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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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8 years ago

NIOS vs ARM

Does anyone know how does a NIOS softcore, implemented on a MAX10, compare to an ARM hardcore, from a speed point of view?

3 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    There's no comparison (well, there's some comparison). Nios is more akin to a microcontroller while the Arm processors in the SoC devices are applications class processors. Nios works well with no OS or an RTOS while the Arm processors work great with a full OS like a Linux variant and aren't suited well for an RTOS.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    You are right. Perhaps I should have been more clear.

    I did mention ARM cores, instead of processors, because many popular microcontrollers are based on those (eg NXP Kinetis, Atmel SAM etc).

    So, from a speed point of view, would it be better to implement a NIOS II in a MAX10 or just add an Atmel SAM3X8E on its side?
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    If you need just more performance just go with fpga with arm integrated, no hassle with high speed signal integrity issue between cpld and ic that could be a bottleneck.

    Arm core is more optimized than nios but more complex