Honored Contributor
Honored ContributorIn general, to interface the ADC to Nios, you would need to write a driver for the ADC and then make the data available on the Nios bus. I tend not to use Nios much, as I write at the microarchitecture and finite state machine level. But you will need to study the datasheet of whatever ADC you pick, and then create an appropriate interface. This mean adhering to the setup and hold times admonished in the data sheet, whether it be from TI, ADI, or Linear Tech, etc. For a serial ADC interface, the VHDL (or System Verilog) will typically have counters, shift registers, and a state machine.
What I recommend you to do is to pick an ADC, write the driver, and write the outputs of the ADC to a simple PWM DAC. Then use Signal Tap to scope the output of your ADC driver, using various analog inputs, to verify the driver is working correctly. This would be academic after performing the digital design with a proper testbench. Best, James
