Altera Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit Cyclone III Edition User Manual
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Altera Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit Cyclone III Edition User Manual

Altera Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit Cyclone III Edition User Manual

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Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit,
Cyclone III Edition
User Guide
101 Innovation Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
www.altera.com
P25-36209-03
Document Date:
July 2010

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Summary of Contents for Altera Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit Cyclone III Edition

  • Page 1 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition User Guide 101 Innovation Drive San Jose, CA 95134 www.altera.com P25-36209-03 Document Date: July 2010...
  • Page 2 © 2010 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at www.altera.com/common/legal.html.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Operating Instructions ........................4–4 Creating Flash files for Remote System update ................4–6 Chapter 5. Design Examples About Design Examples ........................5–1 Picture Viewer Application ........................5–1 Picture Viewer ..........................5–1 Operation ............................5–2 Mandelbrot Application ........................5–6 Altera Corporation July 2010 Preliminary...
  • Page 4 How do ready-to-run demonstrations get loaded from the SD card to the FPGA? ....D–2 Where can I get more ready-to-run demonstrations? ..............D–2 Where can I get full Quartus II projects and source code for ready-to-run demonstrations? ..........................D–2 Altera Corporation July 2010 Preliminary...
  • Page 5 How do I open a design example in the Nios II IDE? ..............D–4 How do I restore the factory image? .................... D–5 How do I re-build the factory image? ..................D–5 Additional Information Further Information ..........................i–ii Altera Corporation Preliminary July 2010...
  • Page 6 Contents Contents Altera Corporation July 2010 Preliminary...

  • Page 7: Chapter 1. Getting Started

    (SOPC) designs using FPGAs. The development board includes an Altera Cyclone III FPGA and comes preconfigured with an FPGA hardware reference design stored in flash memory as well as several ready-to-run demonstration applications stored on the SD-Card Flash provided.

  • Page 8: Kit Contents

    Licenses) , uC-Linux (SLS) Middleware: Filesystems (El Camino, Micrium, SLS), Graphics ● Libraries (Micrium) ■ Altera Evaluation IP license cores and software packages for embedded development Nios II IP Core (Evaluation Core) ● DDR SDRAM Memory IP Core (Evaluation Core) ●...

  • Page 9: About The Nios Ii Processor

    About the Nios II Processor Nios II is a fully configurable 32-bit processor optimized for use in Altera’s FPGA. The embedded processor system is easily customized for a particular application using the SOPC Builder feature of the Quartus II FPGA design software.
  • Page 10 Altera Application Selector ■ Altera Picture Viewer ■ Altera Mandelbrot C2H Designs are located in the altera\<version #>\kits\cycloneIII_3c25_niosII in either the examples or demonstrations directory. You can also find more system designs from the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit (NEEK), Cyclone III Edition page.
  • Page 11 These demonstrations are implementations of applications such as automotive graphics, consumer GUI, industrial control that are provided for demonstration and evaluation purposes by Altera and third party vendors. If you want to select a suitable operating system (for example, Micriums...

  • Page 12: About This User Guide

    SLS uClinux PlanetWeb Menu PlanetWeb About this User This user guide describes how to start using the Altera Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, including unpacking the kit, installing required software, Guide and running the Application Selector utility and other design examples.

  • Page 13: Before You Begin

    Download the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition installer from the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit (NEEK), Cyclone III Edition page of the Altera website. Alternatively, you can request a development kit DVD from the Development Kits, Daughter Cards & Programming Hardware page of the Altera website.
  • Page 14 The installation program creates the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition directory structure shown in Figure 1–1. Figure 1–1. Nios II I Embedded Evaluation Kit Installed Directory Structure <install dir> The default Windows installation directory is C:\altera\ <version> \. kits cycloneIII_3c25_niosII board_design_files demos documents examples factory_recovery Table 1–2...

  • Page 15: Installing The Quartus Ii Web Edition Software

    Installing the Quartus II Web Edition Software The Quartus II Web Edition software provides the necessary tools for developing hardware and software for Altera FPGAs. Included in the Quartus II Web Edition software are the Quartus II software, the Nios II ®...
  • Page 16 — A full-featured tool set that allows you to develop embedded software for the Nios II processor which you can include in your Altera FPGA designs. Licensing Considerations The Quartus II Web Edition software is license-free and supports Cyclone III devices without any additional licensing requirement. This kit also works with the Quartus II Subscription Edition software, after you obtain the proper license file.

  • Page 17: Licensing The Ip

    After installing the Quartus II Web Edition software, you will have installed an OpenCore Plus evaluation of the Nios II IP core. Any designs you create operate in Altera’s OpenCore Plus evaluation mode and allow you to do the following: Simulate the behavior of the Nios II processor IP in your system.
  • Page 18 RLDRAM II Controller ■ SerialLite II To help shorten your design time, Altera provides some of its most popular intellectual property (IP) cores with the Altera IP Base Suite, which is completely free with a Quartus II subscription. For more information about obtaining the Altera IP Base Suite, refer to Free IP Base Suite Licenses With Active Quartus II Subscription page.

