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Frederik's avatar
Frederik
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5 years ago

Max10 Production License Requirements

I plan to use Max10 devices on a board i would like to sell in very low quantities. My expectation is that i do not have to pay for any licenses and could use the Quartus Prime Lite Edition even for production with the following libraries:
- GPIO Lite Intel FPGA IP
- ALTPLL
- ALTALTMUL_ACCUM
Is that expectation correct?

Can i use the Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile for, and flash Max10 devices for production use without any license cost?

Are all Libraries available in the Quartus Prime Lite IP Catalog not listed in https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/programmable/products/intellectual-property/design/ip-base-suite.html for free even for production use?

7 Replies

  • sstrell's avatar
    sstrell
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    5 years ago

    As noted at that link, the IP Base suite is installed with Lite, but you need a license for it.

    As for the other built-in IP, I'm pretty sure you'd be OK, but I'd let others answer to make sure.

    • Frederik's avatar
      Frederik
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      5 years ago

      Well, thank you for your reply, but it does NOT answer any of my questions.

      So, again:

      Quartus Prime could generate various functionality for the user from the "IP Catalog" tool window.
      Are the "GPIO LIte Intel FPGA IP", "ALTPLL", "ALTALTMUL_ACCUM" and "RAM: 2-PORT" components (selectable from the "IP Catalog" tool window) part of the "IP Base Suite" or any other IP suite, I need to buy a license for? Or are they free to use?

  • AR_A_Intel's avatar
    AR_A_Intel
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi

    You can use Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile without any license cost in Eval mode. During Intel FPGA IP Evaluation Mode, the Compiler only generates a time-limited device programming file (<project name>_time_limited.sof) that expires at the time limit.

    You need to purchase a full production license for licensed Intel FPGA IP cores to use the IP in production.

    https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/an/an320.pdf


    • Frederik's avatar
      Frederik
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      5 years ago
      @AR_A_Intel wrote:

      You can use Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile without any license cost in Eval mode. During Intel FPGA IP Evaluation Mode, the Compiler only generates a time-limited device programming file (<project name>_time_limited.sof) that expires at the time limit.

      You need to purchase a full production license for licensed Intel FPGA IP cores to use the IP in production.

      https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/an/an320.pdf


      Thank you for your reply.

      I already know that I can use Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile without any license cost in Evaluation mode. But is it possible to use Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile a project without any license cost in production mode (not in evaluation mode), simply by only using Intel IP Cores, which are usable without license costs? Or do I have to purchase at least the Intel IP base suite for any project compiled for production with Quartus Prime Lite?

      Let's be a little bit more concrete: The compiler of Quartus Prime Lite does does not generate a "<project name>_time_limited.sof" file for my project (which does not explicitly use any IP core listed to be contained in the Intel IP base suite). It only generates a "<project_name>.sof" file. So I expect the compiler not to run in evaluation mode, which is most likely the case because I do not use any Intel IP core with license costs involved. So, most likely, I do not have to purchase a full production license for anything from intel, and most likely I will be able to use "<project_name>.sof" without any time limitation for production.

      Is this, most likely, without any guarantee, correct?

  • AR_A_Intel's avatar
    AR_A_Intel
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi

    Thanks for update. Answer to your question :

    I already know that I can use Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile without any license cost in Evaluation mode. But is it possible to use Quartus Prime Lite Edition to compile a project without any license cost in production mode (not in evaluation mode), simply by only using Intel IP Cores, which are usable without license costs? Or do I have to purchase at least the Intel IP base suite for any project compiled for production with Quartus Prime Lite?

    1) Yes, you have to purchase at least the Intel IP base suite for project compiled for production with Quartus Prime Lite

    Let's be a little bit more concrete: The compiler of Quartus Prime Lite does not generate a "<project name>_time_limited.sof" file for my project (which does not explicitly use any IP core listed to be contained in the Intel IP base suite). It only generates a "<project_name>.sof" file. So I expect the compiler not to run in evaluation mode, which is most likely the case because I do not use any Intel IP core with license costs involved. So, most likely, I do not have to purchase a full production license for anything from intel, and most likely I will be able to use "<project_name>.sof" without any time limitation for production.

    Is this, most likely, without any guarantee, correct?

    2) Yes.


  • AR_A_Intel's avatar
    AR_A_Intel
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    5 years ago

    We have not heard from you and I hope all is well. I will now transition this thread to community support. If you have a new question, feel free to open a new thread to get the support from Intel experts. Otherwise, the community users will continue to help you on this thread. Thank you.