Basic FPGA Architecture (Virtex-6) Slice and I/O Resources Objectives After completing this module, you will be able to: Describe the CLB and slice resources available in Virtex-6 FPGAs Describe flip-flop functionality Anticipate building proper HDL code for Virtex-6 FPGAs Virtex-6 CLB COUT COUT CIN CIN CLB contains two slices – Connected to a switch matrix for routing to Carry chain runs vertically in a column Switch Matrix other FPGA resources from one slice to the one above – The Virtex-6 FPGA has a separate carry chain for each slice Routing The Virtex-6 FPGAs use a diagonally symmetric interconnect pattern – A rich set of programmable interconnections exist between one switch matrix and the switch matrices nearby – Many CLBs can be reached with only a few “hops” • A hop is a connection through an active connection point The mapping of logical connections to these physical routing resources is entirely managed by the router (PAR) – The place and route solution is directed by your use timing constraints (very important) With the exception of the carry chain, all slice connections are done through the switch matrix CLB Direct 1 Hop 2 Hops 3 Hops 6-Input LUT with Dual Output 6-input LUT with 1 output or… …it can be two 5-input LUTs (using common inputs) with 2 outputs – Minimal speed impact for either configuration – One or two outputs – Any function of six variables or two independent functions of five variables FPGA Slice Resources Four six-input Look Up Tables (LUT) Four additional flip-flops – These are the new flip-flops Four flip-flop/latches LUT/RAM/SRL Carry chain – This is supported on four of the eight flip-flops LUT/RAM/SRL Wide multiplexers – The implementation tools (MAP) will choose the packing of the design LUT/RAM/SRL LUT/RAM/SRL 01 Wide Multiplexers Each F7MUX combines the outputs of two LUTs together – Can implement an arbitrary 7-input function LUT/RAM/SRL – Can implement an 8-1 multiplexer The F8MUX combines the outputs of the two F7MUXes LUT/RAM/SRL – Can implement an arbitrary 8-input function – Can implement a 16-1 multiplexer MUX output can drive or bypass the flip-flop/latch – MUX is controlled by the BX/CX/DX slice input LUT/RAM/SRL LUT/RAM/SRL 01 Carry Logic Carry logic can implement fast arithmetic addition and subtraction – Carry out is propagated vertically through the four LUTs in a slice – The carry logic propagates from one slice to the next CLB above LUT/RAM/SRL LUT/RAM/SRL Requires bit ordering Carry look-ahead – Combinatorial carry look-ahead over the four LUTs in a slice – Implements faster carry cascading from slice to slice LUT/RAM/SRL LUT/RAM/SRL 01 Flip-Flops and Latches Each slice has four flip-flop/latches (FF/L) FF FF/L – Can be configured as either flip-flops or latches – The D input can come from the O6 LUT output, the carry chain, the wide multiplexer, or the AX/BX/CX/DX slice input Each slice also has four flip-flops (FF) LUT/RAM/SRL LUT/RAM/SRL – D input can come from O5 output or the AX/BX/CX/DX input • These don’t have access to the carry chain, wide multiplexers, or the slice inputs If any of the FF/L are configured as latches, the four FFs are not available LUT/RAM/SRL LUT/RAM/SRL 01 CLB Control Signals D CE – This is referred to as the “control set” of the flip-flops – CE and SR are active high – CLK can be inverted at the slice boundary – All four flip-flop/latches are configured the same – All four flip-flops are configured the same – SR will cause the flip-flop to be set to the state specified by the SRVAL attribute – FFs in the Virtex-6 FPGA have an additional INITVAL CK D Q CE CE CK CK SR SRSR ●●● Set/Reset (SR) signal can be configured as synchronous or asynchronous Q AFF/LATCH DFF D Q CE CK SR ●●● All flip-flops and flip-flop/latches share the same CLK, SR, and CE signals AFF DFF/LATCH D Q CE CK SR SLICEM as Distributed RAM Single Port 32x2 32x4 32x6 32x8 64x1 64x2 64x3 64x4 128x1 128x2 256x1 Dual Port 32x2D 32x4D 64x1D 64x2D 128x1D Simple Dual Port 32x6SDP 64x3SDP Quad Port 32x2Q 64x1Q Uses the same storage that is used for the look-up table function Synchronous write, asynchronous read – Can be converted to synchronous read using the flip-flops available in the slice Various configurations – Single port • One LUT6 = 64x1 or 32x2 RAM • Cascadable up to 256x1 RAM – Dual port (D) • 1 read / write port + 1 