Honored Contributor
Honored ContributorI would say rest assured the Altera HP memory controller works. I have complete confidence in it as I've used it in several Stratix II designs now. Altera's memory controllers are really very good and very easy to use.
The best thing you can do is what you're already doing: 1 - Simulate using Hyperlynx. This is priceless and it's great that you've had access to the tool to do it. 2 - Constrain, constrain, constrain the interface on the PCB. Even if you spend an extra 3 days in layout doing trace matching it's worth it. Follow the guidelines provided by the memory manufacturers (primarily Micron). Don't hesitate to overconstrain a bit. If you are going to have any problems with your memory interface it will be: 1 - A poor layout. 2 - A schematic mistake (didn't connect something properly). My most recent board has two DDR2 SODIMMs on it. My current company does not have the luxury of Hyperlynx. We don't even have a logic analyzer and there is not a scope in this entire building with an active probe that can measure DDR2 signals. All we could do is follow the rules. Both of those DIMMS fired up first time at 333MHz (limit for Stratix II) with the HP controller and ran without a single issue. So far I've never even had to look at the signals. Follow good PCB design rules and you should be just fine. Jake
