ALTERA Arria II Device User Manual

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

Arria II Device Handbook

101 Innovation Drive
San Jose, CA 95134

www.altera.com

AIIGX5V1-4.4

Document last updated for Altera Complete Design Suite version:

Document publication date:

12.0

July 2012

© 2012 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are Reg. U.S. Pat.
& Tm. Off. and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective
holders as described at www.altera.com/common/legal.html. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products to current specifications in accordance
with Altera’s standard warranty, but reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any time without notice. Altera assumes no responsibility or
liability arising out of the application or use of any information, product, or service described herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera
customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device specifications before relying on any published information and before placing orders for products or
services.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Contents

Chapter Revision Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Section I. Device Core for Arria II Devices

Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I–1

Chapter 1. Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Arria II Device Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–1

Arria II Device Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–6

High-Speed Transceiver Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–7

PCIe Hard IP Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–9

Logic Array Block and Adaptive Logic Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–9

Embedded Memory Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–9

DSP Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–10

I/O Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–10

High-Speed LVDS I/O and DPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–11

Clock Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–11

Auto-Calibrating External Memory Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–12

Nios II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–12

Configuration Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–12

SEU Mitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–13

JTAG Boundary Scan Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–13

Reference and Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–14

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–14

Chapter 2. Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Logic Array Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–1

LAB Interconnects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3

LAB Control Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–4

Adaptive Logic Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–5

ALM Operating Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–7

Normal Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–8

Extended LUT Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–10

Arithmetic Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–11

Shared Arithmetic Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–13

LUT-Register Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–15

Register Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–16

ALM Interconnects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–17

Clear and Preset Logic Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–17

LAB Power Management Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–17

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–18

Chapter 3. Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

Memory Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–2

Memory Block Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–3

Parity Bit Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–3

Byte Enable Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–3

Packed Mode Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–5

Address Clock Enable Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–5

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Mixed Width Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8

Asynchronous Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8

Error Correction Code Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8

Memory Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10

Single-Port RAM Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10

Simple Dual-Port Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–12

True Dual-Port Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–15

Shift-Register Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–17

ROM Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18

FIFO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18

Clocking Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19

Independent Clock Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19

Input and Output Clock Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19

Read and Write Clock Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19

Single Clock Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–20

Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–20

Selecting Memory Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–20

Conflict Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–20

Read-During-Write Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–21

Same-Port Read-During-Write Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–21

Mixed-Port Read-During-Write Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–23

Power-Up Conditions and Memory Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–26

Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–26

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–27

Chapter 4. DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

DSP Block Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–2

Simplified DSP Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–4

Operational Modes Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–7

DSP Block Resource Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–8

Input Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–9

Multiplier and First-Stage Adder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–11

Pipeline Register Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–12

Second-Stage Adder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–12

Rounding and Saturation Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–12

Second Adder and Output Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–13

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–14

Independent Multiplier Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–14

9-Bit, 12-Bit, and 18-Bit Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–14

36-Bit Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–17

Double Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–17

Two-Multiplier Adder Sum Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–20

18 × 18 Complex Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–22

Four-Multiplier Adder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–23

High-Precision Multiplier Adder Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–24

Multiply Accumulate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–25

Shift Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–26

Rounding and Saturation Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–28

DSP Block Control Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–30

Software Support for Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–31

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–32

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Chapter 5. Clock Networks and PLLs in Arria II Devices

Clock Networks in Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–1

Global Clock Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–3

Regional Clock Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–4

Periphery Clock Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–6

Clock Sources Per Quadrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–8

Clock Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–9

Clock Network Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–11

Dedicated Clock Inputs Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–11

Logic Array Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–11

PLL Clock Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–11

Clock Input Connections to PLLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–13

Clock Output Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–14

Clock Control Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–15

Clock Enable Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–18

Clock Source Control for PLLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–19

Cascading PLLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–21

PLLs in Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–21

PLL Hardware Overview in Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–23

PLL Clock I/O Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–23

PLL Control Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–27

pfdena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–27

areset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–27

locked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–27

Clock Feedback Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–28

Source-Synchronous Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–29

Source-Synchronous Mode for LVDS Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–30

No-Compensation Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–30

Normal Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–31

Zero-Delay Buffer Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–32

External Feedback Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–33

Clock Multiplication and Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34

Post-Scale Counter Cascading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–35

Programmable Duty Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–36

Programmable Phase Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–36

Programmable Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–38

Spread-Spectrum Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–38

Clock Switchover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–38

Automatic Clock Switchover Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–39

Manual Clock Switchover Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–42

Clock Switchover Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–42

PLL Reconfiguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–43

PLL Reconfiguration Hardware Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–44

Post-Scale Counters (C0 to C9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–46

Scan Chain Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–47

Charge Pump and Loop Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–50

Bypassing PLL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–51

Dynamic Phase-Shifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–51

PLL Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–54

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–54

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

vi Contents

Section II. I/O Interfaces for Arria II Devices

Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II–1

Chapter 6. I/O Features in Arria II Devices

I/O Standards Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–2

I/O Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–5

Modular I/O Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–7

I/O Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–10

3.3-V I/O Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–13

External Memory Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–13

High-Speed Differential I/O with DPA Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–14

Programmable Current Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–14

Programmable Slew Rate Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–16

Open-Drain Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–16

Bus Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–17

Programmable Pull-Up Resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–17

Programmable Pre-Emphasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–17

Programmable Differential Output Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–17

MultiVolt I/O Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–18

OCT Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–19

R

OCT Without Calibration for Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–19

S

R

OCT with Calibration for Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–20

S

Left-Shift R

Expanded R

R

OCT for Arria II LVDS Input I/O Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–23

D

R

OCT with Calibration for Arria II GZ Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–23

T

Dynamic R

Arria II OCT Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–26

OCT Calibration Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–26

Termination Schemes for I/O Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–28

Single-Ended I/O Standards Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–28

Differential I/O Standards Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–30

LVDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–32

Differential LVPECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–33

RSDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–33

mini-LVDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–34

Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–35

I/O Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–35

Single-Ended I/O Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–35

Differential I/O Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–35

I/O Bank Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–36

Non-Voltage-Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–36

Voltage-Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–36

Mixing Voltage-Referenced and Non-Voltage-Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–36

I/O Placement Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37

3.3-V, 3.0-V, and 2.5-V LVTTL/LVCMOS Tolerance Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37

Pin Placement Guideline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37

OCT Control for Arria II GZ Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–21

S

OCT with Calibration for Arria II GZ Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–22

S

and RT OCT for Single-Ended I/O Standard for Arria II GZ Devices . . . . . . . . . . 6–24

S

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Contents vii

Chapter 7. External Memory Interfaces in Arria II Devices

Memory Interfaces Pin Support for Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–3

Using the R

and RDN Pins in a DQ/DQS Group Used for Memory Interfaces in

UP

Arria II GZ Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–21

Combining ×16/×18 DQ/DQS Groups for ×36 QDR II+/QDR II SRAM Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–21

Rules to Combine Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–22

Arria II External Memory Interface Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–24

DQS Phase-Shift Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–24

DLL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–27

Phase Offset Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–32

DQS Logic Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–34

DQS Delay Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–34

Update Enable Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–35

DQS Postamble Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–35

Arria II GZ Dynamic On-Chip Termination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–37

I/O Element Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–37

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7–42

Chapter 8. High-Speed Differential I/O Interfaces and DPA in Arria II Devices

LVDS Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–2

Locations of the I/O Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–3

LVDS SERDES and DPA Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–7

Differential Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–8

Serializer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–8

Programmable Pre-Emphasis and Programmable V

Differential Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–11

Receiver Hardware Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–12

DPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–12

Synchronizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–13

Data Realignment Block (Bit Slip) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–14

Deserializer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–15

Receiver Datapath Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–16

Non-DPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–16

DPA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–18

Soft CDR Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–19

Differential I/O Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–20

PLLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–21

LVDS and DPA Clock Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–21

Source-Synchronous Timing Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–23

Differential Data Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–23

Differential I/O Bit Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–23

Transmitter Channel-to-Channel Skew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–25

Receiver Skew Margin for Non-DPA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–25

Differential Pin Placement Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–27

DPA-Enabled Channels and Single-Ended I/Os . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–27

Guidelines for DPA-Enabled Differential Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–27

DPA-Enabled Channel Driving Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–27

Using Center and Corner Left and Right PLLs in Arria II GX Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–27

Using Both Center PLLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–29

Using Both Corner PLLs in Arria II GX Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–31

Guidelines for DPA-Disabled Differential Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–33

DPA-Disabled Channel Driving Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–33

Using Corner and Center PLLs in Arria II GX Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–33

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–10

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Using Both Center PLLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–35

Using Both Corner PLLs in Arria II GX Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–36

Setting Up an LVDS Transmitter or Receiver Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–36

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–36

Section III. System Integration for Arria II Devices

Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III–1

Chapter 9. Configuration, Design Security, and Remote System Upgrades in Arria II Devices

Configuration Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–2

Configuration Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–2

Power-On Reset Circuit and Configuration Pins Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–4

Power-On Reset Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–4

Configuration Pins Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–5

V

Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–6

CCPD

Configuration Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–7

Power Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–7

Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–7

Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–7

Configuration Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–8

Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–8

User Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–9

Configuration Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–9

MSEL Pin Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–9

Raw Binary File Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–11

Fast Passive Parallel Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–11

FPP Configuration Using a MAX II Device as an External Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–11

FPP Configuration Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–15

AS and Fast AS Configuration (Serial Configuration Devices) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–19

Guidelines for Connecting Serial Configuration Device to Arria II Devices on an AS Interface . . 9–23

Estimating the AS Configuration Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–23

Programming Serial Configuration Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–24

PS Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–26

PS Configuration Using a MAX II Device as an External Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–26

PS Configuration Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–29

PS Configuration Using a Download Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–30

JTAG Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–33

Jam STAPL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–38

Device Configuration Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–39

Configuration Data Decompression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–46

Remote System Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–48

Functional Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–49

Enabling Remote Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–51

Configuration Image Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–52

Remote System Upgrade Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–52

Remote Update Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–52

Dedicated Remote System Upgrade Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–55

Remote System Upgrade Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–56

Remote System Upgrade Control Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–56

Remote System Upgrade Status Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–57

Remote System Upgrade State Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–58

User Watchdog Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–59

Quartus II Software Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–60

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Contents ix

ALTREMOTE_UPDATE Megafunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–60

Design Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–61

Arria II Security Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–62

Security Against Copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–62

Security Against Reverse Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–62

Security Against Tampering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–62

AES Decryption Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–62

Flexible Security Key Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–63

Arria II Design Security Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–64

Security Modes Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–65

Volatile Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–65

Non-Volatile Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–65

Volatile Key with Tamper Protection Bit Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–65

Non-Volatile Key with Tamper Protection Bit Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–65

No Key Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–66

Supported Configuration Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–66

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–69

Chapter 10. SEU Mitigation in Arria II Devices

Error Detection Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–1

Configuration Error Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–2

User Mode Error Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–2

Automated Single Event Upset Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–4

Error Detection Pin Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–5

Error Detection Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–5

Error Detection Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–6

Error Detection Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–7

Software Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–9

Recovering From CRC Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–10

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–10

Chapter 11. JTAG Boundary-Scan Testing in Arria II Devices

BST Architecture for Arria II Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–1

IEEE Std. 1149.6 Boundary-Scan Register for Arria II GX Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–1

BST Operation Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–3

EXTEST_PULSE Instruction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–4

EXTEST_TRAIN Instruction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–5

I/O Voltage Support in a JTAG Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–5

Disabling IEEE Std. 1149.1 BST Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–6

Boundary-Scan Description Language Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–7

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–8

Chapter 12. Power Management in Arria II Devices

External Power Supply Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–1

Power-On Reset Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–1

Hot Socketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–2

Devices Can Be Driven Before Power-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–2

I/O Pins Remain Tri-Stated During Power-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–2

Insertion or Removal of an Arria II Device from a Powered-Up System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–3

Hot-Socketing Feature Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–3

Document Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–4

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

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Additional Information

About this Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Info–1

How to Contact Altera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Info–1

Typographic Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Info–1

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Chapter Revision Dates

The chapters in this document, Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces
and Integration, were revised on the following dates. Where chapters or groups of
chapters are available separately, part numbers are listed.

Chapter 1. Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Revised: July 2012
Part Number: AIIGX51001-4.4

Chapter 2. Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Revised: December 2010
Part Number: AIIGX51002-2.0

Chapter 3. Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

Revised: December 2011
Part Number: AIIGX51003-3.2

Chapter 4. DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

Revised: December 2010
Part Number: AIIGX51004-4.0

Chapter 5. Clock Networks and PLLs in Arria II Devices

Revised: July 2012
Part Number: AIIGX51005-4.2

Chapter 6. I/O Features in Arria II Devices

Revised: December 2011
Part Number: AIIGX51006-4.2

Chapter 7. External Memory Interfaces in Arria II Devices

Revised: June 2011
Part Number: AIIGX51007-4.1

Chapter 8. High-Speed Differential I/O Interfaces and DPA in Arria II Devices

Revised: July 2012
Part Number: AIIGX51008-4.3

Chapter 9. Configuration, Design Security, and Remote System Upgrades in Arria II Devices

Revised: July 2012
Part Number: AIIGX51009-4.3

Chapter 10. SEU Mitigation in Arria II Devices

Revised: July 2012
Part Number: AIIGX51010-4.2

Chapter 11. JTAG Boundary-Scan Testing in Arria II Devices

Revised: December 2010
Part Number: AIIGX51011-4.0

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

xii Chapter Revision Dates

Chapter 12. Power Management in Arria II Devices

Revised: June 2011
Part Number: AIIGX51012-3.1

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

This section provides a complete overview of all features relating to the Arria®II
device family, the industry’s first cost-optimized 40 nm FPGA family. This section
includes the following chapters:

■ Chapter 1, Overview for the Arria II Device Family

■ Chapter 2, Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

■ Chapter 3, Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

■ Chapter 4, DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

■ Chapter 5, Clock Networks and PLLs in Arria II Devices

Revision History

Refer to each chapter for its own specific revision history. For information on when
each chapter was updated, refer to the Chapter Revision Dates section, which appears
in this volume.

Section I. Device Core for Arria II Devices

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

I–2 Section I: Device Core for Arria II Devices

Revision History

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

July 2012
AIIGX51001-4.4

AIIGX51001-4.4

1. Overview for the Arria II Device Family

The Arria® II device family is designed specifically for ease-of-use. The
cost-optimized, 40-nm device family architecture features a low-power,
programmable logic engine and streamlined transceivers and I/Os. Common
interfaces, such as the Physical Interface for PCI Express
DDR3 memory are easily implemented in your design with the Quartus
the SOPC Builder design software, and a broad library of hard and soft intellectual
property (IP) solutions from Altera. The Arria II device family makes designing for
applications requiring transceivers operating at up to 6.375 Gbps fast and easy.

This chapter contains the following sections:

■ “Arria II Device Feature” on page 1–1

■ “Arria II Device Architecture” on page 1–6

■ “Reference and Ordering Information” on page 1–14

®

(PCIe®), Ethernet, and

®

II software,

Arria II Device Feature

The Arria II device features consist of the following highlights:

■ 40-nm, low-power FPGA engine

■ Adaptive logic module (ALM) offers the highest logic efficiency in the industry

■ Eight-input fracturable look-up table (LUT)

■ Memory logic array blocks (MLABs) for efficient implementation of small

FIFOs

■ High-performance digital signal processing (DSP) blocks up to 550 MHz

■ Configurable as 9 x 9-bit, 12 x 12-bit, 18 x 18-bit, and 36 x 36-bit full-precision

multipliers as well as 18 x 36-bit high-precision multiplier

■ Hardcoded adders, subtractors, accumulators, and summation functions

■ Fully-integrated design flow with the MATLAB and DSP Builder software

from Altera

■ Maximum system bandwidth

■ Up to 24 full-duplex clock data recovery (CDR)-based transceivers supporting

rates between 600 Mbps and 6.375 Gbps

■ Dedicated circuitry to support physical layer functionality for popular serial

protocols, including PCIe Gen1 and PCIe Gen2, Gbps Ethernet, Serial
RapidIO
SD/HD/3G/ASI Serial Digital Interface (SDI), XAUI and Reduced XAUI
(RXAUI), HiGig/HiGig+, SATA/Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), GPON,
SerialLite II, Fiber Channel, SONET/SDH, Interlaken, Serial Data Converter
(JESD204), and SFI-5.

®

(SRIO), Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), OBSAI,

© 2012 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at

www.altera.com/common/legal.html. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products to current specifications in accordance with Altera’s standard warranty, but

reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any time without notice. Altera assumes no responsib ility or liability arising out of the application or use of any
information, product, or service described herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device
specifications before relying on any published information and before placing orders for products or services.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration
July 2012

Subscribe

1–2 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

■ Complete PIPE protocol solution with an embedded hard IP block that provides

Arria II Device Feature

physical interface and media access control (PHY/MAC) layer, Data Link layer,
and Transaction layer functionality

■ Optimized for high-bandwidth system interfaces

■ Up to 726 user I/O pins arranged in up to 20 modular I/O banks that support a

wide range of single-ended and differential I/O standards

■ High-speed LVDS I/O support with serializer/deserializer (SERDES) and

dynamic phase alignment (DPA) circuitry at data rates from 150 Mbps to

1.25 Gbps

■ Low power

■ Architectural power reduction techniques

■ Typical physical medium attachment (PMA) power consumption of 100 mW at

3.125 Gbps.

■ Power optimizations integrated into the Quartus II development software

■ Advanced usability and security features

■ Parallel and serial configuration options

■ On-chip series (R

for single-ended I/Os and on-chip differential (R

) and on-chip parallel (RT) termination with auto-calibration

S

) termination for differential

D

I/O

■ 256-bit advanced encryption standard (AES) programming file encryption for

design security with volatile and non-volatile key storage options

■ Robust portfolio of IP for processing, serial protocols, and memory interfaces

■ Low cost, easy-to-use development kits featuring high-speed mezzanine

connectors (HSMC)

■ Emulated LVDS output support with a data rate of up to 1152 Mbps

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

Table 1–1. Features in Arria II Devices

Table 1–1 lists the Arria II device features.

