Patent Abstract:
A circuit generally comprising a command buffer and a read buffer is disclosed. The command buffer may be configured to (i) buffer a plurality of read commands received by the circuit, wherein each read command has one of a plurality of port values and one of a plurality of identification values and (ii) transmit a tag signal from the circuit in response to servicing a particular read command of the read commands. The tag signal may have a particular port value of the port values and a particular identification value of the identification values as determined by the particular read command. The read buffer may be configured to transmit a read signal within a plurality of first transfers from the circuit in response to servicing the particular read command.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    The present application may relate to co-pending applications (i) Ser. No. 10/262,180 filed Oct. 1, 2002 and (ii) Ser. No. 10/______,______(Attorney Docket number 02-5002/1496.00177) filed Dec. 18, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to multiport devices generally and, more particularly, to a peripheral controller for a multiport bus architecture slave device.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Multiport slave peripheral circuit designs are commonly a single monolithic block within an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The monolithic block approach creates difficulties in reusing all or portions of the design since the design is customized for the original ASIC application. Where portions of the design are reused, maintenance becomes difficult where the reused blocks are modified in order to be fully integrated with other blocks in the new application.  
           [0004]    Another limitation of the monolithic block approach is encountered where bus traffic at a particular port varies among and/or within applications. For example, a multiport Advanced High-performance Bus (AHB) application may use a bus A to support very bursty but short traffic requests while a bus B may use 64-bit, long linear requests. A monolithic block optimized for bus A will not perform as well with bus B. What is desired is a reusable multiport slave peripheral architecture where a peripheral control function can be adapted to meet a wide number of bus interfaces types, arbitration schemes, and peripheral resources.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention concerns a circuit generally comprising a command buffer and a read buffer. The command buffer may be configured to (i) buffer a plurality of read commands received by the circuit, wherein each read command has one of a plurality of port values and one of a plurality of identification values and (ii) transmit a tag signal from the circuit in response to servicing a particular read command of the read commands. The tag signal may have a particular port value of the port values and a particular identification value of the identification values as determined by the particular read command. The read buffer may be configured to transmit a read signal within a plurality of first transfers from the circuit in response to servicing the particular read command.  
           [0006]    The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include providing a peripheral controller for a multiport slave device that may (i) allow for compile-time determination of an internal and/or external memory interface data width, (ii) support double data rate memory device, (iii) support four to thirty-two banks of memory circuits, (iv) address high density memory circuits, (v) monitor read/write performance, and/or (vi) accommodate different latency options that may allow use of both registered and non-registered SSTL2 output buffers for primary rate DDR signals. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims and drawings in which:  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of a second example system;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a timing diagram for writing and reading to and from control registers;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a fifth embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 11 is a timing diagram of an example two burst read from the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 12 is a timing diagram of an example four burst read from the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 13 is a timing diagram of an example two burst write to the peripheral controller circuit;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 14 is a timing diagram of an example four burst write to the peripheral controller circuit; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 15 is a timing diagram of an example read from a double data rate (DDR) memory circuit. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]    Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an example system  100  is shown in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The system  100  generally comprises multiple line buffer circuits or blocks  102   a - d , a configuration port circuit or block  104 , an arbiter circuit or block  106 , a multiplexer circuit or block  108 , a peripheral controller circuit or block  110 , an optional internal physical interface circuit or block  112 , and an optional external physical interface circuit or block  114 . Each line buffer circuit  102   a - d  may have an interface  116   a - d  configured to couple to a bus  118   a - d  external to the system  100 . The configuration port circuit  104  may have an interface  117  configured to couple to a configuration bus  119  external to the system  100 . The external physical interface block  114  may have an interface  122  connectable to a peripheral circuit or block  120  external to the system  100 . Multiple register interface busses or internal busses  123  may link the configuration port circuit  104  to the line buffer circuits  102   a - d , the arbiter circuit  106 , the peripheral controller circuit  110 , and/or the internal physical interface circuit  112 .  
         [0024]    The system  100  may provide interfaces between multiple AHB masters (not shown) and the peripheral controller circuit  110  for data transfers. The system  100  generally uses a line buffer architecture as opposed to a first-in-first-out (FIFO) based architecture. The line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may handle an AHB slave protocol then translate AHB requests into requests to the arbiter circuit  106  and the peripheral controller circuit  110 . The transactions (e.g., reads and writes) to the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be handled as single line requests. Each line request may involve moving multiple words of data (e.g., 64 or 128 bits) in multiple beats or transfers (e.g., two or four). Because the requests may be handled on a line basis, line registers or buffers in the system  100  generally use a same line size (e.g., 128 bits or 256 bits). The line size may also be in relationship to a width of the external data path to the peripheral circuit  120  and a number of beats used to transfer the data. For example, the data path width (e.g., in bits) times the number of beats (e.g., four or eight) generally equals the width of the line buffers.  
         [0025]    The arbiter circuit  106  generally chooses which request from which line buffer circuit  102   a - d  may be serviced by the peripheral controller circuit  110 . The arbiter circuit  106  may also translate some of the line buffer requests into a proper protocol for the peripheral controller circuit  110 . The multiplexer circuit  108  (part of the arbiter circuit  106 ) may route the request to the peripheral controller circuit  110 , one at a time.  
         [0026]    The peripheral controller circuit  110  generally translates commands into actual interface signal levels used to control the external peripheral circuit  120 . The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be programed to provide specific interface signals/timing for each type of peripheral circuit  120 . The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be programed via the configuration port circuit  104 . The external physical interface circuit  114  generally contains special input/output cells for communicating with the peripheral circuit  120 . The internal physical interface circuit  112  generally provides programming access to the external physical interface circuit  114  through the configuration port circuit  104 . Programming may include, but is not limited to, delay value and bypass control signals.  
         [0027]    In one embodiment, the peripheral controller circuit  110  and the external physical interface circuit  114  may be designed to interface to a double data rate (DDR) memory type of peripheral circuit  120 . In other embodiments, the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be configured as a random access memory (RAM) controller, a read-only memory (ROM) controller, a mass memory drive controller, an input/output device controller, a communications link controller, or the like. The external physical interface circuit  114  may be omitted where the peripheral controller circuit  110  may interface directly to the peripheral circuit  120  or where the peripheral resource may be contained within the peripheral controller circuit  110 .  
         [0028]    Each bus  118   a - d  may be implemented as an Advanced High-Performance Bus (AHB) defined in an “Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) Specification”, revision 2.0, 1999, published by ARM Limited, Cambridge, England and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A number of the line buffer circuits  102   a - b  may be varied to match a number of the AHB busses  118   a - d . The line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may also be configured to interface to other types of busses and various configurations of the AHB bus to meet the criteria of the particular application. The variations may include bus width, bus speed, endianness and/or allowed transfer types.  
         [0029]    The configuration bus  119  may be configured as an AHB bus. In one embodiment, the configuration bus  119  may be configured as an Advanced Peripheral Bus (APB) as defined by the AMBA specification. Other busses may be used as the configuration bus  119  to meet a design criteria of a particular application.  
