Altera offers a complete PHY and controller solution for building a DDR SDRAM interface in Altera® FPGAs and HardCopy® ASICs. The PHY (ALTMEMPHY) and associated DDR SDRAM High-Performance Memory Controller II (HPMC II) are two distinct products. The DDR SDRAM PHY and controller are MegaCore® functions and you can use them separately or together. The rationale behind splitting the PHY interface and controller is to enable you to design specialized controllers, while still benefiting from the Altera PHY. When combined, they create a complete integrated memory interface solution. Table 1 shows the DDR SDRAM performance of Altera FPGAs and HardCopy ASICs.
| Table 1. ALTMEMPHY Megafunction with DDR SDRAM High-Performance Controller (Auto-PHY with Separate Controller) | ||
| Data Rate (Mbps) | Frequency (MHz) |
Supporting Devices |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | 200 | Stratix® IV, Stratix III, Stratix II, Stratix II GX, HardCopy IV, HardCopy III, HardCopy II, Arria® II GX, Arria GX, Cyclone® IV, Cyclone III |
About the DDR SDRAM Solution (PHY and Controller)
The Altera DDR SDRAM HPMCII MegaCore function provides a simplified interface to industry-standard DDR SDRAM. The ALTMEMPHY megafunction is an interface between a memory controller and the memory devices, and performs read and write operations to the memory. The MegaCore controller functions work in conjunction with the ALTMEMPHY megafunction to create a complete controller and PHY solution for DDR SDRAM.
The DDR SDRAM HPMCII MegaCore function and ALTMEMPHY megafunction offer a full-rate or half-rate DDR SDRAM interface. The DDR SDRAM HPMCII provides high efficiency and advanced features.
Selecting the Appropriate Core
For more information on the use of the ALTMEMPHY megafunction and the HPMCII MegaCore function, see the External Memory Interfaces Handbook.
Related Links
- External Memory Interface Spec Estimator
- External Memory Interfaces Handbook
- Memory Solutions Center
- Signal Integrity Center
- Stratix IV Memory Resources
- Stratix III Memory Resources
- Stratix II and Stratix II GX Memory Resources
- Arria II GX Memory Resources
- Cyclone IV Memory Resources
- Cyclone III Memory Resources
- Cyclone II Memory Resources