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–3

Arria II Device Feature

Feature

Arria II GX Devices Arria II GZ Devices

EP2AGX45 EP2AGX65 EP2AGX95 EP2AGX125 EP2AGX190 EP2AGX260 EP2AGZ225 EP2AGZ300 EP2AGZ350

Total Transceivers (1) 8 8 12 12 16 16 16 or 24 16 or 24 16 or 24

ALMs 18,050 25,300 37,470 49,640 76,120 102,600 89,600 119,200 139,400

LEs 42,959 60,214 89,178 118,143 181,165 244,188 224,000 298,000 348,500

PCIe hard IP blocks 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

M9K Blocks 319 495 612 730 840 950 1,235 1,248 1,248

M144K Blocks — — — — — — — 24 36

Total Embedded Memory in M9K
Blocks (Kbits)

Total On-Chip Memory
(M9K +M144K + MLABs) (Kbits)

2,871 4,455 5,508 6,570 7,560 8,550 11,115 14,688 16,416

3,435 5,246 6,679 8,121 9,939 11,756 13,915 18,413 20,772

Embedded Multipliers (18 x 18) (2) 232 312 448 576 656 736 800 920 1,040

General Purpose PLLs 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 or 8 4, 6, or 8 4, 6, or 8

Transceiver TX PLLs (3), (4) 2 or 4 2 or 4 4 or 6 4 or 6 6 or 8 6 or 8 8 or 12 8 or 12 8 or 12

User I/O Banks (5), (6) 6 6 8 8 12 12 16 or 20 8, 16, or 20 8, 16, or 20

High-Speed LVDS SERDES
(up to 1.25 Gbps) (7)

Notes to Table 1–1:

(1) The total number of transceivers is divided equally between the left and right side of each device, except for the devices in the F780 package. These devices have eight transceiver channels located only on

the right side of the device.
(2) This is in four multiplier adder mode.
(3) The FPGA fabric can use these phase locked-loops (PLLs) if they are not used by the transceiver.
(4) The number of PLLs depends on the package. Transceiver transmitter (TX) PLL count = (number of transceiver blocks)
(5) Banks 3C and 8C are dedicated configuration banks and do not have user I/O pins.
(6) For Arria II GZ devices, the user I/Os count from pin-out files includes all general purpose I/O, dedicated clock pins, and dual purpose configuration pins. Transceiver pins and dedicated configuration pins

are not included in the pin count.
(7) For Arria II GZ devices, total pairs of high-speed LVDS SERDES take the lowest channel count of RX/TX. For more information, refer to the High-Speed I/O Interfaces and DPA in Arria II Devices chapter.
(8) The smallest pin package (780-pin package) does not support high-speed LVDS SERDES.

8, 24, or 28 8, 24, or 28 24, 28, or 32 24, 28, 32 28 or 48 24 or 48 42 or 86 0 (8), 42, or 86 0 (8), 42, or 86

× 2.

1–4 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Arria II Device Feature

Tab le 1– 2 and Ta bl e 1 –3 list the Arria II device package options and user I/O pin

counts, high-speed LVDS channel counts, and transceiver channel counts for Ultra
FineLine BGA (UBGA) and FineLine BGA (FBGA) devices.

Table 1–2. Package Options and I/O Information for Arria II GX Devices (Note 1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)

358-Pin Flip Chip UBGA

17 mm x 17 mm

572-Pin Flip Chip FBGA

25 mm x 25 mm

780-Pin Flip Chip FBGA

29 mm x 29 mm

1152-Pin Flip Chip FBGA

35 mm x 35 mm

Device

I/O LVDS (8)

I/O LVDS (8)

XCVRs

57(R

or

33(R

or eTX)

EP2AGX45 156

D

+ 32(RX, TX,

4 252

or eTX)

or eTX)

33(R

D

EP2AGX65 156

+ 32(RX, TX,

4 252

or eTX)

EP2AGX95 — — — 260

D

eTX) +

56(RX, TX,

or eTX)

57(R

or

D

eTX) +

56(RX, TX,

or eTX)

or

57(R

D

eTX) +

56(RX, TX,

or eTX)

57(R

or

D

EP2AGX125 — — — 260

eTX) +

56(RX,TX, or

eTX)

EP2AGX190 — — — — — — 372

EP2AGX260 — — — — — — 372

Notes to Table 1–2:

(1) The user I/O counts include clock pins.
(2) The arrows indicate packages vertical migration capability. Vertical migration allows you to migrate to devices whose dedicated pins, configuration pins,

and power pins are the same for a given package across device densities.

= True LVDS input buffers with on-chip differential termination (RDOCT) support.

(3) R

D

(4) RX = True LVDS input buffers without R
(5) TX = True LVDS output buffers.
(6) eTX = Emulated-LVDS output buffers, either
(7) The LVDS channel count does not include dedicated clock input pins and PLL clock output pins.
(8) These numbers represent the accumulated LVDS channels supported in Arria II GX row and column I/O banks.

OCT support.

D

LVDS_E_3R

or

LVDS_E_1R

.

I/O LVDS (8)

XCVRs

8 364

8 364

8 372

8 372

or eTX)

85(R

D

+ 84(RX, TX,

or eTX)

or eTX)

85(R

D

+84(RX,TX,

eTX)

or eTX)

85(R

D

+84(RX, TX, or

eTX)

or eTX)

85(R

D

+84(RX,TX, or

eTX)

or eTX)

85(R

D

+84(RX, TX, or

eTX)

, eTX)

85(R

D

+84(RX, TX, or

eTX)

I/O LVDS (8)

XCVRs

8———

8———

105(R

or

D

12 452

eTX) +

104(RX, TX, or

12

eTX)

105(R

or

D

12 452

eTX) +

104(RX, TX, or

12

eTX)

145(R

or

D

12 612

eTX) +

144(RX, TX, or

16

eTX)

145(RD, eTX) +

12 612

144(RX, TX, or

16

eTX)

XCVRs

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–5

Arria II Device Feature

Table 1–3. Package Options and I/O Information for Arria II GZ Devices (Note 1), (2), (3), (4), (5)

780-Pin Flip Chip FBGA

29 mm x 29 mm

1152-Pin Flip Chip FBGA

35 mm x 35 mm

1517-Pin Flip Chip FBGA

40 mm x 40 mm

Device

I/O LVDS (6)

I/O LVDS (7)

XCVRs

EP2AGZ225 — — — 554

EP2AGZ300 281

EP2AGZ350 281

Notes to Table 1–3:

(1) The user I/O counts include clock pins.
(2) RX = True LVDS input buffers without R

banks.
(3) eTX = Emulated-LVDS output buffers, either
(4) The LVDS RX and TX channels are equally divided between the left and right sides of the device.
(5) The LVDS channel count does not include dedicated clock input pins.
(6) For Arria II GZ 780-pin FBGA package, the LVDS channels are only supported in column I/O banks.
(7) These numbers represents the accumulated LVDS channels supported in Arria II GZ device row and column I/O banks.

68 (RX or eTX) +

72 eTX

68 (RX or eTX) +

72 eTX

OCT support for row I/O banks, or true LVDS input buffers without RDOCT support for column I/O

D

16 554

16 554

LVDS_E_3R

or

135 (RX or eTX) +

140 (TX or eTX)

135 (RX or eTX) +

140 (TX or eTX)

135 (RX or eTX) +

140 (TX or eTX)

LVDS_E_1R.

I/O LVDS (7)

XCVRs

16 734

16 734

16 734

179 (RX or eTX) +

184 (TX or eTX)

179 (RX or eTX) +

184 (TX or eTX)

179 (RX or eTX) +

184 (TX or eTX)

Arria II devices are available in up to four speed grades: –3 (fastest), –4, –5, and –6
(slowest). Ta bl e 1– 4 lists the speed grades for Arria II devices.

XCVRs

24

24

24

Table 1–4. Speed Grades for Arria II Devices

Device

358-Pin Flip Chip

UBGA

572-Pin Flip Chip

FBGA

780-Pin Flip Chip

FBGA

1152-Pin Flip Chip

FBGA

1517-Pin Flip Chip

FBGA

EP2AGX45 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 — —

EP2AGX65 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 — —

EP2AGX95 — C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 —

EP2AGX125 — C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 —

EP2AGX190 — — C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 —

EP2AGX260 — — C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 C4, C5, C6, I3, I5 —

EP2AGZ225 — — — C3, C4, I3, I4 C3, C4, I3, I4

EP2AGZ300 — — C3, C4, I3, I4 C3, C4, I3, I4 C3, C4, I3, I4

EP2AGZ350 — — C3, C4, I3, I4 C3, C4, I3, I4 C3, C4, I3, I4

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

1–6 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Arria II Device Architecture

Arria II Device Architecture

Arria II devices include a customer-defined feature set optimized for cost-sensitive
applications and offer a wide range of density, memory, embedded multiplier, I/O,
and packaging options. Arria II devices support external memory interfaces and I/O
protocols required by wireless, wireline, broadcast, computer, storage, and military
markets. They inherit the 8-input ALM, M9K and M144K embedded RAM block, and
high-performance DSP blocks from the Stratix
cost-optimized I/O cell and a transceiver optimized for 6.375 Gbps speeds.

Figure 1–1 and Figure 1–2 show an overview of the Arria II GX and Arria II GZ device

architecture, respectively.

Figure 1–1. Architecture Overview for Arria II GX Devices

®

IV device family with a

DLL

PLL

Transceiver

Blocks

PLL

High-Speed Differential I/O,

General Purpose I/O, and

Memory Interface

Arria II GX FPGA Fabric

(Logic Elements, DSP,

Embedded Memory, Clock Networks)

All the blocks in this graphic are for the largest density in the

Arria II GX family. The number of blocks can vary based on

Plug and Play PCIe hard IP

××

1, 2,

High-Speed Differential I/O,

General Purpose I/O, and

Memory Interface

the density of the device.

×

4, and ×8

High-Speed Differential I/O,

General Purpose I/O, and

Memory Interface

High-Speed Differential I/O,

General Purpose I/O, and

Memory Interface

PLL

High-Speed

Differential I/O

with DPA,

General

Purpose

I/O, and
Memory

Interface

PLL
PLL

High-Speed

Differential I/O

with DPA,

General

Purpose

I/O, and

Memory

Interface

PLL

DLL

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–7

General Purpose
I/O and Memory

Interface

400 Mbps-6.375 Gbps CDR-based Transceiver

General Purpose I/O and 150 Mbps-1.25 Gbps
LVDS interface with DPA and Soft-CDR

Transceiver

Block

Transceiver

Block

Transceiver

Block

PCIe hard IP Block

(3)

General Purpose
I/O and Memory

Interface

PLL

(2)

PLL

(1)

PLL PLL

General Purpose
I/O and Memory

Interface

General Purpose
I/O and Memory

Interface

PLL PLL

Arria II GZ FPGA Fabric

(Logic Elements, DSP,

Embedded Memory,

Clock Networks)

Transceiver Block

General Purpose I/O and

High-Speed LVDS I/O

with DPA and Soft CDR

General Purpose

I/O and

High-Speed

LVDS I/O with

DPA and Soft CDR

PLL

(2)

PLL

(1)

Transceiver

Block

Transceiver

Block

Transceiver

Block

General Purpose

I/O and

High-Speed

LVDS I/O with

DPA and Soft CDR

General Purpose

I/O and

High-Speed

LVDS I/O with

DPA and Soft CDR

General Purpose

I/O and

High-Speed

LVDS I/O with

DPA and Soft CDR

Arria II Device Architecture

Figure 1–2. Architecture Overview for Arria II GZ Device

Notes to Figure 1–2:

(1) Not available for 780-pin FBGA package.
(2) Not available for 780-pin and 1152-pin FBGA packages.
(3) The PCIe hard IP block is located on the left side of the device only (IOBANK_QL).

High-Speed Transceiver Features

Arria II GX devices integrate up to 16 transceivers and Arria II GZ devices up to
24 transceivers on a single device. The transceiver block is optimized for cost and
power consumption. Arria II transceivers support the following features:

■ Configurable pre-emphasis and equalization, and adjustable output differential

voltage

■ Flexible and easy-to-configure transceiver datapath to implement proprietary

protocols

■ Signal integrity features

■ Programmable transmitter pre-emphasis to compensate for inter-symbol

interference (ISI)

■ User-controlled receiver equalization with up to 7 dB (Arria II GX) and

16 dB (Arria II GZ) of high-frequency gain

■ On-die power supply regulators for transmitter and receiver PLL charge pump

and voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) for superior noise immunity

■ Calibration circuitry for transmitter and receiver on-chip termination (OCT)

resistors

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

1–8 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

■ Diagnostic features

■ Serial loopback from the transmitter serializer to the receiver CDR for

Arria II Device Architecture

transceiver physical coding sublayer (PCS) and PMA diagnostics

■ Parallel loopback from the transmitter PCS to the receiver PCS with built-in self

test (BIST) pattern generator and verifier

■ Reverse serial loopback pre- and post-CDR to transmitter buffer for physical

link diagnostics

■ Loopback master and slave capability in PCIe hard IP blocks

■ Support for protocol features such as MSB-to-LSB transmission in a

SONET/SDH configuration and spread-spectrum clocking in a PCIe
configuration

Tab le 1– 5 lists common protocols and the Arria II dedicated circuitry and features for

implementing these protocols.

Table 1–5. Sample of Supported Protocols and Feature Descriptions for Arria II Devices

Supported Protocols Feature Descriptions

■ Complete PCIe Gen1 and Gen2 protocol stack solution compliant to PCIe Base

Specification 2.0 that includes PHY/MAC, Data Link, and Transaction layer circuitry
embedded in the PCIe hard IP blocks.

■ PCIe Gen1 has x1, x2, x4, and x8 lane configurations. PCIe Gen2 has x1, x2, and x4 lane

configurations. PCIe Gen2 does not support x8 lane configurations

PCIe

■ Built-in circuitry for electrical idle generation and detection, receiver detect, power state

transitions, lane reversal, and polarity inversion

■ 8B/10B encoder and decoder, receiver synchronization state machine, and ±300 parts

per million (PPM) clock compensation circuitry

■ Options to use:

■ Hard IP Data Link Layer and Transaction Layer

■ Hard IP Data Link Layer and custom Soft IP Transaction Layer

■ Compliant to IEEE P802.3ae specification

■ Embedded state machine circuitry to convert XGMII idle code groups (||I||) to and from

XAUI/HiGig/HiGig+

idle ordered sets (||A||, ||K||, ||R||) at the transmitter and receiver, respectively

■ 8B/10B encoder and decoder, receiver synchronization state machine, lane deskew, and

±100 PPM clock compensation circuitry

■ Compliant to IEEE 802.3 specification

■ Automatic idle ordered set (/I1/, /I2/) generation at the transmitter, depending on the

GbE

current running disparity

■ 8B/10B encoder and decoder, receiver synchronization state machine, and ±100 PPM

clock compensation circuitry

■ Transmit bit slipper eliminates latency uncertainty to comply with CPRI/OBSAI

CPRI/OBSAI

specifications

■ Optimized for power and cost for remote radio heads and RF modules

1 For other protocols supported by Arria II devices, such as SONET/SDH, SDI, SATA

and SRIO, refer to the Transceiver Architecture in Arria II Devices chapter.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–9

Arria II Device Architecture

1 PCIe Gen2 protocol is only available in Arria II GZ devices.

The following sections provide an overview of the various features of the Arria II
FPGA.

PCIe Hard IP Block

Every Arria II device includes an integrated hard IP block which implements PCIe
PHY/MAC, data link, and transaction layers. This PCIe hard IP block is highly
configurable to meet the requirements of the majority of PCIe applications. PCIe
hard IP makes implementing PCIe Gen1 and PCIe Gen2 solution in your Arria II
design simple and easy.

You can instantiate PCIe hard IP block using the PCI Compiler MegaWizard
Plug-In Manager, similar to soft IP functions, but does not consume core FPGA
resources or require placement, routing, and timing analysis to ensure correct
operation of the core. Table 1–6 lists the PCIe hard IP block support for Arria II GX
and GZ devices.

Table 1–6. PCIe Hard IP Block Support

TM

Support Arria II GX Devices Arria II GZ Devices

PCIe Gen1 x1, x4, x8 x1, x4, x8

PCIe Gen2 — x1, x4

Root Port and endpoint configurations Yes Yes

Payloads 128-byte to 256-byte 128-byte to 2K-byte

Logic Array Block and Adaptive Logic Modules

■ Logic array blocks (LABs) consists of 10 ALMs, carry chains, shared arithmetic

chains, LAB control signals, local interconnect, and register chain connection lines

■ ALMs expand the traditional four-input LUT architecture to eight-inputs,

increasing performance by reducing logic elements (LEs), logic levels, and
associated routing

■ LABs have a derivative called MLAB, which adds SRAM-memory capability to

the LAB

■ MLAB and LAB blocks always coexist as pairs, allowing up to 50% of the logic

(LABs) to be traded for memory (MLABs)

Embedded Memory Blocks

■ MLABs, M9K, and M144K embedded memory blocks provide up to 20,836 Kbits

of on-chip memory capable of up to 540-MHz performance. The embedded
memory structure consists of columns of embedded memory blocks that you can
configure as RAM, FIFO buffers, and ROM.

■ Optimized for applications such as high-throughput packet processing,

high-definition (HD) line buffers for video processing functions, and embedded
processor program and data storage.

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

1–10 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Arria II Device Architecture

■ The Quartus

M144K memory blocks by instantiating memory using a dedicated megafunction
wizard or by inferring memory directly from VHDL or Verilog source code.

Tab le 1– 7 lists the Arria II device memory modes.

