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R.Keelan
Associate
June 14, 2021
Question

How many clock cycles does it take to write a 32 bit value to AXI SRAM?

  • June 14, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 1335 views

How many clock cycles should it take to write to AXI SRAM from the M7 core, assuming that the cache is disabled (and disregarding instruction pipelining)?

The reference manual says:

"The system AHB SRAM can be accessed as bytes, half-words (16-bit units) or words (32-bit 

units), while the system AXI SRAM can be accessed as bytes, half-words, words or double-

words (64-bit units). These memories can be addressed at maximum system clock 

frequency without wait state." [emphasis mine]

I assume that accessing the AXI SRAM isn't always zero wait state because:

  • In that case, the manual would have said so
  • It'd obviate the need for the DTCM RAM
  • My testing indicates that writes and reads (i.e., STR and LDR) take 8 clock cycles

I'd love to confirm the results of my testing with hard numbers from the reference manual or an application note, or other credible source.

Thanks,

Richard

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

TDK
June 14, 2021

The M7 is complicated and there isn't a simple answer for this. The behavior of the busses is certainly not documented in detail anywhere that I have found.

Might be more a result of the SRAM being separated from the core by 2 busses, whereas the DTCM is directly connected.

0693W00000Baxm0QAB.png 

You may find this of tangential interest:

https://www.quinapalus.com/cm7cycles.html

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Tesla DeLorean
Guru
June 14, 2021

The AXI SRAM is on the near side 64-bit bus, but is dual-ported

Honestly not sure one can simply ignore the pipelining and write-buffer.

The throughput it probably more critical than the latency.

Perhaps should look at 8-byte aligned STRD/LDRD vs those at +4 offset and spanning

ITCM/DTCM also doesn't pollute the cache, or have external bus contention.

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