read-only port Each port has independent address inputs – Simple dual port (SDP) • 1 write-only port + 1 read-only port – Quad-port (Q) • 1 read / write port + 3 read-only ports SLICEM as 32-bit Shift Register Versatile SRL-type shift registers – Variable-length shift register – Synchronous FIFOs – Content-Addressable Memory (CAM) – Pattern generator – Compensate for delay / latency – Shift register length is determined by the address LUT D CLK 32-bit Shift register 32 A 5 MUX • Constant value giving fixed delay line Qn • Dynamic addressing for elastic buffer Cascadable up to 128x1 shift register in one slice SRL Configurations in one Slice (4 LUTs) 16x1, 16x2, 16x4, 16x6, 16x8 32x1, 32x2, 32x3, 32x4 64x1, 64x2 SRL is not loadable, has no reset, and only supports serial in/serial out Q 31 96x1 128x1 Shift Register LUT Example 20 Cycles 64 Operation A Operation B 8 Cycles 12 Cycles Operation C Operation D - NOP 3 Cycles 17 Cycles 64 Paths are Statically Balanced 20 Cycles Operation D - NOP must add 17 pipeline stages of 64 bits each – 1,088 flip-flops (136 slices) or – 64 SRLs (16 slices) Two Types of Slices Virtex-6 FPGA Two types of slices – SLICEM: Full slice (25%) • LUT can be used for logic and memory/SRL • Has wide multiplexers and carry chain – SLICEL: Logic and arithmetic only (75%) • LUT can only be used for logic (not memory) • Has wide multiplexers and carry chain SLICEL SLICEL or SLICEM SLICEL I/O Bank Structure I/Os are grouped into banks – All I/O banks are in columns – 9 – 30 I/O banks, depending on chip type • 40 I/Os per bank – More I/O banks allows greater mixture of standards across the chip – Clocking resources specific to each bank • Global and/or regional clocking resources BANK BANK BANK BANK BANK BANK – Based on common VCCO, VREF BANK – This is called the I/O banking rules BANK Voltage translation only allows compatible I/O standards in one bank (share common power supply) BANK Virtex-6 FPGA – Used to clock data in and clock data out of the device I/O Versatility Each I/O supports 40+ voltage and protocol standards, including – LVCMOS – LVDS, Bus LVDS – LVPECL – SSTL – HSTL – RSDS_25 (point-to-point) – Based on banking rules (some standards not compatible within the same bank) Each pin can be input and output (including 3-state) Each pin can be individually configured – IODELAY, drive strength, input threshold, termination, weak pull-up or pulldown I/O Electrical Resources P and N pins can be configured as singleended…or differential pair • This example shows a differential pair that is coupling two neighboring (and pre-assigned) pins Tx P Rx • Receiver available in all banks • Receiver termination available in all banks LVDS Termination Tx N Rx IOB Element Input path – Two DDR registers Output path – Two DDR registers – Two 3-state enable DDR registers Separate clocks and clock enables for input and output Set and reset signals are shared I/O Logical Resources – Master and slave – Can operate independently or concatenated Each IOLOGIC contains… – IOSERDES • Parallel to serial converter (serializer) • Serial to parallel converter (De-serializer) – IODELAY • Selectable fine-grained delay – SDR and DDR resources Interconnect to FPGA fabric Two IOLOGIC blocks per I/O pair Master IOLOGIC IOSERDES IODELAY Slave IOLOGIC IOSERDES IODELAY Flip-Flop Details All eight flip-flops share the same control signals FF – CK – clock – CE – Clock Enable – SR – Set/Reset Each flip-flop has four input signals – D – data input – CK – clock – CE – clock enable (Active High) – SR – async/sync set/reset (Active High) • Either Set or Reset can be implemented (not both) D CE CK Q SR Design Tips Suggestions for faster and smaller designs – Design synchronously • Use a synchronous Set/Reset whenever possible FF1 D CE CK • Don’t gate your clock (use the CE) SR • Manage your clocks skew (use global or regional clock routing resources ●●● – Leverage FPGA Global Reset whenever possible • Requires instantiation of the Startup component • Save routing resources – Use active-high CE and Set/Reset (no local inverter) Q FF8 D CE CK Q SR Software Software intelligently packs logic Design FPGA Slice LUT LUT LUT LUT Related logic and flip-flops are coded Software places the logic and flip-flop in the same slice Software packs logic for optimum performance Control Signals Different