Communication between a PC and a Altera DE3 Board

[Altera_Forum]

Hello everyone, 

 i would like to build up a communication between my DE3 Board and a PC. The DE3 Board only supplies ÙSB Communication can someone tell me the best way to do it?

[Altera_Forum]

You could use USB, but then your project would be about getting USB going rather than what you really want to send between the card and your PC.  

 There are expansion cards available that have Etherenet. They are expensive.  If you are happy with RS232 speeds, you can get a 3.3 volt compatible RS232 to USB converter cable like this https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9873 or similar.

[Altera_Forum]

Happy coincidence, i got 2 ethernet expansion cards (http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?language=english&categoryno=39&no=355&partno=1) Should i use one of these for the Communication? Is easier?  

I´m programming with Quartus 2 11.0 SP1 is there something in the mega wizard that generates an IP core for the communication?

[Altera_Forum]

Happy coincidence, i got a ethernet expansion card. Should i use this for interfacing my fpga with a PC? Im using Quartus 2 11.0 SP1 for programming, is there any IP Core which i have to use to enable communication via ethernet?

[Altera_Forum]

You should use an Ethernet MAC & supply it with your data. 

There are a number of ways to do it, from Nios-based designs to manually coded MAC.

[Altera_Forum]

With MAC u mean the MAC address? 

Is there any good tutorial or example (in VHDL) which i can use to understand the whole ethernet communication thing?

[Altera_Forum]

No, I mean Media Access Control which receives data from your logic and drives the Ethernet Phy chip & vice versa. 

There are IP cores available in the Quartus, which require Nios to operate. There are also third party IP cores that you can acquire, even free IP cores. You can design your own MAC core. Study the PHY chip data sheet. Depending on your PHY and PCB, you may implement one of MII, GMII, RGMII & SGMII protocols. It depends on your PHY chip on the Ethernet board and the PCB (A PHY may support several protocols, but the PCB designer chooses one of them).

[Altera_Forum]

TO_BE_DONE

[Altera_Forum]

Setting up an Ethernet connection requires you to supply all the mentioned ports and your controllers should be compatible with it. 

The mentioned board has a reference design which already has done all that. You'd better start with that reference design and then modify it to fit your needs and your FPGA part number.