Supported Flash Devices for Stratix® 10

Stratix® 10 devices support the following flash devices for configuration through Secure Device Manager (SDM):
 

• Quad serial peripheral interface (QSPI) flash

Additionally, the Stratix 10 SoC devices support the following flash devices on the HPS (Hard Processor System), for mass storage:

• NAND Flash
• SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, eMMC flash
• Directly accessing the SDM flash, with reduced performance

When choosing a flash device to use with the Stratix 10, it is important to consider the following:

• For devices connected to SDM:
• Will the device work as a configuration source?
• If the device is to be also used by HPS, is it supported by HPS software?
• For devices connected to HPS:
• Is the device supported by HPS software?

Based on the criteria above, the following categories of flash devices are identified:

• Tested and Supported - These flash devices meet the criteria listed above. These devices receive regression testing with FPGA tools and their use is fully supported by FPGA Technical Support.
• Known to Work - These flash devices are not explicitly supported in the FPGA tools, but have been known to work.
• Incompatible - These flash devices will not work.

This section introduces the different flash types supported by Stratix® 10 devices.
 

The QSPI flash devices have the following advantages:
 

• Reliability: they typically support a minimum of 100,000 erase cycles per sector and a minimum of 20 years data retention. As a result, their management is simpler, with no need for error correction and bad block management.
• Low pin count requirement: a quad SPI flash device typically requires six pins, but it can be used with as few as four pins.
• High bandwidth

A quad SPI flash device typically has smaller storage capacity than other flash devices. They are therefore mostly used as a boot source and not for mass storage.

Up to four quad SPI flash chip selects can be used with Stratix® 10 devices. The FPGA will configure only from quad SPI flash connected to the chip select zero, while the others may be used for mass storage purposes.

The standard for QSPI flash devices has a lot of variability, and the QSPI flash controller has some limitations. Therefore there is a need for each family of flash devices to be tested and validated individually to confirm compatibility with Stratix 10.

The SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC cards have the following advantages:
 

• Large storage capacities
• Internal error correction, bad block management, and wear levelling
• Inexpensive

Some of the disadvantages of SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC are:

• Typically less reliable than quad SPI (although higher reliability industrial versions are available)
• They require a socket, which makes them more vulnerable mechanically.

The eMMC flash devices have the following additional advantages over SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC flash devices:

• Improved reliability
• Smaller, not removable (soldered down) package

Stratix® 10 devices are compatible with the following flash devices:

• SD/SDHC/SDXC (including eSD) - version 3.0 compliant
• MMC - version 4.41 compliant
• eMMC - version 4.5 compliant

Because the above standards expose a simple and uniform interface, any compliant device will work, and there is no need to list individual part numbers to confirm compatibility with Stratix 10.

The main advantage of the NAND flash devices is large storage capacity.
 

The disadvantages of NAND flash devices include:

• A high pin count requirement (a minimum of 15 pins are required)
• More difficult to manage, as individual bit reliability is lower compared to quad SPI flash, error correction, and bad block management are required
• Lower maximum bandwidth as compared to quad SPI flash devices

The NAND flash devices to be used with Stratix® 10 SoC must satisfy at least the following requirements:

• ONFI 1.0 compatibility
• x8 and x16 supported
• Single-level cell (SLC) or multi-level cell (MLC)
• One ce# and rb# pin pair available through dedicated HPS pins. Four pairs available through FPGA pins.
• Page size: 512 bytes, 2 KB, 4 KB or 8 KB
• Pages per block: 32, 64, 128, 256, 384, or 512
• Error correction code (ECC) sector size can be programmed to 512 bytes (for 4, 8, or 16 bit correction) or 1,024 bytes (for 24 bit correction)

As the ONFI standard offers some variability, and the NAND flash controller has some limitations, there is a need for each family of flash devices to be tested and validated individually to confirm compatibility with Stratix 10.

This section presents the list of flash devices supported for FPGA configuration.

A list of QSPI Tested and Supported Flash Devices are available on Device Configuration - Support Center.

This section presents the list of flash devices supported for mass storage on HPS.

The SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/eMMC flash devices conform to a strict standard, which exposes a relatively simple and uniform interface. Because of this, there is no need to perform complete validation with each supported device. Any device complying with the supported standards will work.

The current list of eMMC devices tested and supported on HPS is presented below:

The current list of NAND devices tested and supported on HPS is presented below: