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

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

7.3.3.1. Delay-Locked Loop

The DQS phase-shift circuitry uses a delay-locked loop (DLL) to dynamically control the clock delay required by the DQS/CQ and CQn pin.

The DLL uses a frequency reference to dynamically generate control signals for the delay chains in each of the DQS/CQ and CQn pins, allowing the delay to compensate for process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations. The DQS delay settings are gray-coded to reduce jitter if the DLL updates the settings.

There are a maximum of four DLLs, located in each corner of the Stratix® V devices. You can clock each DLL using different frequencies. Each DLL can have two outputs with different phase offsets, which allows one Stratix® V device to have eight different DLL phase shift settings.

You can have two different interfaces with the same frequency sharing a DLL, where the DLL controls the DQS delay settings for both interfaces.

Each I/O bank is accessible by two DLLs, giving more flexibility to create multiple frequencies and multiple-type interfaces. Each bank can use settings from one or both adjacent DLLs. For example, DQS1T can get its phase-shift settings from DLL_TR, while DQS2T can get its phase-shift settings from DLL_TL.

The reference clock for each DLL may come from the PLL output clocks or clock input pins.

Note: If you have a dedicated PLL that only generates the DLL input reference clock, set the PLL mode to No Compensation to achieve better performance (or the Intel® Quartus® Prime software automatically changes it). Because the PLL does not use any other outputs, it does not have to compensate for any clock paths.