Remote System Upgrade; Functional Description - Altera Cyclone IV Device Handbook

Chapter 8: Configuration and Remote System Upgrades in Cyclone IV Devices

Remote System Upgrade

Remote System Upgrade
Cyclone IV devices support remote system upgrade in AS and AP configuration
schemes. You can also implement remote system upgrade with advanced Cyclone IV
features such as real-time decompression of configuration data in the AS
configuration scheme.
1
Remote system upgrade is not supported in a multi-device configuration chain for
any configuration scheme.

Functional Description

The dedicated remote system upgrade circuitry in Cyclone IV devices manages
remote configuration and provides error detection, recovery, and status information.
A Nios
provides access to the remote configuration data source and an interface to the
configuration memory.
1
Configuration memory refers to serial configuration devices (EPCS) or supported
parallel flash memory, depending on the configuration scheme that is used.
The remote system upgrade process of the Cyclone IV device consists of the following
steps:
1. A Nios II processor (or user logic) implemented in the Cyclone IV device logic
array receives new configuration data from a remote location. The connection to
the remote source is a communication protocol, such as the transmission control
protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),
user datagram protocol (UDP), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter
(UART), or a proprietary interface.
2. The Nios II processor (or user logic) writes this new configuration data into a
configuration memory.
3. The Nios II processor (or user logic) starts a reconfiguration cycle with the new or
updated configuration data.
4. The dedicated remote system upgrade circuitry detects and recovers from any
error that might occur during or after the reconfiguration cycle and provides error
status information to the user design.
Figure 8–30
(the numbers in
Figure 8–30. Functional Diagram of Cyclone IV Device Remote System Upgrade
May 2013 Altera Corporation
®
II processor or a user logic implemented in the Cyclone IV device logic array
shows the steps required for performing remote configuration updates
Figure 8–30 coincide with steps 1–3).
1
Data
Development
Location
Data
Cyclone IV
Device
Data
Control Module
Device Configuration
8–69
2
Configuration
Memory
3
Cyclone IV Device Handbook,
Volume 1