External Memory Interfaces Arria® 10 FPGA IP User Guide

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

10.3.1.6.3. RLDRAM 3 Clock Signals

RLDRAM 3 devices use CK and CK# signals to clock the command and address bus in single data rate (SDR). There is one pair of CK and CK# pins per RLDRAM 3 device.

Instead of a strobe, RLDRAM 3 devices use two sets of free-running differential clocks to accompany the data. The DK and DK# clocks are the differential input data clocks used during writes while the QK or QK# clocks are the output data clocks used during reads. Even though QK and QK# signals are not differential signals according to the RLDRAM 3 data sheet, Micron treats these signals as such for their testing and characterization. Each pair of DK and DK#, or QK and QK# clocks are associated with either 9 or 18 data bits.

The exact clock-data relationships are as follows:

  • RLDRAM 3: For ×36 data bus width configuration, there are 18 data bits associated with each pair of write clocks. There are 9 data bits associated with each pair of read clocks. So, there are two pairs of DK and DK# pins and four pairs of QK and QK# pins.
  • RLDRAM 3: For ×18 data bus width configuration, there are 9 data bits per one pair of write clocks and nine data bits per one pair of read clocks. So, there are two pairs of DK and DK# pins, and two pairs of QK and QK# pins
  • RLDRAM 3: RLDRAM 3 does not have the ×9 data bus width configuration.

There are tCKDK timing requirements for skew between CK and DK or CK# and DK#.

For RLDRAM 3, because of the loads on these I/O pins, the maximum frequency you can achieve depends on the number of memory devices you are connecting to the Intel® device. Perform SPICE or IBIS simulations to analyze the loading effects of the pin‑pair on multiple RLDRAM 3 devices.