         [0030]    The line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may provide configurable data width translations and a number of data beats between the AHB busses  118   a - d  and the peripheral controller circuit  110 . Generally, each transfer of data between the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  and the peripheral controller circuit  110  (e.g., READ_DATA and WRITE_DATA) may be as wide or wider than transfers between the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  and the AHB busses  118   a - d . Each transfer of data between the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  and the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be implemented as two or more (e.g., two or four) data beats.  
         [0031]    The line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may provide endian translations between the AHB busses  118   a - d  and the peripheral controller circuit  110 , as appropriate. For example, the peripheral controller circuit  110  and the AHB bus  118   a  may treat data as big endian while the AHB busses  118   b - d  may treat data as little endian. Other combinations of big and little endianness may be provided to meet a criteria of a particular application.  
         [0032]    Address information (e.g., ADDRESS) may be transferred from the AHB busses  118   a - d  to the peripheral controller circuit  110  with or without modification depending upon configuration bits set within the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  through the configuration port circuit  104 . Command information (e.g., COMMAND) may be generated by each line buffer circuit  102   a - d  for accessing the peripheral controller circuit  110 . A set of signals (e.g., SNOOP_PATH) may be tapped from outputs of the multiplexer circuit  108  and provided to the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  to handle cases where a first line buffer circuit  102   a - d  may be preparing to read from an address that a second line buffer circuit  102   a - d  may be preparing to write.  
         [0033]    Each line buffer circuit  102   a - d  may be configured as an AHB slave device that buffers requests to the peripheral controller circuit  110 . Data may be written and/or read from the peripheral controller circuit  110  in multi-bit lines (e.g., 256-bits or 128-bits). Read data from the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be transmitted to each line buffer circuit  102   a - d  simultaneously. Information identifying which line buffer circuit  102   a - d  the data is intended for may also be transmitted by the peripheral controller circuit  110 . The write data presented through the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may be routed to the peripheral controller circuit  110  through the multiplexer circuit  108 . Using only 256-bit or 128-bit requests to the peripheral controller circuit  110  may simplify control logic (e.g., FIG. 6) of the peripheral controller circuit  110  compared with designs accepting 256, 128, 64, 32 and 16-bit requests.  
         [0034]    The peripheral controller circuit  110  generally receives several (e.g., three) clocks. A clock signal (e.g., CLK 1 ), or sub-multiple thereof, may provide basic clocking for the peripheral controller circuit  110  and the line buffer circuits  102   a - d . The clock signal CLK 1  may have a frequency equal to a highest frequency an AHB clock (e.g., HCLK) operated with the system  100 . The frequency of the clock signal CLK 1  may also be a primary rate frequency of the external peripheral circuit  120 . The clock signal CLK 1  generally has a 50/50 duty cycle. The clock signal CLK 1  may be used by the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  as the AMBA defined clock signal HCLK would be used. If the clock signal HCLK is a sub-multiple of the clock signal CLK 1 , an enable signal (e.g., HCLKEN) may be used to indicate active edges of the clock signal CLK 1 . In one embodiment, the clock signal CLK 1  may have a maximum frequency of approximately 133 megahertz (MHz) and a minimum frequency of approximately 50 MHz. The minimum frequency may dependent on a minimum frequency of the peripheral circuit  120 .  
         [0035]    Another clock signal (e.g., CLK 2 ) may be implemented as a double rate clock having rising edge coinciding with the edges of the clock signal CLK 1 . The clock signal CLK 2  may have a duty cycle less rigorous than 50/50. An enable signal (e.g., CLKPHASE) may be a delayed version of the clock signal CLK 1  and is generally used as an enable for the double rate clock signal CLK 2  to discern the phases. The read data transfers from the peripheral controller circuit  110  may occur at a clock signal CLK 1  rate. Write transfers to the peripheral controller circuit  110  may occur at a rate of the clock signal CLK 2 .  
         [0036]    A third clock signal (e.g., HCLKCFG) may be used in place of the AMBA clock signal HCLK for the configuration port circuit  104 . The configuration port circuit  104  generally does not use the enable signal HCLKEN associated with the port directly. The configuration port circuit  104  generally expects the clock signal HCLKCFG to have the proper frequency divisions when a sub-multiple frequency is used.  
         [0037]    A reset scheme used in the system  100  may be completely synchronous. Individual line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may be reset by a reset signal (e.g., HRESETn) provided from the associated AHB bus  118   a - d  to the particular line buffer circuits  102   a - d . A reset state is generally accomplished after a single cycle of the clock signal CLK 1 . The system  100  may be designed so that a reset on one of the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may not affect other AHB transactions going on through the other line buffer circuits  102   a - d  nor affect ongoing read/write requests to the peripheral controller circuit  110 .  
         [0038]    The arbiter circuit  106 , peripheral controller circuit  110  and internal busses  123  may be reset by the configuration bus  119  reset signal HRESETn. Any ongoing read/write requests to the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be disrupted and an entire state of the peripheral controller circuit  110  may need to be reconfigured. In addition, because a refresh operation may be disrupted as part of the reset operation, a memory type peripheral device  120  may need to be reinitialized. As with the reset of the line buffer circuits  102   a - d , the configuration port reset signal HRESETCFGn should be asserted for at least a cycle of the clock signal CLK 1 .  
         [0039]    Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a portion of a second example system  100   a  is shown. The system  100   a  may be implemented using multiple arbiter circuits  106   a - b  and/or multiple peripheral controller circuits  110   x - z . Several multiplexers  125   a - b ,  127   a - b ,  129   a - b ,  131   a - b  and  133   a - b  may be included in the system  10   a  to allow the line buffer circuits  102   a - b  to control access selection among the arbiter circuits  106   a - b  and the peripheral controller circuits  110   x - z . The multiplexers  125   a - b ,  127   a - b ,  129   a - b ,  131   a - b  and  133   a - b  may be implemented as part of the line buffer circuits  102   a - b  or as separate modules.  
         [0040]    A signal (e.g., LBM 0 -LBM 1 ) may be generated by each of the line buffer circuits  102   a - b  to control the multiplexers  125   a - b ,  127   a - b ,  129   a - b ,  131   a - b  and  133   a - b , respectively. Each line buffer circuit  102   a - b  may use a requested address received from the AHB busses  118   a - b  to determine which arbiter circuit  106   a - b  controls access to a particular peripheral controller circuit  110   x - z  mapped to the requested address. Therefore, multiple line buffer circuits  102   a - b  may request arbitration and receive a grant from multiple arbiter circuits  106   a - b  substantially simultaneously. For example, the first line buffer circuit  102   a  may request access to the first peripheral controller circuit  110   x  from the first arbiter circuit  106   a  while the second line buffer circuit  102   b  may concurrently request access to the third peripheral controller circuit  110   z  from the second arbiter circuit  106   b.    
