DMA Controller with external DREQ/DACK mechanism on CPLD or FPGA

Hi Hazlina,

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. That old white paper was a great reference for me. The CF+ to uC interface is one of the applications I have in mind for a project. I wanted to do bridging between ATA/IDE and another bus and the CPLD as a companion to uC seems a best fit for that application because CF is implemented in true IDE mode. I believe the merger between ALTERA and Intel makes it indispensable source for any designer who wanted to tap into a plethora of design examples without them reinventing the wheel. It seems diving into the world of programmable logic is inevitable for me.

Well, I didn't see any reference to the DMA controller implementation on a CPLD or FPGA in the white paper. Anyways, in reference to AN495 (IDE/ATA controller) on MAX 10 series, the scenario I have in mind is to use the Nios II embedded processor IP core in addition to the IDE/ATA controller core and the DMA controller core in one single device without a microcontroller. However, I'm still unsure if this scenario is possible and whether I can achieve the DMA controller aforementioned above with proper DREQ/DACK signaling so I can use it to move data between the ASIC and the microcontroller.

Any comment is highly appreciated!

Zaher

Thank you very much for the follow up. I have downloaded the material available for AN492 on the link you provided. I have been to the Design Store, but I didn't see any examples for ATA/IDE controller or CF card interfacing. If you are referring to examples for these particular applications, please provide links to those examples.

Unfortunately, I couldn't access the resource for the DMA controller IP on the link you provided. It has requested extra privileges and a CNDA. I made the request, but not sure whether or when it would be approved so I can access that resource.

It would be great if you can get some feedback from one of your engineers about the scenario I have in mind.

Regards,

Zaher

It looks like I have downloaded the standard version of Quartus Prime that requires a paid license. I have removed it and now installing the Lite version on Ubuntu 20.04. The installer didn't terminate properly for the standard version so I was wondering if there are any known issues installing the Lite version 16.0 on Ubuntu 20.04. I don't know if you suggest working with the latest version of Quartus Prime software, however, the example I want to build my project around is only supported by version 16.0 (AN 495). I believe same applies for CF+ interface example.