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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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8 years ago

Cyclone IV configuration from 1.8V SoC

I want to configure a Cyclone IV part (EP4CE10F17C7) using passive serial mode from an onboard processor. The processor's I/O pins are all 1.8V logic level. I would think this would be fine if I set VDDIO for bank 1 (nCONFIG, DCLK and DATA0 pins) to 1.8V.

However, I have seen confusing information in the Cyclone IV handbook/datasheet/configuration handbook about the PS configuration requiring 2.5V IO.

Does this mean 1.8V is not possible for this?

Is it possible to configure using 1.8V Passive Serial, or do I have to set bank1 VDDIO to 2.5V and add a level converter?

4 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Yes - you can configure Cyclone IV devices in PS mode at 1.8V.

    A few gotchas to note. MSEL pins are tied to GND or VCCA, which needs to be powered at 2.5V. Also, CONF_DONE lives in bank 6. So it's pull-up resistor should be connected to the supply for bank 6, not bank 1.

    Cheers,

    Alex
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Alex, thank you very much. That's exactly what I was hoping to confirm. In my case, bank 6 is also 1.8V. And MSEL pins will all be grounded, so I think everything is good.

    Given this, I'm confused by the documentation. Can anyone explain what the meaning of the "Configuration Voltage Standard" listed in the handbook Table 8-5 "Configuration Schemes for Cyclone IV E Devices" (see attached)? Under Passive Serial, MSEL=0000, it lists configuration voltages as 3.3, 3.0, 2.5. No 1.8V, am I missing something?

    https://www.alteraforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=14842

    As I had said, I plan to have MSEL=0000 and use 1.8V signals to configure. Despite the docs, I trust it will work.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    I hope I'm not missing something either. Indeed the entry does imply it doesn't support 1.8V I/O in PS mode.

    I don't have anything definitive to offer. I'm hoping the documentation is lacking - although, given how mature the family is, I doubt it.

    Possibly a leftover from programming cable requirements when operating I/O bank 1 below 2.5V. USB-Blasters and other need at least 2.5V to power them...

    Cheers,

    Alex
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    7 years ago

    Following up now that I have boards built ...

    - Good news ... I've had no problems configuring the FPGA with 1.8V I/O pins!

    - Summary of the setup:

    • Cyclone IV FPGA (EP4CE10F17C8)

    • 3 MSEL pins pulled to GND (Passive Serial configuration)

    • All banks powered by VCCIO=1.8V

    • Using 1.8V LVCMOS signals directly attached to a processor to configure the FPGA.

    Despite this success, it does seem that there is some reason Altera doesn't want us to do this. In addition to the lack of 1.8V PS option in the handbook (which I previously described), we get a warning when building the project:

    Warning (169201): I/O bank '1' VCCIO voltage is '1.8V', which is not supported for the 'Passive Serial' configuration scheme and the configuration device

    Any idea how we find out why this is the case? Fortunately it does seem to be working ... I'm just concerned there is some condition where we may run into trouble.

    Thanks again