AN 717: Nios II Gen2 Hardware Development Tutorial

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ID 683615
Date 9/22/2014
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Hardware Development Tutorial
1. Hardware Development Tutorial x
1.1. Software and Hardware Requirements 1.2. 1.3. Design Example 1.4. System Development Flow 1.5. Creating the Design Example 1.6. Document Revision History
1.4. System Development Flow x
1.4.1. Analyzing System Requirements 1.4.2. Defining and Generating the System in 1.4.3. Integrating the System into the Project 1.4.4. Developing Software with the Software Build Tools for Eclipse 1.4.5. Running and Debugging Software on the Target Board 1.4.6. Varying the Development Flow
1.5. Creating the Design Example x
1.5.1. Install the Design Files 1.5.2. Analyze System Requirements 1.5.3. Start the Software and Open the Example Project 1.5.4. Create a New System 1.5.5. Define the System in 1.5.6. Integrate the System into the Project 1.5.7. Download the Hardware Design to the Target FPGA 1.5.8. Develop Software Using the SBT for Eclipse 1.5.9. Run the Program on Target Hardware
1.5.5. Define the System in x
1.5.5.1. Specify Target FPGA and Clock Settings 1.5.5.2. Add the On-Chip Memory 1.5.5.3. Add the Processor Core 1.5.5.4. Add the JTAG UART 1.5.5.5. Add the Interval Timer 1.5.5.6. Add the System ID Peripheral 1.5.5.7. Add the PIO 1.5.5.8. Specify Base Addresses and Interrupt Request Priorities 1.5.5.9. Generate the System
1.5.6. Integrate the System into the Project x
1.5.6.1. Instantiate the System Module in the Project 1.5.6.2. Add IP Variation File 1.5.6.3. Assign FPGA Device 1.5.6.4. Assign FPGA Pin Locations 1.5.6.5. Set Timing 1.5.6.6. Compile the Project and Verify Timing
1.5.8. Develop Software Using the SBT for Eclipse x
1.5.8.1. Create a New Application and BSP from Template 1.5.8.2. Compile the Project
1. Hardware Development Tutorial

1.4.1. Analyzing System Requirements

The development flow begins with predesign activity which includes an analysis of the application requirements, such as the following questions:

  • What computational performance does the application require?
  • How much bandwidth or throughput does the application require?
  • What types of interfaces does the application require?
  • Does the application require multithreaded software?

Based on the answers to these questions, you can determine the concrete system requirements, such as:

  • Which processor core to use: smaller or faster.
  • What components the design requires and how many of each kind.
  • Which real-time operating system (RTOS) to use, if any.
  • Where hardware acceleration logic can dramatically improve system performance. For example:
    • Could adding a DMA component eliminate wasted processor cycles copying data?
    • Could a custom instruction replace the critical loop of a DSP algorithm?

Analyzing these topics involve both the hardware and software point of view.

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