FIFO Depth Calculation .

FIFO ( First in First Out ) are essential part of any design, we use FIFOs for synchronizing two clock domains , For synchronizing we need a device which has some tolerance power to hold the data that device is called FIFO. By using FIFO we can easily avoid overflow and underflow conditions 

The scenario can be two of following

Writing is faster than reading then there is possibility of overflow
Writing is slower than reading then there is possibility of underflow

In FIFO depth calculation we always have to consider worst case .Size of FIFO basically implies that how much data is required to buffer . And it is totally depend on data rate of reading and writing.

Data rate = Number of Data x Time Period
Difference = DRFAST – DRSLOW
Depth = Difference / Higher Freq. Time Period

Writing side is Source and Reading Side is Sink. If the data rate of writing is higher then the reading side’s data rate then the FIFO will now overflow.Another Type of depth calculation can be done by this method:

Consider F1 is writing frequency and F2 is reading frequency (F1>F2) and Data Size is D (Data Words)

Time taken to write to FIFO = DATA/F1
Data Read from the FIFO in the same time = (DATA/F1) xF2
Excess Data is FIFO (Backlog) = DATA-((DATA/F1) x F2

Read side will take more time to read the data so that time is called mop-up time.

Following is the calculation of mop-up time

Mop-up time = Backlog/F2 = DATA-(DATA/F1 F2)

Depth= Wmax – {Wmax x Fread x Wread}
Fwrite x WwriteFwrite = Clock Frequency of Write Clock Domain

Fread = Clock Frequency of Read Clock Domain
Wmax= Maximum number of worlds can be Written
Wwrite = Number of Writes in Per Clock
Wread = Number of reads in Per Clock

Following are some cases of FIFO depth calculation with perfect explanation.

Case: 1

Writing Side = 30 MHz => 33.33 ns Time Period
Reading Side = 40 MHz = > 25.0 ns Time Period

Solution:

Consider the data size is = 10
Data Rate of Writing = 10 x (1/30) =333.33 ns
Data Rate of Reading = 10 x (1/40) =250.0 ns.
Difference between Data Rates = 333.33 – 250.0 = 83.33
Now divide with highest frequency time period = 83.33/25ns = 3.3332 = 4 (Aprox)
Depth of FIFO Should be 4

Case: 2

Writing Side = 80 Data/100 Clock = 100 MHz => 10ns Time Period
Reading Side = 80 Data/80 Clock = 80 MHz => 12.5ns Time Period
No Randomization

Solution:

Data Size is = 80
Data Rate of Writing =80*10=800ns
Data Rate of Reading=80*12.5=1000ns
Difference = 1000-800=200ns
Now divide with highest frequency time period = 200/10ns=20
Depth of FIFO Should be 20

Case: 3

Writing Side = 10 MHz => 100 ns
Reading Side = 2.5 MHz=>400 ns
Word Size = 2

Solution:

Data Rate of Writing =100*2=200ns
Data Rate of Reading=400*2=800ns
Difference = 800-200=600
Now Divide by the lowest frequency time period = 600/400 = 1.5 = 2
(Reading Frequency is slower than writing Frequency )

Case: 4

Writing Data = 80 DATA/100 Clock (Randomization of 20 Data’s)
Outgoing Data= 8 DATA/10 Clock

Solution:

Above shows that the Writing Frequency is equal to reading frequency
20 Data + 80 Valid Data + 80 Valid Data + 20 DataWe will consider worst case

So we will consider 200 Cycles. In 200 Cycle 160 Data is written. it means 160 data continuously written in 160 clock it is the worst case .
At the reading side we will Read 8x16=128 data in 16x10=160 Clock Cycle.
So the Difference between Written Data and Read Back Data is = 160-128=32
FIFO Depth Should be 32