SD Card Controller

SD cards, especially the micro types, are used in many applications for storing programs, configuration data, tables, or used as external storage device. SD Controller core uses the System Peripheral Interface (SPI) to communicate with the SD-card in electronic systems. SPI is a very well-known serial communication bus. It uses few signals and does not require specialized transceivers which is an advantage for ASIC designs. Chips (whether ASIC or FPGA) can integrate LeWiz SD controller(s) for connecting to external SD-card, flash memory, and other peripherals. Other uses of LeWiz SD Controller core include read/write of stored bit files for FPGA configuration as well as software programs/data for SOC chips that are used in applications such as aerospace, storage systems, network control, etc.

Designed for short-distance inter-chip communication, the SD controller core excels in data transfers to/from SD cards and from external SPI device(s). Additionally, through the device’s master-slave interface, the SD controller core has efficient data transmissions with on-chip buffers. A single controller can simultaneously manage multiple slave peripheral devices.

• Connects and manages of data transfers to and from SD cards and multimedia cards 
• Built-in support for SD card booting, read/write functions, and others 
• Supports different types of SD card response formats 
• Easy command – response mechanism 
• Uses SPI for reduced pin count and standard interface signaling  
• On-chip buffers for continuous data streaming and high data transfer rate 
• Single and multi block read/write capabilities 
• Supports AXI4 protocol for on-chip interfacing → multiple, pipelined data transfers 
• Also supports AXI-stream protocol for on-chip interfacing – flexible to adapt to user on-chip environment 
• Prioritizes efficiency and latency 
• Supports SD and MMC card types (multiple versions) 
• Supports SD cards from many different manufacturers 
• Supports interrupt or polling mechanisms 
• Validated on Xilinx FPGA platforms  
• Licensable in source or netlist format 
• (option) Available as space flight capable core

• Fast and efficient
• Support 3 types of SD/MCC cards
• Block based Read/Write
• Designed for FPGA or ASIC
• Support SPI mode
• Interface: AXI4 or AXI stream