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steve_Alten's avatar
steve_Alten
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4 years ago
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Cyclone V Features

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding which of the Cyclone V family would be more suited for the application we are going to develop. First of all, I have never used Intel FPGAs so excuse me i...
  • Farabi's avatar
    Farabi
    4 years ago

    Hi Steve,

    The Cyclone V SoC come with embedded linux repository. You can use the Eth and USB functions using command lines. All built-in IP like Eth and USB are functional well, but this is okay for development environment.

    If you targeting end user application, then you will need SoC-EDS to develop the application software for users to use or control the eth and USB functions.

    regards,

    Farabi

  • steve_Alten's avatar
    steve_Alten
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    4 years ago

    Thanks for the reply.

    I have one more question. I have worked with Xilinx FPGAs and softwares before so I think I didn't understand exactly how to properly use the Intel tools.

    We are probably going to use the MARS MA3 SoC Module for our application. If I got it right we can avoid purchase the standard version of Quartus and use the Lite version, and when the design is done we would need to purchase the IP Base Suite License to generate unlimited time files. But which software do I need to use to interface with the HPS part?

    I've seen that there is the Nios II software. Is it included in Quartus Prime Lite version? or should I use other tools not included in Quartus Lite for my design?

    Thanks.

    • Farabi's avatar
      Farabi
      Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
      4 years ago

      Hi,

      Good choice! If you want to use Cyclone V SoC (MARS MA3 SoC module), you can use Quartus Lite for FPGA content development, the only thing you need to know is, for software development side, on ARM based linux application, you will need to purchase the SoC EDS tool. link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software/programmable/soc-eds/overview.html

      NIOS II SDK can be used for free. It is used for developing application software for NIOS II softcore processor inside the FPGA.

      regards,

      Farabi

      • steve_Alten's avatar
        steve_Alten
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        4 years ago

        Hi Farabi,

        thanks again, but what do you mean by linux based application? Is it free for windows application?

        From this document (https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/po/ss-quartus-comparison.pdf), I read "The SoC EDS Standard Edition is supported with the Intel Quartus Prime Lite", but also "Requires additional licenses for Arm Development Studio".

        We just want to make sure what we need to purchase and how much will it cost to propose the whole project to our client.

        Thanks.

        Steve