11.2.3.4 Counters

Counters count the number of occurrences of an event that occur either randomly or at uniform intervals. You can infer a counter in your design. However, most synthesis tools cannot infer optimal implementations of counters higher than 8-bits. If your counter is in the critical path of a speed and area critical design, Microchip recommends that you use the SmartGen Core Builder to build a counter. Once generated, instantiate the SmartGen counter in your design. The following examples infer different types of counters.