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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
Honored ContributorWhy is Hardware Multiplier removed in the Gen2 nios?
I've just got chance to work with NIOSII/QSYS after a long time. In the classic NIOSII, there are 3 flavors. I was able to use hardware multiplier in the free NIOS core. Now in the new generati...
Altera_ForumHonored Contributor
Honored ContributorAs far as I'm aware the /e core has never actually included a hardware multiplier.
Looking at the processor manual for 13.1 it says: Altera designed the Nios II/e core with a singular design goal: reduce resource utilization any way possible...Hardware resources are conserved at the expense of execution performance. The Nios II/e core employs dedicated shift circuitry to perform shift and rotate operations. The table on page 128 shows the features of the three types of core for the ALU where it says Feature.................../e core .../s core....../fcore Hardware Divide ........–.......Optional......Optional It was possible to select the implementation of the multiplier in the /s and /f cores but not the /e core which has no hardware multiplier....
