Forum Discussion

GCord's avatar
GCord
Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
7 years ago

I'm curious about whether we can use the DK-DEV-5CSXC6N to produce an FPGA design that is not time-limited by the Intel Evaluation Mode feature.

To be frank, what has happened is that I've inherited an FPGA design from a 3rd party developer no longer under contract to my client who used the client's DK-DEV-5CSXC6N to develop a prototype. They are now moving to a final hardware platform and I'm coming to the conclusion that the original developer was using his own company's Quartus Prime license (probably "Standard"; its a Cyclone V device) to produce the FPGA design, as it does not seem that the PC on which the DK-DEV-5CSXC6N software was installed includes any Quartus software beyond the programmer. Furthermore, the price of the DK-DEV-5CSXC6N seems to confirm what the on-line descriptions of the product suggest: that it includes a DS-5 license, but not a Quartus Prime license. I have therefore advised my client to purchase its own license for the Quartus software, and this is currently in the "PO" process. Am I correct in concluding that this will be the only way to modify and re-build the original FPGA design?

3 Replies

  • YuanLi_S_Intel's avatar
    YuanLi_S_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    7 years ago

    Hi GCord,

    Purchasing DK-DEV-5CSXC6N will come with 1 year Quartus Prime License. Back to your question, if the FPGA design is using any Intel PSG IP, you will need to purchase your own license in order to modify and re-build the FPGA design.

    You may check the feature available for Quartus Prime Pro, Standard and Lite Edition at link below:

    https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software/programmable/quartus-prime/download.html

    Thank You.

    Regards,

    YL

  • GCord's avatar
    GCord
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    7 years ago

    Just to clarify, the DK-DEV-5CSXC6N seems to provide details on how to invoke the DS-5 license, but doesn't appear to mention anything about the Quartus Prime license. In fact, it seems to just cover the installation of the Quartus programmer software and otherwise to advise that one can download either the Lite or Standard versions of the full Quartus Prime software. However, the Lite version the client downloaded definitely only provides the Intel FPGA Evaluation Mode for IP products, and the Standard version appears to only allow a 30-day evaluation license. The dev kit makes no mention of including a full 1-year license key, and given that such a license appears to normally cost twice the price of the entire dev kit, it seems reasonable to conclude that no such license is included. In Evaluation Mode, the presence of the IP products in the client's design makes it impossible to convert the SOF into a format suitable for programming into the boot flash, and Quartus says the IP included in the SOF will become inoperative 1 hour after uploading to RAM.

    So, what is the actual substantive meaning of your previous response? Is it intended to suggest that I could download and use the Quartus Prime Standard and use it for 1 year so long as we don't include any Intel PSG IP modules -- and that we only need to purchase a separate license if I do include such modules? Of does it have the constraint of only being loadable to RAM even during the 1-year period with or without including Intel IP?

  • YuanLi_S_Intel's avatar
    YuanLi_S_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    7 years ago

    Hi GCord,

    Yes, you need to purchase Quartus Prime License in order to include any Intel PSG IP modules in your design.

    You will have 1 year Quartus Prime License when you purchase the development kit. The 1 year Quartus Prime License allows you to include any Intel PSG IP modules.

    Thank You.

    Regards,

    YL