External Memory Interfaces Arria® 10 FPGA IP User Guide

ID 683106
Date 4/01/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

3.5.1. Hard Memory Controller

The Arria® 10 hard memory controller is designed for high speed, high performance, high flexibility, and area efficiency. The Arria® 10 hard memory controller supports DDR3, DDR4, and LPDDR3 memory standards.

The hard memory controller implements efficient pipelining techniques and advanced dynamic command and data reordering algorithms to improve bandwidth usage and reduce latency, providing a high performance solution.

The controller architecture is modular and fits in a single I/O bank. The structure allows you to:

  • Configure each I/O bank as either:
    • A control path that drives all the address and command pins for the memory interface.
    • A data path that drives up to 32 data pins for DDR-type interfaces.
  • Place your memory controller in any location.
  • Pack up multiple banks together to form memory interfaces of different widths up to 144 bits.
  • Bypass the hard memory controller and use your own custom IP if required.
Figure 16. Hard Memory Controller Architecture

The hard memory controller consists of the following logic blocks:

  • Core and PHY interfaces
  • Main control path
  • Data buffer controller
  • Read and write data buffers

The core interface supports the Avalon® Memory-Mapped (Avalon-MM) interface. The interface communicates to the PHY using the Altera PHY Interface (AFI). The whole control path is split into the main control path and the data buffer controller.