Table 1–7. Memory Modes for Arria II Devices

Port Mode Port Width Configuration

Single Port x1, x2, x4, x8, x9, x16, x18, x32, x36, x64, and x72

Simple Dual Port x1, x2, x4, x8, x9, x16, x18, x32, x36, x64, and x72

True Dual Port x1, x2, x4, x8, x9, x16, x18, x32, and x36

DSP Resources

■ Fulfills the DSP requirements of 3G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless

infrastructure applications, video processing applications, and voice processing
applications

■ DSP block input registers efficiently implement shift registers for finite impulse

response (FIR) filter applications

■ The Quartus II software includes megafunctions you can use to control the mode

of operation of the DSP blocks based on user-parameter settings

®

II software allows you to take advantage of MLABs, M9K, and

■ You can directly infer multipliers from the VHDL or Verilog HDL source code

I/O Features

■ Contains up to 20 modular I/O banks

■ All I/O banks support a wide range of single-ended and differential I/O

Table 1–8. I/O Standards Support for Arria II Devices

Single-Ended I/O LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, HSTL, PCIe, and PCI-X

Differential I/O

Note to Tab le 1– 8:

(1) BLVDS is only available for Arria II GX devices.

■ Supports programmable bus hold, programmable weak pull-up resistors, and

■ For Arria II devices, calibrates OCT or driver impedance matching for

standards listed in Tab le 1 –8 .

Type I/O Standard

SSTL, HSTL, LVPECL, LVDS, mini-LVDS, Bus LVDS (BLVDS) (1), and
RSDS

programmable slew rate control

single-ended I/O standards with one OCT calibration block on the I/O banks
listed in Ta bl e 1– 9.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–11

Arria II Device Architecture

Table 1–9. Location of OCT Calibration Block in Arria II Devices

Device Package Option I/O Bank

Arria II GX All pin packages Bank 3A, Bank 7A, and Bank 8A

780-pin flip chip FBGA Bank 3A, Bank 4A, Bank 7A, and Bank 8A

Arria II GZ

1152-pin flip chip FBGA Bank 1A, Bank 3A, Bank 4A, Bank 6A, Bank 7A, and Bank 8A

1517-pin flip chip FBGA Bank 1A, Bank 2A, Bank 3A, Bank 4A, Bank 5A, Bank 6A, Bank 7A, and Bank 8A

■ Arria II GX devices have dedicated configuration banks at Bank 3C and 8C, which

support dedicated configuration pins and some of the dual-purpose pins with a
configuration scheme at 1.8, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.3 V. For Arria II GZ devices, the
dedicated configuration pins are located in Bank 1A and Bank 1C. However, these
banks are not dedicated configuration banks; therefore, user I/O pins are available
in Bank 1A and Bank 1C.

■ Dedicated

VCCIO, VREF

I/O standards. Each I/O bank can operate at independent V
levels.

High-Speed LVDS I/O and DPA

■ Dedicated circuitry for implementing LVDS interfaces at speeds from 150 Mbps to

1.25 Gbps

■ R

■ DPA circuitry and soft-CDR circuitry at the receiver automatically compensates for

OCT for high-speed LVDS interfacing

D

channel-to-channel and channel-to-clock skew in source-synchronous interfaces
and allows for implementation of asynchronous serial interfaces with embedded
clocks at up to 1.25 Gbps data rate (SGMII and GbE)

■ Emulated LVDS output buffers use two single-ended output buffers with an

external resistor network to support LVDS, mini-LVDS, BLVDS (only for
Arria II GZ devices), and RSDS standards.

Clock Management

■ Provides dedicated global clock networks, regional clock networks, and periphery

clock networks that are organized into a hierarchical structure that provides up to
192 unique clock domains

, and

VCCPD

pin per I/O bank to allow voltage-referenced

, V

CCIO

REF

, and V

CCPD

■ Up to eight PLLs with 10 outputs per PLL to provide robust clock management

and synthesis

■ Independently programmable PLL outputs, creating a unique and

customizable clock frequency with no fixed relation to any other clock

■ Inherent jitter filtration and fine granularity control over multiply and divide

ratios

■ Supports spread-spectrum input clocking and counter cascading with PLL

input clock frequencies ranging from 5 to 500 MHz to support both low-cost
and high-end clock performance

■ FPGA fabric can use the unused transceiver PLLs to provide more flexibility

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

1–12 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Arria II Device Architecture

Auto-Calibrating External Memory Interfaces

■ I/O structure enhanced to provide flexible and cost-effective support for different

types of memory interfaces

■ Contains features such as OCT and DQ/DQS pin groupings to enable rapid and

robust implementation of different memory standards

■ An auto-calibrating megafunction is available in the Quartus II software for

DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RLDRAM II memory interface
PHYs; the megafunction takes advantage of the PLL dynamic reconfiguration
feature to calibrate based on the changes of process, voltage, and temperature
(PVT).

f For the maximum clock rates supported in Altera's FPGA devices, refer to the

External Memory Interface Spec Estimator online tool.

f For more information about the external memory interfaces support, refer to the

External Memory Interfaces in Arria II Devices chapter.

Nios II

■ Arria II devices support all variants of the NIOS

®

II processor

■ Nios II processors are supported by an array of software tools from Altera and

leading embedded partners and are used by more designers than any other
configurable processor

Configuration Features

■ Configuration

■ Supports active serial (AS), passive serial (PS), fast passive parallel (FPP), and

JTAG configuration schemes.

■ Design Security

■ Supports programming file encryption using 256-bit volatile and non-volatile

security keys to protect designs from copying, reverse engineering, and
tampering in FPP configuration mode with an external host (such as a MAX
device or microprocessor), or when using the AS, FAS, or PS configuration
scheme

■ Decrypts an encrypted configuration bitstream using the AES algorithm, an

industry standard encryption algorithm that is FIPS-197 certified and requires
a 256-bit security key

®

II

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–13

Arria II Device Architecture

■ Remote System Upgrade

■ Allows error-free deployment of system upgrades from a remote location

securely and reliably without an external controller

■ Soft logic (either the Nios II embedded processor or user logic) implementation

in the device helps download a new configuration image from a remote
location, store it in configuration memory, and direct the dedicated remote
system upgrade circuitry to start a reconfiguration cycle

■ Dedicated circuitry in the remote system upgrade helps to avoid system down

time by performing error detection during and after the configuration process,
recover from an error condition by reverting back to a safe configuration
image, and provides error status information

SEU Mitigation

■ Offers built-in error detection circuitry to detect data corruption due to soft errors

in the configuration random access memory (CRAM) cells

■ Allows all CRAM contents to be read and verified to match a

configuration-computed cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value

■ You can identify and read out the bit location and the type of soft error through the

JTAG or the core interface

JTAG Boundary Scan Testing

■ Supports JTAG IEEE Std. 1149.1 and IEEE Std. 1149.6 specifications

■ IEEE Std. 1149.6 supports high-speed serial interface (HSSI) transceivers and

performs boundary scan on alternating current (AC)-coupled transceiver channels

■ Boundary-scan test (BST) architecture offers the capability to test pin connections

without using physical test probes and capture functional data while a device is
operating normally

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

1–14 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Device Density

Pack ageTyp

e

3, 4, 5, or 6, with 3 being the fastest

Corresponds to pin count
17 = 358 pins
25 = 572 pins
29 = 780 pins
35 = 1152 pins
40 = 1517 pins

F: FineLine BGA (FBGA)
U: Ultra FineLine BGA (UBGA)
H: Hybrid FineLine BGA (HBGA)

GX: 45, 65, 95, 125, 190,260

GZ: 225, 300, 350

Optional SuffixFa m i l y S i g n a t u r e

Operat ing Tempe rature

Sp e e d Gr a d e

Ball Array Dimension

4

EP2AGX

45

C

17

F

N

Indicates specific device options

N: Lead-f ree devi ces

ES: Engineering sample

EP2AGX
EP2AGZ

C

Transceiver Count

C: 4
D: 8
E: 12
F:16
H: 24

C: Commercial temperature (t

J

= 0°C to 85°C)

I: Industrial temperature (t

J

= -40°C to 100°C)

Reference and Ordering Information

Reference and Ordering Information

Figure 1–3 shows the ordering codes for Arria II devices.

Figure 1–3. Packaging Ordering Information for Arria II Devices

Document Revision History

Tab le 1– 10 lists the revision history for this chapter.

Table 1–10. Document Revision History (Part 1 of 2)

Date Version Changes

July 2012 4.4

December 2011 4.3 Updated Table 1–4 and Table 1–9.

June 2011 4.2 Updated Table 1–2.

June 2011 4.1

December 2010 4.0

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Replaced Table 1-10. External Memory Interface Maximum Performance for Arria II Devices
with link to the External Memory Interface Spec Estimator online tool.

■ Updated Figure 1–2.

■ Updated Table 1–10.

■ Updated the “Arria II Device Feature” section.

■ Added Table 1–6.

■ Minor text edits.

■ Updated for the Quartus II software version 10.0 release

■ Added information about Arria II GZ devices

■ Updated Table 1–1, Table 1–4, Table 1–5, Table 1–6, Table 1–7, and Table 1–9

■ Added Table 1–3

■ Added Figure 1–2

■ Updated Figure 1–3

■ Updated “Arria II Device Feature” and “Arria II Device Architecture” section

Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family 1–15

Document Revision History

Table 1–10. Document Revision History (Part 2 of 2)

Date Version Changes

Updated for the Quartus II software version 10.0 release:

■ Added information about –I3 speed grade

July 2010 3.0

November 2009 2.0

June 2009 1.1

■ Updated Table 1–1, Table 1–3, and Table 1–7

■ Updated Figure 1–2

■ Updated “Highlights” and “High-Speed LVDS I/O and DPA”section

■ Minor text edits

■ Updated Table 1–1, Table 1–2, and Table 1–3

■ Updated “Configuration Features” section

■ Updated Table 1–2.

■ Updated “I/O Features” section.

February 2009 1.0 Initial release.

July 2012 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

1–16 Chapter 1: Overview for the Arria II Device Family

Document Revision History

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration July 2012 Altera Corporation

Direct link
interconnect from
adjacent block

Direct link
interconnect to
adjacent block

Row Interconnects of
Variable Speed & Length

Column Interconnects of
Variable Speed & Length

Local Interconnect is Driven

from Either Side by Column Interconnect

& LABs, & from Above by Row Interconnect

Local Interconnect

LAB

Direct link
interconnect from
adjacent block

Direct link
interconnect to
adjacent block

ALMs

MLAB

C4 C12

R20

R4

December 2010
AIIGX51002-2.0

AIIGX51002-2.0

This chapter describes the features of the logic array block (LAB) in the Arria®II core
fabric. The LAB is composed of basic building blocks known as adaptive logic
modules (ALMs) that you can configure to implement logic functions, arithmetic
functions, and register functions.

This chapter contains the following sections:

■ “Logic Array Blocks” on page 2–1

■ “Adaptive Logic Modules” on page 2–5

Logic Array Blocks

Each LAB consists of ten ALMs, various carry chains, shared arithmetic chains, LAB
control signals, local interconnect, and register chain connection lines. The local
interconnect transfers signals between ALMs in the same LAB. The direct link
interconnect allows the LAB to drive into the local interconnect of its left and right
neighbors. Register chain connections transfer the output of the ALM register to the
adjacent ALM register in the LAB. The Quartus
the LAB or the adjacent LABs, allowing the use of local, shared arithmetic chain, and
register chain connections for performance and area efficiency.

2. Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

®

II Compiler places associated logic in

Figure 2–1 shows the Arria II LAB structure and the LAB interconnects.

Figure 2–1. LAB Structure in Arria II Devices

© 2010 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at

www.altera.com/common/legal.html. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products to current specifications in accordance with Altera’s standard warranty, but

reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any time without notice. Altera assumes no responsib ility or liability arising out of the application or use of any
information, product, or service described herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device
specifications before relying on any published information and before placing orders for products or services.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration
December 2010

Subscribe

2–2 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

MLAB

LAB

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

LUT-based-64 x 1

Simple dual port SRAM

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

ALM

LAB Control Block LAB Control Block

Logic Array Blocks

The LAB of the Arria II device has a derivative called memory LAB (MLAB), which
adds look-up table (LUT)-based SRAM capability to the LAB. The MLAB supports a
maximum of 640 bits of simple dual-port SRAM. You can configure each ALM in an
MLAB as either a 64 × 1 or 32 × 2 block, resulting in a configuration of 64 × 10 or
32 × 20 simple dual-port SRAM blocks. MLAB and LAB blocks always coexist as pairs
in Arria II devices. MLAB is a superset of the LAB and includes all LAB features.

Figure 2–2 shows an overview of LAB and MLAB topology.

f For more information about MLABs, refer to the TriMatrix Memory Blocks in Arria II

Devices chapter.

Figure 2–2. LAB and MLAB Structure in Arria II Devices

Note to Figure 2–2:

(1) You can use an MLAB ALM as a regular LAB ALM or configure it as a dual-port SRAM.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–3

ALMs

Direct link
interconnect
to right

Direct link interconnect from
right LAB, memory block,
DSP block, or IOE output

Direct link interconnect from

left LAB, memory block,

DSP block, or IOE output

Local

Interconnect

LAB

ALMs

Direct link
interconnect
to left

MLAB

Logic Array Blocks

LAB Interconnects

The LAB local interconnect drives the ALMs in the same LAB using column and row
interconnects and the ALM outputs in the same LAB. The direct link connection
feature minimizes the use of row and column interconnects, providing higher
performance and flexibility. Adjacent LABs/MLABs, memory blocks, or DSP blocks
from the left or right can also drive the LAB’s local interconnect through the direct
link connection. Each LAB can drive 30 ALMs through fast local and direct link
interconnects. Ten ALMs are in any given LAB and ten ALMs are in each of the
adjacent LABs.

Figure 2–3 shows the direct link connection, which connects adjacent LABs, memory

blocks, DSP blocks, or I/O element (IOE) outputs.

Figure 2–3. Direct Link Connection

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

2–4 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Dedicated Row LAB Clocks

Local Interconnect

Local Interconnect

Local Interconnect

Local Interconnect

Local Interconnect

Local Interconnect

labclk2

syncload

labclkena0

or asyncload

or labpreset

labclk0

labclk1

labclr1

labclkena1 labclkena2 labclr0 synclr

6

6

6

There are two unique

clock signals per LAB.

Logic Array Blocks

LAB Control Signals

Each LAB contains dedicated logic for driving a maximum of 10 control signals to its
ALMs at a time. Control signals include three clocks, three clock enables, two
asynchronous clears, a synchronous clear, and synchronous load control signals.
Although you generally use synchronous-load and clear signals when implementing
counters, you can also use them with other functions. Each LAB has two unique clock
sources and three clock enable signals, as shown in Figure 2–4. The LAB control block
can generate up to three clocks using two clock sources and three clock enable signals.
Each clock and clock enable signals are linked. For example, any ALM in a particular
LAB using the
the rising and falling edges of a clock, it also uses two LAB-wide clock signals.
De-asserting the clock enable signal turns off the corresponding LAB-wide clock. The
LAB row clocks [5..0] and LAB local interconnects generate the LAB-wide control
signals. In addition to data, the inherent low skew of the MultiTrack interconnect
allows clock and control signal distribution.

Figure 2–4. LAB-Wide Control Signals

labclk1

signal also uses the

labclkena1

signal. If the LAB uses both

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–5

DQ

To general or

local routing

reg0

To general or

local routing

datae0

dataf0

reg_chain_in

reg_chain_out

adder0

dataa

datab

datac

datad

datae1

dataf1

DQ

To general or

local routing

reg1

To general or

local routing

adder1

carry_in

carry_out

Combinational/Memory ALUT0

6-Input LUT

6-Input LUT

shared_arith_out

shared_arith_in

Combinational/Memory ALUT1

labclk

Adaptive Logic Modules

Adaptive Logic Modules

The ALM is the basic building block of logic in the Arria II device architecture. Each
ALM contains a variety of LUT-based resources that can be divided between two
combinational adaptive LUTs (ALUTs) and two registers. With up to eight inputs for
the two combinational ALUTs, one ALM can implement various combinations of two
functions. This adaptability allows an ALM to be completely backward-compatible
with 4-input LUT architectures. One ALM can also implement any function with up
to 6-input and certain 7-input functions. In addition to the ALUT-based resources,
each ALM contains two programmable registers, two dedicated full adders, a carry
chain, a shared arithmetic chain, and a register chain. Through these dedicated
resources, an ALM can efficiently implement various arithmetic functions and shift
registers. Each ALM drives all types of interconnects: local, row, column, carry chain,
shared arithmetic chain, register chain, and direct link. Figure 2–5 shows a high-level
block diagram of the Arria II ALM.

Figure 2–5. High-Level Block Diagram of the Arria II ALM

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

2–6 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

D Q

+

reg_chain_in

aclr[1:0]

sclr

syncload

clk[2:0]

carry_in

dataf0

datae0

dataa
datab

datac1

datae1

dataf1

shared_arith_out

carry_out

reg_chain_out

CLR

D Q

CLR

shared_arith_in

local
interconnect

row, column
direct link routing

row, column
direct link routing

local
interconnect

4-INPUT

LUT

4-INPUT

LUT

3-INPUT

LUT

3-INPUT

LUT

3-INPUT

LUT

3-INPUT

LUT

+

datac0

V

CC

GND

row, column
direct link routing

row, column
direct link routing

Adaptive Logic Modules

Figure 2–6 shows a detailed view of all the connections in an ALM.

Figure 2–6. Connection Details of the Arria II ALM

One ALM contains two programmable registers. Each register has data, clock, clock
enable, synchronous and asynchronous clear, and synchronous load and clear inputs.
Global signals, general purpose I/O (GPIO) pins, or any internal logic can drive the
register’s clock and clear-control signals. Either GPIO pins or internal logic can drive
the clock enable. For combinational functions, the register is bypassed and the output
of the LUT drives directly to the outputs of an ALM.

