Specifications

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3.3 Integration of the Nios II System into a Quartus II Project
To complete the hardware design, we have to perform the following:
• Instantiate the module generated by the SOPC Builder into the Quartus II project.
• Assign the FPGA pins.
• Compile the designed circuit.
• Program and configure the Cyclone II device on the DE2 board.
3.3.1 Instantiation of the Module Generated by the SOPC Builder:
The instantiation of the generated module depends on the design entry method chosen for the
overall Quartus II project. We have chosen to use VHDL, but the approach is similar for both
Verilog and schematic entry methods.
Normally, the Nios II module is likely to be a part of a larger design. However, in the case of our
simple design there is no other circuitry needed. All we need to do is instantiate the Nios II
system in our top-level VHDL file, and connect inputs and outputs of the parallel I/O ports, as
well as the clock and reset inputs, to the appropriate pins on the Cyclone II device. The VHDL
entity generated by the SOPC Builder is in the file nios_system.vhd in the directory of the
project. The name of the VHDL entity is the same as the system name specified when first using
the SOPC Builder.