Ch443e: binomial 4th line buffer + prefetch lead-2 (fix lookahead underflow)
The Ch443d board per-frame diagnostic identified the real displayed-frame
failure as a BINOMIAL vertical-lookahead starvation: displaying source
row r while interpolating r-1/r/r+1, the prefetch led by only one row
(next_fetch <= disp_row+1), so the lookahead row r+1 was still in flight
when the 3x3 filter read it (board: scan_y=33, nf_v=34, cause_lookahead=1,
read-error=0, deterministic every frame).
Fix (BINOMIAL_3X3_FILTER only; legacy 2/3-buffer, lead-1 paths unchanged):
- Add a 4th rotating line buffer (lb3) with its own RAM-local write/read/
cache registers. The 3x3 filter needs r-1/r/r+1 resident (3 buffers), so
leading by 2 (fetch r+2 while displaying r) without overwriting r-1
requires a 4th buffer.
- Prefetch lead-2 for binomial: disp_row_limit_e = disp_row+2. The in-flight
r+2 lands in the 4th buffer (b+2 mod 4), always distinct from prev/cur/next
(b-1/b/b+1 mod 4), so it never clobbers a row being read.
- Modulo-4 rotation everywhere: V_SOURCE_BUF%4, stretch_buf_q, next_fetch_buf,
reset alignment at V_SOURCE_START, and the read-cache prev/cur/next case
extended to 4 branches with (b-1)/b/(b+1) mod 4 selection + first/last-row
clamps preserved.
New tb_gs_scanout_binomial_lookahead reproduces the board condition under
realistic EMIF latency (LAT=7) + backpressure and proves: NO binomial
lookahead underflow, correct 3x3 output across modulo-4 wrap + clamps (full
oracle, 1280 px), and coverage that mid-frame rows past V_SOURCE_START+1
with vphase!=0 were exercised under prefetch pressure.
All green: binomial (4-buffer, identical output), lookahead (new),
scanout_lb {,_hstretch,_psm32_256,_fb}, scanout_restart, scanout_diag,
ps2_hps_bridge, and the complete f52 replay BYTE-IDENTICAL (Z 0/307200,
COLOR 0/245760). Also commits the Ch443d board evidence that identified
this defect. No Quartus/board/push from here.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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# Ch443d board verdict — per-frame scanout diagnostic (zsrt139f52, 2026-07-23)
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Image: `retroDE_ps2.ch443d.core.rbf` SHA `87c382f1...` (26.1 GUI compile of `0c9b2bf` =
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`6319d7c` RTL + SEED 3). Non-canonical candidate; Ch441 restored after capture.
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## Fit + render (accepted)
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Seed-3 GUI compile: EMIF setup +0.132, all timing classes >=0, 0 violated, no
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AWREADY/texcache-fill/drain/scanout-diag families, RAM 317/358. Board f52 replay
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byte-identical to golden (FB `d0047677`, texture CRC `0x13cfe390`, 0 drops).
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## Per-frame diagnostic (8 samples over many displayed frames, stable)
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| reg | raw | decode |
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|-----|-----|--------|
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| 0x02C | `0xF1` | scan underflow (bit5)=1, bresp=0 |
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| 0x120 | `0x0D33` | valid=1, **underflow=1**, **read-error=0**, cause_base=**0**, **cause_lookahead=1**, line_valid=1, **vphase=13** |
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| 0x124 | `0x02208821` | **scan_y=33, nf_v=34, nf_s0=34** |
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## VERDICT — the REAL displayed-frame failure (NOT the warm-up, NOT a read error)
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The Ch443c per-frame clear + restart-latency fix worked as intended: the pre-display
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warm-up capture (previously scan_y=32/nf=32/base) is GONE. The diagnostic now reports the
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true steady-state failure, and it is a **vertical LINEAR-FILTER LOOKAHEAD starvation**:
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- scan_y=33 is resident (33 < nf_v=34 -> base cause correctly 0).
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- At vphase=13 the V_LINEAR_FILTER interpolates between source rows 33 and 34, so it needs
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the LOOKAHEAD row scan_y+1 = 34. But nf_v=34 means next_fetch is AT row 34 -> row 34 is
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being fetched, NOT yet resident -> `scan_y+1 >= nf_v` -> lookahead cause fires -> underflow.
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- read-error=0: not an AXI error. Deterministic every frame: structural, not a CDC glitch.
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Root cause: the prefetch throttle leads by exactly ONE row (`next_fetch <= disp_row+1`), but
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the vertical linear filter needs the lookahead row (disp_row+1) FULLY resident. The prefetch
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is one row short of the filter's requirement, so displaying row 33 while row 34 is still
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loading races the filter's read of row 34.
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## Open question + fix direction (for Codex)
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- Leading by 2 (`disp_row+2`) would make the lookahead row resident in time, but V_LINEAR uses
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only 2 line buffers (parity) -- disp_row and disp_row+2 share a buffer, so leading by 2
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needs a 3rd line buffer (as BINOMIAL already has) or a different prefetch/latency structure.
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- The FB (memory) is byte-perfect; whether this lookahead underflow is HDMI-VISIBLE (a subtle
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artifact at inter-row filter boundaries) needs an actual HDMI capture -- the flag is
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conservative (fires when the lookahead row's fetch is in-flight, which may still complete
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before the specific pixels are read).
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Evidence: `ch443d_perframe_diag_8samples.txt`, `sh3_zsrt139f52_ch443d_board_fb.mem`,
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`ch443d_rbf.sha256`.
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