Depending on your vendor, you can just create a RAM IP, and then instantiate that RAM component in your design. What tool/vendor are you using? (I don't know what "ices" means)
I wonder if the OP advocates the use of lsd to facilitate forum message decoding... One possible interpretation:
electronical when making sense said:
Hi! I would like to use an DDR ram module, external to the fpga. And just to clarify I do not want to use the block ram or fabric flip-flops. Furthermore I toss in the word "ices" (personal shorthand notation for slices) as a clue that I may or may not be using Xilinx fpga's.
In Altera and Xilinx, i've instantiated the RAM block using the built in core. Then made connections and allocated the pins. It worked fine.
If you want to do it without a core generator, then you'll probably have to work out the strobe signals etc, generate them and it should work just fine.
I did the above too, in an altera FPGA with an external RAM module. It was before i knew we could instantiate the RAM as a block.
If you want to do it without a core generator, then you'll probably have to work out the strobe signals etc, generate them and it should work just fine.
You did that for external DDR/DDR2 ram? As opposed to SRAM? That sounds neat!
Then again, the random undefined bit-width 4x6 matrix probably isn't that big. So a simple ram using the flip-flops probably suffices. In which case the OP can use any boring old RAM module.
Actually, it was the first time i saw an FPGA. I wanted to model a microcontroller. It cam with a RAM module with a DIMM slot and there was an old RAM. I read the signals for it, saw the FPGA board connections, worked out the timings and did it after a long struggle. Its basically just a waste of time, i'd recommend using cores. Modelling a microcontroller took just a day after a week's theoretical design. Sorting this one out took a month or so.
Or as already states, if you want to use flip-flops, see the link in post #8. And if that doesn't fit with the requirements, kindly post clear requirements.