Features
- Embedded Nios® processor for display processing.
- Altera® DSP MegaCore® functions for signal conditioning.
- Two configurations (spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope) that can be push-button-loaded on the target hardware.
- Designed to use the DSP Builder and SOPC Builder tools to target Altera's Stratix™ EP1S25 device.
- Reference design available now for Altera's development boards for porting to user hardware platforms. An updated version of this reference design for commercially available Stratix development boards will be available soon.
General Description
This reference design was created as a demonstration of the Stratix FPGAs' capability to implement multiple aspects of entire systems. The design was shown at SOPC seminars during Q4 of 2002. The design implements two different pieces of test equipment that operate almost entirely on a single Stratix FPGA. The platform for the demonstration design was the Stratix device high-speed I/O development board (which is not available for purchase.) The reference design will be updated to run on future commercially available Stratix development boards. Designers can also take the design files today and port the entire design, or just part of it, to serve as the basis for their system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) designs.
The demonstration's emphasis was to build a robust system on a Stratix FPGA. The performance of the test equipment, its accuracy, or its dynamic range was not the demonstration's focus; the test equipment had only to operate as near real-time as possible and to demonstrate the practical capabilities of designing with the Nios® processor and multiple intellectual property (IP) cores on a reconfigurable platform.
Alcahest, a UK-based Altera Consultants Alliance Program (ACAP®) partner, created this reference design for Altera.
The design files are available as readable source with the exception of the following IP cores (that must be licensed but can be evaluated at no cost):
To use this reference design, designers need the tools available through the Altera Subscription Program and need to license the DSP Builder tool and MATLAB/Simulink from The Mathworks if he or she plans to modify the signal processing aspects of the design.
Technical Support
For technical support on this MegaCore function, please visit the Altera mySupport on-line issue tracking system. You may also search for related topics on this function in the Find Answers section.
