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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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9 years ago

Max 10 DDR Memory Interface Support

I am currently working on a new design where I'd like to integrate a 10M08DCU324C8G Max 10. I'd also like to have some DDR3 memory on board as well, so I've been looking into the IP cores that Altera provides. After doing some leg work, I've found some older documentation (older in the fact that they pre-date the release of this chip) that suggest that only the 10M16, 10M25, 10M40 and 10M50 devices support the External Memory Interface (https://www.altera.com/content/dam/altera-www/global/en_us/pdfs/literature/hb/max-10/ug_m10_emi.pdf). So I figure that this document is probably accurate. However, when I went to the Altera web site and used their tools to select a different device, this chip (10M08DCU324C8G) is listed as having a DDR3 supported speed. Needless to say, now I'm confused.

So here is the question. Does the 10M08DCU324C8G actually support DDR3 (or even have an External Memory Interface at all) or am I limited to the devices the documentation claims? I called Digikey and they weren't able to help me very much (they got just as confused as I did). Thanks in advance!

4 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    9 years ago

    You need to refer to the Max 10 handbook for information about using DDR based memory on it.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    9 years ago

    you could always put together a test project in quartus, select your device and instantiate the ddr3 ip and compile.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    9 years ago

    The 10M08 device won't support a DDR3 memory interface.

    Running the Quartus generated ddr3 interface example through results in the following errors:

    --- Quote Start ---

    The design contains 8 blocks of type "Double data rate I/O input circuitry" but the selected device 10M08DCU324C8G does not support such blocks

    The design contains 1 blocks of type "I/O Clock Divider Circuitry" but the selected device 10M08DCU324C8G does not support such blocks

    The design contains 1 blocks of type "PHYCLK Tree" but the selected device 10M08DCU324C8G does not support such blocks

    The design contains 1 blocks of type "Phase Detector" but the selected device 10M08DCU324C8G does not support such blocks

    --- Quote End ---

    However, change the device and everything fits in the 10M16DCU324C8G.

    Cheers,

    Alex
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    9 years ago

    Yes, each IP comes with a list of the chips that support it. The documentation for each chip that supports DDR specifies what types of memory are supported and the IP that is needed to drive it.