Each ALM has two sets of outputs that drive the local, row, and column routing
resources. The LUT, adder, or register output can drive the ALM outputs (refer to

Figure 2–6). For each set of output drivers, two ALM outputs can drive column, row,

or direct link routing connections, and one of these ALM outputs can also drive local
interconnect resources. The LUT or adder can drive one output while the register
drives another output.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–7

Adaptive Logic Modules

This feature is called register packing. It improves device utilization by allowing the
device to use the register and combinational logic for unrelated functions. Another
mechanism to improve fitting is to allow the register output to feed back into the LUT
of the same ALM so that the register is packed with its own fan-out LUT. The ALM
can also drive out registered and unregistered versions of the LUT or adder output.

The Quartus II software automatically configures the ALMs for optimized
performance.

ALM Operating Modes

The Arria II ALM can operate in any of the following modes:

■ Normal

■ Extended LUT

■ Arithmetic

■ Shared Arithmetic

■ LUT-Register

The Quartus II software and other supported third-party synthesis tools, in
conjunction with parameterized functions such as the library of parameterized
modules (LPM) functions, automatically choose the appropriate mode for common
functions such as counters, adders, subtractors, and arithmetic functions. Each mode
uses the ALM resources differently. In each mode, eleven available inputs to an
ALM—the eight data inputs from the LAB local interconnect, carry-in from the
previous ALM or LAB, the shared arithmetic chain connection from the previous
ALM or LAB, and the register chain connection—are directed to different destinations
to implement the desired logic function. LAB-wide signals provide clock,
asynchronous clear, synchronous clear, synchronous load, and clock enable control for
the register. These LAB-wide signals are available in all ALM modes. For more
information on the LAB-wide control signals, refer to “LAB Control Signals” on

page 2–4.

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

2–8 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

6-Input

LUT

dataf0

datae0

dataf0

datae0

dataa
datab

dataa
datab

datab

datac

datac

dataf0

datae0

dataa

datac

6-Input

LUT

datad

datad

datae1

combout0

combout1

combout0

combout1

combout0

combout1

dataf1

datae1

dataf1

datad

datae1

dataf1

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

6-Input

LUT

dataf0

datae0

dataa
datab
datac
datad

combout0

5-Input

LUT

5-Input

LUT

dataf0

datae0

dataa
datab

datac

datad

combout0

combout1

datae1

dataf1

5-Input

LUT

dataf0

datae0

dataa
datab

datac

datad

combout0

combout1

datae1

dataf1

5-Input

LUT

3-Input

LUT

Adaptive Logic Modules

Normal Mode

Normal mode is suitable for general logic applications and combinational functions.
In this mode, up to eight data inputs from the LAB local interconnect are inputs to the
combinational logic. Normal mode allows two functions to be implemented in one
Arria II ALM, or a single function of up to six inputs. The ALM can support certain
combinations of completely independent functions and various combinations of
functions that have common inputs.

Figure 2–7 shows the supported LUT combinations in normal mode.

Figure 2–7. ALM in Normal Mode (Note 1)

Note to Figure 2–7:

(1) Combinations of functions with fewer inputs than those shown are also supported. For example, combinations of functions with the following

number of inputs are supported: 4 and 3, 3 and 3, 3 and 2, and 5 and 2.

Normal mode provides complete backward-compatibility with 4-input LUT
architectures.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–9

6-Input

LUT

dataf0

datae0

dataa
datab
datac
datad

datae1

dataf1

DQ

DQ

To general or
local routing

To general or
local routing

To general or
local routing

reg0

reg1

(2)

labclk

Adaptive Logic Modules

For the packing of two 5-input functions into one ALM, the functions must have at
least two common inputs. The common inputs are
of a 4-input function with a 5-input function requires one common input (either
or

datab

).

dataa

and

datab

. The combination

dataa

In the case of implementing two 6-input functions in one ALM, four inputs must be
shared and the combinational function must be the same. In a sparsely used device,
functions that could be placed in one ALM may be implemented in separate ALMs by
the Quartus II software to achieve the best possible performance. As a device begins
to fill up, the Quartus II software automatically utilizes the full potential of the
Arria II ALM. The Quartus II Compiler automatically searches for functions using
common inputs or completely independent functions to be placed in one ALM to
make efficient use of device resources. In addition, you can manually control resource
usage by setting location assignments.

Any 6-input function can be implemented using inputs
and either
the output is driven to

datae0

and

dataf0

or

register0

datae1

, and/or

and

dataf1

register0

dataa, datab, datac, datad

. If

datae0

and

dataf0

is bypassed and the data drives

out to the interconnect using the top set of output drivers (refer to Figure 2–8). If

datae1
register1

and

dataf1

are used, the output either drives to

register1

or bypasses

and drives to the interconnect using the bottom set of output drivers. The
Quartus II Compiler automatically selects the inputs to the LUT. ALMs in normal
mode support register packing.

Figure 2–8. Input Function in Normal Mode (Note 1)

Notes to Figure 2–8:

(1) If datae1 and dataf1 are used as inputs to a 6-input function, datae0 and dataf0 are available for register packing.
(2) The dataf1 input is available for register packing only if the 6-input function is unregistered.

,

are utilized,

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

2–10 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Adaptive Logic Modules

Extended LUT Mode

Use extended LUT mode to implement a specific set of 7-input functions. The set must
be a 2-to-1 multiplexer fed by two arbitrary 5-input functions sharing four inputs.

Figure 2–9 shows the template of supported 7-input functions using extended LUT

mode. In this mode, if the 7-input function is unregistered, the unused eighth input is
available for register packing.

Functions that fit into the template, as shown in Figure 2–9, often appear in designs as
“if-else” statements in Verilog HDL or VHDL code.

Figure 2–9. Template for Supported 7-Input Functions in Extended LUT Mode

datae0

datac
dataa
datab
datad

dataf0

datae1

5-Input

LUT

5-Input

LUT

combout0

DQ

reg0

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

dataf1

(1)

This input is available
for register packing.

Note to Figure 2–9:

(1) If the 7-input function is unregistered, the unused eighth input is available for register packing. The second register, reg1, is not available.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–11

datae0

carry_in

carry_out

dataa

datab

datac

datad

datae1

DQ

DQ

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

reg0

reg1

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

adder1

adder0

dataf0

dataf1

Adaptive Logic Modules

Arithmetic Mode

Arithmetic mode is ideal for implementing adders, counters, accumulators, wide
parity functions, and comparators. The ALM in arithmetic mode uses two sets of two
4-input LUTs along with two dedicated full adders. The dedicated adders allow the
LUTs to be available to perform pre-adder logic; therefore, each adder can add the
output of two 4-input functions. The four LUTs share
shown in Figure 2–10, the carry-in signal feeds to

adder0

feeds to the carry-in of
the next ALM in the LAB. ALMs in arithmetic mode can drive out registered and
unregistered versions of the adder outputs.

Figure 2–10. ALM in Arithmetic Mode

adder1

. The carry-out from

dataa

adder0

and

datab

inputs. As

and the carry-out from

adder1

drives to

adder0

of

In arithmetic mode, the ALM supports simultaneous use of the adder’s carry output
along with combinational logic outputs. The adder output is ignored in this operation.
Using the adder with combinational logic output provides resource savings of up to
50% for functions that can use this mode.

Arithmetic mode also offers clock enable, counter enable, synchronous up and down
control, add and subtract control, synchronous clear, and synchronous load. The LAB
local interconnect data inputs generate the clock enable, counter enable, synchronous
up and down, and add and subtract control signals. These control signals are good
candidates for the inputs that share the four LUTs in the ALM. The synchronous clear

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

and synchronous load options are LAB-wide signals that affect all registers in the
LAB. These signals can also be individually disabled or enabled per register. The
Quartus II software automatically places any registers that are not used by the counter
into other LABs.

2–12 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Adaptive Logic Modules

Carry Chain

The carry chain provides a fast carry function between the dedicated adders in
arithmetic or shared arithmetic mode. The two-bit carry select feature in Arria II
devices halves the propagation delay of carry chains within the ALM. Carry chains
can begin in either the first ALM or the fifth ALM in a LAB. The final carry-out signal
is routed to an ALM, where it is fed to local, row, or column interconnects.

The Quartus II Compiler automatically creates carry chain logic during design
processing, or you can create it manually during design entry. Parameterized
functions such as LPM automatically take advantage of carry chains for the
appropriate functions.

The Quartus II Compiler creates carry chains longer than 20 ALMs (10 ALMs in
arithmetic or shared arithmetic mode) by linking LABs together automatically. To
enhance fitting, a long carry chain runs vertically, allowing fast horizontal connections
to TriMatrix memory and DSP blocks. A carry chain can continue as far as a full
column.

To avoid routing congestion in one small area of the device when a high fan-in
arithmetic function is implemented, the LAB can support carry chains that only use
either the top half or bottom half of the LAB before connecting to the next LAB. This
leaves the other half of the ALMs in the LAB available for implementing narrower
fan-in functions in normal mode. Carry chains that use the top five ALMs in the first
LAB carry into the top half of the ALMs in the next LAB in the column. Carry chains
that use the bottom five ALMs in the first LAB carry into the bottom half of the ALMs
in the next LAB within the column. In every alternate LAB column, the top half can be
bypassed; in the other MLAB columns, the bottom half can be bypassed.

1 For more information on carry chain interconnect, refer to “ALM Interconnects” on

page 2–17.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–13

datae0

carry_in

shared_arith_in

shared_arith_out

carry_out

dataa

datab

datac

datad

datae1

DQ

DQ

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

reg0

reg1

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

4-Input

LUT

labclk

Adaptive Logic Modules

Shared Arithmetic Mode

In shared arithmetic mode, the ALM can implement a 3-input add in an ALM. In this
mode, the ALM is configured with four 4-input LUTs. Each LUT either computes the
sum of three inputs or the carry of three inputs. The output of the carry computation
is fed to the next adder using a dedicated connection called the shared arithmetic
chain. This shared arithmetic chain can significantly improve the performance of an
adder tree by reducing the number of summation stages required to implement an
adder tree. Figure 2–11 shows the ALM using this feature.

Figure 2–11. ALM in Shared Arithmetic Mode

You can find adder trees in many different applications. For example, the summation
of the partial products in a logic-based multiplier can be implemented in a tree
structure. Another example is a correlator function that can use a large adder tree to
sum filtered data samples in a given time frame to recover or de-spread data that was

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

transmitted using spread-spectrum technology.

2–14 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Adaptive Logic Modules

Shared Arithmetic Chain

The shared arithmetic chain available in enhanced arithmetic mode allows the ALM
to implement a 3-input add. This significantly reduces the resources necessary to
implement large adder trees or correlator functions.

The shared arithmetic chains can begin in either the first or sixth ALM in an LAB. The
Quartus II Compiler creates shared arithmetic chains longer than 20 ALMs (10 ALMs
in arithmetic or shared arithmetic mode) by linking LABs together automatically. To
enhance fitting, a long shared arithmetic chain runs vertically, allowing fast horizontal
connections to the TriMatrix memory and DSP blocks. A shared arithmetic chain can
continue as far as a full column.

Similar to the carry chains, the top and bottom half of shared arithmetic chains in
alternate LAB columns can be bypassed. This capability allows the shared arithmetic
chain to cascade through half of the ALMs in an LAB while leaving the other half
available for narrower fan-in functionality. Every other LAB column is top-half
bypassable, while the other LAB columns are bottom-half bypassable.

1 For more information on shared arithmetic chain interconnect, refer to “ALM

Interconnects” on page 2–17.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–15

4-input

LUT

5-input

LUT

clk

aclr

datain(datac)

sclr

sumout

Master latch

Slave latch

combout

LUT regout

sumout

combout

Adaptive Logic Modules

LUT-Register Mode

LUT-Register mode allows third register capability in an ALM. Two internal feedback
loops allow combinational

ALUT0

to implement the slave latch needed for the third register. The LUT register
shares its clock, clock enable, and asynchronous clear sources with the top dedicated
register. Figure 2–12 shows the register constructed using two combinational blocks in
the ALM.

Figure 2–12. LUT Register from Two Combinational Blocks

ALUT1

to implement the master latch and combinational

Figure 2–13 shows the ALM in LUT-Register mode.

Figure 2–13. ALM in LUT-Register Mode with 3-Register Capability

clk [2..0]

aclr [1..0] reg_chain_in

Third register

DC1

E0

F1

E1

F0

datain

aclr

sclr

regout

latchout

datain

sdata

datain

sdata

aclr

aclr

regout

regout

lelocal 0

leout 0 a

leout 0 b

lelocal 1

leout 1 a

leout 1 b

reg_chain_out

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

2–16 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

Adaptive Logic Modules

Register Chain

In addition to general routing outputs, the ALMs in any given LAB have register
chain outputs to allow registers in the same LAB to be cascaded together. The register
chain interconnect allows a LAB to use LUTs for a single combinational function and
the registers to be used for an unrelated shift register implementation. These resources
speed up connections between ALMs while saving local interconnect resources (refer
to Figure 2–14). The Quartus II Compiler automatically takes advantage of these
resources to improve utilization and performance.

Figure 2–14. Register Chain in an LAB (Note 1)

From previous ALM

labclk

in the LAB

DQ

reg0

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

reg_chain_in

adder0

Combinational

Logic

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

To general or

local routing

Combinational

Logic

adder1

adder0

adder1

DQ

reg1

DQ

reg0

DQ

reg1

reg_chain_out

To next ALM
in the LAB

Note to Figure 2–14:

(1) You can use the combinational or adder logic to implement an unrelated, un-registered function.

1 For more information about register chain interconnect, refer to “ALM Interconnects”

on page 2–17.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices 2–17

t

Adaptive Logic Modules

ALM Interconnects

There are three dedicated paths between ALMs: Register Cascade, Carry-chain, and
Shared Arithmetic chain. Arria II devices include an enhanced interconnect structure
in LABs for routing shared arithmetic chains and carry chains for efficient arithmetic
functions. The register chain connection allows the register output of one ALM to
connect directly to the register input of the next ALM in the LAB for fast shift
registers. These ALM-to-ALM connections bypass the local interconnect. Figure 2–15
shows the shared arithmetic chain, carry chain, and register chain interconnects.

Figure 2–15. Shared Arithmetic Chain, Carry Chain, and Register Chain Interconnects

Local interconnect
routing among ALMs
in the LAB

Carry chain & shared

arithmetic chain

routing to adjacent ALM

Local

interconnect

Clear and Preset Logic Control

LAB-wide signals control the logic for the register‘s clear signal. The ALM directly
supports an asynchronous clear function. You can achieve the register preset through
the Quartus II software’s NOT-gate push-back logic option. Each LAB supports up to
two clears.

Arria II devices provide a device-wide reset pin (
the device. An option set before compilation in the Quartus II software enables this
pin. This device-wide reset overrides all other control signals.

LAB Power Management Techniques

...

ALM 1

ALM 2

ALM 3

...

ALM 10

DEV_CLRn

Register chain
routing to adjacent
ALM's register inpu

) that resets all registers in

The following techniques are used to manage static and dynamic power consumption
within the LAB:

■ The Quartus II software forces all adder inputs low when ALM adders are not in

use to save AC power.

■ Arria II LABs operate in high-performance mode or low-power mode. The

Quartus II software automatically chooses the appropriate mode for the LAB,
based on the design, to optimize speed versus leakage trade-offs.

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

2–18 Chapter 2: Logic Array Blocks and Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices

■ Clocks represent a significant portion of dynamic power consumption due to their

Document Revision History

high switching activity and long paths. The LAB clock that distributes a clock
signal to registers within an LAB is a significant contributor to overall clock power
consumption. Each LAB’s clock and clock enable signal are linked. For example, a
combinational ALUT or register in a particular LAB using the
uses the

labclkena1

signal. To disable an LAB-wide clock power consumption

labclk1

signal also

without disabling the entire clock tree, use the LAB-wide clock enable to gate the
LAB-wide clock. The Quartus II software automatically promotes register-level
clock enable signals to the LAB-level. All registers within the LAB that share a
common clock and clock enable are controlled by a shared, gated clock. To take
advantage of these clock enables, use a clock-enable construct in your HDL code
for the registered logic.

f For more information about implementing static and dynamic power consumption

within the LAB, refer to the Power Optimization chapter in volume 2 of the Quartus II
Handbook.

Document Revision History

Tab le 2– 1 lists the revision history for this document.

Table 2–1. Document Revision History

Date Version Changes

Updated for the Quartus II software version 10.1 release:

■ Added Arria II GZ device information.

December 2010 2.0

■ Updated “Logic Array Blocks”, “LAB Interconnects”, “LAB Control Signals”, “Adaptive

Logic Modules”, “ALM Operating Modes”, “Normal Mode” sections.

■ Added Figure 2–7 and Figure 2–8.

■ Added “LAB Power Management Techniques” section.

June 2009 1.1 Updated Figure 2–6.

February 2009 1.0 Initial Release.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

December 2011
AIIGX51003-3.2

AIIGX51003-3.2

3. Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

This chapter describes the Arria® II device memory blocks that include 640-bit
memory logic array blocks (MLABs), 9-Kbit M9K blocks, and 144-Kbit M144K blocks.
MLABs are optimized to implement filter delay lines, small FIFO buffers, and shift
registers. You can use the M9K blocks for general purpose memory applications and
the M144K blocks for processor code storage, packet buffering, and video frame
buffering.

1 M144K block is only available for Arria II GZ devices.

You can configure each embedded memory block independently with the Quartus
MegaWizard

™

Plug-In Manager to be a single- or dual-port RAM, FIFO, ROM, or shift
register. You can stitch together multiple blocks of the same type to produce larger
memories with a minimal timing penalty.

