User guide

SFSU - Embedded Systems Tutorial Nano- Electronics & Computing Research Lab
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Chapter 3: Hardware and Software Co-
design Flow
3.1 Introduction to Nios II Soft-Core Processor
1) Introduction to the Altera Nios II Soft Processor:
<system cd>\DE2_115_tutorials\tut_nios2_introduction.pdf
• focus: All of the information in this resource is needed for creating systems and
should be read carefully, as familiarity will greatly help students in avoiding time consuming
mistakes.
Nios II is an embedded processor architecture designed specifically for Altera’s FPGA boards.
An example of a Nios II processor system could be found on page 11 from Altera’s Nios II
Processor Reference Handbook. When implementing your board there is three different types
of CPU’s to choose from which are the NIOS II/fast, NIOS II/standard, and NIOS II/economy.
The main differences between the CPU’s are the balance between performance and cost.
NOTE: This figure taken from Altera’s Nios II Processor Reference Handbook:
http://www.altera.com/literature/hb/nios2/n2cpu_nii5v1.pdf page 11