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Altera_Forum
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18 years ago

Is Nios II free?

Is the Nios II processor free? I have checked the Altera website but I do not quite understand what a time limited license is? Is the IDE time limited or is the processor that runs in your FPGA time ...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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17 years ago

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The way the OC+ license works is that the Nios core will run forever as long as a Blaster programming cable is connected to the board. Once the programming cable is disconnected the Nios core will time out after a certain amount of time (not sure exactly how long, I think it depends on clock speed.)

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Hi,

I have ts7300 board (http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=ts-7300) by Technologic Systems that has Cyclone 2, ARM9, and no jtag cable. To load the bitstream onto FPGA it is placed on SD card's file system and uploaded using utility they provided from Linux that runs on a processor. Is there a way to use NIOS II with this system and a free license? I assume I cannot renew the license every time it expires.

Since this is an academic excercise, running for a certain number of clocks that would translate to 10-20 min of operation might work out perfectly.

Thanks