  • Page 19: Licensing The El Camino Sd Card Core

    Landshuter Str. 1 D-84048 Mainburg Germany Tel. +49 - 8751 - 8787 - 0 Fax +49 - 8751 - 842876 Web: www.elcamino.de E-mail: info@elca.de 1–13 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 20 Getting Started Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 1–14 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 21: Chapter 2. Development Board Setup

    Cyclone III Starter Board Cyclone III EP3C25F324 FPGA ● Configuration ● • Embedded USB-Blaster™ circuitry (includes an Altera EPM3128A CPLD) allowing download of FPGA configuration files via the users USB port Power and analog devices from Linear Technology ● Memory ●...

  • Page 22: Requirements

    12 V. Press the Power Switch (SW1). A Welcome screen appears as shown in Figure 2–1. Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 2–2 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...
  • Page 23 Power Up the Development Board Figure 2–1. Development Board Setup - Welcome Screen 2–3 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 24 Development Board Setup Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 2–4 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 25: Chapter 3. Nios Ii Processor Systems

    Figure 3–1. The MAX II CPLD performs voltage translation and de-multiplexing of video pipeline signals to the LCD Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 3–1 July 2010 Preliminary...
  • Page 26 The components in this embedded microprocessor system are shown in Figure 3–2. Figure 3–2. Nios II Processor System Block Diagram Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 3–2 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 27: Where To Find The Nios Ii Processor Systems

    Altera ■ DDR SDRAM memory controller core shipping license from Altera (comes free with Quartus II Subscription edition as part of Altera IP Base Suite) For more information on how to obtain evaluation or shipping licenses for the above refer to “Licensing the IP”...

  • Page 28: Nios Ii 3C25 Video Processor System

    ■ Nios II IP evaluation license with Nios II EDS, shipping license from Altera ■ DDR SDRAM memory controller core shipping license from Altera (comes free with Quartus II Subscription edition) About the Nios II 3C25 Video Processor CPU Platform The CPU platform for the Nios II Standard System consists of ■...
  • Page 29 I/Os connected to the Nios II Standard System. Memory Interface There are four different types of on-board memory or storage devices. The memory controllers for three of these devices are provided as part of Altera’s IP Suite and include: ■ SSRAM Controller ■...
  • Page 30 For more information on the video pipeline (pixel converter and Video Sync Generator) and GPIO components refer to Quartus II Handbook Chapter 5 Embedded Peripherals. Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 3–6 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 31: Chapter 4. Application Selector Utility

    In addition to the prepackaged ready-to-run SD Card demonstration applications which come with the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition, more are available from Altera or through third party vendors. You can find several ready-to-run SD Card demonstrations in your SD Card as well as in the <install dir>\...

  • Page 32: In System Update Using Sd Card

    Loading will take between 2 and 30 seconds, depending on the size of the application, and whether it was previously cached in on-board flash memory. Altera Corporation 4–2 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 33: Remote System Update Using Ethernet

    You can then reset the FPGA on your board and the FPGA should reconfigure from the newly downloaded Flash image. 4–3 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...

  • Page 34: Requirements

    Flash files for hardware and software image to update the board with. These must be present on your host PC. Several flash files examples are provided in the altera/<version #>/kits/ cycloneIII_3c25_niosII/ examples/ application_selector/remote_system_update folder. The .flash file format is an SREC file with addressing offset from the base address of your flash device.
  • Page 35 Click on the Left hand side of the web page you will see a CFI Flash Upload section. Click Browse button and browse to the hardware Flash image on your PC and click Open. Browse to the altera/<version # >/kits/ cycloneIII_3c25_niosII/examples/application_selector/ remote_system_update folder, choose an application e.g.

  • Page 36: Creating Flash Files For Remote System Update

    ■ On your host PC, launch a Nios II Command Shell from Start -> Programs -> Altera -> Nios II <version #> EDS -> Nios II Command Shell ■ From the command shell navigate to where your SOF file is located...

  • Page 37: Chapter 5. Design Examples

    IP licenses required to ship design: ■ SD/MMC SPI Core IP (with FAT file system) from El Camino ■ Nios II IP from Altera ■ DDR SDRAM memory controller core from Altera Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. 5–1 July 2010 Preliminary...

