Altera Home Page
Global Navigation ButtonLiteratureGlobal Navigation ButtonLicensing
Global Navigation ButtonBuy On-LineGlobal Navigation ButtonDownload

  Home  |  Products  |  Support  |  System Solutions  |  Technology Center  |  Education & Events  |  Corporate  |  Buy On-Line  
  Devices  |  Design Software  |  Intellectual Property  |  Design Services  |  Dev. Kits/Cables  |  Literature  

 IP Products
   Embedded Processors
       Nios II
       Nios
               Overview
               Features
               Literature
               System Components
               Developer Tools
               Dev. Boards/Kits
               Customer Successes
          ARM Processor
          32/16-Bit Microprocessors
          8/4-Bit Microprocessors
          Literature
   Interfaces & Peripherals
   DSP
   Communications
  
 About IP
      Designing with IP
      IP Certifications
      System Design
      Request IP
  
 IP Industry Partners
      About AMPP Program
      AMPP Core Partners
      AMPP Software Partners
  

Developer Tools

System designers targeting the first generation Nios® embedded processor have access to all the tools they need to create high-performance systems on a programmable chip. The development tools available for the Nios embedded processor allow users to configure one or more Nios CPUs, add peripherals from a standard library, synthesize their customized systems, and compile these systems with the Quartus® II design software. An automatically generated test bench simplifies the simulation process using the ModelSim® tool, and the Nios tool flow utilizes the industry-standard GNUPro software development tools from Red Hat.

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 Nios embedded processor supports the following development tools for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) design:

SOPC Builder

Altera's SOPC Builder system development tool provides an intuitive wizard-driven graphical user interface (GUI), allowing system developers to create, configure, and synthesize their SOPC designs. SOPC Builder allows users to configure and connect peripherals to the Nios embedded processor through an automated process. Using SOPC Builder, developers can configure the CPU, peripherals, and memory interfaces. For each Nios system, SOPC Builder produces a custom software library that contains custom-built include files, peripheral software routines, and example source code.

SOPC Builder lets developers choose their system peripheral configuration, as well as specify the memory map, interrupt priorities, and the master/slave relationships within the Avalonâ„¢ switch fabric. SOPC Builder automatically generates wait-states, interrupt control, variable bus sizes, and address decoding logic.

Table 1 shows SOPC Builder output files for a Nios processor-based system.
Table 1. SOPC Builder Output Files
Custom Processor Design FilesCustom Software Development Kit
  • HDL source file (VHDL or Verilog HDL)
  • Simulation test bench files (supports the ModelSim® tool)
  • Documentation files
  • Include files
  • Custom software library files
  • Source code files

Quartus II Design Software

The Quartus II design software is the most comprehensive environment available for SOPC design. The Quartus II software includes the LogicLock™ block-based design flow, making it the only programmable logic device (PLD) software with incremental design as a standard feature. This feature increases designer productivity and shortens design and verification cycles. For more information regarding the Quartus II design software, visit the Quartus II design software web page.

The Quartus II design software is included in the Nios development kits with a one-year, non-perpetual license.

Embedded Software Design & Debug Tools

The GNUPro Toolkit from Red Hat provides support for the first generation Nios embedded processor with industry-standard software development tools. Learn more about the Nios II integrated development environment, the software development environment for the Nios II family of embedded processors.

The GNUPro compiler and debugger — an open-source C/C++ development tool suite optimized for the Nios embedded processor — delivers an environment familiar to design engineers, including:

  • GNU C compiler (gcc) and GNU C++ compiler (g++)
  • GNU debugger (gdb) source and assembly-level debugger
  • GNU assembler (gas)
  • GNU linker (ld)
  • Insight GUI for GNU debugger
  • GNU software code profiler (gprof)
  • Nios processor-specific binary utilities

For more information on the GNUPro Toolkit for Nios processor, refer to the User's Guide For Altera Nios. Red Hat's GNUPro tools are based on the open-source GNU standard. To download the Nios processor-ported GNUPro source code, refer to the Find Answers.

The Nios embedded processor also contains support for Accelerated Technology’s code|lab Embedded Developer Suite, which contains the popular code|lab EDA and code|lab Debug embedded software development tools.

The Nios development kits also include a powerful software debugging solution. Altera has partnered with First Silicon Solutions (FS2), to provide customers with the necessary debugging tools to complete their embedded application design. FS2’s on-chip instrumentation (OCI) core is now included in all Nios development kits, providing an in-circuit emulator feature-set, including run-control, hardware break-points, watch-points, on-chip trace, off-chip trace, and more. Read more about the on-chip debugging solutions available for Nios developers.

For more information on developing software for the Nios processor, refer to the Nios Embedded Processor Software Development Reference Manual.

Third-Party Tools

Altera is proud to showcase several of the independent vendors that provide hardware and software development tools that support the Nios embedded processor. Designers can use these third-party tools to accelerate their SOPC designs.


Accelerate Software Development with the Nios® II IDE

Start Designing Today - Nios II Development Kits

View Online Nios II Demonstrations

  Please Give Us Feedback
  Sign Up for E-mail Updates