External Memory Interface Handbook Volume 3: Reference Material: For UniPHY-based Device Families

ID 683841
Date 3/06/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

10. Introduction to UniPHY IP

The UniPHY IP is an interface between a memory controller and memory devices and performs read and write operations to the memory. The UniPHY IP creates the datapath between the memory device and the memory controller and user logic in various Intel devices.

The Intel FPGA DDR2, DDR3, and LPDDR2 SDRAM controllers with UniPHY Intel FPGA IP, QDR II and QDR II+ SRAM controllers with UniPHY Intel FPGA IP, RLDRAM II controller with UniPHY Intel FPGA IP, and RLDRAM 3 PHY-only IP provide low latency, high-performance, feature-rich interfaces to industry-standard memory devices. The DDR2, QDR II and QDR II+, and RLDRAM II controllers with UniPHY Intel FPGA IP offer full-rate and half-rate interfaces, while the DDR3 controller with UniPHY Intel FPGA IP and the RLDRAM 3 PHY-only IP offer half-rate and quarter-rate interfaces, and the LPDDR2 controller with UniPHY Intel FPGA IP offers a half-rate interface.

When you generate your external memory interface IP core, the system creates an example top-level project, consisting of an example driver, and your controller custom variation. The controller instantiates an instance of the UniPHY datapath.

The example top-level project is a fully-functional design that you can simulate, synthesize, and use in hardware. The example driver is a self-test module that issues read and write commands to the controller and checks the read data to produce the pass, fail, and test-complete signals.

If the UniPHY datapath does not match your requirements, you can create your own memory interface datapath using the ALTDLL, ALTDQ_DQS, ALTDQ_DQS2, ALTDQ, or ALTDQS IP cores, available in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software, but you are then responsible for all aspects of the design including timing analysis and design constraints.