  • Page 38: Operation

    The operation of Picture Viewer application is explained below: Power on the board by pressing the switch SW1. You will see the Application Selector menu on the LCD Touch Screen Display. See Figure 5–1. Altera Corporation 5–2 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...
  • Page 39 Touch the Load button located on the bottom left corner of the Touch Screen to load the Pic Viewer application. You will see the progress bar on the screen. See Figure 5–2. 5–3 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 40 Figure 5–3. Running the Picture Viewer Application - Displaying First Image The next image will be displayed after the delay period. See Figure 5–4. Altera Corporation 5–4 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...
  • Page 41 The maximum delay period you can set is 20 seconds. The minimum is 1 second. The default delay period is 5 seconds. 5–5 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...

  • Page 42: Mandelbrot Application

    Nios II IP from Altera (Ordering Code IP-NIOS) ■ DDR SDRAM memory controller core from Altera (Available free with Quartus II Subscription as part of Altera IP Base Suite) Software and middleware licenses required to ship design: None Software tools required to ship your hardware accelerators: ■...

  • Page 43: Using The Mandelbrot Application

    Mandelbrot application is explained below: Power on the board (SW1). You will see the Application Selector menu on the LCD Touch Screen Display. 5–7 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 44 Mandelbrot C2H application as shown in Figure 5–5. Figure 5–5. Loading the Mandelbrot Application After complete loading of application, you will see a welcome screen as shown in Figure 5–6. Altera Corporation 5–8 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...
  • Page 45 Mandelbrot application will begin running, changing co- ordinates and zooming in and out of the complex space Figure 5–7 Figure 5–7. Running the Mandelbrot Application 5–9 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 46 Continue button. Whether the design is rendering data using hardware or software, benchmark data is being collected and displayed to the screen. Altera Corporation 5–10 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 47: Operation

    = y * y; y = ((2 * x * y) + ci) >> 28; x = (xsqr - ysqr + cr) >> 28; iter++; return(iter); 5–11 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 48 Mandelbrot hardware accelerators to operate in parallel. The main processor polls the hardware accelerator to determine if the entire frame has been rendered. Altera Corporation 5–12 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 49: Application Selector

    Nios II IP evaluation license with Nios II EDS, shipping license from Altera (Ordering Code IP-NIOS) ■ DDR SDRAM memory controller core shipping license from Altera (comes free with Quartus II Subscription edition as part of Altera IP Base Suite) Software and middleware licenses required to ship design: ■...

  • Page 50: About The Embedded Web Server

    ■ The server can process basic requests to serve HTML, JPEG, and GIF files from the Altera FAT file system on an SD card. The embedded web server is in no way a complete implementation of a full-featured HTTP server. This example uses the sockets interface.

  • Page 51: Appendix A. Video Pipeline Data Flow

    The system has a FIFO because all systems like this always have FIFOs. It’s there to “take up the slack” and keep the display fed even when the DDR SDRAM memory is unavailable (due to contention, refresh, etc.). Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. A–1...

  • Page 52: Get The Full Lcd Controller Application Note

    Import your Verilog module into SOPC Builder using the Component Editor. From an Nios II Standard System, replace the existing Pixel Format Converter with your new pixel_converter_565 component. Altera Corporation A–2 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...
  • Page 53 16-bit 5:6:5 pixel data; and the firmware which controls the DMA must be modified to understand the different memory-buffer size implications of 16-bit (instead of 32-bit) pixels. A–3 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 54 Altera Corporation A–4 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 55: Appendix B. Application Selector Details

    The subdirectory names can be anything so long as they adhere to the FAT file system long file name rules. Spaces are permitted. Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0. B–1...

  • Page 56: Cfi Flash

    “Creating Your Own Loadable Applications” section. The boot copier copies the software code to program memory before running it. Altera Corporation B–2 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 57: Application Boot Code

    The CFI flash holds up to 10 of the most recently loaded application hardware images to speed the load times of applications which are loaded often. To keep track of which hardware images are currently B–3 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...

  • Page 58: Hardware Image Caching

    32-bit timestamp in the hardware image .flash file as an S0-type record on the first line of the file. When the Application Selector is about to load a hardware image, Altera Corporation B–4 July 2010...

  • Page 59: Flash Hardware Image Catalog

    The second word is the 32-bit flash offset of the image itself. Entries are always created and erased as whole units, two 32-bit words at a time. B–5 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...

  • Page 60: Creating Your Own Loadable Applications

    .SOF and .ELF files to application selector-compatible .FLASH files. Feel free to open eek.sh in a text editor to see the exact commands which are run. Altera Corporation B–6 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 61: Rebuilding The Application Selector

    My First Nios II Software Tutorial. This will Selector walk you through compiling a simple project that runs on the Nios. Throughout this document we will refer to the <Install Directory> which is altera/<version #> /kits/ cycloneIII_3c25_niosII." B–7 Development Board Version 1.0.

