Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory User Guide

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ID 683241
Date 4/25/2022
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Overview 2. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Architecture and Features 3. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Design Considerations 4. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory IP References 5. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Debugging 6. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory User Guide Archives 7. Document Revision History for the Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory User Guide
1. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Overview x
1.1. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Features
2. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Architecture and Features x
2.1. Byte Enable in Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Blocks 2.2. Address Clock Enable Support 2.3. Asynchronous Clear and Synchronous Clear 2.4. Memory Blocks Error Correction Code Support 2.5. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Clocking Modes 2.6. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Configurations 2.7. Force-to-Zero 2.8. Coherent Read Memory 2.9. Freeze Logic 2.10. True Dual Port Dual Clock Emulator 2.11. Initial Value of Read and Write Address Registers 2.12. Timing/Power Optimization Feature in M20K Blocks 2.13. Intel® Agilex™ Supported Embedded Memory IPs
2.1. Byte Enable in Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Blocks x
2.1.1. Byte Enable Controls 2.1.2. Data Byte Output 2.1.3. Byte Enable Behavior
2.4. Memory Blocks Error Correction Code Support x
2.4.1. Parity Bit 2.4.2. ECC Parity Flip 2.4.3. ECC Read-During-Write Behavior 2.4.4. Error Correction Code Truth Table
2.5. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Clocking Modes x
2.5.1. Single Clock Mode 2.5.2. Read/Write Clock Mode 2.5.3. Input/Output Clock Mode 2.5.4. Asynchronous/Synchronous Clears in Clocking Modes 2.5.5. Output Read Data in Simultaneous Read/Write 2.5.6. Independent Clock Enables in Clocking Modes
2.6. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Configurations x
2.6.1. Mixed-Width Port Configurations
2.8. Coherent Read Memory x
2.8.1. Forwarding Logic
3. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Design Considerations x
3.1. Consider the Memory Block Selection 3.2. Consider the Concurrent Read Behavior 3.3. Customize Read-During-Write Behavior 3.4. Consider Power-Up State and Memory Initialization 3.5. Reduce Power Consumption 3.6. Avoid Providing Non-Deterministic Input 3.7. Avoid Changing Clock Signals and Other Control Signals Simultaneously 3.8. Advanced Settings in Intel® Quartus® Prime Software for Memory
3.3. Customize Read-During-Write Behavior x
3.3.1. Same-Port Read-During-Write Mode 3.3.2. Mixed-Port Read-During-Write Mode
4. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory IP References x
4.1. On Chip Memory RAM and ROM Intel® FPGA IP Cores 4.2. eSRAM Intel® Agilex™ FPGA IP 4.3. FIFO Intel® FPGA IP 4.4. Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP
4.1. On Chip Memory RAM and ROM Intel® FPGA IP Cores x
4.1.1. Release Information for RAM and ROM Intel® FPGA IPs 4.1.2. RAM: 1-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Parameters 4.1.3. RAM: 2-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Parameters 4.1.4. RAM: 4-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Parameters 4.1.5. ROM: 1-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Parameters 4.1.6. ROM: 2-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Parameters 4.1.7. Changing Parameter Settings Manually 4.1.8. RAM and ROM Interface Signals
4.1.7. Changing Parameter Settings Manually x
4.1.7.1. RAM and ROM Parameter Settings
4.2. eSRAM Intel® Agilex™ FPGA IP x
4.2.1. Release Information for eSRAM Intel® Agilex™ FPGA IP 4.2.2. eSRAM System Features 4.2.3. eSRAM Intel® Agilex™ FPGA IP Parameters 4.2.4. eSRAM Intel® Agilex™ FPGA IP Interface Signals 4.2.5. eSRAM Timing Diagrams
4.2.2. eSRAM System Features x
4.2.2.1. eSRAM Specifications
4.3. FIFO Intel® FPGA IP x
4.3.1. Release Information for FIFO Intel® FPGA IP 4.3.2. Configuration Methods 4.3.3. Specifications 4.3.4. FIFO Functional Timing Requirements 4.3.5. SCFIFO ALMOST_EMPTY Functional Timing 4.3.6. FIFO Output Status Flag and Latency 4.3.7. FIFO Metastability Protection and Related Options 4.3.8. FIFO Synchronous Clear and Asynchronous Clear Effect 4.3.9. SCFIFO and DCFIFO Show-Ahead Mode 4.3.10. Different Input and Output Width 4.3.11. DCFIFO Timing Constraint Setting 4.3.12. Coding Example for Manual Instantiation 4.3.13. Design Example 4.3.14. Gray-Code Counter Transfer at the Clock Domain Crossing 4.3.15. Guidelines for Embedded Memory ECC Feature 4.3.16. FIFO Intel® FPGA IP Parameters 4.3.17. Reset Scheme
4.3.3. Specifications x
4.3.3.1. Verilog HDL Prototype 4.3.3.2. VHDL Component Declaration 4.3.3.3. VHDL LIBRARY-USE Declaration 4.3.3.4. FIFO Signals 4.3.3.5. FIFO Parameter Settings
4.3.8. FIFO Synchronous Clear and Asynchronous Clear Effect x
4.3.8.1. Recovery and Removal Timing Violation Warnings when Compiling a DCFIFO
4.3.11. DCFIFO Timing Constraint Setting x
4.3.11.1. Embedded Timing Constraint 4.3.11.2. User Configurable Timing Constraint
4.3.11.2. User Configurable Timing Constraint x
4.3.11.2.1. SDC Commands
4.4. Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP x
4.4.1. Release Information for Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP 4.4.2. Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP Features 4.4.3. Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP General Description 4.4.4. Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP Parameter Settings 4.4.5. Shift Register Ports and Parameters Setting
1. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Overview
2. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Architecture and Features
3. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Design Considerations
4. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory IP References
5. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory Debugging
6. Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory User Guide Archives
7. Document Revision History for the Intel® Agilex™ Embedded Memory User Guide

