Throughput - Throughput - 2.0 English - PG468

DRAM Semi-Ternary CAM 2.0 LogiCORE IP Product Guide (PG468)

Document_ID
PG468
Release_Date
2026-01-30
Version
2.0 English

The average lookup throughput corresponds to the Lookup Rate parameter. The lookup rate might be above or below the Lookup Rate parameter for certain lookups. If a few unfavorable lookups have been performed and the lookup rate temporarily falls below the Lookup Rate parameter, the DSTCAM then catches up later when there are favorable lookups available. To accomplish this, the LOOKUP_INTERFACE_FREQ must be set higher than the LOOKUP_RATE. It is recommended to set the LOOKUP_INTERFACE_FREQ at least 5% higher than the LOOKUP_RATE. This way lookup requests are always available in the Lookup Request Interface FIFO for consumption when catching up is necessary.

It is beneficial to use the highest possible TDM_FACTOR to save internal memory and logic resources. The RAM_FREQ and its associated TDM_FACTOR must be set to the highest number at which timing closure can occur successfully.

The API performs insert, update, and delete operations. These operations generate a few Management Requests that are sent to the Management Request FIFO. On an average, two Management Requests are generated per operation. The combined rate of insert/update/delete operations is set based on the UPDATE_RATE value.

To support a high UPDATE_RATE, additional RAM_FREQ frequency is needed to avoid CPU traffic starvation. Typically, the UPDATE_RATE value can range between 1 K to 1 M operations per second.

The following formula expresses the relationship between the parameters:

RAM_FREQ = LOOKUP_RATE x TDM_FACTOR + 2 x UPDATE_RATE

The CAM Database issues read and write requests to DRAM through the NMUs. You must size both the DRAM and the NMU bandwidth sufficiently to support the Lookup Rate and Update Rate.

DSTCAM operates in two modes:

  • STCAM
  • LPM

Depending on the mode, the bandwidth calculation differs.