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Altera_Forum
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11 years ago

Common Flash Interface (CFI) Pins

Dear community,

I want to connect an external 16-bit flash to my Cyclone V GX.

It would be very desirable to be able to program the flash directly with the Quartus II programmer.

As far as I understood this will be the case if the common flash interface supports the flash.

Can I use any pins of the Cyclone V to connect the flash, or are specific pins reserved for use with the common flash interface?

Many thanks.

Cheers,

Adam

2 Replies

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

    Your understanding is essentially correct. For a little further reading I'll point you at application note: an-458-2.2 (http://www.altera.com/literature/an/an458.pdf) which discusses all manner of using FLASH and more. Have a look at the "implementing the advanced boot copier example" section from page 12, which talks you through lots of options and guides you through programming.

    As for pin selection - you're pretty free to choose what you like, subject to ensuring you connect to (one or more) FPGA I/O banks operating at an appropriate voltage for your chosen FLASH device. My only recommendation is, having chosen a pin out, you run it through Quartus as a sanity check. I'd recommend this regardless of what you're connecting up to an FPGA. Always put a basic design together and run it through the tools.

    Cheers,

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

    --- Quote Start ---

    Your understanding is essentially correct. For a little further reading I'll point you at application note: an-458-2.2 (http://www.altera.com/literature/an/an458.pdf) which discusses all manner of using FLASH and more. Have a look at the "implementing the advanced boot copier example" section from page 12, which talks you through lots of options and guides you through programming.

    As for pin selection - you're pretty free to choose what you like, subject to ensuring you connect to (one or more) FPGA I/O banks operating at an appropriate voltage for your chosen FLASH device. My only recommendation is, having chosen a pin out, you run it through Quartus as a sanity check. I'd recommend this regardless of what you're connecting up to an FPGA. Always put a basic design together and run it through the tools.

    Cheers,

    Alex

    --- Quote End ---

    Hi Alex,

    Thanks a lot!

    Cheers,

    Adam