Why is Agilex® 5 and Agilex® 3 FPGA External Memory Interfaces (EMIF) IP missing from the BSP Linker when the Nios® V processor Board Support Package is generated?

Description

Due to a problem in the Quartus^® Prime Pro Edition starting since software version 24.1, the Agilex^® 5 and Agilex^® 3 FPGA EMIF IP is missing from the BSP Linker when generating the Board Support Package. This might occur for Nios^® V processor designs targeting Agilex 5 FPGA or Agilex 3 FPGA, that uses EMIF IP.  

This is because Agilex 5 and Agilex 3 FPGA EMIF IP are missing the isMemoryDevice agent information. 

Refer to Nios® V Processor Software Developer Handbook - Memory-Mapped Slave Information (PDF) for information about isMemoryDevice agent information. 

Refer to External Memory Interfaces (EMIF) IP User Guide Agilex® 5 FPGAs and SoCs (PDF) for information Agilex^® 5 FPGA EMIF IP. 

Refer to External Memory Interfaces (EMIF) IP User Guide Agilex® 3 FPGAs and SoCs (PDF) for information Agilex^® 3 FPGA EMIF IP. 

 

Resolution

To work around this problem in the Quartus^® Prime Pro Edition in all the affected software version, apply either one of the following workarounds: 

Workaround 1: Manually add isMemoryDevice to the EMIF IP (in Platform Designer only) 

1. Select the s*_axi4 signal (mainband AXI4 from fabric to controller) that connects to the Nios^® V processor’s instruction/data manager.  
2. Right-click, and click Edit Component Instantiation ... 
3. Select s*axi4 and edit the Assignments.
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4. Enter new Key as embeddedsw.configuration.isMemoryDevice, and Value as 1.
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5. Save the new assignment.
6. Generate a new BSP. 

 

Workaround 2: Manually define EMIF IP linker memory device 

1. Refer to the Nios V Embedded Processor Design Handbook - Defining Address Span Extender Linker Memory Device. 
2. The example demonstrates how to manually define Address Span Extender linker memory device. 
3. For this problem, apply the same procedure but on the EMIF IP directly. 

This problem is currently scheduled to be resolved in a future release of the Quartus^® Prime Pro Edition Software. 

Related Articles

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Issue with BSP Creation for Nios® V/m Using LPDDR4 on Agilex® 5 FPGA (Quartus® 24.1 & 24.3.1)