Getting Started With The Nios Ii Processor - Altera Nios II User Manual

1–2
■ Optional memory management unit (MMU) to support operating systems that
require MMUs
Optional memory protection unit (MPU)
■
Software development environment based on the GNU C/C++ tool chain and the
■
Nios II Software Build Tools (SBT) for Eclipse
■ Integration with Altera's SignalTap
real-time analysis of instructions and data along with other signals in the FPGA
design
■ Instruction set architecture (ISA) compatible across all Nios II processor systems
Performance up to 250 DMIPS
■
■ Optional error correcting code (ECC) support for a subset of Nios II processor
internal RAM blocks
A Nios II processor system is equivalent to a microcontroller or "computer on a chip"
that includes a processor and a combination of peripherals and memory on a single
chip. A Nios II processor system consists of a Nios II processor core, a set of on-chip
peripherals, on-chip memory, and interfaces to off-chip memory, all implemented on a
single Altera device. Like a microcontroller family, all Nios II processor systems use a
consistent instruction set and programming model.

Getting Started with the Nios II Processor

The easiest way to start designing effectively is to use an Altera development kit that
includes a ready-made development board and the Nios II Embedded Design Suite
(EDS) containing all the software development tools necessary to write Nios II
software.
f
For a list of available development kits, refer to the
Altera website.
The Nios II EDS includes the following two closely-related software development tool
flows:
■ The Nios II SBT
The Nios II SBT for Eclipse
■
Both tools flows are based on the GNU C/C++ compiler. The Nios II SBT for Eclipse
provides a familiar and established environment for software development. Using the
Nios II SBT for Eclipse, you can immediately begin developing and simulating Nios II
software applications.
The Nios II SBT also provides a command line interface.
Nios II Processor Reference Handbook
Getting Started with the Nios II Processor
®
II Embedded Logic Analyzer, enabling
All Development Kits
February 2014 Altera Corporation
Chapter 1: Introduction
page of the