External Memory Interfaces Intel® Arria® 10 FPGA IP User Guide

ID 683106
Date 12/19/2023
Public

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8.1.1. Intel Arria 10 EMIF IP QDR II/II+/II+ Xtreme Parameters: General

Table 266.  Group: General / Interface
Display Name Description
Configuration Specifies the configuration of the memory interface. The available options depend on the protocol and the targeted FPGA product. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_CONFIG_ENUM)
Table 267.  Group: General / Clocks
Display Name Description
Memory clock frequency Specifies the operating frequency of the memory interface in MHz. If you change the memory frequency, you should update the memory latency parameters on the Memory tab and the memory timing parameters on the Mem Timing tab. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_MEM_CLK_FREQ_MHZ)
Use recommended PLL reference clock frequency Specifies that the PLL reference clock frequency is automatically calculated for best performance. If you want to specify a different PLL reference clock frequency, uncheck the check box for this parameter. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_DEFAULT_REF_CLK_FREQ)
PLL reference clock frequency This parameter tells the IP what PLL reference clock frequency the user will supply. Users must select a valid PLL reference clock frequency from the list. The values in the list can change when the memory interface frequency changes and/or the clock rate of user logic changes. It is recommended to use the fastest possible PLL reference clock frequency because it leads to better jitter performance. Selection is required only if the user does not check the "Use recommended PLL reference clock frequency" option. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_USER_REF_CLK_FREQ_MHZ)
PLL reference clock jitter Specifies the peak-to-peak phase jitter on the PLL reference clock source. The clock source of the PLL reference clock must meet or exceed the following jitter requirements: 20ps peak to peak, or 1.42ps RMS at 1e-12 BER, 1.22ps at 1e-16 BER. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_REF_CLK_JITTER_PS)
Clock rate of user logic Specifies the relationship between the user logic clock frequency and the memory clock frequency. For example, if the memory clock sent from the FPGA to the memory device is toggling at 800MHz, a quarter-rate interface means that the user logic in the FPGA runs at 200MHz. The list of available options is dependent on the memory protocol and device family. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_RATE_ENUM)
Core clocks sharing When a design contains multiple interfaces of the same protocol, rate, frequency, and PLL reference clock source, they can share a common set of core clock domains. By sharing core clock domains, they reduce clock network usage and avoid clock synchronization logic between the interfaces.

To share core clocks, denote one of the interfaces as "Master", and the remaining interfaces as "Slave". In the RTL, connect the clks_sharing_master_out signal from the master interface to the clks_sharing_slave_in signal of all the slave interfaces.

Both master and slave interfaces still expose their own output clock ports in the RTL (for example, emif_usr_clk, afi_clk), but the physical signals are equivalent, hence it does not matter whether a clock port from a master or a slave is used. As the combined width of all interfaces sharing the same core clock increases, you may encounter timing closure difficulty for transfers between the FPGA core and the periphery.

(Identifier: PHY_QDR2_CORE_CLKS_SHARING_ENUM)
Export clks_sharing_slave_out to facilitate multi-slave connectivity When more than one slave exist, you can either connect the clks_sharing_master_out interface from the master to the clks_sharing_slave_in interface of all the slaves (i.e. one-to-many topology), OR, you can connect the clks_sharing_master_out interface to one slave, and connect the clks_sharing_slave_out interface of that slave to the next slave (i.e. daisy-chain topology). Both approaches produce the same result. The daisy-chain approach may be easier to achieve in the Platform Designer tool, whereas the one-to-many approach may be more intuitive. (Identifier: PHY_QDR2_CORE_CLKS_SHARING_EXPOSE_SLAVE_OUT)
Specify additional core clocks based on existing PLL Displays additional parameters allowing you to create additional output clocks based on the existing PLL. This parameter provides an alternative clock-generation mechanism for when your design exhausts available PLL resources. The additional output clocks that you create can be fed into the core. Clock signals created with this parameter are synchronous to each other, but asynchronous to the memory interface core clock domains (such as emif_usr_clk or afi_clk). You must follow proper clock-domain-crossing techniques when transferring data between clock domains. (Identifier: PLL_ADD_EXTRA_CLKS)
Table 268.  Group: General / Clocks / Additional Core Clocks
Display Name Description
Number of additional core clocks Specifies the number of additional output clocks to create from the PLL. (Identifier: PLL_USER_NUM_OF_EXTRA_CLKS)
Table 269.  Group: General / Clocks / Additional Core Clocks / pll_extra_clk_0
Display Name Description
Frequency Specifies the frequency of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_FREQ_MHZ_GUI_5)
Phase shift Specifies the phase shift of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_PHASE_PS_GUI_5)
Table 270.  Group: General / Clocks / Additional Core Clocks / pll_extra_clk_1
Display Name Description
Frequency Specifies the frequency of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_FREQ_MHZ_GUI_6)
Phase shift Specifies the phase shift of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_PHASE_PS_GUI_6)
Table 271.  Group: General / Clocks / Additional Core Clocks / pll_extra_clk_2
Display Name Description
Frequency Specifies the frequency of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_FREQ_MHZ_GUI_7)
Phase shift Specifies the phase shift of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_PHASE_PS_GUI_7)
Table 272.  Group: General / Clocks / Additional Core Clocks / pll_extra_clk_3
Display Name Description
Frequency Specifies the frequency of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_FREQ_MHZ_GUI_8)
Phase shift Specifies the phase shift of the core clock signal. (Identifier: PLL_EXTRA_CLK_ACTUAL_PHASE_PS_GUI_8)