Nios® V Embedded Processor Design Handbook

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ID 726952
Date 10/31/2022
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. About the Nios® V Embedded Processor 2. Nios® V Processor Hardware System Design with Intel® Quartus® Prime Software and Platform Designer 3. Nios® V Processor Software System Design 4. Nios® V Processor Configuration and Booting Solutions 5. Nios® V Processor - Using the MicroC/TCP-IP Stack 6. Nios® V Processor Debugging, Verifying, and Simulating 7. Nios® V Processor — Remote System Update 8. Nios® V Embedded Processor Design Handbook Archives 9. Document Revision History for the Nios® V Embedded Processor Design Handbook
1. About the Nios® V Embedded Processor x
1.1. Intel® FPGA and Embedded Processors Overview 1.2. Intel® Quartus® Prime Software Support 1.3. Embedded System Design 1.4. Nios® V Processor Quick Start Guide
1.4. Nios® V Processor Quick Start Guide x
1.4.1. System Requirements 1.4.2. Nios® V/m Processor Example Design 1.4.3. Software Design Flow 1.4.4. Programming Nios® V/m into the FPGA Device
1.4.1. System Requirements x
1.4.1.1. Hardware and Software Requirements
1.4.2. Nios® V/m Processor Example Design x
1.4.2.1. Generating the Example Design Through Graphical User Interface 1.4.2.2. Generating the Nios® V/m Processor Example Design Using the Command-Line Interface
1.4.2.1. Generating the Example Design Through Graphical User Interface x
1.4.2.1.1. Generating the Nios® V/m Processor Example Design in Platform Designer 1.4.2.1.2. Generating the Nios® V/m Processor Example Design System in Platform Designer
1.4.3. Software Design Flow x
1.4.3.1. Generating the Board Support Package 1.4.3.2. Generating the Application Project File 1.4.3.3. Building the Application Project
1.4.3.1. Generating the Board Support Package x
1.4.3.1.1. Generating the Board Support Package using the BSP Editor GUI 1.4.3.1.2. Generating the Board Support Package using the Command-Line Interface
2. Nios® V Processor Hardware System Design with Intel® Quartus® Prime Software and Platform Designer x
2.1. Creating Nios® V Processor System Design with Platform Designer 2.2. Integrating Platform Designer System into the Intel® Quartus® Prime Project 2.3. Designing a Nios® V Processor Memory System 2.4. Clocks and Resets Best Practices 2.5. Assigning a Default Agent
2.1. Creating Nios® V Processor System Design with Platform Designer x
2.1.1. Instantiating Nios® V/m Processor IP Core 2.1.2. Defining System Component Design 2.1.3. Specifying Base Addresses and Interrupt Request Priorities
2.1.1. Instantiating Nios® V/m Processor IP Core x
2.1.1.1. Configure Nios® V Processor Parameters 2.1.1.2. Generate Nios® V processor example design from Platform Designer
2.1.1.1. Configure Nios® V Processor Parameters x
2.1.1.1.1. Debug Tab 2.1.1.1.2. Use Reset Request Tab 2.1.1.1.3. Vectors Tab
2.2. Integrating Platform Designer System into the Intel® Quartus® Prime Project x
2.2.1. Instantiating the Nios® V Processor System Module in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Project 2.2.2. Connecting Signals and Assigning Physical Pin Locations 2.2.3. Constraining the Intel FPGA Design
2.3. Designing a Nios® V Processor Memory System x
2.3.1. Volatile Memory 2.3.2. Non-Volatile Memory 2.3.3. On-Chip Memory Configuration – RAM or ROM
2.4. Clocks and Resets Best Practices x
2.4.1. Reset Request Interface
2.4.1. Reset Request Interface x
2.4.1.1. Typical Use Cases
3. Nios® V Processor Software System Design x
3.1. Nios V Processor Software Development Flow 3.2. Intel FPGA Embedded Development Tools
3.1. Nios V Processor Software Development Flow x
3.1.1. Board Support Package Project 3.1.2. Application Project
3.2. Intel FPGA Embedded Development Tools x
3.2.1. Nios V Board Support Package Editor 3.2.2. RiscFree* IDE for Intel FPGAs 3.2.3. Eclipse CDT for Embedded C/C++ Developer 3.2.4. Nios V Utilities Tools 3.2.5. File Format Conversion Tools 3.2.6. Other Utilities Tools
4. Nios® V Processor Configuration and Booting Solutions x
