TSE hardware design

[Altera_Forum]

hello, 

 I am trying to make a Ethernet connection to the pc with a DE2-115. the design should be in hardware I don't want to use the NIOS soft core.  does anyone have any experience about setting up an Ethernet connection using a VHDL design.  ore can someone provide me with a working sample code/project?  kind regards. JR

[Altera_Forum]

I think there are some examples of UDP offload. But they will still use a nios cpu for network admin (etc).

[Altera_Forum]

You'll hardly set up the PHY without Nios... The rest stuff can be done only in hardware.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi, 

 please have a look on my thread called "TSE by using System Console on DE2-115" ... it could answer your question.

[Altera_Forum]

first of all thanx for the fast response... but is it really that hard to make a Ethernet connection without NIOS :s 

 @rickfan: I will look at your post hopeful it works for me.  but i'm still open for new suggestions...

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---    ...is it really that hard to make a Ethernet connection without NIOS :s    --- Quote End ---     If you are using a PHY chip such as National's DP83848, you can set up the basic operational modes using pin configurations. The data sheet for the PHY will explain this. When configured for Auto-negotiate mode the PHY will establish an ethernet connection automatically and enable you to transfer raw data in nibble-wide format - all without software intervention. If you want anything more sophisticated than this, such as a TCP/IP stack, your best solution would be using a Nios II rather than VHDL.  It can be a steep learning curve to implement a Nios II, but when you consider setting up TX/RX buffers, packet processing, and all else required for an IP stack, a VHDL solution would be quite a challenge, too.