Overview of the nios ii flash programmer, Introduction, Introduction –1 – Altera Nios II User Manual
Page 5
© March 2014
Altera Corporation
Nios II Flash Programmer User Guide
1. Overview of the Nios II Flash
Programmer
Introduction
Many hardware designs that include the Nios
®
II processor also incorporate flash
memory on the board to store FPGA configuration data or Nios II program data. The
Nios II Flash Programmer is part of the Nios II Embedded Design Suite (EDS). Its
purpose is to program data into a flash memory device connected to an Altera
®
FPGA.
The Nios II Flash Programmer sends file contents over an Altera download cable,
such as the USB Blaster
®
, to a Nios II system running on the FPGA, and instructs the
Nios II system to write the data to flash memory.
The Nios II Flash Programmer can program three types of content to flash memory:
■
Nios II software executable files—Many systems use flash memory to store
nonvolatile program code, or firmware. Nios II systems can boot from flash
memory.
■
FPGA configuration data—At system power-up, the FPGA configuration
controller on the board can read FPGA configuration data from the flash memory.
Depending on the design of the configuration controller, it might be able to choose
between multiple FPGA configuration files stored in flash memory.
■
Other arbitrary data files—The Nios II Flash Programmer can program a binary
file to an arbitrary offset in a flash memory for any purpose. For example, a Nios II
program might use this data as a coefficient table or a sine lookup table.
You can use the Nios II Flash Programmer to program the following types of memory:
■
Common flash interface (CFI)-compliant flash memory – CFI is an industry
standard that provides a common, vendor-independent interface to flash memory
devices.
■
Altera erasable programmable configurable serial (EPCS) or quad-serial
configuration (EPCQ) device - Altera EPCS serial configuration devices store
FPGA configuration data and Nios II executable software.
f
For more information about the CFI specification, refer to the JEDEC Common Flash
Interface standard JESD68.01 and JEDEC publications JEP137x, available on the
JEDEC Solid State Technology Association standards organization website
For more information about EPCS devices, refer to the
chapter in volume 2 of the Altera Configuration Handbook, the
and the
chapter in Volume 5:
Embedded Peripherals of the Quartus II Handbook.
In this document, the term flash memory refers to both CFI and EPCS memory devices,
unless otherwise noted.