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

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

5.4.5. Memory Side-Band Signals

The HPC II controller supports several optional side-band signals.

Self-Refresh (Low Power) Interface

The optional low power self-refresh interface consists of a request signal and an acknowledgement signal, which you can use to instruct the controller to place the memory device into self-refresh mode. This interface is clocked by afi_clk.

When you assert the request signal, the controller places the memory device into self-refresh mode and asserts the acknowledge signal. To bring the memory device out of self-refresh mode, you deassert the request signal; the controller then deasserts the acknowledge signal when the memory device is no longer in self-refresh mode.

Note: For multi-rank designs using the HPC II memory controller, a self-refresh and a user-refresh cannot be made to the same memory chip simultaneously. Also, the self-refresh ack signal indicates that at least one device has entered self-refresh, but does not necessarily mean that all devices have entered self-refresh.

User-Controlled Refresh Interface

The optional user-controlled refresh interface consists of a request signal, a chip select signal, and an acknowledgement signal. This interface provides increased control over worst-case read latency and enables you to issue refresh bursts during idle periods. This interface is clocked by afi_clk.

When you assert a refresh request signal to instruct the controller to perform a refresh operation, that request takes priority over any outstanding read or write requests that might be in the command queue. In addition to the request signal, you must also choose the chip to be refreshed by asserting the refresh chip select signal along with the request signal. If you do not assert the chip select signal with the request signal, unexpected behavior may result.

The controller attempts to perform a refresh as long as the refresh request signal is asserted; if you require only one refresh, you should deassert the refresh request signal after the acknowledgement signal is received. If you maintain the request signal high after the acknowledgement is sent, it would indicate that further refresh is required. You should deassert the request signal after the required number of acknowledgement/refresh is received from the controller. You can issue up to a maximum of nine consecutive refresh commands.

Note: For multi-rank designs using the HPC II memory controller, a self-refresh and a user-refresh cannot be made to the same memory chip simultaneously.

Configuration and Status Register (CSR) Interface

The controller has a configuration and status register (CSR) interface that allows you to configure timing parameters, address widths, and the behavior of the controller. The CSR interface is a 32-bit Avalon-MM slave of fixed address width; if you do not need this feature, you can disable it to save area.

This interface is clocked by csr_clk, which is the same as afi_clk, and is always synchronous relative to the main data slave interface.