flip-flop configurations – If coded registers do not map cleanly to the flip-flops, the software tools will automatically implement the missing functionality by using additional slice resources – Can increase overall LUT utilization Case CE active Low Design D CE CK Q FPGA D CE Q D CK Both Synchronous Set and Reset are used D CK Q Sset SReset D D Sset SReset Software uses logic to map extra control functions SR CK Q Control Set Reduction Flip-flops with different control sets cannot be packed into the same slice Software can be instructed to reduce the number of control sets by mapping control logic to LUT resources – This results in higher LUT utilization, but a lower overall slice utilization Design FPGA Q D 3 Slices CK CK D Q CK Sset D Q D Sset D CK Q D SReset D CK Q Q CK SReset 1 Slice D Using the Slice Resources Three primary mechanisms for using FPGA resources – Inference • Describe the behavior of the desired circuit using Register Transfer Language (RTL) • The synthesis tool will analyze the described behavior and use the required FPGA resources to implement the equivalent circuit – Instantiation • Create an instance of the FPGA resource using the name of the primitive and manually connecting the ports and setting the attributes – CORE Generator™ tool and Architecture Wizard • The CORE Generator software and Architecture Wizard are graphical tools that allow you to build and customize modules with specific functionality • The resulting modules range from simple modules containing few FPGA resources or highly complex Intellectual Property (IP) cores Inference All primary slice resources can be inferred by XST and Synplify – LUTs • Most combinatorial functions will map to LUTs – Flip-flops • Coding style defines the behavior – SRL • Non-loadable, serial functionality – Multiplexers • Use a CASE statement or other conditional operators – Carry logic • Use arithmetic operators (addition, subtraction, comparison) Inference should be used wherever possible – HDL code is portable, compact, and easily understood and maintained Instantiation For a list of primitives that can be instantiated, see the HDL library guide – Provides a list of primitives, their functionality, ports, and attributes Use instantiation when it is difficult to infer the exact resource you want Help Software Manuals Libraries Guides Architecture Wizard The CORE Generator tool and Architecture Wizard can help you create modules with the required functionality – Typically used for FPGA-specific resources (like clocking, memory, or I/O), or for more complex functions (like memory controllers or DSP functions) Summary All slices contain four 6-input LUTs and eight registers – LUTs can perform any combinatorial function of up to six inputs or two functions of five inputs – Four of the eight registers can be used as flip-flops or latches; the remaining four can only be used as flip-flops – Flip-flops have active high CE inputs and active high synchronous or asynchronous Set/Rest inputs SLICEL slices also contain carry logic and the dedicated multiplexers – The MUXF7 multiplexers combine LUT outputs to create 8-input multiplexers – The MUXF8 multiplexers combine the MUXF7 outputs to create 16-input multiplexers – The carry logic can be used to implement fast arithmetic functions The LUTs in SLICEM slices can also SRL and distributed memory functionality Manage your control set usage to reduce the size and increase the speed of your design Where Can I Learn More? Software Manuals – Start Xilinx ISE Design Suite 13.1 ISE Design Tools Documentation Software Manuals – This includes the Synthesis & Simulation Design Guide • This guide has example inferences of many architectural resources – XST User Guide • HDL language constructs and coding recommendations – Targeting and Retargeting Guide for Virtex-6 FPGAs, WP309 – Virtex-6 FPGA User Guides Xilinx Education Services courses – www.xilinx.com/training • Xilinx tools and architecture courses • Hardware description language courses • Basic FPGA architecture, Basic HDL Coding Techniques, and other Free Videos! Trademark Information Xilinx is disclosing this Document and Intellectual Property (hereinafter “the Design”) to you for use in the development of designs to operate on, or interface with Xilinx FPGAs. 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