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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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8 years ago

License for 16550

I am working on a Cyclone V project that will utilize a NIOS CPU and a 16550 UART, both of which appear to require a license.

I found the web page embedded-ip-suite.html that informs me that the NIOS license is $495, or to license the entire suite costs $995.

I haven't found the cost of just the 16550. I hope that it doesn't require the entire suite, as that would mean that I would have to pay $500 to license a UART! Can someone point me at the proper place?

Also, can someone tell me exactly how these licenses worK?

The situation is that I am doing the FPGA design under contract for another company. If the license is required "to ship product" then it would be the other company that needs the license. If it is just required to implement the design then I need the license. Either way, will the license be "node locked" to one computer, or can it be applied to more than one computer?

Does the license apply to just one "product", or will it apply to all products designed within a time period, or something else?

1 Reply

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

    I'm surprised you need a license for the 16550 UART, but you should be able to find one on opencores if that's allowed for your customer. As for normal licenses, they're normally locked to a MAC address, and need to be for the person building the code, in this case you, not for the person deploying the product. If you use a USB WiFi dongle then the license is still portable, but you'll only be able to use it on one computer at a time. Having said that, Altera do let you move licenses up to 3 times, I think, so you can get it reassigned to a new MAC address if you move computer.