External Memory Interface

Intel complete memory interface design solutions address high-speed memory interface challenges. Specifically, Intel provides solutions for a host of mainstream SDRAM and SRAM memory protocols, as well as in-package memory technology such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Our memory interface solutions include high-performance memory controller options, memory PHY options, and multi-port front-end options. These solutions port error correction code (ECC).

Intel® Agilex™ and Intel Stratix® 10 FPGAs and SoCs provide high performance of memory interfaces on 10 nm and 14 nm nodes respectively with hardened memory controllers. These hard memory controllers offer several advantages over soft memory controller options, and some of the benefits include:

Enables shorter engineering cycles and faster time to market because timing is pre-closed in the hardened logic
Saves user logic resources
Achieves higher performance in terms of f_MAX, efficiency and latency
Allows for a lower power memory interface solution

Intel Arria® 10, Arria V, and Cyclone® V FPGAs also support hard memory interfaces. Typical expected performance and utilization figures for these hard controllers and PHYs are provided in the External Memory Interface Handbook.

Our solutions are provided as either advanced device architectures, customizable Intel FPGA intellectual property (IP) functions in the Intel Quartus® Prime software, dynamically generated design examples, demonstration boards, and/or simulation models. All of which are accompanied by a rich set of technical documentation.

The Board Skew Parameter Tool (XLS) enables easy and precise board skew parameter calculations while saving crucial design time.

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Device Support

Table 1 lists external memory interfaces supported by Intel^® FPGAs. Get more information using our External Memory Interface Spec Estimator.

Table 1. External Memory Interface Support

Device	Memory Type
Device	DDR4	DDR3	DDR2	LPDDR3	LPDDR2	Intel® Optane™ PMem	RLDRAM3	QDRIV	QDRII+ Xtreme	QDRII+	QDRII
Intel Agilex^TM	3,200 Mbps 1,600 MHz	-	-	-	-	-	2,400 Mbps 1,200 MHz	2,133 Mtps 1,066 MHz	-	-	-
Intel Stratix®10 ⁽¹⁾	2,666 Mbps 1,333 MHz	2,133 Mbps 1,066 MHz	-	1,600 Mbps 800 MHz	-	2,400 Mbps 1,200 MHz	2,400 Mbps 1,200 MHz	2,133 Mtps 1,066 MHz	1,266 Mtps 633 MHz	1,100 Mtps 550 MHz	700 Mtps 350 MHz
Stratix V	-	1,866 Mbps 933 MHz	1,066 Mbps 400 MHz	-	-	-	1,600 Mbps 800 MHz	-	-	2,200 Mtps 550 MHz	1,400 Mtps 350 MHz
Stratix IV	1,066 Mbps 533 MHz	800 Mbps 400 MHz	-	-	-	-	1,067 Mbps 533 MHz	-	2,200 Mtps 550 MHz	1,400 Mtps 350 MHz
Intel Arria® 10	2,400 Mbps 1,200 MHz	2,133 Mbps 1,066 MHz	-	1,600 Mbps 800 MHz	-	-	2,400 Mbps 1,200 MHz	2,133 Mtps 1,066 MHz	1,266 Mtps 633 MHz	1,100 Mtps 550 MHz	667 Mtps 333 MHz
Arria V	-	1,334 Mbps 667 MHz	800 Mbps 400 MHz	-	800 Mbps 400 MHz	-	-	-	-	1,600 Mtps 400 MHz	1,600 Mtps 400 MHz
Arria V GZ	-	1,600 Mbps 800 MHz	800 Mbps 400 MHz	-	-	-	1,334 Mbps 667 MHz	-	-	2,000 Mtps 500 MHz	1,400 Mtps 350 MHz
Cyclone®	-	800 Mbps 400 MHz	800 Mbps 400 MHz	-	667 Mbps 333 MHz	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cyclone IV	-	-	400 Mbps 200 MHz	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	668 Mtps 167 MHz
Intel MAX® 10	-	606 Mbps 303 MHz	400 Mbps 200 MHz	-	400 Mbps 200 MHz	-	-	-	-	-	-

Pending characterization.

Error Correction

Continuously advancing semiconductor process technologies have increase component integration, functionality, and performance in embedded systems. While increased capabilities reap huge rewards, one side effect of higher-performance memory systems is that more attention must be paid to the probability of soft errors.

Decreasing supply voltages cause integrated circuits to be more susceptible to various types of electromagnetic and particle radiation. As DRAM memory size in embedded systems grows to 100s of megabytes, soft errors due to alpha particles that occurs naturally may exceed acceptable levels. As interface speeds exceed 1 Gbps, excessive noise and jitter may cause errors in the transmission lines to and from the external memory.

Figure 1 Typical External DDR Memory Architecture

Error Resilience Through Error Correction Code

Driven by the increasing probability of soft errors, many designers are considering to add ECC to external DDR memory. ECC allows correction of single bit errors and drastically reduces the chance of a system failure. Intel^® SoC FPGAs are well positioned to support ECC, as all required logic functions are integrated into the device. ECC on external memory can be enabled simply by extending the width of the DDR memory, as shown in Figure 1.

System-Level Approach to Error Resilience

SoCs extend support toward error resilience by including support for ECC on its large internal memories, specifically the level 2 cache of 512 KB and data buffers in on-chip peripherals.

High-performance embedded systems often use a 32 bit data bus to external DDR to obtain high throughput and frequently have a need for error resilience through ECC. The Intel SoC FPGA provides the high-performance and reliable combination of ECC and 32 bit interfacing.

Spec Estimator

The External Memory Interface Spec Estimator, a parametric tool, allows you to find and compare the performance of the supported external memory interfaces in our FPGAs. You’ll have the ability to filter down to specific performances based on your search specifications, and then compare performances across FPGAs side-by-side by filtering the criteria you choose for analysis. The External Memory Interface Spec Estimator supports DDR4 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, LPDDR3 SDRAM, LPDDR2 SDRAM, RLDRAM 3, RLDRAM 2, QDR II SRAM, QDR II+ SRAM, QDR II+ Xtreme SRAM, and QDR IV SRAM interfaces.

The stated performances are the maximum clock rates supported in Intel^® FPGAs based on the listed features across supported high-speed memory standards.

The maximum clock rates are only estimates based on a standalone FPGA ALTMEMPHY or UniPHY with Nios^®-based sequencer and high-performance controller II instance generated with the default controller parameters in the Intel FPGA IP. For the actual performance of your design, you must always compile and perform timing analysis for your design in the Intel Quartus^® Prime software.

The External Memory Interface Spec Estimator replaces the maximum clock rate tables in the Selecting Device, Memory Components, and IP (PDF) section in Volume 1 of the External Memory Interfaces Handbook. The devices supported by the External Memory Interface Spec Estimator are the Intel® Agilex™, Intel® Stratix® 10, Intel Arria® 10, Stratix V, Stratix IV, Stratix III, Arria V, Arria II GZ, Arria II GX, Cyclone® V, Cyclone IV, and Cyclone III device families.

The External Memory Interface Spec Estimator tool is available now for beta usage, and subject to the External Memory Interface Spec Estimator disclaimer. We would like to hear your feedback so we can fix potential browser compatibility issues and improve the overall value. If you are reporting technical issues, please include the browser and operating system (OS) information.

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