Forum Discussion

Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
8 years ago

Using PCIe pins as GPIO on Cyclone IV GX FPGA Development Kit

Hi,

I am looking into purchasing the Cyclone IV GX FPGA Development Kit from Terasic but was wondering if the following is possible.

I need to physically interface to another FPGA board that has a min PCIe slot. However the communication protocol over which the two boards

will communicate will not be PCIe. The protocol will be proprietary but will mimic a bus that is closest to SPI. My question is, can I use the PCIe pins on

Cyclone IV GX FPGA Dev Kit as GPIO (general purpose Input/Output lines)? If this is possible, are there any special hooks/trick I need to consider or implement other than just simply assigning

specific pin to my signal? All feedback is welcome, and thank you!!!

1 Reply

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    8 years ago

    I don't know for that kit specifically, but in general, if you are not using the specialized function of a dual-purpose pin, you can use it as a GPIO. Don't worry: Quartus will let you know if you can't do it!

    A better thing to check is how the pins you want to use are brought out of the device on the dev kit (connectors, vias, etc.).