         [0041]    A multiplexer  108   a  may provide access to the first peripheral controller circuit  110   x  by the line buffer circuits  102   a - b . A signal (e.g., ARM 1 ) may be generated by the first arbiter circuit  106   a  to address the multiplexer  108   a . A multiplexer  108   b  may provide access to the second and the third peripheral controller circuits  110   y - z  by the line buffer circuits  102   a - b . A signal (e.g., ARM 2 ) may be generated by the second arbiter circuit  106   b  to address the multiplexer  108   b . Another multiplexer  135  may provide access selection between the second peripheral circuit  110   y  and the third peripheral circuit  110   z . A signal (e.g., ARM 3 ) may be generated by the second arbiter circuit  106   b  to address the multiplexer  135 . The signal ARM 3  may also address a multiplexer  137  that routes the read data from the second peripheral control circuit  110   y  or the third peripheral control circuit  110   z  back to the line buffer circuits  102   a - b  (via the multiplexers  133   a - b ). In one embodiment, the third peripheral controller circuit  110   z , the multiplexer  135  and the multiplexer  137  may be eliminated such that the second arbiter circuit  106   b  arbitrates for access only to the second peripheral controller circuit  110   y.    
         [0042]    Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The input and output signals for the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be grouped together based upon signal sources and destinations. The groupings may include, but may not be limited to clock signals, line buffer signals, arbiter signals, and control register interface signals. External physical interface circuit signals and peripheral circuit signals may be included where appropriate to interface with the external physical interface circuit  114  and/or directly to the peripheral circuit  120 .  
         [0043]    Referring to FIG. 4, a detailed block diagram of the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The peripheral controller circuit  110  generally comprises a circuit or block  124 , a circuit or block  126  and one or more registers or blocks  128 . The circuit  124  may be implemented as a port interface circuit. The port interface circuit  124  generally communicates with the AHB busses  118   a - d  through the line buffer circuit  102   a - d  and the multiplexer circuit  108 . The port interface circuit  124  may establish a standard interface to the rest of the system  100  for most or all implementations of the peripheral controller circuit  110 .  
         [0044]    The circuit  126  may be implemented as a resource circuit. The resource circuit  126  may be implementation dependent. In some implementations, the resource circuit  126  may provide a storage resource requested through the AHB busses  118   a - d . For example, the resource circuit  126  may provide memory, semaphore, and/or mailbox functionality. In other implementations, the resource circuit  126  may provide an interface to a resource  130  external to the peripheral controller circuit  110  through an interface  132 . For example, the resource  130  may be a memory and/or communication capability. In one embodiment, the resource  130  may be a double data rate (DDR) memory capability incorporating the external interface circuit  114  and the peripheral circuit  120 . The control registers  128  may provide a capability to program the port interface circuit  124  and/or the resource circuit  126  through the configuration port circuit  104 .  
         [0045]    The port interface circuit  124  generally comprises a circuit or block  134 , a circuit or block  136 , a circuit or block  138  and a circuit or block  140 . The circuit  134  may be implemented as an address decoder. The address decoder may be configured to provide address translations between an address domain of the AHB busses  118   a - d  and another address domain of the resource circuit  126 . The address decoder circuit  134  may receive the address signal ADDRESS and/or an address signal (e.g., CBC_ADD) and then generate another address signal (e.g., PIC_ADD).  
         [0046]    The circuit  136  may be implemented as a command buffers and control circuit. The command buffer and control circuit  136  generally provides buffering of various command signals COMMAND from the arbiter circuit  106 . The command buffer and control circuit  136  may also provide translations of the various command signals COMMAND being buffered into one or more command signals (e.g., PIC_CMD) understood by the resource circuit  126  and/or the resource  130 . The command buffer and control circuit  136  may also generate the address signal CBC_ADD based upon a current command for use by the address decoder circuit  134 .  
         [0047]    The circuit  138  may be implemented as a write queue circuit. The write queue circuit  138  may be configured to queue or buffer data signals WRITE_DATA in a sequence as requested by the line buffer circuits  102   a - d . Each data signal WRITE_DATA in the write queue circuit  138  may have one or more corresponding write commands in the command buffer and control circuit  134 . The data signals WRITE_DATA may be transferred to the resource circuit  126  as a data signal (e.g., PIC_WDATA).  
         [0048]    The circuit  140  may be implemented as a read buffer circuit. The read buffer  140  may store data signals (e.g., RC_RDATA) in a sequence as requested by the line buffer circuits  102   a - d . Each read data signal RC_RDATA in the read buffer circuit  140  may have one or more associated read commands in the command buffer and control circuit  134 . The read data signals RC_RDATA may be transferred to the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  as the data signal READ_DATA.  
         [0049]    Referring to FIG. 5, a timing diagram for writing and reading to and from the control registers  128  is shown. During a read operation, an address signal (e.g., INT_R_ADDR), a control signal (e.g., INT_R_WRITE) and an enable signal (e.g., INT_R_ENABLE_MC) may be driven to the peripheral controller circuit  110 . The peripheral controller circuit  110  may steer a data signal (e.g., MC_R_RDATA) back to the configuration port circuit  104 . The data signal MC_R_RDATA may be registered by the clock HCLK within the configuration port circuit  104  and driven out onto the AHB Bus  119 . During a write operation, the address signal INT_R_ADDR, the control signal INT_R_WRITE, the enable signal INT_R_ENABLE_MC and a data signal (e.g., INT_R_WRDATA) may be driven to the peripheral controller circuit  110  from the configuration port circuit  104  and clocked by the rising edge of INT_R_CLK. The signals shown in FIG. 5 may provide a simple interface that may be dedicated as a sideband control/status interface to the peripheral controller circuit  110 . Similar interfaces to the other programmable elements, such as the line buffer circuit  102   a - d , arbiter circuit  106  and/or the internal physical interface circuit  112  may also be implemented. In one embodiment, the signals shown in FIG. 5 may provide an alternate interface to the external peripheral circuit  120 .  
         [0050]    Referring to FIG. 6, a block diagram of a first embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be implemented as the DDR memory controller circuit  110   a . The external physical interface circuit  114  may be implemented as a DDR physical interface circuit  114   a . The peripheral circuit  120  may be implemented as one or more DDR memory circuits or banks  120   a . The port interface circuit  124  within the DDR memory controller circuit  120   a  may be configured as described above. The resource circuit  126  may be configured as a DDR resource circuit  126   a  to provide control and timing for the DDR memory circuits  120   a.    
         [0051]    The DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  generally enables the use of multiple on-chip AHB buses  118   a - d  which may allow concurrency of AHB transactions while at the same time providing for a common or centralized memory area between the AHB subsystems. Each of the AHB busses  118   a - d  may have a separate multiple-bit (e.g.; 32-bit) addressable memory region. The physical DDR memory circuit  120   a  may be mapped anywhere within the independent addressable regions. The multiport configuration may have an advantage over a multilayer bus implementation in that the DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  itself may prioritize requests (possibly under user control) and overlap operations to the external DDR memory circuit  120   a  in order to optimize both bandwidth and latency. The optimizations generally include such capabilities as read and write buffering, coherency detection, improved arbitration, and look ahead on DDR access requests while considering current DDR memory bank state. A read and write buffering within the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  may help reduce the access latency to the DDR memory circuit  120   a  and may also increase a utilization of the available bandwidth at the interface  122 . The modular design of the system  100  may allow the architecture to be optimized for an expected AHB bus traffic profile.  
