Single Port RAM - 2022.1 English

Vitis Model Composer User Guide (UG1483)

Document ID
UG1483
Release Date
2022-05-26
Version
2022.1 English

The Xilinx Single Port RAM block implements a random access memory (RAM) with one data input and one data output port.

Block Interface

The block has one output port and three input ports for address, input data, and write enable (WE). Values in a Single Port RAM are stored by word, and all words have the same arithmetic type, width, and binary point position.

A single-port RAM can be implemented using either block memory, distributed memory, or UltraRAM resources in the FPGA. Each data word is associated with exactly one address that must be an unsigned integer in the range 0 to d-1, where d denotes the RAM depth (number of words in the RAM). An attempt to read past the end of the memory is caught as an error in the simulation, though if a block memory implementation is chosen, it can be possible to read beyond the specified address range in hardware (with unpredictable results). When the single-port RAM is implemented in distributed memory or block RAM, the initial RAM contents can be specified through the block parameters.

The write enable signal must be Bool, and when its value is 1, the data input is written to the memory location indicated by the address input. The output during a write operation depends on the choice of memory implementation.

The behavior of the output port depends on the write mode selected (see below). When the WE is 0, the output port has the value at the location specified by the address line.

Block Parameters

The Block Parameters dialog box can be invoked by double-clicking the icon in your Simulink® model.

Basic Tab
Parameters specific to the Basic tab are as follows.
Depth
The number of words in the memory; must be a positive integer.
Initial value vector

The Initial value vector stores the initial contents of the memory. When the vector length exceeds the memory depth, values with index higher than depth are ignored. When the depth exceeds the vector length, memory locations with addresses higher than the vector length are initialized to zero. Initialization values are saturated and rounded (if necessary) according to the precision specified on the data port.

UltraRAM memory is initialized to all 0's during power up or device reset. If implemented in UltraRAM, the Single Port RAM block cannot be initialized to user defined values.

Memory Type
Option to select whether the single-port RAM will be implemented using Distributed memory, Block RAM, or UltraRAM.

Depending on your selection for Memory Type, the single-port RAM will be inferred or implemented as follows when the design is compiled:

  • If the block will be implemented in Distributed memory, the Distributed Memory Generator v8.0 LogiCORE IP will be inferred or implemented when the design is compiled. This LogiCORE IP is described in Distributed Memory Generator LogiCORE IP Product Guide (PG063).
  • If the block will be implemented in block RAM or UltraRAM, the XPM_MEMORY_SPRAM (Single Port RAM) macro will be inferred or implemented when the design is compiled. For information on the XPM_MEMORY_SPRAM Xilinx Parameterized Macro (XPM), refer to UltraScale Architecture Libraries Guide (UG974).
Write Mode
Specifies memory behavior when WE is asserted. Supported modes are: Read after write, Read before write, and No read On write. Read after write indicates the output value reflects the state of the memory after the write operation. Read before write indicates the output value reflects the state of the memory before the write operation. No read on write indicates that the output value remains unchanged irrespective of change of address or state of the memory. There are device specific restrictions on the applicability of these modes. Also refer to the Write Modes and Hardware Notes topics below for more information.
Provide reset port for output register
For block RAM or UltraRAM, exposes a reset port controlling the output register of the RAM. This port does not reset the memory contents to the initialization value.
Note: For Block RAM or UltraRAM, the reset port is available only when the latency of the Block RAM is greater than or equal to 1.
Initial value for output register

for Block RAM, the initial value for the output register. The initial value is saturated and rounded as necessary according to the precision specified on the data port of the Block RAM.

For UltraRAM, the output register is initialized to all 0's. The UltraRAM output register cannot be initialized to user defined values.

Other parameters used by this block are explained in the Common Options in Block Parameter Dialog Boxes topic at the beginning of this chapter.

Write Modes

During a write operation (WE asserted), the data presented to the data input is stored in memory at the location selected by the address input. You can configure the behavior of the data out port A upon a write operation to one of the following modes:

  • Read after write
  • Read before write
  • No read on write

These modes can be described with the help of the figure shown below. In the figure the memory has been set to an initial value of 5 and the address bit is specified as 4. When using No read on write mode, the output is unaffected by the address line and the output is the same as the last output when the WE was 0. For the other two modes, the output is obtained from the location specified by the address line, and hence is the value of the location being written to. This means that the output can be either the old value (Read before write mode), or the new value (Read after write mode).

Figure 1. Configuration for Read After Write
Figure 2. Write Output

Hardware Notes

The distributed memory LogiCORE™ ™ supports only the Read before write mode. The Xilinx Single Port RAM block also allows distributed memory with Write Mode option set to Read after write when specified latency is greater than 0. The Read after write mode for the distributed memory is achieved by using extra hardware resources (a MUX at the distributed memory output to latch data during a write operation).

LogiCORE™ and XPM Documentation

Distributed Memory Generator LogiCORE IP Product Guide (PG063) (Distributed Memory)

UltraScale Architecture Memory Resources User Guide (UG573) - XPM_MEMORY_SPRAM Macro (UltraRAM)