Downloading data directly to FPGA (not FPGA configuration)

I did a similar thing with a Cyclone IV evaluation kit.

I created a stand-alone project that had a RAM with the test data (from a .mif file) and wrote that data to the SDRAM. After that I wrote a wrapper for my algorithm that read the data from the SDRAM (simulating real-time data input in my case), the algorithm processed the data and then I used SignalTap to read the data from the algorithm output. I used the "export file" option in SignalTap, exported the data to CSV and then checked it in Matlab. Note that you need to keep the evaluation board powered after writing the SDRAM so that it will not be erased.

Hope this helps.