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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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21 years ago

Nios: Hardwire or programmed on stratix chip ?

Hello

I don't know if someone can respond to me, but it will be very appreciate.

I have a stratix developpement board. The one I have is a bit old, it came wit version 3 of Quartus II. I can have Quartus II version 4, but it will do no good for me if I don't have a Nios II on my chip (so I think).

So the real question is : The Nios processor is a) hardwired on the chip, or b) programmed by Quartus on it when needed.

If it is programmed, in my knowledge the version 4 of Quartus II will program the Nios II processor.

Thanks for all information.

4 Replies

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

    It's a soft processor, so it is created by SOPC builder and is synthesised by Quartus for later programming into the chip.

    I can't remember which was the first version of Quartus II which supported Nios II, but I think it was 4.0 SP1. You need to use a Nios II kit which matches your Quartus.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    21 years ago

    What exactly do you means by you need to use a nios ii kit which matches your quartus ?

    In installing Quartus II and its tools, you don't have all this ? What else do I need ?

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

    You need to install the "Nios II processor tools" software, which include the compiler, linker, debugger, IDE and some embedded software to run on it.

    See http://www.altera.com/support/ip/processor...s2_support.html (http://www.altera.com/support/ip/processors/nios2/ips-nios2_support.html)

    There is an evaluation edition which is installed with recent builds of Quartus, which you can use for development - if you haven't got this then you can download it from the web (see the download link on the page above).