4.1. Introduction 4.2. Linking Applications 4.3. Nios® V Processor Booting Methods 4.4. Introduction to Nios® V Processor Booting Methods 4.5. Nios® V Processor Booting from Configuration QSPI Flash 4.6. Nios V Processor Booting from On-Chip Memory (OCRAM) 4.7. Summary of Nios® V Processor Vector Configuration and BSP Settings
4.2. Linking Applications x
4.2.1. Linking Behaviour
4.2.1. Linking Behaviour x
4.2.1.1. Default BSP Linking 4.2.1.2. Configurable BSP Linking
4.4. Introduction to Nios® V Processor Booting Methods x
4.4.1. Nios® V Processor Application Execute-In-Place from Boot Flash 4.4.2. Nios® V Processor Application Copied from Boot Flash to RAM Using Boot Copier 4.4.3. Nios® V Processor Application Execute-In-Place from OCRAM
4.4.1. Nios® V Processor Application Execute-In-Place from Boot Flash x
4.4.1.1. alt_load()
4.4.2. Nios® V Processor Application Copied from Boot Flash to RAM Using Boot Copier x
4.4.2.1. GSFI Bootloader 4.4.2.2. SDM Bootloader
4.5. Nios® V Processor Booting from Configuration QSPI Flash x
4.5.1. Nios V Processor Design, Configuration and Boot Flow (Control Block-based Device) 4.5.2. Nios V Processor Design, Configuration and Boot Flow (SDM-based Devices)
4.5.1. Nios V Processor Design, Configuration and Boot Flow (Control Block-based Device) x
4.5.1.1. Nios® V Processor Application Executes-In-Place from Configuration QSPI Flash 4.5.1.2. Nios® V Processor Application Copied from Configuration QSPI Flash to RAM Using Boot Copier (GSFI Bootloader) 4.5.1.3. GSFI Bootloader Example Design
4.5.1.1. Nios® V Processor Application Executes-In-Place from Configuration QSPI Flash x
4.5.1.1.1. Hardware Design Flow 4.5.1.1.2. Software Design Flow 4.5.1.1.3. Programming Files Generation 4.5.1.1.4. QSPI Flash Programming
4.5.1.2. Nios® V Processor Application Copied from Configuration QSPI Flash to RAM Using Boot Copier (GSFI Bootloader) x
4.5.1.2.1. Hardware Design Flow 4.5.1.2.2. Software Design Flow 4.5.1.2.3. Programming Files Generation 4.5.1.2.4. QSPI Flash Programming
4.5.2. Nios V Processor Design, Configuration and Boot Flow (SDM-based Devices) x
4.5.2.1. Nios V Processor Application Copied from Configuration QSPI Flash to RAM Using Boot Copier (SDM Bootloader) 4.5.2.2. SDM Bootloader Example Design
4.5.2.1. Nios V Processor Application Copied from Configuration QSPI Flash to RAM Using Boot Copier (SDM Bootloader) x
4.5.2.1.1. Hardware Design Flow 4.5.2.1.2. Software Design Flow 4.5.2.1.3. Software Design Flow (SDM Bootloader Project) 4.5.2.1.4. Software Design Flow (User Application Project) 4.5.2.1.5. Programming Files Generation 4.5.2.1.6. QSPI Flash Programming SDM
4.6. Nios V Processor Booting from On-Chip Memory (OCRAM) x
4.6.1. Nios V Processor Application Executes in-place from OCRAM
4.6.1. Nios V Processor Application Executes in-place from OCRAM x
4.6.1.1. Hardware Design Flow 4.6.1.2. Software Design Flow 4.6.1.3. Programming
5. Nios® V Processor - Using the MicroC/TCP-IP Stack x
5.1. Introduction 5.2. Software Architecture 5.3. Support and Licensing 5.4. MicroC/TCP-IP Example Designs 5.5. Development Flow 5.6. Operating the Example Designs 5.7. Optional Configuration 5.8. MicroC/TCP-IP Simple Socket Server Concepts
5.4. MicroC/TCP-IP Example Designs x
5.4.1. Hardware and Software Requirements 5.4.2. Overview 5.4.3. Acquiring the Example Design Files 5.4.4. Hardware Design Files 5.4.5. Software Design Files
5.4.5. Software Design Files x
5.4.5.1. MicroC/TCP-IP IPerf Example Design 5.4.5.2. MicroC/TCP-IP Simple Socket Server Example Design
5.5. Development Flow x
5.5.1. Hardware Development Flow 5.5.2. Software Development Flow 5.5.3. Device Programming
5.5.2. Software Development Flow x
5.5.2.1. Creating a BSP project 5.5.2.2. Configuring the BSP 5.5.2.3. Creating an Application Project 5.5.2.4. Building the Application Project 5.5.2.5. HEX File Generation
5.6. Operating the Example Designs x
5.6.1. Operating the MicroC/TCP-IP IPerf 5.6.2. Operating the MicroC/TCP-IP Simple Socket Server
5.7. Optional Configuration x