  • Page 62: Create A Bsp

    For more information about BSPs and the Nios II Software Build Tools, refer to the Getting Started from the Command Line chapter in volume 2 of the Nios II Software Developer’s Handbook. Altera Corporation B–8 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 63: Build The Boot Code

    0x20000 in flash. It cannot be changed. This is because the Cyclone III FPGA always performs its first configuration after reset from offset 0x20000. B–9 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 64 Quartus II. Application Software Image The application software image can be relocated in flash by performing the following steps: In a text editor, open the file: Altera Corporation B–10 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...
  • Page 65 Flash Catalog The flash catalog can be relocated in flash and size-adjusted by performing the following steps. In a text editor, open the file: B–11 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...
  • Page 66 You will need to rebuild the boot code for these changes to take effect. Altera Corporation B–12 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 67: Appendix C. Restoring The Factory Image

    Click on the Program/Configure checkbox and press Start. You will see a Successfully performed operation info message when the configuration is complete. Launch a Nios II Command Shell from Start>All Programs>Altera> Nios II EDS<version #>Nios II <version #> Command Shell Altera Corporation Development Board Version 1.0.

  • Page 68: Rebuilding The Application Selector From Source Files

    Building the boot code produces a file named app_selector_boot_code.srec. This file can be directly programmed to flash using nios2-flash- programmer in the Nios II command shell. From the Nios II Command Shell navigate to altera/<version # >/ cycloneIII_3c25_niosII/examples/application_selector/application _utilities/application_selector_boot_code Altera Corporation C–2...

  • Page 69: Hardware Image Catalog

    Quartus II project directory. The command needed to create the application selector hardware portion of the factory recovery image is: From the Nios II Command Shell navigate to altera\<version #> \kits\cycloneIII_3c120_niosII_dev\examples\application_selector. From the Nios II Command Shell type: sof2flash --activeparallel --offset=0x20000 --input= cycloneIII_ embedded_ evaluation_kit _application_selector.sof --output=...

  • Page 70: Application Selector Software Image

    '/^S[05789]/ d' temp_restore.flash >restore_cycloneIII _3c25.flash You can now restore the Embedded Evaluation Kit board to its factory state by running the command nios2-flash-programmer --base=0x4000000 restore_cycloneIII _3c25.flash Altera Corporation C–4 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 71: Appendix D. Frequently Asked Questions

    Nios II based processor systems built for applications such as automotive graphics, industrial controls, consumer graphic user interfaces and more. Most ready-to-run demonstrations have been provided by Altera's partners and showcase IP, operating systems and software tools. Where can I find Ready-to-Run Demonstrations? For the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit (NEEK), there are many ready-to-run demonstrations available on the sd-card.

  • Page 72: What Is In A Ready-To-Run Demonstration

    In addition to the prepackaged ready-to-run SD Card demonstration applications which come with the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition, more are available from Altera or through third party vendors. For more information about ready-to-run SD Card demonstration applications, refer to the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit (NEEK), Cyclone III Edition page.

  • Page 73: Why Do I Get The Error "Can't Find Valid Feature Line For Core Sd_Mmc_Spi_Core

    Remove the SD-Card and place in the SD-Card Reader. Add any .JPEG or .BMP file to the “images” folder on the SD Card. D–3 Development Board Version 1.0. Altera Corporation Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition July 2010...

  • Page 74: How Do I Add My Own Design So The Application Selector Can Find And Run It

    The example applications have been provided in the Nios II Software Build flow format, i.e. in the form of application (APP) and board support package (BSP). Altera Corporation D–4 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 75: How Do I Restore The Factory Image

    How do I restore the factory image? To restore the factory image, perform the following steps: Using the Quartus II Programmer, configure the FPGA with the SOF file: altera/<version #>/kits/cycloneIII_3c25_niosII/ examples/application_selector/cycloneIII_embedded_ evaluation_kit_applicatoin_selector.sof Open a Nios II Command Shell and change to the directory: altera/<version #>/kits/...
  • Page 76 Altera Corporation D–6 July 2010 Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition...

  • Page 77: Additional Information

    Technical support www.altera.com/mysupport/ Technical training www.altera.com/training/ Technical training services custrain@altera.com Product literature www.altera.com/literature Product literature services literature@altera.com FTP site ftp.altera.com Note to table: You can also contact your local Altera sales office or sales representative. Altera Corporation Info–i July 2010 Preliminary...

  • Page 78: Further Information

    . Also, sections of an c:\qdesigns\tutorial\chiptrip.gdf actual file, such as a Report File, references to parts of files (e.g., the AHDL keyword ), as well as logic function names (e.g., ) are shown in SUBDESIGN Courier. Altera Corporation Info–ii...
  • Page 79 A warning calls attention to a condition or possible situation that can cause injury to the user. The angled arrow indicates you should press the Enter key. The feet direct you to more information on a particular topic. Info–iii Altera Corporation Preliminary July 2010...
  • Page 80 Additional Information Typographic Conventions Altera Corporation Info–iv...

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