Cyclone V Features

[steve_Alten]

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding which of the Cyclone V family would be more suited for the application we are going to develop.

First of all, I have never used Intel FPGAs so excuse me if the questions sound a bit dumb.

Our system would require to receive some data from Ethernet or USB and drive some digital output or read some digital input and send back data to USB or Ethernet.

The question is: is required/recommended the Soc versions of the Cyclone V or should I be fine whitout?

Moreover, could I use the Lite version of Quartus Prime for the whole design? (purchasing only the IP Base Suite License)

Thanks in advance.

[Farabi]

Hi, 

For Ethernet and USB I would suggest to use Cyclone V SoC version. It has the IP built-in with the Arm Cortex A-9 SoC. 

can refer here : 

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/hb/cyclone-v/cv_54001.pdf

device overview for CV variants:

regards,
Farabi

[steve_Alten]

Thanks for the reply.

I have one more question. I have worked with Xilinx FPGAs and softwares before so I think I didn't understand exactly how to properly use the Intel tools.

We are probably going to use the MARS MA3 SoC Module for our application. If I got it right we can avoid purchase the standard version of Quartus and use the Lite version, and when the design is done we would need to purchase the IP Base Suite License to generate unlimited time files. But which software do I need to use to interface with the HPS part?

I've seen that there is the Nios II software. Is it included in Quartus Prime Lite version? or should I use other tools not included in Quartus Lite for my design?

Thanks.

[Farabi]

Hi, 

Good choice! If you want to use Cyclone V SoC (MARS MA3 SoC module), you can use Quartus Lite for FPGA content development, the only thing you need to know is, for software development side, on ARM based linux application, you will need to  purchase the SoC EDS tool.  link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software/programmable/soc-eds/overview.html

NIOS II SDK can be used for free. It is used for developing application software for NIOS II softcore processor inside the FPGA. 

regards,

Farabi 

[steve_Alten]

Hi Farabi,

thanks again, but what do you mean by linux based application? Is it free for windows application?

From this document (https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/po/ss-quartus-comparison.pdf), I read "The SoC EDS Standard Edition is supported with the Intel Quartus Prime Lite", but also "Requires additional licenses for Arm Development Studio".

We just want to make sure what we need to purchase and how much will it cost to propose the whole project to our client.

Thanks.

Steve

[Farabi]

Hi Steve, 

I mean if you use ARM SoC, then the application software can only run on linux. 

However, the development tools such as Quartus and SoC-EDS tool for ARM can run on either windows or linux.   

Quartus Lite is free to run for Cyclone V SoC. - this is needed for FPGA content development

SoC-EDS tool will need ARM license. -this is needed for application software development

hope this helps. 

regards,
Farabi

[steve_Alten]

Oh ok, sorry for the misunderstanding.
So just to be sure I understood correctly, for our application (ethernet + usb), in order to exploit the IP built-in do we need to purchase the SoC-EDS tool license?

Thanks again.
Steve

[Farabi · Accepted solution]

Hi Steve, 

The Cyclone V SoC come with embedded linux repository. You can use the Eth and USB functions using command lines. All built-in IP like Eth and USB are functional well, but this is okay for development environment. 

If you targeting end user application, then you will need SoC-EDS to develop the application software for users to use or control the eth and USB functions. 

regards,

Farabi

[steve_Alten]

Farabi thanks for your patience. You gave me a lot of useful information and cleared my doubts.

regards,
Steve

[Farabi]

Hi Steve, 

You may want to see this link : https://rocketboards.org

and this first level information on Intel FPGA SoC variance training : https://rocketboards.org/foswiki/pub/Documentation/WS1IntroToAlteraSoCDevices/WS_1_Intro_To_SoC_SW_Workshop.pdf

regards,
Farabi

[Farabi]

Hi Steve, 

I’m glad that your question has been addressed, I now transition this thread to community support. If you have a new question, feel free to open a new thread to get the support from Intel experts. Otherwise, the community users will continue to help you on this thread. Thank you.

regards,
Farabi