5.7.1. Configuring Hardware Name 5.7.2. Configuring MAC and IP Addresses 5.7.3. Configuring MicroC/TCP-IP Initialization 5.7.4. Configuring iPerf Server Auto-Initialization
5.7.3. Configuring MicroC/TCP-IP Initialization x
5.7.3.1. Network Task Configuration 5.7.3.2. Network Interface Configuration
5.8. MicroC/TCP-IP Simple Socket Server Concepts x
5.8.1. MicroC/OS-II Resources 5.8.2. Error Handling 5.8.3. MicroC/TCP-IP Stack Default Configuration
6. Nios® V Processor Debugging, Verifying, and Simulating x
6.1. Debugging Nios® V Processor Software Designs 6.2. Debugging Tools 6.3. Additional Embedded Design Considerations 6.4. Simulating Nios® V Processor Designs
6.1. Debugging Nios® V Processor Software Designs x
6.1.1. OpenOCD and Eclipse Embedded CDT 6.1.2. Objdump File 6.1.3. Show Make Commands
6.3. Additional Embedded Design Considerations x
6.3.1. JTAG Signal Integrity 6.3.2. Additional Memory Space for System Prototyping
6.4. Simulating Nios® V Processor Designs x
6.4.1. Prerequisites 6.4.2. Setting Up and Generating Your Simulation Environment in Platform Designer 6.4.3. Creating Nios V Processor Software 6.4.4. Generating Memory Initialization File 6.4.5. Generating System Simulation Files 6.4.6. Running Simulation in the QuestaSim Simulator Using Command Line
6.4.2. Setting Up and Generating Your Simulation Environment in Platform Designer x
6.4.2.1. Using IP and Platform Designer Simulation Setup Scripts
6.4.3. Creating Nios V Processor Software x
6.4.3.1. Generating the Board Support Package 6.4.3.2. Generating the Application Project File 6.4.3.3. Building the Application Project
7. Nios® V Processor — Remote System Update x
7.1. Overview 7.2. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Software and Tool Support
7.2. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Software and Tool Support x
7.2.1. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Software 7.2.2. Programming File Generator
7.2.1. Intel® Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Software x
7.2.1.1. Setting Max Retry Parameter 7.2.1.2. Selecting Factory Load Pin
7.2.2. Programming File Generator x
7.2.2.1. Programming File Generator File Types 7.2.2.2. Bitswap Option 7.2.2.3. Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer 7.2.2.4. Supported QSPI Flash Devices
1. About the Nios® V Embedded Processor
2. Nios® V Processor Hardware System Design with Intel® Quartus® Prime Software and Platform Designer
3. Nios® V Processor Software System Design
4. Nios® V Processor Configuration and Booting Solutions
5. Nios® V Processor - Using the MicroC/TCP-IP Stack
6. Nios® V Processor Debugging, Verifying, and Simulating
7. Nios® V Processor — Remote System Update
8. Nios® V Embedded Processor Design Handbook Archives
9. Document Revision History for the Nios® V Embedded Processor Design Handbook

4.2. Linking Applications

When you generate the Nios® V processor project, the BSP Editor generates two linker related files:
  • linker.x: The linker command file that the generated application's makefile uses to create the .elf binary file.
  • linker.h: Contains information about the linker memory layout.
All linker setting modifications you make to the BSP project affect the contents of these two linker files.
Every Nios® V processor application contains the following linker sections:
Table 11.  Linker Sections
Linker Sections Descriptions
.text Executable code.
.rodata Any read-only data used in the execution of the program.
.rwdata Stores read-write data used in the execution of the program.
.bss Contains uninitialized static data.
.heap Contains dynamically allocated memory.
.stack Stores function-call parameters and other temporary data.
You can add additional linker sections to the .elf file to hold custom code and data. These linker sections are placed in named memory regions, defined to correspond with physical memory devices and addresses. By default, BSP Editor automatically generates these linker sections. However, you can control the linker sections for a particular application.

Section Content
Linking Behaviour

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