Stratix® V Device Handbook: Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

ID 683665
Date 10/18/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

7.2.1. Guideline: Using DQ/DQS Pins

The following list provides guidelines on using the DQ/DQS pins:

  • The devices support DQ and DQS signals with DQ bus modes of x4, x8/x9, x16/x18, or x32/x36.
  • You can use the DQSn or CQn pins that are not used for clocking as DQ pins.
  • If you do not use the DQ/DQS pins for memory interfacing, you can use these pins as user I/Os.
  • Some pins have multiple functions such as RZQ or DQ. If you need extra RZQ pins, you can use the DQ/DQNs pins in some of the x4 groups as RZQ pins instead.
  • You cannot use a x4 DQ/DQS group for memory interfaces if any of its members are used as RZQ pins for OCT calibration.
  • There is no restriction on using x8/x9, x16/x18, or x32/x36 DQ/DQS groups that include the x4 groups whose pins are used as RZQ pins because there are enough extra pins that you can use as DQS pins.
Note: For the x8, x16/x18, or x32/x36 DQ/DQS groups whose members are used as RZQ pins, Altera recommends that you assign the DQ and DQS pins manually. Otherwise, the Intel® Quartus® Prime software might not be able to place the DQ and DQS pins, resulting in a “no-fit” error.

DQ pins can be bidirectional signals, as in DDR3 and DDR2 SDRAM, and RLDRAM II common I/O interfaces, or unidirectional signals, as in QDR II+ and QDR II SRAM, and RLDRAM II separate I/O devices. Connect the unidirectional read-data signals to Stratix V DQ pins and the unidirectional write-data signals to a different DQ/DQS group than the read DQ/DQS group. You must assign the write clocks to the DQS/DQSn pins associated to this write DQ/DQS group. Do not use the CQ/CQn pin-pair for write clocks.

Note: Using a DQ/DQS group for the write-data signals minimizes output skew, allows access to the write-leveling circuitry (for DDR3 SDRAM interfaces), and allows vertical migration. These pins also have access to deskewing circuitry (using programmable delay chains) that can compensate for delay mismatch between signals on the bus.

Reading the Pin Table

For the maximum number of DQ pins and the exact number per group for a particular Stratix® V device, refer to the pin table in the Stratix® V page of the Altera website. In the pin tables, the DQS and DQSn pins denote the differential data strobe/clock pin pairs, while the CQ and CQn pins denote the complementary echo clock signals. The pin table lists the parity, DM, BWSn, NWSn, ECC, and QVLD pins as DQ pins.

In the Stratix V pin tables, DQSn and CQn pins are marked separately. Each CQn pin connects to a DQS logic block and the phase-shifted CQn signals go to the negative half cycle input registers in the DQ IOE registers.

The DQS and DQSn pins are listed respectively in the Stratix® V pin tables as DQSX Y and DQSnX Y . X indicates the DQ/DQS grouping number and Y indicates whether the group is located on the top (T), bottom (B), left (L), or right (R) side of the device. The DQ/DQS pin numbering is based on the x4 mode.

The corresponding DQ pins are marked as DQX Y , where X indicates which DQS group the pins belong to and Y indicates whether the group is located on the top (T) or bottom (B) side of the device.

For example, DQS1T indicates a DQS pin located on the top side of the device. The DQ pins belonging to that group are shown as DQ1T in the pin table.

Figure 144. DQS Pins in Stratix V I/O BanksThis figure shows the DQ/DQS groups numbering in a die-top view of the device where the numbering scheme starts from the top-left corner of the device going clockwise.