Introduction; Hardware Requirements - Altera Stratix Memory Board II User Manual

Stratix Memory Board II

1 Introduction

This document describes the Pre loaded diagnostic test designs and procedures for
revision A of the Stratix Memory Board II (SMB2). It also covers the hardware and
software requirements for the tests.
The SMB2 is a demonstration board designed to showcase high-speed memories (DDR-II
and QDR-II) with Altera's current high end device, Stratix, using Altera developed
Intellectual Property (IP). The main function of this board is to provide in-house
hardware verification and demonstration platforms for the Stratix QDR-II and DDR-II
(non-DQS mode and DQS mode) memory controller IP. For further details see the
SMB2 data sheet.

1.1 Hardware requirements

• PC – A medium performance personal computer with standard features and
Windows XP installed is used as the host system for the test process. It serves as
the user interface for the designs and stores all of the software and files required
for the tests.
• Programming Device – A programming device is required to program/configure
the Altera devices on the SMB2. A Byte Blaster with a parallel cable interface is
the standard device. The SMB2 is also compatible with a USB Blaster with USB
cable interface. The USB Blaster provides a slightly faster download speed.
• Power supply – The SMB2 uses an IBM Thinkpad laptop compatible power
supply as the main power source for the board. It produces a 16 volt DC output
and supplies 60W of power.
• RS 232 cable – An RS232 serial cable is required for communication between the
host system and the board being tested.
• Ethernet connection w/cable – An Ethernet connection and cable is required to
verify the Ethernet port on the SMB2. As the test is currently configured, the
SMB2 attempts to use DHCP to acquire an Ethernet address.
• DDR II DIMM – Use a 256 MByte 200 MHz DDR II CL3 ECC module such as
Micron part number MT9HTF3272AG-40EB3.
1.2 Software requirements
• Quartus II 4.0 – Quartus II 4.0 SP1 or newer is the assumed software
environment. This provides the programming software used to configure the
Altera devices.
• Board Test System (BTS) code – The BTS code is a collection of TCL scripts,
batch files and compiled C programs used to automate the testing process.
• .sof files – Several .sof and .pof files are used to configure the Altera devices on
the SMB2 to run the tests.
User Guide
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