         [0052]    The DDR resource circuit  126   a  generally comprises a circuit or block  142 , a circuit or block  144  and an optional circuit or block  146 . The circuit  142  may be configured as a state machine. The state machine  142  may provide signal sequencing for controlling the DDR memory circuits  120   a . The circuit  144  may be implemented as a programmable physical timing circuit. The programmable physical timing circuit  144  may regulate timing of commands and data to and from the DDR memory circuits  120   a  based upon the sequences generated by the state machine circuit  142 . The circuit  146  may be implemented as a performance monitor circuit. The performance monitor circuit  146  generally monitors multiple factors within the DDR memory controller that may aid in adjusting the programmable settings to maximize performance.  
         [0053]    Configuration of the DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  may support a wide variety of compile-time options, strappable options, and/or programming of the control registers  128 . Additional configuration may be generated to meet a design criteria of a particular application. The programmable options may affect such things as line buffer circuit operation, arbitration priority scheme, DDR device support and modes, and a number of beats (e.g., 8) per DDR memory burst. Other options may be implemented to meet the criteria of a particular implementation. Table I lists compile-time options that may be supported by the DDR memory controller circuit  120   a :  
                           TABLE I                                   Compile-Time Options   Option Description                           DDR bank support   Supports 4-32 banks. Bank               state machines may be in               groups of 4 (e.g., 4, 8,               12, etc.). DDR bank support               effectively selects a               number of DDR SDRAM stacks               that may be supported               (e.g., depth of memory).           Number of AHB ports   2-8 ports.           DDR external data   External DDR width of 16,           path width/line   32, 64 or 72 bits. Line           buffer size   buffer size of 128 or 256               bits. External DDR width,               number of DDR burst beats,               and line buffer size are               generally closely related.               Line buffer size may be               optimized to match a DDR               burst block size.           Compile option for   Included or not included.           inclusion of           performance monitor           registers in the DDR           memory controller           circuit.                      
 
         [0054]    Each strappable option may be set using a strap pin or bonding pad (not shown). The strap pin may be connected to power or ground to determine the option. The strappable options may be described in Table II as follows:  
                           TABLE II                                   Strap Option Name   Option Description                           Endianness   Big or little endian               (per port).           AHB port width   32 or 64-bit (per port)           DDR primary rate signal   Controls primary rate           latency   DDR signal bypass               multiplexer. Allows use               of either registered or               non-registered SSTL2               input/output buffers.                      
 
         [0055]    Programmer visible objects within a multiport DDR memory type system  100  may be summarized below. High level guidelines for complex peripheral (e.g., memory) controller circuits  110  may use an address space as follows:  
                                                                 // Configuration Register Block Base Addr [15:0]                // Arbiter:   0000h --&gt; 7FFFh           // DDR Controller:   8000h --&gt; 9FFFh           // DDR Physical:   A000h --&gt; BFFFh           //           // Line Buffer 0:   C000h --&gt; C3FFh           // Line Buffer 1:   C400h --&gt; CVFFh           // Line Buffer 2:   C800h --&gt; CBFFh           // Line Buffer 3:   CC00h --&gt; CFFFh           //           // Line Buffer 4:   D000h --&gt; D3FFh           // Line Buffer 5:   D400h --&gt; D7FFh           // Line Buffer 6:   D800h --&gt; DBFFh           // Line Buffer 7:   DC00h --&gt; DFFFh           //           // Line Buffer 8:   E000h --&gt; E3FFh           // Line Buffer 9:   E400h --&gt; E7FFh           // Line Buffer 10:   E800h --&gt; EBFFh           // Line Buffer 11:   EC00h --&gt; EFFFh           //           // Line Buffer 12:   F000h --&gt; F3FFh           // Line Buffer 13:   F400h --&gt; F7FFh           // Line Buffer 14:   F800h --&gt; FBFFh           // Line Buffer 15:   FC00h --&gt; FFFFh           //                      
 
         [0056]    The control registers  128  of a DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  and the external physical interface circuit  114  may be given in Table III and Table IV, respectively, as follows:  
                           TABLE III                                   Address (hex)   Register Name                           Periph_Base + 8000   Reserved for future reset           Periph_Base + 8004 to 8010   Reserved for interrupts           Periph_Base + 8014   Mode register           Periph_Base + 8018   Extended mode register           Periph_Base + 801C   Memory configuration           Periph_Base + 8020   Backdoor control 1           Periph_Base + 8024   Backdoor control 2           Periph_Base + 8028   Backdoor read data 1           Periph_Base + 802C   Backdoor read data 2           Periph_Base + 8030   Backdoor read data 3           Periph_Base + 8034   Backdoor write data 1           Periph_Base + 8038   Backdoor write data 2           Periph_Base + 803C   Backdoor write data 3           Periph_Base + 8040   Backdoor control 3           Periph_Base + 8044 to 804C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8050   Bank configuration 1           Periph_Base + 8054   Bank configuration 2           Periph_Base + 8058   Reserved           Periph_Base + 805C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8060   Performance monitor control           Periph_Base + 8064   Performance monitor preload           Periph_Base + 8068 to 8070   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8074   Time Active to Precharge min.           Periph_Base + 8078   Time Active to Precharge max.           Periph_Base + 807C   Time Active to Active/Auto               Refresh           Periph_Base + 8080   Time Active to Read/Write               Delay           Periph_Base + 8084   Time Average Refresh Interval           Periph_Base + 8088   Time Refresh Command Period           Periph_Base + 808C   Time Precharge Command Period           Periph_Base + 8090   Time Active Bank A to Active               Bank B Period           Periph_Base + 8094   Time Write Recovery to               Precharge Same Bank           Periph_Base + 8098   Time Write to Read Delay           Periph_Base + 809C   Time Exit Self Refresh to               non-Read Command           Periph_Base + 80A0   Time Exit Self Refresh to Read               Command           Periph_Base + 80A4   Time Auto Precharge Write               Recovery plus Precharge           Periph_Base + 80A8   Back-to-back read/write           Periph_Base + 80AC   Back-to-back reads           Periph_Base + 80B0   Back-to-back write/read           Periph_Base + 80B4   Back-to-back writes           Periph_Base + 80B8   Reserved           Periph_Base + 80BC   Time Active to Read               Autoprecharge           Periph_Base + 80C0   Write Recovery Autoprecharge           Periph_Base + 80C4 to 80DC   Reserved           Periph_Base + 80E0   Miscellaneous command timing               register           Periph_Base + 80E4   Reserved           Periph_Base + 80E8   Miscellaneous command latency           Periph_Base + 80EC   End of command timing register           Periph_Base + 80F0 to 810C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8110   Read timing register           Periph_Base + 8114   Read timing loop register           Periph_Base + 8118   Read latency           Periph_Base + 811C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8120   