--- Quote Start ---
well, a useful design to me would be learning how to interface with the audio codec of my DE2, and outputting waveforms.
--- Quote End ---
That sounds like a reasonable goal. Looking at the DE2 schematic, the audio interface is a WM8731, and it shows an I2C interface, and some serial interfaces for the audio input and output.
So, to start with you need to decide how you are going to access the I2C bus, and where your software to control that I2C interface will reside, eg., on the FPGA in a NIOS II processor, or externally on your PC. My personal preference is to initially test my hardware interfaces via code running on my PC using the JTAG-to-Avalon-MM interface.
The Wiki has information on using the OpenCores I2C controller
http://www.alterawiki.com/wiki/i2c_%28opencores%29 (I have not tried this particular controller)
--- Quote Start ---
I guess I could "blog" about it in a forum thread?
--- Quote End ---
I'd recommend writing a tutorial and posting it to the AlteraWiki where others can more easily locate it. I personally prefer a PDF tutorial document and a zip file containing code, rather than a stream-of-consciousness blog ...
Take a look at this tutorial here:
http://www.alterawiki.com/wiki/using_the_usb-blaster_as_an_sopc/qsys_avalon-mm_master_tutorial It needs to be revised for 13.1, however, the Quartus Qsys procedure is still pretty much the same, its just the simulation that has changed slightly.
Cheers,
Dave
Honored Contributor
