforms your design’s base platform is compatible with. The checked platforms are already part of your cross-platform design.

  4. Check the platform you want to add compatibility with in your design.

  5. Click OK to save the design when prompted.

  6. A second popup dialog may appear indicating that you will only be able to add compatible components between all platforms to the design. Click OK.

    If your design has any platform-specific components, the process may fail with an error indicating the conflicting component. You will need to remove this component from the design and add the compatible platform again.

Remove cross-platform compatibility

Specific platform components are not available in a cross-platform design if they are not common to all platforms. To add these components, you must remove the platform compatibility from your design first.

To remove the compatibility of a design:

  1. Open the cross-platform design.

  2. Open the properties section of your design by selecting the platform in the components tree view of the configuration view.

  3. In the Compatible platforms section, uncheck the platforms you no longer want to retain compatibility with. Uncheck all to fully remove cross-platform compatibility from the design.

    Compatibility can exist between several platforms. You can choose to remove compatibility with either some or all of the platforms.

  4. Click OK to save the design when prompted.

  5. A second popup dialog may appear indicating that compatibility with the unchecked platform will be lost. Click OK.

After fully removing the cross-platform compatibility, the design will be a standard one. This means that there is no limitation on the number of components you can add, or their MUX configurations or settings, other than those available for the design base platform.