Read gate timing register           Periph_Base + 8124   Read gate timing loop register           Periph_Base + 8128   Read gate latency           Periph_Base + 812C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8130   Load even bank timing register           Periph_Base + 8134   Load even bank timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 8138   Load even bank latency           Periph_Base + 813C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8140   Load odd bank timing register           Periph_Base + 8144   Load odd bank timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 8148   Load odd bank latency           Periph_Base + 814C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8150   Read allow timing register           Periph_Base + 8154   Read allow timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 8158   End of read timing register           Periph_Base + 815C   End of read timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 8160 to 817C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8180   Data bus data mask timing               register           Periph_Base + 8184   Data bus data mask timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 8188   Data bus data mask latency           Periph_Base + 818C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8190   Data bus output enable timing               register           Periph_Base + 8194   Data bus output enable timing               loop register           Periph_Base + 8198   Data bus output enable latency           Periph_Base + 819C   Reserved           Periph_Base + 81A0   Data strobe timing register           Periph_Base + 81A4   Data strobe timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 81A8   Data strobe latency           Periph_Base + 81AC   Reserved           Periph_Base + 81B0   Data strobe output enable               timing loop register           Periph_Base + 81B4   Data strobe output enable               timing loop register           Periph_Base + 81B8   Data strobe output enable               latency           Periph_Base + 81BC   Reserved           Periph_Base + 81C0   Write allow timing register           Periph_Base + 81C4   Write allow timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 81C8   End of write timing register           Periph_Base + 81CC   End of write timing loop               register           Periph_Base + 81D0 to 81EC   Reserved           Periph_Base + 81F0   Inactive register           Periph_Base + 81F4 to 81FC   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8200   Interval timer LSB           Periph_Base + 8204   Interval timer MSB           Periph_Base + 8208   Request counter LSB           Periph_Base + 820C   Request counter MSB           Periph_Base + 8210   Read bursts counter LSB           Periph_Base + 8214   Read bursts counter MSB           Periph_Base + 8218   Write bursts counter LSB           Periph_Base + 821C   Write bursts counter MSB           Periph_Base + 8220   Bank miss counter LSB           Periph_Base + 8224   Bank miss counter MSB           Periph_Base + 8228   Refresh counter LSB           Periph_Base + 822C   Refresh counter MSB           Periph_Base + 8230   Priority 3 request control LSB           Periph_Base + 8234   Priority 3 request control MSB           Periph_Base + 8238   Priority 2 request control LSB           Periph_Base + 823C   Priority 2 request control MSB           Periph_Base + 8240   Priority 1 request control LSB           Periph_Base + 8244   Priority 1 request control MSB           Periph_Base + 8248   Priority 0 request control LSB           Periph_Base + 824C   Priority 0 request control MSB           Periph_Base + 8250 to 83FC   Reserved           Periph_Base + 8300 to 83FC   Reserved for bank state               machine vectors (for tests)           Periph_Base + 8400 to 8FFF   Reserved                      
 
         [0057]    [0057]                       TABLE IV                       Address (hex)   Register Name   Reset State                   Periph_Base + A000   Physical bypass control   0x0000_0000       Periph_Base + A004   Physical master delay   0x0000_0000           data       Periph_Base + A008   Physical slave delay data   0x0000_0000       Periph_Base + A00C   Physical observable slave   0x0000_0000           delay       Periph_Base + A010   Physical observable   0x0000_0000           master delay and lock       Periph_Base + A014   Physical slave update   0x0000_0000           strobe       Periph_Base + A018   Reserved       to BFFF                    
         [0058]    Both the DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  and the external DDR memory circuit  120   a  (e.g., SDRAM devices) generally use specific initialization sequences to be performed before the peripheral resource may be used. There may be several (e.g., five) separate initialization sequences which should be performed as follows:  
         [0059]    1) DDR memory controller circuit initialization (e.g., timing registers, modes, etc.).  
         [0060]    2) Arbiter circuit initialization (e.g., Slot assignment, priorities, etc.).  
         [0061]    3) Line buffer circuit initialization (e.g., modes).  
         [0062]    4) DDR external physical interface circuit initialization.  
         [0063]    5) External DDR memory circuit configuration.  
         [0064]    The interface signals for the DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  may be grouped by function as listed below. Clock Signals:  
         [0065]    Primary Rate Clock (e.g., CLK 1 )—In  
         [0066]    The clock signal CLK 1  may be the primary rate DDR clock for the DDR memory controller circuit. The clock signal CLK 1  may also be used by a DDR physical core-ware and within the DDR memory controller circuit in both the data path and control section of the controller. The rising edge of clock signal CLK 1  should be coincident with the rising edge of clock signal CLK 2 .  
         [0067]    Double Rate Clock (e.g., CLK 2 )—In  
         [0068]    The clock signal CLK 2  may be the double data rate clock for the DDR memory controller circuit. The clock signal CLK 2  may also be used by the DDR physical core-ware and within the DDR memory controller circuit in both the data path and control section of the controller. The rising edge of clock signal CLK 2  should be coincident with the rising edge of clock signal CLK 1 .  
         [0069]    Phase Selector (e.g., CLKPHASE)—In  
         [0070]    The signal CLKPHASE may be a delayed version of clock signal CLK 1 , used as an enable for registers clocked by the clock signal CLK 2  to differentiate the two edges of the clock signal CLK 2 .  
         [0071]    AHB Data Port Signals (e.g., Address/Data/Control). The AHB busses  118   a - d  generally act as high-performance system backbone busses. Each AHB bus  118   a - d  may support an efficient connection of processors, on-chip memories and off-chip external memory interfaces with low-power peripheral macrocell functions. The AHB data port signals:  
         [0072]    AHB Bus Clock (e.g., HCLK)—In  
         [0073]    The main clock signal for all AHB bus transfers. All signal timing may be related to a rising edge of the clock signal HCLK.  
         [0074]    AHB Bus Clock Enable (e.g., HCLKEN)—In  
         [0075]    The enable may be used to synchronize the clock signal CLK 1  to the AHB&#39;s clock HCLK domain. If the clock signal CLK 1  is a higher rate than the clock signal HCLK, the signal HCLKEN may be used to sync the two domains.  
         [0076]    AHB Reset (e.g., HRESETn)—In  
         [0077]    The bus reset signal may be active LOW and may be used to reset the system and the bus. The signal HRESETn may be the only active LOW signal.  
         [0078]    AHB Address Bus (e.g., HADDR[31:0])—In  
         [0079]    A 32-bit system address bus.  
         [0080]    AHB Transfer Type (e.g., HTRANS[1:0])—In  
         [0081]    Indicates the type of the current transfer generally comprising Sequential, Non-Sequential, Idle and Busy.  
         [0082]    AHB Transfer Direction (e.g., HWRITE)—In  
         [0083]    When HIGH the signal HWRITE may indicate a write transfer and when LOW a read transfer.  
