Forum Discussion
GPIO DDRIO IP output swapped: datainhi/datainlo inverts forwarded clock
I have a source-synchronous interface for which I am forwarding a clock with a DDRIO register as recommended in AN433 pp6-7 to minimize skew between the clock and data waveform:
I created a GPIO IP in Quartus Prime Pro 21.1 to forward the clock:
and instantiate as follows:
module ddriotest ( input logic clk, output logic clk_fwd, output logic [7:0] data ); // forward clock ddr_output i_ddr ( .ck(clk), .din(2'b10), .pad_out(clk_fwd) ); // generate example source synchronous output data logic [7:0] count = '0; always @(posedge clk) count <= count + 1'b1; always @(posedge clk) data <= count; endmodule
When I look at the post-fitter technology map netlist, I see DATAINHI = 1'b1 and DATAINLO = 1'b0 on the DDIO_OUT primitive, which matches the connections shown in AN433 to forward the clock (see pic above for comparison):
But when I simulate this project, I see:
Notice that clk and clk_fwd are inverted with respect to one another! I believe they should be in-phase aside from Tco delay and clock delay, and both of those delays wouldn't be present in this functional sim. I have to swap din[0] and din[1]to get desired behavior. I have good reason to believe this is happening with the actual hardware as well, so it isn't just a sim issue. I've followed the connection all the way to the cyclone10gx_ver.cyclone10gx_ddio_out primitive, which is encrypted so I can't look any further.
Why is this inversion taking place?
I'm using Quartus Prime Pro 21.1 and GPIO IP 20.0 with Questa Intel Starter Edition-64 21.1 (beta) for a Cyclone 10 GX device. Full example project and sim attached.
Thanks,
Paul
Hello Paul,
We have checked the design. We think it may be because of your coding design. We switched your 10 to 01 and got this result. Is this what you are expecting?
Image 1: Waveform
Image 2: Design
Image 3: Reference from https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/ug/ug_altera_gpio.pdf
Thank you.
9 Replies
- pnp
New Contributor
Looking at the very bottom of ug_altera_gpio.pdf there is this note:
I feel like this is a clue, though this paragraph is as clear as mud to me. In my case I did not migrate the IP, I am not using the legacy top-level port names, and the port meaning in that bullet list is what I expect the IP to do.
- AminT_Intel
Regular Contributor
Hello,
What do you mean by 'I have good reason to believe this is happening with the actual hardware as well, so it isn't just a sim issue'?
Thanks
- pnp
New Contributor
The synthesized design behaves as the simulation shows: the signal on datainhi is output on the falling edge of the clock. For my source synchronous interface, this was sneaking in a 180-degree phase shift on the output clock. The timing analyzer assumes pos-unate edges so data transitions occur in the wrong place relative to the active edge of the clock, which breaks my interface. If I swap datainhi and datainlo, my design works as expected.
- AminT_Intel
Regular Contributor
Hello Paul,
We have checked the design. We think it may be because of your coding design. We switched your 10 to 01 and got this result. Is this what you are expecting?
Image 1: Waveform
Image 2: Design
Image 3: Reference from https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/ug/ug_altera_gpio.pdf
Thank you.