This chapter contains the following sections:

■ “Memory Features” on page 3–2

■ “Memory Modes” on page 3–10

■ “Clocking Modes” on page 3–19

■ “Design Considerations” on page 3–20

®

II

© 2011 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at

www.altera.com/common/legal.html. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products to current specifications in accordance with Altera’s standard warranty, but

reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any time without notice. Altera assumes no responsib ility or liability arising out of the application or use of any
information, product, or service described herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device
specifications before relying on any published information and before placing orders for products or services.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration
December 2011

Subscribe

3–2 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

Memory Features

Memory Features

Tab le 3– 1 lists the features supported by the embedded memory blocks.

Table 3–1. Summary of Memory Features in Arria II Devices (Part 1 of 2)

Feature

Maximum performance 500 MHz 500 MHz 390 MHz 540 MHz 500 MHz

Total RAM bits (including parity
bits)

Configurations (depth × width)

Parity bits vvvv v
Byte enable vvvv v
Packed mode — — vv v
Address clock enable vvvv v
Single-port memory vvvv v
Simple dual-port memory vvvv v
True dual-port memory — — vv v
Embedded shift register vvvv v
ROM vvvv v
FIFO buffer vvvv v

Simple dual-port mixed width
support

True dual-port mixed width
support

Memory initialization file (.mif) vvvv v
Mixed-clock mode vvvv v

Power-up condition

Register clears Output registers Output registers Output registers

Write/Read operation triggering

Same-port read-during-write

Arria II GX Arria II GZ Arria II GX Arria II GZ Arria II GZ

64 × 10

32 × 16

32 × 18

32 × 20

Outputs cleared if registered,

otherwise reads memory

Write: Falling clock edges.

Read: Rising clock edges

Outputs set to

old data

MLABs M9K Blocks M144K Blocks

640 640 9,216 9,216 147,456

edges

8K × 1

4K × 2

2K × 4

1K × 8

1K × 9

512 × 16

512 × 18

256 × 32

256 × 36

16K × 8

16K × 9

8K × 16

8K × 18

4K × 32

4K × 36

2K × 64

2K × 72

Write and Read: Rising

clock edges

Outputs set to old data or

new data

8K × 1

64×8

64×9

——vv v
——vv v

contents.

64 × 8

64 × 9

64 × 10

32 × 16

32 × 18

32 × 20

Outputs set

to don’t care

4K × 2

2K × 4

1K × 8

1K × 9

512 × 16

512 × 18

256 × 32

256 × 36

Outputs cleared Outputs cleared

Write and Read: Rising clock

Outputs set to old data or

new data

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2011 Altera Corporation

Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–3

Memory Features

Table 3–1. Summary of Memory Features in Arria II Devices (Part 2 of 2)

Feature

Mixed-port read-during-write

ECC Support

Arria II GX Arria II GZ Arria II GX Arria II GZ Arria II GZ

Outputs set to old data,

Soft IP support using the

MLABs M9K Blocks M144K Blocks

new data, or

don’t care

Quartus II software

Outputs set to old data or

don’t care

Soft IP support using the

Quartus II software

Built-in support in

×64-wide simple dual-port

mode or soft IP support

using the Quartus II

Tab le 3– 2 lists the capacity and distribution of the memory blocks in each Arria II

device.

Table 3–2. Memory Capacity and Distribution in Arria II Devices

Device MLABs M9K Blocks M144K Total RAM Bits (including MLABs) (Kbits)

EP2AGX45 903 319 — 3,435

EP2AGX65 1,265 495 — 5,246

EP2AGX95 1,874 612 — 6,679

EP2AGX125 2,482 730 — 8,121

EP2AGX190 3,806 840 — 9,939

EP2AGX260 5,130 950 — 11,756

EP2AGZ225 4,480 1,235 — 13,915

EP2AGZ300 5,960 1,248 24 18,413

EP2AGZ350 6,970 1,248 36 20,772

Outputs set to

old data or

don’t care

software

Memory Block Types

M9K and M144K memory blocks are dedicated resources. MLABs are dual-purpose
blocks. You can configure the MLABs as regular logic array blocks (LABs) or as
MLABs. Ten ALMs make up one MLAB. You can configure each ALM in an MLAB as
either a 64 × 1 or a 32 × 2 block, resulting in a 64 × 10 or 32 × 20 simple dual-port
SRAM block in a single MLAB.

Parity Bit Support

All memory blocks have built-in parity bit support. The ninth bit associated with each
byte can store a parity bit or serve as an additional data bit. No parity function is
actually performed on the ninth bit.

Byte Enable Support

All memory blocks support byte enables that mask the input data so that only specific
bytes of data are written. The unwritten bytes retain the previous written value. The
write enable (
write operations of the RAM blocks.

December 2011 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

wren

) signals, along with the byte enable (

byteena

) signals, control the

3–4 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

inclock

wren

address

data

don't care: q (asynch)

byteena

XXXX

ABCD XXXX

XX

10 01

11

XX

an

a0 a1 a2 a0 a1 a2

ABCDFFFF

FFFF ABFF

FFFF FFCD

contents at a0

contents at a1

contents at a2

doutn

ABXX

XXCD

ABCD ABFF FFCD

ABCD

doutn

ABFF

FFCD

ABCD ABFF FFCD

ABCD

current data: q (asynch)

Memory Features

The default value for the byte enable signals is high (enabled), in which case writing is
controlled only by the write enable signals. The byte enable registers have no clear
port. When using parity bits on the M9K and M144K blocks, the byte enable controls
all 9 bits (8 bits of data plus 1 parity bit). When using parity bits on the MLAB, the
byte-enable controls all 10 bits in the widest mode.

Byte enables are only supported for true dual-port memory configurations when both
the PortA and PortB data widths of the individual M9K memory blocks are multiples
of 8 or 9 bits. For example, you cannot use byte enable for a mixed data width
memory configured with portA=32 and portB=8 because the mixed data width
memory is implemented as 2 separate 16 x 4 bit memories.

Byte enables operate in a one-hot fashion, with the LSB of the
corresponding to the LSB of the data bus. For example, if you use a RAM block in ×18
mode,

byteena = 11

byteena = 01, data[8..0]

, both

data[8..0]

and

is enabled and

data[17..9]

high.

1 You cannot use the byte enable feature when using the error correction coding (ECC)

feature on M144K blocks.

Figure 3–1 shows how the write enable (

control the operations of the M9K and M144K memory blocks.

When a byte-enable bit is deasserted during a write cycle, the corresponding data byte
output can appear as either a “don’t care” value or the current data at that location.
The output value for the masked byte is controllable using the Quartus II software.
When a byte-enable bit is asserted during a write cycle, the corresponding data byte
output also depends on the setting chosen in the Quartus II software.

Figure 3–1. Byte Enable Functional Waveform for M9K and M144K

data[17..9]

are enabled. Byte enables are active

wren

) and byte enable (

byteena

signal

is disabled. Similarly, if

byteena

) signals

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2011 Altera Corporation

Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–5

inclock

wren

address

data

byteena

XXXX

ABCD XXXX

ABCDFFFF

FFFF ABFF

FFFF FFCD

contents at a0

contents at a1

contents at a2

current data: q (asynch)

doutn

FFFF

FFCD

ABCD

FFFF

ABFF FFCD FFCD

an a0 a1 a2 a0 a1 a2

XX 10 01 11 XX

ABFF

FFFF

Memory Features

Figure 3–2 shows how the

wren

MLABs. Falling clock edges triggers the write operation in MLABs.

Figure 3–2. Byte Enable Functional Waveform for MLABs

and

byteena

signals control the operations of the

Packed Mode Support

Arria II M9K and M144K blocks support packed mode. The packed mode feature
packs two independent single-port RAMs into one memory block. The Quartus II
software automatically implements the packed mode where appropriate by placing
the physical RAM block into true dual-port mode and using the MSB of the address to
distinguish between the two logical RAMs. The size of each independent single-port
RAM must not exceed half of the target block size.

Address Clock Enable Support

Arria II memory blocks support address clock enable, which holds the previous
address value for as long as the signal is enabled (
configure the memory blocks in dual-port mode, each port has its own independent
address clock enable. The default value for the address clock enable signal is low
(disabled).

addressstall

= 1). When you

December 2011 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

3–6 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

address[0]

address[N]

addressstall

clock

1
0

address[0]

register

address[N]

register

address[N]

address[0]

1
0

Memory Features

Figure 3–3 shows an address clock enable block diagram. The port name

addressstall

refers to the address clock enable.

Figure 3–3. Address Clock Enable

Figure 3–4 shows the address clock enable waveform during the read cycle.

Figure 3–4. Address Clock Enable During Read Cycle Waveform

inclock

rdaddress

rden

addressstall

latched address
(inside memory)

q (synch)

q (asynch)

an a0

doutn-1

doutn

a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5

doutn

dout0

dout0

a1

dout1

dout1

a4

dout4

a6

a5

dout4

dout5

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–7

Memory Features

Figure 3–5 shows the address clock enable waveform during write cycle for M9K and

M144K blocks.

Figure 3–5. Address Clock Enable During Write Cycle Waveform for M9K and M144K Blocks

inclock

wraddress

data

wren

addressstall

latched address
(inside memory)

contents at a0

contents at a1

a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5

XX

01 02

01

03 04

a1

00

02

00

an a0

XX

05

a4 a5

03

a6

06

contents at a2

contents at a3

contents at a4

contents at a5

XX

XX

XX

XX

Figure 3–6 shows the address clock enable waveform during the write cycle for

MLABs.

Figure 3–6. Address Clock Enable During Write Cycle Waveform for MLABs

inclock

wraddress

data

wren

addressstall

latched address
(inside memory)

contents at a0

contents at a1

contents at a2

a0

00

an

XX

a1 a2 a3 a4 a5

a0

XX

01 02

01

03

a1

02

XX

00

04

a4 a5

03

05

04

05

a6

06

contents at a3

contents at a4

contents at a5

December 2011 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

XX

XX

XX

04

05

3–8 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

aclr

aclr at latch

q

outclk

Memory Features

Mixed Width Support

M9K and M144K blocks support mixed data widths inherently. MLABs can support
mixed data widths through emulation with the Quartus II software. When using
simple dual-port, true dual-port, or FIFO modes, mixed width support allows you to
read and write different data widths to a memory block. For more information about
the different widths supported per memory mode, refer to “Memory Modes” on

page 3–10.

1 MLABs do not support mixed-width FIFO mode.

Asynchronous Clear

Arria II memory blocks support asynchronous clears on the output latches and output
registers. Therefore, if your RAM is not using output registers, you can still clear the
RAM outputs using the output latch asynchronous clear. Figure 3–7 shows a
functional waveform showing this functionality.

Figure 3–7. Output Latch Asynchronous Clear Waveform

You can selectively enable asynchronous clears per logical memory using the RAM
MegaWizard Plug-In Manager.

f For more information about the RAM MegaWizard Plug-In Manager, refer to the

Internal Memory (RAM and ROM) Megafunction User Guide.

Error Correction Code Support

Arria II GZ M144K blocks have built-in support for ECC when in ×64-wide simple
dual-port mode. ECC allows you to detect and correct data errors in the memory
array. The M144K blocks have a single-error-correction double-error-detection
(SECDED) implementation. SECDED can detect and fix a single bit error in a 64-bit
word, or detect two bit errors in a 64-bit word. It cannot detect three or more errors.

The M144K ECC status is communicated using a three-bit status flag
(

eccstatus[2..0]

registered, it uses the same clock and asynchronous clear signals as the output
registers. When unregistered, it cannot be asynchronously cleared.

). The status flag can be either registered or unregistered. When

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2011 Altera Corporation

Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–9

Data Input

64 64

64

872

SECDED

Encoder

RAM
Array

72

64

64

8

8

8

8

8

64

64

3

Status Flags

Data Output

SECDED

Encoder

Comparator

Error

Correction
Block

Error

Locator

Flag

Generator

Memory Features

Tab le 3– 3 lists the truth table for the ECC status flags.

Table 3–3. Truth Table for ECC Status Flags in Arria II Devices

Status eccstatus[2] eccstatus[1] eccstatus[0]

No error 000

Single error and fixed 0 1 1

Double error and no fix 1 0 1

Illegal 0 0 1

Illegal 0 1 0

Illegal 1 0 0

Illegal 1 1 X

1 You cannot use the byte enable feature when ECC is engaged.
1 Read-during-write old data mode is not supported when ECC is engaged.

Figure 3–8 shows a diagram of the ECC block of the M144K block.

Figure 3–8. ECC Block Diagram of the M144K Block

December 2011 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

3–10 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

data[ ]
address[ ]

wren
byteena[]

addressstall
inclock
clockena
rden
aclr

outclock

q[]

Memory Modes

Memory Modes

Arria II memory blocks allow you to implement fully synchronous SRAM memory in
multiple modes of operation. M9K and M144K blocks do not support asynchronous
memory (unregistered inputs). MLABs support asynchronous (flow-through) read
operations.

Depending on which memory block you target, you can use the following modes:

■ “Single-Port RAM Mode” on page 3–10

■ “Simple Dual-Port Mode” on page 3–12

■ “True Dual-Port Mode” on page 3–15

■ “Shift-Register Mode” on page 3–17

■ “ROM Mode” on page 3–18

■ “FIFO Mode” on page 3–18

1 To choose the desired read-during-write behavior, set the read-during-write behavior

to either new data, old data, or don't care in the RAM MegaWizard Plug-In Manager
in the Quartus II software. For more information about this behavior, refer to

“Read-During-Write Behavior” on page 3–21.

1 When using the memory blocks in ROM, single-port, simple dual-port, or true

dual-port mode, you can corrupt the memory contents if you violate the setup or hold
time on any of the memory block input registers. This applies to both read and write
operations.

Single-Port RAM Mode

All memory blocks support single-port mode. Single-port mode allows you to do
either a one-read or a one-write operation at a time. Simultaneous reads and writes
are not supported in single-port mode. Figure 3–9 shows the single-port RAM
configuration.

Figure 3–9. Single-Port Memory (Note 1)

Note to Figure 3–9:

(1) You can implement two single-port memory blocks in a single M9K and M144K blocks. For more information, refer

to “Packed Mode Support” on page 3–5.

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–11

Memory Modes

During a write operation, the RAM output behavior is configurable. If you use the
read-enable signal and perform a write operation with the read enable deactivated,
the RAM outputs retain the values they held during the most recent active read
enable. If you activate read enable during a write operation, or if you do not use the
read-enable signal at all, the RAM outputs show the “new data” being written, the
“old data” at that address, or a “don’t care” value.

Tab le 3– 4 lists the possible port width configurations for memory blocks in single-port

mode.

Table 3–4. Port Width Configurations for MLABs, M9K, and M144K Blocks (Single-Port Mode)

Port Width Configurations

MLABs M9K Blocks M144K Blocks

64 × 8

64 × 9

64 × 10

32 × 16

32 × 18

32 × 20

8K × 1

4K × 2

2K × 4

1K × 8

1K × 9

512 × 16

512 × 18

256 × 32

256 × 36

16K × 8

16K × 9

8K × 16

8K × 18

4K × 32

4K × 36

2K × 64

2K × 72

Figure 3–10 shows timing waveforms for read and write operations in single-port

mode with unregistered outputs for M9K and M144K blocks. Registering the M9K
and M144K block outputs delay the

q

output by one clock cycle.

Figure 3–10. Timing Waveform for Read-Write Operations for M9K and M144K Blocks (Single-Port Mode)

clk_a

wrena

rdena

address_a

data_a

q_a (asynch)

ABC D EF

a0(old data)

a0 a1

AB D E

a1(old data)

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3–12 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

data[ ]

wraddress[ ]
wren
byteena[]
wr_addressstall
wrclock
wrclocken

aclr

rdaddress[ ]

rden

q[ ]

rd_addressstall

rdclock

rdclocken

ecc_status (1)

Memory Modes

Figure 3–11 shows the timing waveforms for read and write operations in single-port

mode with unregistered outputs for the MLAB. The rising clock edges trigger the read
operation whereas the falling clock edges triggers the write operation.

Figure 3–11. Timing Waveform for Read-Write Operations for MLABs (Single-Port Mode)

clk_a

wrena

rdena

address_a

data_a

q_a (asynch)

ABC D E F

a0

(old data)

Simple Dual-Port Mode

All memory blocks support simple dual-port mode. Simple dual-port mode allows
you to perform one-read and one-write operation to different locations at the same
time. The write operation occurs on port A; the read operation occurs on port B.

Figure 3–12 shows a simple dual-port configuration. Simple dual-port RAM supports

input and output clock mode in addition to the read and write clock mode.

Figure 3–12. Arria II Simple Dual-Port Memory

a0 a1

A

BDE

C

a1

(old data)

Note to Figure 3–12:

(1) Only available for Arria II GZ devices.

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–13

Memory Modes

Simple dual-port mode supports different read and write data widths (mixed width
support). Tab le 3– 5 lists the mixed width configurations for the M9K blocks in simple
dual-port mode. MLABs do not have native support for mixed width operations. The
Quartus II software can implement mixed width memories in MLABs with more than
one MLAB.

Table 3–5. M9K Block Mixed-Width Configurations (Simple Dual-Port Mode)

Read Port

8K×1 4K×2 2K×4 1K×8 512×16 256×32 1K×9 512×18 256×36

8K × 1 vvvv v v —— —
4K × 2 vvvv v v —— —
2K × 4 vvvv v v —— —
1K × 8 vvvv v v —— —
512 × 16 vvvv v v —— —
256 × 32 vvvv v v —— —
1K×9 ———— — — vv v
512×18 ———— — — vv v
256×36 ———— — — vv v

Write Port

Tab le 3– 6 lists the mixed-width configurations for M144K blocks in simple dual-port

mode.

