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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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18 years ago

Does Altera have any function like SRL16E of xilinx

just like the title.

if not ,any suggestion on why altera didnt take this architecture?

patent or any profit without SRL16E(saving source? i think no)

6 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    The Stratix III chips have "MLAB" mode which converts whole LABs into small memories. It uses the LUT mask bits for storage similar to the SRL16. It does not have built in shift wiring. Many shift registers can be shoe horned into the MLAB with a little external registering / logic. The MLAB method is more efficient in silicon. Personally I'd rather pay a little more for my chips and have a vanilla shift register.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Quartus will automatically convert wide/large shift registers into alt_shift_taps megafunctions. (This is the "shoe-horn" method that uses a small memory and an external counter to do the logic.) Functionally it's identical to a shift register.

    To be honest, I think the SRL16 looks better and would provide better area. Yet I've converted many design with them(especially DSP designs) and have yet to see one where they had an area advantage. I admittedly have always been surprised by this, but have seen it time and time again. I'm sure such designs exist but don't know about them and doubt if they're common. (What I am sure is common, are there are a lot of X designers that use lots of SRL16s and assume they will have bad area in an Altera part, even if they don't verify this...)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    For Altera,Cyclone is my first choice. When area is the most goal.the balance between logic and register is importan. in another hand,this make the design more interesting.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    I agree with you!

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    To be honest, I think the SRL16 looks better and would provide better area. Yet I've converted many design with them(especially DSP designs) and have yet to see one where they had an area advantage. I admittedly have always been surprised by this, but have seen it time and time again. I'm sure such designs exist but don't know about them and doubt if they're common. (What I am sure is common, are there are a lot of X designers that use lots of SRL16s and assume they will have bad area in an Altera part, even if they don't verify this...)

    --- Quote End ---