System ComponentsNios® embedded processor-based systems include one or more Nios CPUs and the Avalon™ switch fabric. Nios processor-based systems can also contain multiple bus masters, such as multiple Nios CPUs or DMA controllers. Designers can create and integrate these multi-master systems easily when using Altera’s SOPC Builder system development tool. SOPC Builder automatically generates the interface to all of these components. Designers seeking higher processor performance, a smaller FPGA footprint, or more robust software development tools can take advantage of the Nios II family of embedded processors. The following components can be used to form a Nios processor-based embedded system: Designers can use SOPC Builder to custom-build Nios processor-based systems to their own specifications. Figure 1 shows an example of a Nios processor-based system built using SOPC Builder. This particular system contains a Nios CPU with instruction and data cache, an on-chip debugging core, a direct memory access (DMA) controller, several peripherals (UART, parallel I/O (PIO), an Ethernet port, and memory interfaces), and a simultaneous multi-master Avalon switch fabric. Figure 1. Nios Processor-Based System The Nios development kits provides all of the necessary design components needed to develop SOPC solutions similar to the one shown in Figure 1. | 
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