Delay - 2020.2 English

Vivado Design Suite Reference Guide: Model-Based DSP Design Using System Generator (UG958)

Document ID
UG958
Release Date
2020-11-18
Version
2020.2 English

This block is listed in the following Xilinx® Blockset libraries: Basic Elements, Floating-Point, Memory, and Index.

The Xilinx Delay block implements a fixed delay of L cycles.

The delay value is displayed on the block in the form z-L, which is the Z-transform of the block’s transfer function. Any data provided to the input of the block will appear at the output after L cycles. The rate and type of the data of the output is inherited from the input. This block is used mainly for matching pipeline delays in other portions of the circuit. The delay block differs from the register block in that the register allows a latency of only 1 cycle and contains an initial value parameter. The delay block supports a specified latency but no initial value other than zeros.The figure below shows the Delay block behavior when L=4 and Period=1s.

Figure 1. Delay Block Behavior

For delays that need to be adjusted during run-time, you should use the Addressable Shift Register block. Delays that are not an integer number of clock cycles are not supported and such delays should not be used in synchronous design (with a few rare exceptions).

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:

Provide synchronous reset port
this option activates an optional reset (rst) pin on the block. When the reset signal is asserted the block goes back to its initial state. Reset signal has precedence over the optional enable signal available on the block. The reset signal has to run at a multiple of the block's sample rate. The signal driving the reset port must be Boolean.
Provide enable port:
this option activates an optional enable (en) pin on the block. When the enable signal is not asserted the block holds its current state until the enable signal is asserted again or the reset signal is asserted. Reset signal has precedence over the enable signal. The enable signal has to run at a multiple of the block 's sample rate. The signal driving the enable port must be Boolean.
Latency
Latency is the number of cycles of delay. The latency can be zero, provided that the Provide enable port checkbox is not checked. The latency must be a non-negative integer. If the latency is zero, the delay block collapses to a wire during logic synthesis. If the latency is set to L=1, the block will generally be synthesized as a flip-flop (or multiple flip-flops if the data width is greater than 1).
Implementation tab

Parameters specific to the Implementation tab are as follows:

Implement using behavioral HDL
Uses behavioral HDL as the implementation. This allows the downstream logic synthesis tool to choose the best implementation.

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

Logic Synthesis using Behavioral HDL

This setting is recommended if you are using Synplify Pro as the downstream logic synthesis tool. The logic synthesis tool will implement the delay as it desires, performing optimizations such as moving parts of the delay line back or forward into blockRAMs, DSP48s, or embedded IOB flip-flops; employing the dedicated SRL cascade outputs for long delay lines based on the architecture selected; and using flip-flops to terminate either or both ends of the delay line based on path delays. Using this setting also allows the logic synthesis tool, if sophisticated enough, to perform retiming by moving portions of the delay line back into combinational logic clouds.

Logic Synthesis using Structural HDL

If you do not check the box Implement using behavioral HDL, then structural HDL is used. This is the default setting and results in a known, but less-flexible, implementation which is often better for use with Vivado synthesis. In general, this setting produces structural HDL comprising an SRL (Shift-Register LUT) delay of (L-1) cycles followed by a flip-flop, with the SRL and the flip-flop getting packed into the same slice. For a latency greater than L=33, multiple SRL/flip-flop sets are cascaded, albeit without using the dedicated cascade routes. For example, the following is the synthesis result for a 1-bit wide delay block with a latency of L=64:

Figure 2. 1-Bit Wide Delay Block with a Latency of L=64

The first SRL provides a delay of 32 cycles and the associated flip-flop adds another cycle of delay. The second SRL provides a delay of 30 cycles; this is evident because the address is set to {A4,A3,A2,A1,A0}=11101 (binary) = 29, and the latency through an SRL is the value of the address plus one. The last flip-flop adds a cycle of delay, making the grand total L=32+1+30+1=64 cycles.

The SRL is an efficient way of implementing delays in the Xilinx architecture. An SRL and its associated flip-flop that comprise a single logic cell can implement 33 cycles of delay whereas a delay line consisting only of flip-flops can implement only one cycle of delay per logic cell.

The SRL has a setup time that is longer than that of a flip-flop. Therefore, for very fast designs with a combinational path preceding the delay block, it can be advantageous, when using the structural HDL setting, to precede the delay block with an additional delay block with a latency of L=1. This ensures that the critical path is not burdened with the long setup time of the SRL. An example is shown below.

Figure 3. Delay Block with an Additional Delay Block with a Latency

In the example, the two designs are logically equivalent, but the bottom one will have a faster hardware implementation. The bottom design will have the combinational path formed by Inverter1 terminated by a flip-flop, which has a shorter setup time than an SRL.

The synthesis results of both designs are shown below, with the faster design highlighted in red:

Figure 4. Synthesis Results

Note that an equivalent to the faster design results from setting the latency of Inverter1 to 1 and eliminating Delay1. This, however, is not equivalent to setting the latency of Inverter1 to 4 and eliminating the delay blocks; this would yield a synthesis equivalent to the upper (slower) design.

Implementing Long Delays

For very long delays, of, say, greater than 128 cycles, especially when coupled with larger bus widths, it might be better to use a block-RAM-based delay block. The delay block is implemented using SRLs, which are part of the general fabric in the Xilinx. Very long delays should be implemented in the embedded block RAMs to save fabric. Such a delay exploits the dual-port nature of the blockRAM and can be implemented with a fixed or run-time-variable delay. Such a block is basically a block RAM with some associated address counters. The model below shows a novel way of implementing a long delay using LFSRs (linear feedback shift registers) for the address counters in order to make the design faster, but conventional counters can be used as well. The difference in value between the counters (minus the RAM latency) is the latency L of the delay line.

Figure 5. Novel Use of Long Delay LFSRs

Re-settable Delays and Initial Values

If a delay line absolutely must be re-settable to zero, this can be done by using a string of L register blocks to implement the delay or by creating a circuit that forces the output to be zero while the delay line is “flushed”.

The delay block does not support initial values, but the Addressable Shift Register block does. This block, when used with a fixed address, is generally equivalent to the delay block and will synthesize to an SRL-based delay line. The initial values pertain to initialization only and not to a reset. If using the addressable shift register in “structural HDL mode” (e.g., the Use behavioral HDL checkbox is not selected) then the delay line will not be terminated with a flip-flop, making it significantly slower. This can be remedied by using behavioral mode or by putting a Register or Delay block after the addressable shift register.