Table 3–6. M144K Block Mixed-Width Configurations (Simple Dual-Port Mode)

Read Port

16K × 8 8K × 16 4K × 32 2K × 64 16K × 9 8K × 18 4K × 36 2K × 72

16K × 8 vvvv————
8K × 16 vvvv————
4K × 32 vvvv————
2K × 64 vvvv————
16K×9 ————vvvv
8K×18 ————vvvv
4K×36 ————vvvv
2K×72 ————vvvv

Write Port

In simple dual-port mode, M9K and M144K blocks support separate write-enable and
read-enable signals. Read-during-write operations to the same address can either
output a “don’t care” or “old data” value.

MLABs only support a write-enable signal. Read-during-write behavior for the
MLABs can be either a “don’t care” or “old data” value. The available choices depend
on the configuration of the MLAB.

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3–14 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

wrclock

wren

wraddress

rdclock

an-1

an

a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5

a6

q (asynch)

rden

rdaddress

bn

b0

b1 b2 b3

doutn-1 doutn

dout0

din-1 din din4 din5 din6

data

wrclock

wren

wraddress

rdclock

an-1

an

a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5

a6

q (asynch)

rden

rdaddress

bn

b0

b1 b2 b3

doutn-1 doutn

dout0

din-1 din din4 din5 din6

data

Memory Modes

Figure 3–13 shows timing waveforms for read and write operations in simple

dual-port mode with unregistered outputs for M9K and M144K blocks. Registering
the M9K and M144K block outputs delay the

q

output by one clock cycle.

Figure 3–13. Simple Dual-Port Timing Waveforms for M9K and M144K Blocks

Figure 3–14 shows the timing waveforms for read and write operations in simple

dual-port mode with unregistered outputs in the MLAB. The write operation is
triggered by the falling clock edges.

Figure 3–14. Simple Dual-Port Timing Waveforms for MLABs

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–15

clk_a

wrena

rdena

address

A0 A1

byteena

01 10 00 11

data_a

A123 B456 C789 DDDD EEEE FFFF

q_a (asynch)

A0

(old data)

A1

(old data)

DDDD EEEEB423

D

oldDold

23

data_a[ ]
address_a[ ]

wren_a
byteena_a[]

addressstall_a
clock_a
enable_a
rden_a
aclr_a
q_a[]

data_b[ ]

address_b[]

wren_b

byteena_b[]

addressstall_b

clock_b

enable_b

rden_b

aclr_b

q_b[]

Memory Modes

Figure 3–15 shows timing waveforms for read and write operations in mixed-port

mode with unregistered outputs.

Figure 3–15. Mixed-Port Read-During-Write Timing Waveforms

True Dual-Port Mode

Arria II M9K and M144K blocks support true dual-port mode. Sometimes called
bidirectional dual-port, this mode allows you to perform any combination of two-port
operations: two reads, two writes, or one read and one write at two different clock
frequencies. True dual-port memory supports input and output clock mode in
addition to the independent clock mode.

Figure 3–16 shows the true dual-port RAM configuration.

Figure 3–16. Arria II True Dual-Port Memory

The widest bit configuration of the M9K and M144K blocks in true dual-port mode
are:

■ M9K: 512 × 16-bit (or 512 × 18-bit with parity)

■ M144K: 4K × 32-bit (or 4K × 36-bit with parity)

Wider configurations are unavailable because the number of output drivers is
equivalent to the maximum bit width of the respective memory block. Because true
dual-port RAM has outputs on two ports, its maximum width equals half of the total
number of output drivers.

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Memory Modes

Tab le 3– 7 lists the possible M9K block mixed-port width configurations in true

dual-port mode.

Table 3–7. M9K Block Mixed-Width Configuration (True-Dual Port Mode)

Read Port

8K × 1 4K × 2 2K × 4 1K × 8 512 × 16 1K × 9 512 × 18

8K × 1 vvvvv——
4K × 2 vvvvv——
2K × 4 vvvvv——
1K × 8 vvvvv——
512 × 16 vvvvv——
1K×9 —————vv
512×18 —————vv

Write Port

Tab le 3– 8 lists the possible M144K block mixed-port width configurations in true

dual-port mode.

Table 3–8. M144K Block Mixed-Width Configurations (True Dual-Port Mode)

Read Port

16K × 8 8K × 16 4K × 32 16K × 9 8K × 18 4K × 36

16K × 8 vvv———
8K × 16 vvv———
4K × 32 vvv———
16K × 9 — — — vvv
8K × 18 — — — vvv
4K × 36 — — — vvv

Write Port

In true dual-port mode, M9K and M144K blocks support separate write-enable and
read-enable signals. You can save power by keeping the read-enable signal low
(inactive) when not reading. Read-during-write operations to the same address can
either output “new data” at that location or “old data”.

In true dual-port mode, you can access any memory location at any time from either
port. When accessing the same memory location from both ports, you must avoid
possible write conflicts. A write conflict happens when you attempt to write to the
same address location from both ports at the same time. This results in unknown data
being stored to that address location. Conflict resolution circuitry is not built into the
Arria II memory blocks. You must handle address conflicts external to the RAM block.

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–17

clk_a

wren_a

address_a

clk_b

an-1 an a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6

q_b (asynch)

wren_b

address_b

bn b0 b1 b2 b3

doutn-1 doutn dout0

q_a (asynch)

din-1 din din4 din5

din6

data_a

din-1 din dout0 dout1 dout2 dout3 din4

din5

dout2dout1

Memory Modes

Figure 3–17 shows true dual-port timing waveforms for the write operation at port A

and the read operation at port B with the read-during-write behavior set to new data.
Registering the RAM outputs delay the

q

outputs by one clock cycle.

Figure 3–17. True Dual-Port Timing Waveform

Shift-Register Mode

All Arria II memory blocks support shift register mode. Embedded memory block
configurations can implement shift registers for digital signal processing (DSP)
applications, such as finite impulse response (FIR) filters, pseudo-random number
generators, multi-channel filtering, and auto- and cross-correlation functions. These
and other DSP applications require local data storage, traditionally implemented with
standard flipflops that quickly exhaust many logic cells for large shift registers. A
more efficient alternative is to use embedded memory as a shift-register block, which
saves logic cell and routing resources.

The size of a shift register (
length of the taps (
implement larger shift registers.

w

× m × n) is determined by the input data width (w), the

m

), and the number of taps (n). You can cascade memory blocks to

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W

w × m × n Shift Register

m-Bit Shift Register

m-Bit Shift Register

m-Bit Shift Register

m-Bit Shift Register

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

n Number of Taps

Memory Modes

Figure 3–18 shows the memory block in shift-register mode.

Figure 3–18. Shift-Register Memory Configuration

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2011 Altera Corporation

ROM Mode

All Arria II memory blocks support ROM mode. A .mif initializes the ROM contents
of these blocks. The address lines of the ROM are registered on M9K and M144K
blocks; however, they can be unregistered on MLABs. The outputs can be registered
or unregistered. Output registers can be asynchronously cleared. The ROM read
operation is identical to the read operation in the single-port RAM configuration.

FIFO Mode

All memory blocks support FIFO mode. MLABs are ideal for designs with many
small, shallow FIFO buffers. To implement FIFO buffers in your design, you can use
the FIFO MegaWizard Plug-In Manager in the Quartus II software. Both single- and
dual-clock (asynchronous) FIFOs are supported.

f For more information about implementing FIFO buffers, refer to the SCFIFO and

DCFIFO Megafunctions User Guide.

1 MLABs do not support mixed-width FIFO mode.

Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–19

Clocking Modes

Clocking Modes

Arria II memory blocks support the following clocking modes:

■ “Independent Clock Mode” on page 3–19

■ “Input and Output Clock Mode” on page 3–19

■ “Read and Write Clock Mode” on page 3–19

■ “Single Clock Mode” on page 3–20

c Violating the setup or hold time on the memory block address registers could corrupt

the memory contents. This applies to both read and write operations.

Tab le 3– 9 lists the supported clocking mode/memory mode combinations.

Table 3–9. Internal Memory Clock Modes for Arria II Devices

Clocking Mode True Dual-Port Mode Simple Dual-Port Mode Single-Port Mode ROM Mode FIFO Mode

Independent v ——v —
Input and output vvvv—
Read and write — v ——v
Single clock vvvvv

Independent Clock Mode

Arria II memory blocks can implement independent clock mode for true dual-port
memories. In this mode, a separate clock is available for each port (clock A and
clock B). Clock A controls all registers on the port A side; clock B controls all registers
on the port B side. Each port also supports independent clock enables for both port A
and port B registers, respectively. Asynchronous clears are supported only for output
latches and output registers on both ports.

Input and Output Clock Mode

Arria II memory blocks can implement input and output clock mode for true and
simple dual-port memories. In this mode, an input clock controls all registers related
to the data input to the memory block including data, address, byte enables, read
enables, and write enables. An output clock controls the data output registers.
Asynchronous clears are available on output latches and output registers only.

Read and Write Clock Mode

Arria II memory blocks can implement read and write clock mode for simple
dual-port memories. In this mode, a write clock controls the data-input,
write-address, and write-enable registers. Similarly, a read clock controls the
data-output, read-address, and read-enable registers. The memory blocks support
independent clock enables for both the read and write clocks. Asynchronous clears
are available on data output latches and registers only.

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3–20 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

When using read and write clock mode, the output read data is unknown if you
perform a simultaneous read and write to the same address location. If you require
the output data to be a known value, use either single clock mode or input and output
clock mode, and choose the appropriate read-during-write behavior in the
MegaWizard Plug-In Manager.

Design Considerations

Single Clock Mode

Arria II memory blocks can implement single clock mode for true dual-port, simple
dual-port, and single-port memories. In this mode, a single clock, together with a
clock enable, is used to control all registers of the memory block. Asynchronous clears
are available on output latches and output registers only.

Design Considerations

This section describes guidelines for designing with memory blocks.

Selecting Memory Block

The Quartus II software automatically partitions user-defined memory into
embedded memory blocks by taking into account both speed and size constraints
placed on your design. For example, the Quartus II software may spread out memory
across multiple memory blocks when resources are available to increase the
performance of your design. You can manually assign memory to a specific block size
using the RAM MegaWizard Plug-In Manager.

MLABs can implement single-port SRAM through emulation with the Quartus II
software. Emulation results in minimal additional logic resources used. Because of the
dual-purpose architecture of the MLAB, it only has data input registers and output
registers in the block. MLABs gain input address registers and additional optional
data output registers from adjacent ALMs with register packing.

f For more information about register packing, refer to the Logic Array Blocks and

Adaptive Logic Modules in Arria II Devices chapter.

Conflict Resolution

When using the memory blocks in true dual-port mode, it is possible to attempt two
write operations to the same memory location (address). Because there is no conflict
resolution circuitry built into the memory blocks, this results in unknown data being
written to that location. Therefore, you must implement conflict resolution logic,
external to the memory block, to avoid address conflicts.

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–21

Por t A
data in

Por t B
data in

Por t A
data out

Por t B
data out

Mixed-port
data flow

Same-port
data flow

Design Considerations

Read-During-Write Behavior

You can customize the read-during-write behavior of the Arria II memory blocks to
suit your design requirements. The two types of read-during-write operations are
same port and mixed port. Figure 3–19 shows the difference between the same port
and mixed port.

Figure 3–19. Read-During-Write Data Flow

Same-Port Read-During-Write Mode

This mode applies to either a single-port RAM or the same port of a true dual-port
RAM. In same-port read-during-write mode, three output choices are available: new
data mode (or flow-through), old data mode, or don’t care mode. In new data mode,
the new data is available on the rising edge of the same clock cycle on which it was
written. In old data mode, the RAM outputs reflect the old data at that address before
the write operation proceeds. In don’t care mode, the RAM outputs “don’t care”
values for a read-during-write operation.

Figure 3–20 shows sample functional waveforms of same-port read-during-write

behavior in don’t care mode for MLABs.

Figure 3–20. MLABs Blocks Same Port Read-During Write: Don’t Care Mode

clk_a

address

data_in

wrena

q(unregistered)

q(registered)

XX

XX

XX

A0(old data)

XX

A0

FFFF AAAA XXXX

FFFF

FFFF AAAA

A1(old data)

A1

AAAA

A2

A2(old data)

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clk_a

wrena

rdena

address

A0 A1

byteena

01 10 00 11

data_a

A123 B456 C789 DDDD EEEE FFFF

q_a (asynch)

A0

(old data)

A1

(old data)

DDDD EEEEB423

D

oldDold

23

Design Considerations

Figure 3–21 shows sample functional waveforms of same-port read-during-write

behavior in new data mode.

Figure 3–21. M9K and M144K Blocks Same Port Read-During Write: New Data Mode

clk_a

address

rdena

wrena

byteena

01 10 00 11

0A 0B

data_a

q_a (asynch)

A123 B456 C789 DDDD EEEE FFFF

XX23 B4XX XXXX DDDD EEEE FFFF

Figure 3–22 shows sample functional waveforms of same-port read-during-write

behavior in old data mode.

Figure 3–22. M9K and M144K Blocks Same Port Read-During-Write: Old Data Mode

For MLABs, the output of the MLABs can only be set to don’t care in same-port
read-during-write mode. In this mode, the output of the MLABs is unknown during a
write cycle. There is a window near the falling edge of the clock during which the
output is unknown. Prior to that window, “old data” is read out; after that window,
“new data” is seen at the output.

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–23

clk_a

wrena

data_in

wraddress

A1

byteena_a

q_b(registered)

A0

rdaddress

A1

A0

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF

A0

(old data)

A1

(old data)

DDDDAABB

AAAA

11 01 10 11 01

10

DDEE

Design Considerations

Mixed-Port Read-During-Write Mode

This mode applies to a RAM in simple or true dual-port mode that has one port
reading from and the other port writing to the same address location with the same
clock. In this mode, you can choose “old data”, “new data” or “don’t care” values as
the output.

For old data mode, a read-during-write operation to different ports causes the RAM
outputs to reflect the “old data” value at that address location.

For new data mode, a read-during-write operation to different ports causes the MLAB
registered output to reflect the “new data” value on the next rising edge after the data
is written to the MLAB memory.

For don’t care mode, the same operation results in a “don’t care” or “unknown” value
on the RAM outputs.

1 Read-during-write behavior is controlled using the RAM MegaWizard Plug-In

Manager. For more information about how to implement the desired behavior, refer to
the Internal Memory (RAM and ROM) Megafunction User Guide.

Figure 3–23 shows a sample functional waveform of mixed-port read-during-write

behavior for old data mode in MLABs.

Figure 3–23. MLABs Mixed-Port Read-During-Write: Old Data Mode

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3–24 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

clk_a

wrena

data_in

wraddress

A1

byteena_a

q_b(registered)

A0

rdaddress

A1

A0

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF

AAAA DDDD DDEECCBB

AABB

11 01 10 11 01

10

FFEE

Design Considerations

Figure 3–24 shows a sample functional waveform of mixed-port read-during-write

behavior for new data mode in MLABs.

Figure 3–24. MLABs Mixed-Port Read-During-Write: New Data Mode

clk_a

wren_a

address_a

data_a

byteena_a

q_b (registered)

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF

11

XXXX

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF

Figure 3–25 shows a sample functional waveform of mixed-port read-during-write

behavior for don’t care mode in MLABs.

Figure 3–25. MLABs Mixed-Port Read-During-Write: Don’t Care Mode

1A0A

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–25

Design Considerations

Figure 3–26 shows a sample functional waveform of mixed-port read-during-write

behavior in old data mode.

Figure 3–26. M9K and M144K Mixed Port Read During Write: Old Data Mode

clk_a&b

wrena

address_a

A0 A1

data_a

byteena

rdenb

address_b

q_b_(asynch)

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF

11 01 10 11

A0 A1

A0

(old data)

AAAA

A1

Figure 3–27 shows a sample functional waveform of mixed-port read-during-write

behavior for don’t care mode in M9K and M144K blocks.

Figure 3–27. M9K and M144K Mixed-Port Read-During-Write: Don’t Care Mode

clk_a&b

wrena

address_a

data_a

byteena

rdenb

address_b

q_b_(asynch)

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF

11 01 10 11

A0 A1

A0 A1

XXXX (unknown data)

(old data)

DDDD EEEEAABB

Mixed-port read-during-write is not supported when two different clocks are used in
a dual-port RAM. The output value is unknown during a dual-clock mixed-port
read-during-write operation.

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Design Considerations

Power-Up Conditions and Memory Initialization

M9K and M144K block outputs power up to zero (cleared), regardless of whether the
output registers are used or bypassed. MLABs power up to zero if the output registers
are used and power up reading the memory contents if the output registers are not
used. You must take this into consideration when designing logic that might evaluate
the initial power-up values of the MLAB memory block. For Arria II devices, the
Quartus II software initializes the RAM cells to zero unless there is a .mif file
specified.

All memory blocks support initialization using a .mif. You can create .mif files in the
Quartus II software and specify their use with the RAM MegaWizard Plug-In
Manager when instantiating a memory in your design. Even if a memory is
pre-initialized (for example, using a .mif), it still powers up with its outputs cleared.

f For more information about .mif files, refer to the Internal Memory (RAM and ROM)

Megafunction User Guide and the Quartus II Handbook.

Power Management

Arria II memory block clock enables allow you to control clocking of each memory
block to reduce AC-power consumption. Use the read-enable signal to ensure that
read operations only occur when you need them to. If your design does not require
read-during-write, you can reduce your power consumption by deasserting the
read-enable signal during write operations or any period when no memory
operations occur.

The Quartus II software automatically places any unused memory block in low power
mode to reduce static power.

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Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices 3–27

Document Revision History

Document Revision History

Tab le 3– 10 lists the revision history for this chapter.

Table 3–10. Document Revision History

Date Version Changes

December 2011 3.2

June 2011 3.1

December 2010 3.0

November 2009 2.0

June 2009 1.1

February 2009 1.0 Initial release

■ Updated Table 3–1.