         [0084]    AHB Transfer Size (e.g., HSIZE[2:0])—In Indicates the size of the transfer which is typically a byte (8-bit), halfword (16-bit) or word (32-bit). The protocol generally allows for larger transfer sizes up to a maximum of 1024 bits.  
         [0085]    AHB Burst Type (e.g., HBURST[2:0])—In  
         [0086]    Indicates if the transfer forms part of a burst. Four, eight and sixteen beat bursts may be supported and the burst may be either incrementing or wrapping.  
         [0087]    AHB Protection Control (e.g., HPROT[3:0])—In  
         [0088]    The protection control signals generally provide additional information about a bus access and may be primarily intended for use by any module that implements some level of protection. The signal HPROT[3:0] may indicate if the transfer is an opcode fetch or data access, as well as if the transfer may be a supervisor mode access or user mode access. For bus masters with a memory management unit the signal HPROT[3:0] may also indicate whether the current access is cacheable or bufferable.  
         [0089]    AHB Write Data Bus (e.g., HWDATA[63/(31): 0 ])—In  
         [0090]    A write data bus that may be used to transfer data from the master to the bus slaves during write operations. The data bus width may be controlled by a signal HPORTSIZE[x].  
         [0091]    AHB Slave Select (e.g., HSELx)—In  
         [0092]    Each AHB slave may have an independent slave select signal and the signal may indicate that the current transfer is intended for the selected slave. The signal HSELx may be a combinational decode of the address bus.  
         [0093]    AHB Read Data Bus (e.g., HRDATA[63/(31):0])—Out  
         [0094]    A read data bus that may be used to transfer data from bus slaves to the bus master during read operations. The data bus width may be controlled by the signal HPORTSIZE[x].  
         [0095]    AHB Transfer Done (e.g., HREADY)—In  
         [0096]    When HIGH the signal HREADY may indicate that a transfer has finished on the bus. The signal may be driven LOW to extend a transfer. Slaves on the bus may use the signal HREADY as both an input and an output signal.  
         [0097]    AHB Transfer Done (e.g., HREADYOUT)—Out  
         [0098]    When HIGH the signal HREADY may indicate that a transfer has finished on the bus. The signal may be driven LOW to extend a transfer. Slaves on the bus may use the signal HREADY as both an input and an output signal.  
         [0099]    AHB Transfer Responses (e.g., HRESP[1:0])—Out  
         [0100]    The transfer response generally provides additional information on the status of a transfer. The responses generally comprise OKAY, ERROR, RETRY and SPLIT.  
         [0101]    AHB Request Locked Transfers (e.g., HMASTLOCK)—In  
         [0102]    When HIGH the signal may indicate that the master requests locked access to the bus and no other master should be granted the bus until the signal is LOW.  
         [0103]    AHB Port Size (e.g., HPORTSIZE)—In  
         [0104]    The signal generally controls the data path width for the AHB port for the appropriate data port (e.g., 0=32 bit data path and 1=64 bit data path).  
         [0105]    AHB Port Endianness (e.g., BIGENDIAN)—In  
         [0106]    The signal may control the data path endianness for the AHB port for the appropriate data port (e.g., 0=little endian and 1=big endian).  
         [0107]    The configuration port circuit  104  may use the following signals:  
         [0108]    Bus Clock (e.g., HCLKCFG)—In  
         [0109]    The clock times all configuration bus transfers. All signal timings may be related to rising edge of signal HCLKCFG  
         [0110]    Reset (e.g., HRESETnCFG)—In  
         [0111]    The configuration bus reset signal may be active LOW and may be used to reset the system and the configuration bus.  
         [0112]    Address Bus (e.g., HADDRCFG[31:0])—In  
         [0113]    A 32-bit system address bus.  
         [0114]    Transfer Type (e.g., HTRANSCFG[1:0])—In  
         [0115]    Indicates the type of the current transfer generally comprising Sequential, Non-Sequential, Idle and Busy.  
         [0116]    Transfer Direction (e.g., HWRITECFG)—In  
         [0117]    When HIGH the signal may indicate a write transfer and when LOW a read transfer.  
         [0118]    Transfer Size (e.g., HSIZECFG[2:0])—In  
         [0119]    Indicates the size of the transfer which is typically byte (8-bit), halfword (16-bit) or word (32-bit). The configuration port circuit may respond with an error for any signal HSIZECFG not equal to 32 bits.  
         [0120]    Write Data Bus (e.g., HWDATACFG[31:0])—In  
         [0121]    A write data bus that may be used to transfer data from the master to the bus slaves during write operations.  
         [0122]    Slave Select (e.g., HSELCFG)—In  
         [0123]    Each configuration bus slave may have an independent slave select signal and the signal may indicate that the current transfer is intended for the selected slave. The signal may be a combinational decode of the address bus.  
         [0124]    Read Data Bus (e.g., HRDATACFG[31:0])—Out  
         [0125]    A read data bus that may be used to transfer data from bus slaves to the bus master during read operations.  
         [0126]    Transfer Done (e.g., HREADYCFG)—In  
         [0127]    When HIGH the signal HREADYCFG may indicate that a transfer has finished on the configuration bus. The signal may be driven LOW to extend a transfer. Slaves on the configuration bus may use the signal HREADYCFG as both an input and an output signal.  
         [0128]    Transfer Done (e.g., HREADYOUTCFG)—Out  
         [0129]    When HIGH the signal HREADYOUTCFG may indicate that a transfer has finished on the configuration bus. The signal may be driven LOW to extend a transfer. Slaves on the configuration bus may use the signal HREADYOUTCFG as both an input and an output signal.  
         [0130]    Transfer Responses (e.g., HRESPCFG[1:0])—Out  
         [0131]    The transfer response generally provides additional information on the status of a transfer. The responses generally comprise OKAY, ERROR, RETRY and SPLIT. The configuration port circuit may only respond with an OKAY or ERROR.  
         [0132]    The peripheral controller circuit  110  may use the following signals:  
         [0133]    Memory Controller Read Data (e.g., MC_READ_DATA[127|63|31:0])]—Out  
         [0134]    Multiplexed read data from the peripheral controller circuit to the line buffer circuit. Depending on the line buffer circuit configuration identified, MC_READ_DATA may be 128, 64 or 32 bits.  
         [0135]    Memory Controller Read Valid (e.g., MC-READ_VALID[3:0])—Out  
         [0136]    Active high signal that may indicate the data on the read data inputs may be valid. Bit  0  may indicate a least significant quarter of the read line may be present, while bit  3  may indicate a most significant quarter may be present. For a 2-beat internal (4-beat external) transfer, two of the valid bits may be set per read from the peripheral controller circuit to locate the data. For a 4-beat internal (8-beat external) transfer, a valid bit may be set per read from the peripheral controller circuit to locate the data.  
         [0137]    Memory Controller Read Tag (e.g., MC_READ_TAG[4:0])—Out  
         [0138]    A five bit request tag returned by the peripheral controller circuit that may recognize a particular read request made by the line buffer circuit. In many cases, MC_READ_TAG may be simply reroute back a signal (e.g., LB_REQUEST_TAG) sent during the request by the line buffer circuit. Bit  4  may be the even/odd line flag that identifies a particular line buffer circuit for which the data may be targeted for.  