2.13. Intel® Agilex™ Supported Embedded Memory IPs

Table 12.   Intel® Agilex™ Memory IPsThis table lists and describes the IPs that are supported in the Intel® Agilex™ embedded memory blocks.
IP Supported Memory Mode M20K Support MLAB Support eSRAM Support Description
RAM: 1-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Single-port RAM Yes Yes No You can perform only one read or one write operation at a time.

Use the read enable port to control the RAM output ports behavior during a write operation:

  • To retain the previous values that are held during the most recent active read enable—create a read-enable port and perform the write operation with the read enable port deasserted.
  • To show the new data being written, the old data at that address, or a Don't Care value when read-during-write occurs at the same address location—do not create a read-enable signal, or activate the read enable during a write operation.
RAM: 2-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Simple dual-port RAM Yes Yes No You can simultaneously perform one read and one write operations to different locations where the write operation happens on port A and the read operation happens on port B.
RAM: 2-PORT Intel® FPGA IP True dual-port RAM Yes No No You can perform any combination of two port operations: two reads, two writes, or one read and one write at single clocking mode.
RAM: 4-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Simple quad-port RAM Yes No No You can simultaneously perform two read and two write operations to different locations where the write addresses are specified at address_a and address_b signal/port, and the read addresses are specified at address2_a and address2_b signal/port.
ROM: 1-PORT Intel® FPGA IP Single-port ROM Yes Yes No

Only one address port is available for read operation.

You can use the memory blocks as ROM.

  • Initialize the ROM contents of the memory blocks using a .mif or .hex.
  • The address lines of the ROM are registered on M20K blocks but can be unregistered on MLABs.
  • The outputs can be registered or unregistered.
  • The output registers can be asynchronously or synchronously cleared.
  • The ROM read operation is identical to the read operation in the single-port RAM configuration.
ROM: 2 PORT Intel® FPGA IP Dual-port ROM Yes No No

The dual-port ROM has almost similar functional ports as single-port ROM. The difference is dual-port ROM has an additional address port for read operation.

You can use the memory blocks as a ROM.

  • Initialize the ROM contents of the memory blocks using a .mif or .hex.
  • The address lines of the ROM are registered on M20K blocks.
  • The outputs can be registered or unregistered.
  • The output registers can be asynchronously or synchronously cleared.
  • The ROM read operation is identical to the read operation in the true dual-port RAM configuration.
Shift Register (RAM-based) Intel® FPGA IP — Yes Yes No

Use the memory blocks as a shift register block to save logic cells and routing resources.

This mode is useful in DSP applications that require local data storage such as finite impulse response (FIR) filters, pseudo-random number generators, multi-channel filtering, and auto- and cross- correlation functions. Traditionally, the local data storage is implemented with standard flip-flops that exhaust many logic cells for large shift registers.

The input data width (w), the length of the taps (m), and the number of taps (n) determine the size of a shift register (w × m × n). You can cascade memory blocks to implement larger shift registers.

FIFO Intel® FPGA IP — Yes Yes No

You can use the memory blocks as FIFO buffers. Use the SCFIFO and DCFIFO functions to implement single- and dual-clock asynchronous FIFO buffers in your design.

For designs with many small and shallow FIFO buffers, the MLABs are ideal for the FIFO mode. However, the MLABs do not support mixed-width FIFO mode.

eSRAM Intel® FPGA IP — No No Yes

Use eSRAM memory (large memory) to perform a single read and write method. The eSRAM memory has 4 ports. Each port has dedicated write address and read address, along with write enable and read enable control signal to dynamically control the read and write operation.

CAUTION:
To avoid corrupting the memory contents, do not violate the setup time or hold time on any of the embedded memory block input registers during read and write operations. This limitation is applicable if you use the memory blocks in single-port RAM, simple dual-port RAM, true dual-port RAM, simple quad-port RAM, or ROM mode.
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