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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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11 years ago

I2C Contoller from BeMicro CV Cyclone V E FPGA or BeMicro Nios II SDK Dev Kits

Hello,

Just wondering if it is possible to make an I2C controller from either a BeMicro CV Cyclone V E FPGA Development Kit or a BeMicro Nios II SDK Development Kit? I'm not really an FPGA person but I do happen to have these 2 development kits around and I'm in need of an I2C controller to communicate with an SFP+ module. Any ideas that would allow me to use the dev kits I have?

Thanks.

3 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    11 years ago

    Yeah, you could use those two kits.

    There is a Qsys port of the OpenCores I2C controller on the AlteraWiki

    http://www.alterawiki.com/wiki/i2c_%28opencores%29

    I haven't used it ... I wrote my own before noticing it on the Wiki ... give the Wiki version a try, and if it does not work, let me know, and I'll post my VHDL code.

    Cheers,

    Dave
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    11 years ago

    Dave,

    Thank you for the link. I would be happy to try it although I'm not quite sure how to. :(. Is this a file I can just program into the dev kit? Also, I have downloaded the Quartus II 14 web edition software and the link only has updated the file for 13. Not sure if that makes any difference.

    Thanks,
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    11 years ago

    --- Quote Start ---

    Thank you for the link. I would be happy to try it although I'm not quite sure how to. :(.

    --- Quote End ---

    Ah, so you are "that new" to FPGAs :)

    So here's what you have to decide ...

    1. Am I learning about FPGAs?

    2. Do I have to get the SFP+ interface working?

    I2C is pretty easy to implement using an FTDI USB-to-MPSSE cable ($26) and FTDIs libMPSSE-I2C code ...

    http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/c232hm-ddhsl-0/768-1106-nd/2714139

    Before being able to understand how to use the AlteraWiki code, you need to understand how FPGAs work, what Qsys is, what the Wishbone bus is, what the Avalon-MM bus is, what Modelsim is, what Tcl is, etc.

    Do you have time for that now?

    Perhaps re-think your "first FPGA experience". Implement the SFP+ interface using I2C, and independent of that, start to learn about FPGAs.

    For example, have you created designs for your BeMicro-CV or BeMicro-SDK boards? Eg., here's some BeMicro-CV examples ...

    http://www.alteraforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43992

    Cheers,

    Dave