■ Updated “Byte Enable Support” and “Mixed-Port Read-During-Write Mode” sections.

■ Updated Table 3–1.

■ Updated the “Mixed-Port Read-During-Write Mode” section.

■ Minor text edits.

■ Updated for the Quartus II software version 10.1 release.

■ Added Arria II GZ devices information.

■ Updated Table 3–1 and Table 3–2.

■ Updated Figure 3–10, Figure 3–12, and Figure 3–16.

■ Added Table 3–6 and Table 3–8.

■ Added Figure 3–10, Figure 3–15, Figure 3–21, Figure 3–23, and Figure 3–24.

■ Added “Error Correction Code Support” section.

■ Minor text edit.

Updated for Arria II GX v9.1 release:

■ Updated Table 3–2

■ Updated Figure 3–16

■ Minor text edit

■ Updated Table 3–1

■ Updated “Byte Enable Support”, “Simple Dual-Port Mode”, and “Read and Write Clock

Mode” sections

■ Updated Figure 3–1, Figure 3–2, Figure 3–5, Figure 3–9, Figure 3–12, Figure 3–18,

Figure 3–19, and Figure 3–20

■ Added Figure 3–2, Figure 3–6, Figure 3–10, and Figure 3–13

December 2011 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

3–28 Chapter 3: Memory Blocks in Arria II Devices

Document Revision History

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2011 Altera Corporation

December 2010
AIIGX51004-4.0

AIIGX51004-4.0

4. DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

This chapter describes how the dedicated high-performance digital signal processing
(DSP) blocks in Arria



II device are optimized to support DSP applications requiring
high data throughput, such as finite impulse response (FIR) filters, infinite impulse
response (IIR) filters, fast Fourier transform (FFT) functions, and encoders. You can
configure the DSP blocks to implement one of several operational modes to suit your
application. The built-in shift register chain, multipliers, and adders/subtractors
minimize the amount of external logic to implement these functions, resulting in
efficient resource utilization and improved performance and data throughput for DSP
applications.

These DSP blocks are the fourth generation of hardwired, fixed-function silicon blocks
dedicated to maximizing signal processing capability and ease-of-use at the lowest
silicon cost.

Many complex systems, such as WiMAX, 3GPP WCDMA, high-performance
computing (HPC), voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), H.264 video compression,
medical imaging, and HDTV, use sophisticated DSP techniques. Arria II devices are
ideally suited for these systems because the DSP blocks consist of a combination of
dedicated elements that perform multiplication, addition, subtraction, accumulation,
summation, and dynamic shift operations.

Along with the high-performance Arria II soft logic fabric and memory structures,
you can configure DSP blocks to build sophisticated fixed-point and floating-point
arithmetic functions. These can be manipulated easily to implement common, larger
computationally intensive subsystems such as FIR filters, complex FIR filters, IIR
filters, FFT functions, and discrete cosine transform (DCT) functions.

This chapter contains the following sections:

■ “DSP Block Overview” on page 4–2

■ “Simplified DSP Operation” on page 4–4

■ “Operational Modes Overview” on page 4–7

■ “DSP Block Resource Descriptions” on page 4–8

■ “Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions” on page 4–14

■ “Software Support for Arria II Devices” on page 4–31

© 2010 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at

www.altera.com/common/legal.html. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products to current specifications in accordance with Altera’s standard warranty, but

reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any time without notice. Altera assumes no responsib ility or liability arising out of the application or use of any
information, product, or service described herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device
specifications before relying on any published information and before placing orders for products or services.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration
December 2010

Subscribe

4–2 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

DSP Block Overview

DSP Block Overview

Arria II GX devices have two to four columns of DSP blocks, while Arria II GZ
devices have two to seven columns of DSP blocks. These DSP blocks implement
multiplication, multiply-add, multiply-accumulate (MAC), and dynamic shift
functions. Architectural highlights of the Arria II DSP block include:

■ High-performance, power-optimized, fully registered, and pipelined

multiplication operations

■ Natively supported 9-bit, 12-bit, 18-bit, and 36-bit word lengths

■ Natively supported 18-bit complex multiplications

■ Efficiently supported floating-point arithmetic formats (24 bits for single precision

and 53 bits for double precision)

■ Signed and unsigned input support

■ Built-in addition, subtraction, and accumulation units to efficiently combine

multiplication results

■ Cascading 18-bit input bus to form tap-delay line for filtering applications

■ Cascading 44-bit output bus to propagate output results from one block to the next

block without external logic support

■ Rich and flexible arithmetic rounding and saturation units

■ Efficient barrel shifter support

■ Loopback capability to support adaptive filtering

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–3

34

144

144

288

72

72

Half-DSP Block

Half-DSP Block

Output
Data

Output
Data

Full-DSP Block

Control

Input
Data

DSP Block Overview

Tab le 4– 1 lists the number of DSP blocks in Arria II devices.

Table 4–1. Number of DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices (Note 1)

Independent Input and Output Multiplication Operators

Family Device

DSP Blocks

9×9

Multipliers

12 × 12

Multipliers

18 × 18

Multipliers

EP2AGX45 29 232 174 116 58 58 116 232

EP2AGX65 39 312 234 156 78 78 156 312

Arria II GX

EP2AGX95 56 448 336 224 112 112 224 448

EP2AGX125 72 576 432 288 144 144 288 576

EP2AGX190 82 656 492 328 164 164 328 656

EP2AGX260 92 736 552 368 184 184 368 736

EP2AGZ225 100 800 600 400 200 200 400 800

Arria II GZ

EP2AGZ300 115 920 690 460 230 230 460 920

EP2AGZ350 130 1,040 780 520 260 260 520 1,040

Note to Table 4–1:

(1) The numbers in this table represents the numbers of multipliers in their respective mode.

Each DSP block occupies four logic array blocks (LABs) in height and you can divide
further into two half blocks that share some common clocks signals, but are for all
common purposes identical in functionality. Figure 4–1 shows the layout of each
block.

18 × 18

Complex

36 × 36

Multipliers

High

Precision

Multiplier

Adder
Mode

18 × 36

Multipliers

Four

Multiplier

Adder

Mode

18 × 18

Multipliers

Figure 4–1. Overview of DSP Block Signals

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–4 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

DQ

DQ

A0[17..0]

A1[17..0]

B1[17..0]

B0[17..0]

P[36..0]

+/-

Simplified DSP Operation

Simplified DSP Operation

In Arria II devices, the fundamental building block is a pair of 18 × 18-bit multipliers
followed by a first-stage 37-bit addition and subtraction unit shown in Equation 4–1
and Figure 4–2. For all signed numbers, input and output data is represented in
2’s-complement format only.

Equation 4–1. Multiplier Equation

P[36..0] = A0[17..0] × B0[17..0] ± A1[17..0] × B1[17..0]

Figure 4–2. Basic Two-Multiplier Adder Building Block

The structure shown in Figure 4–2 is useful for building more complex structures,
such as complex multipliers and 36 × 36 multipliers, as described in later sections.

Each Arria II DSP block contains four two-multiplier adder units
(2 two-multiplier adder units per half block). Therefore, there are eight 18 × 18
multiplier functionalities per DSP block. For a detailed diagram of the DSP block,
refer to Figure 4–5 on page 4–8.

Following the two-multiplier adder units are the pipeline registers, the second-stage
adders, and an output register stage. You can configure the second-stage adders to
provide the alternative functions shown in Equation 4–1 and Equation 4–2 per half
block.

Equation 4–2. Four-Multiplier Adder Equation

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Z[37..0] = P0[36..0] + P1[36..0]

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–5

Simplified DSP Operation

Equation 4–3. Four-Multiplier Adder Equation (44-Bit Accumulation)

Wn[43..0] = W

[43..0] ± Zn[37..0]

n-1

In these equations, n denotes sample time and P[36..0] are the results from the
two-multiplier adder units.

Equation 4–2 provides a sum of four 18 × 18-bit multiplication operations

(four-multiplier adder), and Equation 4–3 provides a four 18 × 18-bit multiplication
operation, but with a maximum of a 44-bit accumulation capability by feeding the
output from the output register bank back to the adder/accumulator block, as shown
in Figure 4–3.

You can bypass all register stages depending on which mode you select, except
accumulation and loopback mode. In these two modes, you must enable at least one
set of the registers. If the register is not enabled, an infinite loop occurs.

Figure 4–3. Four-Multiplier Adder and Accumulation Capability

++

144 44

Input
Data

Adder/

Accumulator

Input Register Bank

Pipeline Register Bank

Half-DSP Block

Output Register Bank

To support FIR-like structures efficiently, a major addition to the DSP block in Arria II
devices is the ability to propagate the result of one half block to the next half block
completely in the DSP block without additional soft logic overhead. This is achieved
by the inclusion of a dedicated addition unit and routing that adds the 44-bit result of
a previous half block with the 44-bit result of the current block. The 44-bit result is
either fed to the next half block or out of the DSP block with the output register stage
shown in Figure 4–4. Detailed examples are described in later sections.

Result[]

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–6 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

+

144 44

44

From Previous Half-DSP Block

To Next

Half-DSP Block

Input

Data

Input Register Bank

Pipeline Register Bank

Adder/

Accumulator

Round/Saturate

Output Register Bank

44

Half-DSP Block

Result[]

+

+

Simplified DSP Operation

The combination of a fast, low-latency four-multiplier adder unit and the “chained
cascade” capability of the output chaining adder provides the optimal FIR and vector
multiplication capability.

To support single-channel type FIR filters efficiently, you can configure one of the
multiplier input registers to form a tap delay line input, saving resources and
providing higher system performance.

Figure 4–4. Output Cascading Feature for FIR Structures

Figure 4–4 shows the optional rounding and saturation unit. This unit provides a set

of commonly found arithmetic rounding and saturation functions in signal
processing.

In addition to the independent multipliers and sum modes, you can use DSP blocks to
perform shift operations. DSP blocks can dynamically switch between logical shift
left/right, arithmetic shift left/right, and rotation operation in one clock cycle.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–7

Operational Modes Overview

Operational Modes Overview

You can use each Arria II DSP block in one of six basic operational modes. Table 4–2
lists the six basic operational modes and the number of multipliers that you can
implement in a single DSP block.

Table 4–2. DSP Block Operational Modes for Arria II Devices

Mode

Multiplier

in Width

Number of

Multiplier

# per

Block

Signed or
Unsigned

RND,

SAT

In Shift

Register

Chainout

Adder

1st Stage

Add/Sub

2nd Stage

Add/Acc

9 bits 1 8 Both No No No — —

12 bits 1 6 Both No No No — —

Independent

Multiplier

18 bits 1 4 Both Yes Yes No — —

36 bits 1 2 Both No No No — —

Double 1 2 Both No No No — —

Two-Multiplier

Adder (1)

Four-Multiplier

Adder

Multiply

Accumulate

18 bits 2 4 Signed (2) Yes No No Both —

18 bits 4 2 Both Yes Yes Yes Both Add Only

18 bits 4 2 Both Yes Yes Yes Both Both

Shift (3) 36 bits (4) 12BothNoNo———

High Precision

Multiplier Adder

Notes to Table 4–2:

(1) This mode also supports loopback mode. In loopback mode, the number of loopback multipliers per DSP block is two. You can use the remaining

multipliers in regular two-multiplier adder mode.
(2) Unsigned value is also supported, but you must ensure that the result can be contained in 36 bits.
(3) Dynamic shift mode supports arithmetic shift left, arithmetic shift right, logical shift left, logical shift right, and rotation operation.
(4) Dynamic shift mode operates on a 32-bit input vector, but the multiplier width is configured as 36 bits.

18  36 2 2 Both No No No — Add Only

The DSP block consists of two identical halves (top-half and bottom-half). Each half
has four 18 × 18 multipliers.

The Quartus

®

II software includes megafunctions that control the mode of operation
of the multipliers. After making the appropriate parameter settings with the
megafunction’s MegaWizard



Plug-In Manager, the Quartus II software

automatically configures the DSP block.

Arria II DSP blocks can operate in different modes simultaneously. Each half block is
fully independent except for the sharing of the

clock, ena

, and the

aclr

signals. For
example, you can break down a single DSP block to operate a 9 × 9 multiplier in one
half block and an 18 × 18 two-multiplier adder in the other half block. This increases
DSP block resource efficiency and allows you to implement more multipliers in an
Arria II device. The Quartus II software automatically places multipliers that can
share the same DSP block resources in the same block.

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–8 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

)

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

The DSP block consists of the following elements:

■ Input register bank

■ Four two-multiplier adders

■ Pipeline register bank

■ Second-stage adders

■ Four rounding and saturation logic units

■ Second adder register and output register bank

Figure 4–5 shows a detailed illustration of the overall architecture of the top half of the

DSP block. Table 4–9 on page 4–30 lists the DSP block dynamic signals.

Figure 4–5. Half-DSP Block Architecture

zero_loopback

accum_sload

zero_chainout

chainin[ ]

scanina[ ]

(4)

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]

alcr[3..0]

chainout_round

chainout_saturate

signa
signb

output_round

output_saturate

rotate

shift_right

overflow (1)

chainout_sat_overflow (2

dataa_0[ ]

loopback

datab_0[ ]
dataa_1[ ]

First Stage Adder

datab_1[ ]

dataa_2[ ]

Input Register Bank

datab_2[ ]

dataa_3[ ]

datab_3[ ]

Half-DSP Block

scanouta chainout

Pipeline Register Bank

First Stage Adder

Notes to Figure 4–5:

(1) Block output for accumulator overflow and saturate overflow.
(2) Block output for saturation overflow of
(3) When the

chainout

(4) You must connect the

adder is not in use, the second adder register banks are known as output register banks.

chainin

port to the

chainout

.

chainout

port of the previous DSP blocks; it must not be connected to general routings.

Second Stage Adder/Accumulator

(3)

First Round/Saturate

Chainout Adder

Second Round/Saturate

Second Adder Register Bank

Shift/Rotate

Output Register Bank

result[ ]

Multiplexer

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–9

+/-

+/-

signa
signb

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]

aclr[3..0]

scanina[17..0]

dataa_0[17..0]

loopback

datab_0[17..0]

dataa_1[17..0]

datab_1[17..0]

dataa_2[17..0]

datab_2[17..0]

dataa_3[17..0]

datab_3[17..0]

scanouta

Delay

Register

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

Input Registers

Figure 4–6 shows the input register of a half-DSP block.

Figure 4–6. Input Register of Half-DSP Block (Note 1)

Note to Figure 4–6:

(1) The

scanina

signal originates from the previous DSP block, while the

scanouta

signal goes to the next DSP block.

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–10 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

All DSP block registers are triggered by the positive edge of the clock signal and are
cleared after power up. Each multiplier operand can feed an input register or feed
directly to the multiplier, bypassing the input registers. The
and

aclr[3..0]

DSP block signals control the input registers in the DSP block.

clock[3..0], ena[3..0]

Every DSP block has nine 18-bit data input register banks per half-DSP block. Every
half-DSP block has the option to use the eight data register banks as inputs to the four
multipliers. The special ninth register bank is a delay register required by modes that
use both the cascade and chainout features of the DSP block to balance the latency
requirements when using the chained cascade feature. A feature of the input register
bank is to support a tap delay line. Therefore, you can drive the top leg of the
multiplier input (A) from general routing or from the cascade chain, as shown in

Figure 4–6.

At compile time, you must select the incoming data for multiplier input (A) from
either general routing or from the cascade chain. In cascade mode, the dedicated shift
outputs from one multiplier block directly feeds input registers of the adjacent
multiplier below it (in the same half-DSP block) or the first multiplier in the next
half-DSP block, to form an 8-tap shift register chain per DSP block. The DSP block can
increase the length of the shift register chain by cascading to the lower DSP blocks.
The dedicated shift register chain spans a single column, but you can implement
longer shift register chains requiring multiple columns with the regular FPGA routing
resources.

,

Shift registers are useful in DSP functions such as FIR filters. When implementing an
18 × 18 or smaller width multiplier, you do not require external logic to create the shift
register chain because the input shift registers are internal to the DSP block. This
implementation significantly reduces the logical element (LE) resources required,
avoids routing congestion, and results in predictable timing.

The first multiplier in every half-DSP block (top- and bottom-half) has a multiplexer
for the first multiplier B-input (lower-leg input) register to select between general
routing and loopback, as shown in Figure 4–5 on page 4–8. In loopback mode, the
most significant 18-bit registered outputs are connected as feedback to the multiplier
input of the first top multiplier in each half-DSP block. Loopback modes are used by
recursive filters where the previous output is required to compute the current output.

Loopback mode is described in detail in “Two-Multiplier Adder Sum Mode” on

page 4–20.

Tab le 4– 3 lists the summary of input register modes for the DSP block.

Table 4–3. Input Register Modes for Arria II Devices

Register Input Mode (1) 9×9 12×12 18×18 36×36 Double

Parallel input vvvvv
Shift register input (2) ——v ——
Loopback input (3) ——v ——

Notes to Table 4–3:

(1) The multiplier operand input word lengths are statically configured at compile time.
(2) Available only on the A-operand.
(3) Only one loopback input is allowed per half block. For details, refer to Figure 4–14 on page 4–21.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–11

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

Multiplier and First-Stage Adder

The multiplier stage supports 9 × 9, 12 × 12, 18 × 18, or 36 × 36 multipliers. Other
word lengths are padded up to the nearest appropriate native wordlength; for
example, 16 × 16 is padded up to use 18 × 18. For more information, refer to

“Independent Multiplier Modes” on page 4–14. Depending on the data width of the

multiplier, a single DSP block can perform many multiplications in parallel.

Each multiplier operand can be a unique signed or unsigned number. Two dynamic
signals,

logic 1

number; a

Tab le 4– 4 lists the sign of the multiplication result for the various operand sign

representations. If any one of the operands is a signed value, the result of the
multiplication is signed.