         [0139]    Request Address (e.g., ARB_ADDRESS[31:2])—In  
         [0140]    An address of the arbiter circuit request to the peripheral controller circuit. Driven on the rising edge of clock CLK 1 .  
         [0141]    Transaction Request (e.g., ARB_REQUEST)—In  
         [0142]    An active high signal to the peripheral controller circuit that a memory request may happen. The signal may be asserted on the rising edge of CLK 1  and held asserted for a clock cycle. Driven on the rising edge of CLK 1 .  
         [0143]    Request Tag (e.g., ARB_REQUEST_TAG[7:0])—In  
         [0144]    An eight bit quantity generally used to recognize a particular request. The arbiter circuit may append a three bit AHB bus interface circuit address to a line buffer request value and send to the peripheral controller circuit. The peripheral controller circuit merely passes on the value until the read results may be returned to the line buffer circuits. Driven on the rising edge of CLK 1 .  
         [0145]    Request Type (e.g., ARB_REQUEST_TYPE[3:0])—In  
         [0146]    May indicate a read or write request. For some arbiter circuit/peripheral controller circuit combinations (e.g., a DDR memory controller) more requests types may be defined (e.g., precharge, activate, refresh, etc.). The line buffer circuit may support several read and write types (e.g., 0=No-op, 1 Refresh, 2=Precharge, 3=Active, 4=Write, 5=Read, and 6-F=No-op). Driven on the rising edge of CLK 1 .  
         [0147]    Write Data (e.g., ARB_WRITE_DATA[X:0])—In  
         [0148]    Multiplexed write data from the line buffer circuits to the peripheral controller circuit via the arbiter data path multiplexer circuit  108 . The bus width may be 32, 64, 128, or 144 bits and may be set as a compile time option. Driven on the rising edge of CLK 2 .  
         [0149]    Byte Write Enable (e.g., ARB_WRITE_ENABLE[X:0])—In  
         [0150]    An active high write enable for each byte of write data. The width of the byte write enable may depend on the data width from the line buffer circuits and may be set as a compile time option. The peripheral controller circuit may use the enable bits to extract the valid write data from the transfers. Driven on the rising edge of CLK 2 .  
         [0151]    Register Bus Read Data (e.g., MC_R_RDATA[X:0])—Out  
         [0152]    The peripheral controller circuit may place the register data corresponding to INT_R_ADDR on a register bus. The read data bus may be up to 32-bits wide. The signal may be derived from combinational logic and may be valid on the rising edge of INT_R_CLK.  
         [0153]    Register Bus Address (e.g., INT_R_ADDR[10:2])—In  
         [0154]    An address bus that may be nine bits to allow decoding of the control registers in the peripheral controller circuit. Bits  0  and  1  may not be included because the AHB may use word addressing. Driven on the rising edge of INT_R_CLK.  
         [0155]    Register Bus Clock (e.g, INT_R_CLK)—In  
         [0156]    A rising edge of INT_R_CLK may be used to time transfers on the register bus.  
         [0157]    Register Bus Enable (e.g., INT_R_ENABLE_ARB)—In  
         [0158]    Generally indicates that the transfer on the register bus may be intended for the peripheral controller circuit. Driven on the rising edge of INT_R_CLK.  
         [0159]    Register Bus Reset (e.g., INT_R_RESETn)—In May be active LOW and may be synchronous with respect to INT_R_CLK.  
         [0160]    Register Bus Write Data (e.g., INT_R_WRDATA[31:0])—In  
         [0161]    May contain write data for write transfers. The write data bus may be up to 32-bits wide. Driven on the rising edge of INT_R_CLK.  
         [0162]    Register Bus Write (e.g., INT_R_WRITE)—In  
         [0163]    A logical HIGH may indicate a write access and a logical LOW may indicate a read access. Driven on the rising edge of INT_R_CLK.  
         [0164]    The DDR memory circuit  120   a  may use the following signals:  
         [0165]    Clock (e.g., DDRCK)—N/A  
         [0166]    The signal DDRCK along with a signal DDRCKn may be differential clock outputs. All address and control input signals may be sampled on the crossing of the positive edge of DDRCK and negative edge of DDRCKn. (The signals DDRCK and DDRCKn may not have an actual interface to the DDR memory controller circuit but may be included here for completeness.)  
         [0167]    Clock Inverted (e.g., DDRCKn)—N/A  
         [0168]    See the description for the signal DDRCK. (The signals DDRCK and DDRCKn may not have an actual interface to the DDR memory controller circuit but may be included here for completeness.)  
         [0169]    Clock Enable (e.g., DDRCKE)—Out  
         [0170]    Clock Enable high may activate and clock enable low deactivate internal clock signals, device input buffers, and output drivers within the memory chip. Taking clock enable low provides a Self Refresh operation. The enable may be synchronous for all cases. The enable may be maintained high throughout all read and write accesses. Memory chip input buffers, excluding CKE may be disabled during a Self Refresh.  
         [0171]    DDR Chip Select (e.g., DDRCSn[7:0])—Out  
         [0172]    All commands to the memory chip may be masked when the chip select signal is high. The signal may be considered part of a command code along with signals DDRRASn, DDRCASn, and DDRWEn.  
         [0173]    Row Address Select (e.g., DDRRASn)—Out  
         [0174]    The signal DDRRASn may be part of a command input signal. The signals DDRRASn, DDRCASn, DDRWEn, and DDRCSn generally define the command being sent to the memory chips.  
         [0175]    Column Address Select (e.g., DDRCASn)—Out  
         [0176]    The signal DDRCASn may be part of a command input signal. The signals DDRRASn, DDRCASn, DDRWEn, and DDRCSn generally define the command being sent to the memory chips.  
         [0177]    Write Enable (e.g., DDRWEn)—Out  
         [0178]    The signal DDRWEn may be part of a command input signals. The signals DDRRASn, DDRCASn, DDRWEn, and DDRCSn generally define the command being sent to the memory chips.  
         [0179]    Bank Address [1:0] (e.g., DDRBA)—Out  
         [0180]    The bank address signals may define to which one of the several banks, within the memory chip, an Active, Read, Write or Precharge command is being applied.  
         [0181]    Address Bus [12:0] (e.g., DDRADRS)—Out  
         [0182]    The address signals may provide to the memory chips the row address for Active commands, and column address and Auto Precharge bit for read/write commands, to select one location out of the memory array in the respective bank. Bit  10  may be sampled during a Precharge command to determine whether the Precharge applies to one bank (e.g., bit  10  low) or all banks (e.g., bit  10  high). If only one bank is to be precharged, the bank may be selected by the DDRBA bits. The address input may also provide the opcode during a Mode Register Set command with DDRBA determining which register may be loaded.  
         [0183]    Data Input/Output Bus [X:0] (e.g., DDRDQ)—In/Out  
         [0184]    A bidirectional data bus for the memories.  