Table 4–4. Multiplier Sign Representation for Arria II Devices

signa

and

signb

, control the representation of each operand, respectively. A

value on the

logic 0

Data A (signa Value) Data B (signb Value) Result

Unsigned (logic 0) Unsigned (logic 0) Unsigned

Unsigned (logic 0) Signed (logic 1) Signed

Signed (logic 1) Unsigned (logic 0) Signed

Signed (logic 1) Signed (logic 1) Signed

signa/signb

signal indicates that

data A/data B

value indicates an unsigned number.

is a signed

Each half block has its own

signa

and

signb

signal. Therefore, all

data A

feeding the same half-DSP block must have the same sign representation. Similarly, all

data B

inputs feeding the same half-DSP block must have the same sign
representation. The multiplier offers full precision regardless of the sign
representation in all operational modes except for full precision 18 × 18 loopback and
two-multiplier adder modes. For more information, refer to “Two-Multiplier Adder

Sum Mode” on page 4–20.

1 By default, when the

signa

and

signb

signals are unused, the Quartus II software sets

the multiplier to perform unsigned multiplication.

Figure 4–5 on page 4–8 shows that the outputs of the multipliers are the only outputs

that can feed into the first-stage adder. There are four first-stage adders in a DSP block
(two adders per half-DSP block). The first-stage adder block has the ability to perform
addition and subtraction. The control signal for addition or subtraction is static and
you must configure after compilation. The first-stage adders are used by the sum
modes to compute the sum of two multipliers, 18 × 18-complex multipliers, and to
perform the first stage of a 36 × 36 multiply and shift operation.

Depending on your specifications, the output of the first-stage adder has the option to
feed into the pipeline registers, second-stage adder, rounding and saturation unit, or
the output registers.

inputs

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–12 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

Pipeline Register Stage

Figure 4–5 on page 4–8 shows that the output from the first-stage adder can either

feed or bypass the pipeline registers. Pipeline registers increase the maximum
performance (at the expense of extra cycles of latency) of the DSP block, especially
when using the subsequent DSP block stages. Pipeline registers split up the long
signal path between the input-registers/multiplier/first-stage adder and the
second-stage adder/round-and-saturation/output-registers, creating two shorter
paths.

Second-Stage Adder

There are four individual 44-bit second-stage adders per DSP block (two adders per
half-DSP block). You can configure the second-stage adders as either:

■ The final stage of a 36-bit multiplier

■ A sum of four (18 × 18)

■ An accumulator (44-bits maximum)

■ A chained output summation (44-bits maximum)

1 You can use the chained-output adder at the same time as a second-level adder in

chained output summation mode.

The output of the second-stage adder has the option to go into the rounding and
saturation logic unit or the output register.

1 You cannot use the second-stage adder independently from the multiplier and

first-stage adder.

Rounding and Saturation Stage

Rounding and saturation logic units are located at the output of the 44-bit
second-stage adder (the rounding logic unit followed by the saturation logic unit).
There are two rounding and saturation logic units per half-DSP block. The input to
the rounding and saturation logic unit can come from one of the following stages:

■ Output of the multiplier (independent multiply mode in 18 × 18)

■ Output of the first-stage adder (two-multiplier adder)

■ Output of the pipeline registers

■ Output of the second-stage adder (four-multiplier adder, multiply-accumulate

mode in 18 × 18)

These stages are described in “Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions” on page 4–14.

The dynamic rounding and saturation signals control the rounding and saturation
logic unit, respectively. A

logic 1

value on the round signal, saturate signal, or both

enables the round logic unit, saturate logic unit, or both.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–13

DSP Block Resource Descriptions

1 You can use the rounding and saturation logic units together or independently.

Second Adder and Output Registers

The second adder register and output register banks are two banks of 44-bit registers
that you can combine to form larger 72-bit banks to support 36 × 36 output results.

The outputs of the different stages in the Arria II devices are routed to the output
registers through an output selection unit. Depending on the operational mode of the
DSP block, the output selection unit selects whether the outputs of the DSP blocks
come from the outputs of the multiplier block, first-stage adder, pipeline registers,
second-stage adder, or the rounding and saturation logic unit. Based on the DSP block
operational mode you specify, the output selection unit is automatically set by the
software, and has the option to either drive or bypass the output registers. The
exception is when the block is used in shift mode, where you dynamically control the
output-select multiplexer directly.

When the DSP block is configured in chained cascaded output mode, both of the
second-stage adders are used. The first adder is for performing a four-multiplier
adder and the second is for the chainout adder. The outputs of the four-multiplier
adder are routed to the second-stage adder registers before enters the chainout adder.
The output of the chainout adder goes to the regular output register bank. Depending
on the configuration, you can route the chainout results to the input of the next half
block’s chainout adder input or to the general fabric (functioning as regular output
registers).

You can only connect the

chainin

port to the

chainout

port of the previous DSP block

and must not be connected to general routings.

The second-stage and output registers are triggered by the positive edge of the clock
signal and are cleared on power up. The

clock[3..0], ena[3..0]

, and

aclr[3..0]

DSP block signals control the output registers in the DSP block.

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–14 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

This section describes the operation modes of Arria II devices.

Independent Multiplier Modes

In the independent input and output multiplier mode, the DSP block performs
individual multiplication operations for general-purpose multipliers.

9-Bit, 12-Bit, and 18-Bit Multiplier

You can configure each DSP block multiplier for 9-bit, 12-bit, or 18-bit multiplication.
A single DSP block can support up to eight individual 9 × 9 multipliers, six 12 × 12
multipliers, or up to four individual 18 × 18 multipliers. For operand widths up to
9 bits, a 9 × 9 multiplier is implemented. For operand widths from 10 to 12 bits, a
12 × 12 multiplier is implemented and for operand widths from 13 to 18 bits, an
18 × 18 multiplier is implemented. This is done by the Quartus II software by zero
padding the LSBs.

Figure 4–7, Figure 4–8, and Figure 4–9 show the DSP block in the independent

multiplier operation mode. Table 4–9 on page 4–30 lists the DSP block dynamic
signals.

Figure 4–7. 18-Bit Independent Multiplier Mode Shown for Half-DSP Block

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]

aclr[3..0]

18

dataa_0[17..0]

18

datab_0[17..0]

18

dataa_1[17..0]

Input Register Bank

18

datab_1[17..0]

Half-DSP Block

signa

signb

output_round

output_saturate

Pipeline Register Bank

Round/Saturate Round/Saturate

overflow (1)

36

36

Output Register Bank

result_0[ ]

result_1[ ]

Note to Figure 4–7:

(1) Block output for accumulator overflow and saturate overflow.

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Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–15

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Figure 4–8. 12-Bit Independent Multiplier Mode Shown for Half-DSP Block

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]

aclr[3..0]

dataa_0[11..0]

datab_0[11..0]

dataa_1[11..0]

datab_1[11..0]

dataa_2[11..0]

datab_2[11..0]

12

12

12

12

12

12

signa
signb

Input Register Bank

Pipeline Register Bank

Output Register Bank

24

result_0[ ]

24

result_1[ ]

24

result_2[ ]

Half-DSP Block

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4–16 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

18

9

9

9

9

18

9

9

18

9

9

18

Input Register Bank

Pipeline Register Bank

Output Register Bank

dataa_0[8..0]

datab_0[8..0]

dataa_1[8..0]

datab_1[8..0]

dataa_2[8..0]

datab_2[8..0]

dataa_3[8..0]

datab_3[8..0]

Half-DSP Block

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

signa
signb

result_0[ ]

result_1[ ]

result_2[ ]

result_3[ ]

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Figure 4–9. 9-Bit Independent Multiplier Mode Shown for Half-DSP Block

The multiplier operands can accept signed integers, unsigned integers, or a
combination of both. You can change the
register these signals in the DSP block. Additionally, you can register the multiplier
inputs and results independently. You can use the pipeline registers in the DSP block

signa

and

signb

signals dynamically and

to pipeline the multiplier result, increasing the performance of the DSP block.

1 The rounding and saturation logic unit is supported for 18-bit independent multiplier

mode only.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–17

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

36-Bit Multiplier

You can construct a 36 × 36 multiplier with four 18 × 18 multipliers. This
simplification fits into one half-DSP block and is implemented in the DSP block
automatically by selecting 36 × 36 mode. Arria II devices can have up to two 36-bit
multipliers per DSP block (one 36-bit multiplier per half DSP block). The 36-bit
multiplier is also under the independent multiplier mode but uses the entire half-DSP
block, including the dedicated hardware logic after the pipeline registers to
implement the 36 × 36-bit multiplication operation, as shown in Figure 4–10.

The 36-bit multiplier is useful for applications requiring more than 18-bit precision;
for example, for the mantissa multiplication portion of single precision and extended
single precision floating-point arithmetic applications.

Figure 4–10. 36-Bit Independent Multiplier Mode Shown for Half-DSP Block

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

dataa_0[35..18]

datab_0[35..18]

dataa_0[17..0]

datab_0[35..18]

dataa_0[35..18]

datab_0[17..0]

dataa_0[17..0]

signa
signb

+

Input Register Bank

+

+

Pipeline Register Bank

72

result[ ]

Output Register Bank

datab_0[17..0]

Half-DSP Block

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

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Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Double Multiplier

You can configure the Arria II DSP block to support an unsigned 54 × 54-bit multiplier
that is required to compute the mantissa portion of an IEEE double precision floating
point multiplication. You can build a 54 × 54-bit multiplier with basic 18 × 18
multipliers, shifters, and adders. To efficiently use built-in shifters and adders in the
Arria II DSP block, a special double mode (partial 54 × 54 multiplier) is available that
is a slight modification to the basic 36 × 36 multiplier mode, as shown in Figure 4–11
and Figure 4–12.

Figure 4–11. Double Mode Shown for a Half DSP Block

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]

aclr[3..0]

dataa_0[35..18]

signa
signb

datab_0[35..18]

dataa_0[17..0]

datab_0[35..18]

dataa_0[35..18]

datab_0[17..0]

dataa_0[17..0]

datab_0[17..0]

Input Register Bank

Half-DSP Block

+

72

+

Pipeline Register Bank

+

Output Register Bank

result[ ]

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Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–19

Double Mode

+

Two Multiplier

Adder Mode

36

Final Adder (implemented with ALUT logic)

55

72

108

result[ ]

Unsigned 54 × 54 Multiplier

"0"

"0"

dataa[53..36]

dataa[53..36]

dataa[53..36]

datab[53..36]

dataa[35..18]

datab[53..36]

dataa[17..0]

datab[53..36]

datab[35..18]

datab[17..0]

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

signa
signb

dataa[35..18]

dataa[35..18]

datab[35..18]

datab[17..0]

datab[17..0]

dataa[17..0]

datab[35..18]

dataa[17..0]

Shifters and AddersShifters and Adders

36 × 36 Mode

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Figure 4–12. Unsigned 54 × 54-Bit Multiplier

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–20 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Two-Multiplier Adder Sum Mode

In the two-multiplier adder configuration, the DSP block can implement four 18-bit
two-multiplier adders (2 two-multiplier adders per half-DSP block). You can
configure the adders to take the sum or difference of two multiplier outputs.
Summation or subtraction must be selected at compile time. The two-multiplier adder
function is useful for applications such as FFTs, complex FIR, and IIR filters.

Figure 4–13 shows the DSP block configured in the two-multiplier adder mode.

Figure 4–13. Two-Multiplier Adder Mode Shown for Half-DSP Block (Note 1)

signa
signb

output_round

output_saturate

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

overflow (2)

dataa_0[17..0]

datab_0[17..0]

dataa_1[17..0]

Input Register Bank

datab_1[17..0]

Half-DSP Block

Notes to Figure 4–13:

(1) In a half-DSP block, you can implement 2 two-multiplier adders.
(2) Block output for accumulator overflow and saturate overflow.

The loopback mode is a sub-feature of the two-multiplier adder mode. Figure 4–14
shows the DSP block configured in the loopback mode. This mode takes the 36-bit
summation result of the two multipliers and feeds back the most significant 18-bits to
the input. The lower 18-bits are discarded. You have the option to disable or zero-out
the loopback data with the dynamic

zero_loopback
logic 0

signal selects the

selects the looped back data.

+

zero_loopback

zeroed

data or disables the looped back data, and a

Round/Saturate

Pipeline Register Bank

Output Register Bank

signal. A

result[ ]

logic 1

value on the

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Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–21

Input Register Bank

Pipeline Register Bank

Round/Saturate

Output Register Bank

dataa_0[17..0]

datab_0[17..0]

dataa_1[17..0]

datab_1[17..0]

zero_loopback

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

signa
signb

output_round

output_saturate

overflow (1)

result[ ]

+

loopback

Half-DSP Block

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

1 At compile time, you must select the option to use the loopback mode or the general

two-multiplier adder mode.

Figure 4–14. Loopback Mode for Half-DSP Block

Note to Figure 4–14:

(1) Block output for accumulator overflow and saturate overflow.

If all the inputs are full 18 bits and unsigned, the result requires 37 bits for
two-muliplier adder mode. Because the output data width in two-multiplier adder
mode is limited to 36 bits, this 37-bit output requirement is not allowed. Any other
combination that does not violate the 36-bit maximum result is permitted; for
example, two 16 × 16 signed two-multiplier adders is valid.

1 Two-multiplier adder mode supports the rounding and saturation logic unit. You can

use pipeline registers and output registers in the DSP block to pipeline the
multiplier-adder result, increasing the performance of the DSP block.

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4–22 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

18 × 18 Complex Multiplier

You can configure the DSP block to implement complex multipliers with the
two-multiplier adder mode. A single half-DSP block can implement one 18-bit
complex multiplier.

Equation 4–4 shows how you can write a complex multiplication.

Equation 4–4. Complex Multiplication Equation

(a + jb) × (c + jd) = [(a × c) – (b × d)] + j[(a × d) + (b × c)]

To implement this complex multiplication in the DSP block, the real part
[(a × c) – (b × d)] is implemented with two multipliers feeding one subtractor block,
and the imaginary part [(a × d) + (b × c)] is implemented with another two multipliers
feeding an adder block. This mode automatically assumes all inputs are using signed
numbers.

Figure 4–15 shows an 18-bit complex multiplication. This mode automatically

assumes all inputs are using signed numbers.

Figure 4–15. Complex Multiplier Using Two-Multiplier Adder Mode

A

C

B

D

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

signa
signb

Input Register Bank

36

36

(A × C) - (B × D)

(Real Part)

(A × D) + (B × C)

(Imaginary Part)

-

Pipeline Register Bank

+

Output Register Bank

Half-DSP Block

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation

Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices 4–23

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]

aclr[3..0]

signa

signb

output_round

output_saturate

overflow (1)

Input Register Bank

Pipeline Register Bank

Round/Saturate

Output Register Bank

dataa_0[ ]

datab_0[ ]

dataa_1[ ]

datab_1[ ]

dataa_2[ ]

datab_2[ ]

dataa_3[ ]

datab_3[ ]

Half-DSP Block

+

+

+

result[ ]

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

Four-Multiplier Adder

In the four-multiplier adder configuration shown in Figure 4–16, the DSP block can
implement 2 four-multiplier adders (1 four-multiplier adder per half-DSP block).
These modes are useful for implementing one-dimensional and two-dimensional
filtering applications. The four-multiplier adder is performed in two addition stages.
The outputs of two of the four multipliers are initially summed in the two first-stage
adder blocks. The results of these two adder blocks are then summed in the
second-stage adder block to produce the final four-multiplier adder result, as shown
in Equation 4–2 on page 4–4 and Equation 4–3 on page 4–5.

Figure 4–16. Four-Multiplier Adder Mode Shown for Half-DSP Block

Note to Figure 4–16:

(1) Block output for accumulator overflow and saturate overflow.

Four-multiplier adder mode supports the rounding and saturation logic unit. You can
use the pipeline registers and output registers within the DSP block to pipeline the
multiplier-adder result, increasing the performance of the DSP block.

December 2010 Altera Corporation Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration

4–24 Chapter 4: DSP Blocks in Arria II Devices

Arria II Operational Mode Descriptions

High-Precision Multiplier Adder Mode

In the high-precision multiplier adder, the DSP block can implement 2 two-multiplier
adders, with a multiplier precision of 18 × 36 (one two-multiplier adder per half-DSP
block). This mode is useful in filtering or FFT applications where a datapath greater
than 18 bits is required, yet 18 bits is sufficient for coefficient precision. This can occur
if data has a high dynamic range. If the coefficients are fixed, as in FFT and most filter
applications, the precision of 18 bits provides a dynamic range over 100 dB, if the
largest coefficient is normalized to the maximum 18-bit representation.

In these situations, the datapath can be up to 36 bits, allowing sufficient capacity for
bit growth or gain changes in the signal source without loss of precision, which is
useful in single precision block floating point applications. Figure 4–17 shows the
high-precision multiplier is performed in two stages. The sum of the results of the two
adders produce the final result:

Z[54..0] = P

where P

[53..0] + P1[53..0]

0

= A[17..0] × B[35..0] and P1 = C[17..0] × D[35..0]

0

Figure 4–17. High-Precision Multiplier Adder Configuration for Half-DSP Block

clock[3..0]

ena[3..0]
aclr[3..0]

dataA[0:17]

dataB[0:17]

dataA[0:17]

<<18

dataB[18:35]

dataC[0:17]

Input Register Bank

signa
signb

+

P

0

+

Pipeline Register Bank

overflow (1)

result[ ]

Output Register Bank

dataD[0:17]

+

P

dataC[0:17]

<<18

dataD[18:35]

Half-DSP Block

1

Note to Figure 4–17:

(1) Block output for accumulator overflow and saturate overflow.

Arria II Device Handbook Volume 1: Device Interfaces and Integration December 2010 Altera Corporation