         [0185]    Data Strobe [X:0] (e.g., DDRDQS)—In/Out  
         [0186]    Bidirectional bus for the data strobes. The memory chip may drive the strobes, edge-aligned with the data for reads. The DDR controller should drive the strobes, centered in the data for writes. One strobe per byte may be provided.  
         [0187]    Data Mask [3:0] (e.g., DDRDM)—Out  
         [0188]    Write data may be masked (not written) when the signal DM is sampled high along with the write data (e.g., DQ bus). The signal DM may be sampled on both edges of the signal DDRDQS. One mask per byte may be provided.  
         [0189]    Voltage Reference (e.g., DDRVREF)—In  
         [0190]    Provides the SSTL2 reference voltage. The signal DDRVREF should not be buffered.  
         [0191]    DDR Flip-Flop in I/O (e.g., DDRFFINIO)—In  
         [0192]    When the single clock rate signals (e.g., DDRCKE, DDRCSn, DDRRASn, DDRCASn, DDRWEn, DDRBA, and DDRADRS) to the DDR memories use a SSTL2 I/O buffer that includes a flip-flop, the signal DDRFFINIO may be tied high. When a standard SSTL2 I/O cell is used for the signals (without a flip-flop), the signal DDRFFINIO may be tied low. The DDR memory controller circuit may use the level of the signal to modify the length of a pipeline registers to compensate for the existence of absence of a flip-flop in the I/O buffers.  
         [0193]    Referring to FIG. 7, a block diagram of a second embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be implemented as an off-chip memory controller circuit  110   b . In the case of single data rate (SDR) or DDR SDRAMs, the peripheral circuit  120  may be implemented off-chip as a discrete memory device or circuit  120   b . The external peripheral interface circuit  114  may be absent in the instant implementation. The port interface circuit  124  within the off-chip memory controller circuit  120   b  may be configured as described earlier. The resource circuit  126  may be configured as a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) controller circuit or block  148  and a flash memory controller circuit or block  149 . The peripheral circuit  120   b  may be configured as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuit or block  150  and a flash memory circuit or block  151 . Other memory technologies and corresponding controllers may be implemented to meet a criteria of a particular application.  
         [0194]    Referring to FIG. 8, a block diagram of a third embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be implemented as a semaphore/mailbox controller circuit  110   c . The semaphore/mailbox controller circuit  110   c  generally comprises the port interface circuit  124 , a semaphore block or circuit  152  and a mailbox block or circuit  154 . The semaphore block  152  and the mailbox block  154  generally support inter-processor communications and semaphore functions. The mailbox block  154  may include a simple set of control and status registers that may be used to communicate simple control and/or status functions between processors. The semaphore block  152  and the mailbox block  154  may be separate functions. However, since mailbox function may be used in multiprocessor environments the same as semaphore functions, both blocks  152  and  154  may be likely used together.  
         [0195]    Referring to FIG. 9, a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be implemented as an on-chip memory controller circuit  110   d . The on-chip memory controller circuit  110   d  generally comprises the port interface circuit  124 , a memory controller circuit or block  156  and a memory circuit or block  158 . In the instant embodiment, the external physical interface circuit  114  and the peripheral circuit  120  may be omitted. All memory storage functionality may be allocated to the on-chip memory controller circuit  110   d  itself.  
         [0196]    Referring to FIG. 10, a block diagram of a fifth embodiment of the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The peripheral controller circuit  110  may be implemented as a data transport circuit  110   e . The data transport circuit  110   e  generally comprises the port interface circuit  124  and a transport layer block or circuit  160 . The peripheral circuit  120  may be implemented as a physical layer block or circuit  120   e . The physical layer block  120   e  may be implemented as a transceiver circuit within a communications channel  164 . The transport layer block  160  generally provides framing and de-framing capabilities to the system  100  to allow transfers of data via the communications channel  164 .  
         [0197]    Referring to FIG. 11, a timing diagram of an example two burst read from the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. A line buffer circuit (e.g.,  102   a ) may generate a set of read request signals  166  that may be provided to the multiplexer circuit  108 . The multiplexer circuit  108  may route the read request signals  168  to the peripheral controller circuit  110 . The peripheral controller circuit  110  may service the read request by providing data in two bursts  170  for each request back to the requesting line buffer circuit  102   a.    
         [0198]    Referring to FIG. 12, a timing diagram of an example four burst read from the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. A line buffer circuit (e.g.,  102   a ) may request data at several address (e.g., A-D) and provide an associated 5-bit tag value (e.g., 1-TAG). The arbiter circuit  106  may generate an 8-bit tag for the address A read request. The peripheral controller circuit  110  may respond to the read request by transferring data for addresses A, B, C and D along with the tag value 1_TAG to the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  in a burst of four consecutive transfers  172 .  
         [0199]    Referring to FIG. 13, a timing diagram of an example two burst write to the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. A line buffer circuit (e.g.,  102   a ) may request  174  writing data to two addresses (e.g., addresses A and B). When the peripheral controller circuit  110  is ready (e.g., MC_REQ_ACK=high), the arbiter circuit  106  may first write two data values (e.g., A1 and A2) to the peripheral controller circuit  110  at address A in a two burst transfer  174 . When the peripheral controller circuit  110  may be ready for the data at the address B, the arbiter circuit  106  may write two additional data values (e.g., B1 and B2) to the peripheral controller circuit  110  at the address B in another two burst transfer  174 .  
         [0200]    Referring to FIG. 14, a timing diagram of an example four burst write to the peripheral controller circuit  110  is shown. The arbiter circuit  106  may transfer data values (e.g., A1-A4) to the peripheral controller circuit  110  in four consecutive transfers  178  under a tag value (e.g., TAG_A). Four additional transfers  178  of data values (e.g., B1-B4) under another tag value (e.g., TAG_B) may happen immediately after the data value A4 has been written.  
         [0201]    Referring to FIG. 15, a timing diagram of an example read from the DDR memory circuit  120   a  (FIG. 6) is shown. The command buffer and control circuit  136  may receive a read request  180  at an address (e.g., address  10 ). The state machine  142  and the programmable physical timing circuit  144  may generate a set of DDR command signals  182  to the DDR memory circuit  120   a  to service the read request. The DDR memory circuit  120   a  may respond to the DDR commands by transferring  184  data from the addresses 10-1C (hexadecimal) to the read buffer circuit  140 . The DDR memory controller circuit  110   a  may then transfer the requested data, and additional data, to the line buffer circuits  102   a - d  in two burst transfers  186 .  
         [0202]    The various signals of the present invention are generally “on” (e.g., a digital HIGH, or 1) or “off” (e.g., a digital LOW, or 0). However, the particular polarities of the on (e.g., asserted) and off (e.g., de-asserted) states of the signals may be adjusted (e.g., reversed) accordingly to meet the design criteria of a particular implementation. Additionally, inverters may be added to change a particular polarity of the signals. As used herein, the term “simultaneously” is meant to describe events that share some common time period but the term is not meant to be limited to events that begin at the same point in time, end at the same point in time, or have the same duration.  
         [0203]    While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6