Altera: Introduction to The QUARTUS II Software

atomar — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 23:01:36 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by atomar on 6/24/2014 11:01:36 PM

Ordering Information

Key Features

Licensing & System Req.

Other Resources
	Altera Development Kits
	Altera Overview
	element14 Knode

Overview

The Altera Quartus II software, the industry's number one software in performance and productivity for CPLD, FPGA, and HardCopy ASIC designs. Quartus II software delivers support for the latest 28-nm devices – the Arria V and Cyclone V devices – as well as enhancements to the Stratix V device support. Plan for success with System Console, a unique debug and monitoring solution. Other features include some enhancements to Qsys and a look at how software and hardware co-design will be enabled with the ARM-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) devices.

The Altera Quartus II design software provides a complete, multiplatform design environment that easily adapts to your specific design needs. It is a comprehensive environment for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) design. The Quartus II software includes solutions for all phases of FPGA and CPLD design. In addition, the Quartus II software allows you to use the Quartus II graphical user interface and command-line interface for each phase of the design flow. You can use one of these interfaces for the entire flow, or you can use different options at different phases.

Featuring System Console is scalable, hardware debug and monitoring tool in Quartus II software. It provides an easy way to build GUI elements and connect them to hardware so that you can monitor performance, debug designs, and demonstrate design functionality. You can also debug your design anytime – in the lab, during simulation, or after the product has been shipped.

Simulation and system-level tools integrated with Quartus II software design flow are as follows:

ModelSim software
DSP Builder (requires additional license)
Qsys

The Qsys system integration tool saves significant time and effort in the FPGA design process by automatically generating interconnect logic to connect intellectual property (IP) functions and subsystems. Qsys is the next-generation SOPC Builder tool powered by a new FPGA-optimized network-on-a-chip (NoC) technology, delivering higher performance, improved design reuse, and faster verification compared to SOPC Builder.

Quartus II software delivers superior synthesis and placement and routing, resulting in compilation time advantages and compilation time reduction using following features:

Multiprocessor support
Rapid Recompile
Incremental compile

Key Features

An average of 25 percent faster compilation
Improvements in multicore compilation support
Fitter improvements that unlock the fastest silicon performance in the industry
Higher logic packing capability than our nearest competitor
Production release of the Altera SDK for OpenCL
Enhancements to the Qsys system integration tool, including:
Support for the ARM® TrustZone® technology plus Advanced Peripheral Bus (APBTM) and High-Performance Bus (AHBTM)
Support for VHDL bus functional models (BFMs)
Enhancements to Transceiver Toolkit, including:
Bit error checking for Stratix® V FPGAs
Ability to measure and report the data rates of each active transceiver channel
Enhancements to the SignalTapTM II logic analyzer, including:
Ability to change basic trigger operations without recompiling
Cross-triggering from an Altera SoC hard processor system (HPS) event
Programmer Object File (POF) support for most 28 nm devices
Simplified process for upgrading IP cores
Simplified software and device family installation with the new installer

Licensing & System Req.

Flexible Licensing Models for PC and Linux Operating Systems Subscriptions are available in flexible licensing models to support stand-alone PCs or networks including mixtures of PC and Linux clients. The information in below table will help you select the product that best fits into your design environment.Altera software subscriptions include one year of software updates. After the first year, the Altera software continues to work but you will not be able to install new updates.

Type	Description	Part No.
Fixed subscription	Quartus II software fixed-node subscription supporting all devices on Windows platforms. Includes subscription software updates for one year	SW-QUARTUS-SE-FIXSW-QUARTUS-SE-FIX
Floating subscription	Quartus II software floating-node subscription supporting all devices on Windows and Linux platforms on a network. Includes subscription software updates for one year.	SW-QUARTUS-SE-FLTSW-QUARTUS-SE-FLT
Additional floating seat	Quartus II software additional floating-node seat for floating-subscription products for one year.	SW-QUARTUS-SE-ADDSW-QUARTUS-SE-ADD
Fixed-subscription renewal	Quartus II software per-seat renewal for a fixed-subscription license	SWR-QUARTUS-SE-FIXSWR-QUARTUS-SE-FIX
Floating-subscription renewal	Quartus II software per-seat renewal for a floating-subscription license	SWR-QUARTUS-SE-FLTSWR-QUARTUS-SE-FLT
ModelSim-Altera Edition software	ModelSim®-Altera® Edition fixed-node or floating-node subscription on Windows and Linux platforms. The subscription includes software updates for one year	SW-MODELSIM-AESW-MODELSIM-AE

Design Entry

Altera Quartus II design software delivers the highest productivity and performance for Altera® FPGAs, CPLDs, and HardCopy® ASICs, and offers the following design features to accelerate the design process:

Design entry
Scripting support
Incremental compilation: initial setup
Qsys system integration tool
SOPC Builder
MegaWizardTM Plug-In Manager
I/O pin assignment analysis Q
uartus II integrated synthesis
Rapid Recompile
Third-party design entry and synthesis
Basic compilation flow

Download Cables

Altera download cables are available for use in the in-circuit reconfiguration of Altera FPGAs. Download cables are also available for use in the in-system programming of MAX II, MAX 3000A, and MAX 7000 devices. With Altera download cables, design changes can be downloaded directly to the device, prototyping is easy and multiple design iterations can be accomplished in quick succession.

Download Cable Type	Description	Part No.
ByteBlaster II (PC Parallel port)	The ByteBlaster II enables a PC to configure or program Altera devices. The download cable drives configuration or programming data using a standard parallel printer port from the PC.	PL-BYTEBLASTER2NPL-BYTEBLASTER2N
USB-Blaster (PC USB port)	The USB-Blaster drives configuration or programming data from the PC to configure or program Altera devices. The download cable interfaces to a standard USB PC port.	PL-USB-BLASTER-RCNPL-USB-BLASTER-RCN
EthernetBlaster (PC Ethernet port)	The EthernetBlaster can receive configuration or programming data from the Ethernet network to remotely configure or program Altera devices. The communications cable connects to a standard Ethernet network port with an RJ-45 connector.	PL-ETH2-BLASTERPL-ETH2-BLASTER

Video

www.youtube.com/watch

Technical Documents

Learning Center

Type	Description
Quick Start Guide	Altera: Quick Start Guide for Quartus II Software
User Guide	Altera: Introduction to Altera Quartus II Software
User Guide	Altera: User Guide Altera Quartus II - Volume 1: Design and Synthesis
User Guide	Altera: User Guide Altera Quartus II - Volume 2: Design Implementation and Optimization
User Guide	Altera: User Guide Altera Quartus II - Volume 3: Verification
User Guide	Altera: User Guide Altera Quartus II - System-on-a-Programmable-Chip (SOPC) Builder
License Manual	Altera: Quartus II Software Installation and Licensing Manual

Design Elements

Type	Description
Firmware	Altera: EthernetBlaster Download Cable Firmware
Firmware	Altera: EthernetBlaster II Download Cable Firmware
Layout	Altera: GBR and PCB Layout Files for 256-pin FineLine BGA Device
Layout	Altera: GBR and PCB Layout Files for 484-pin FineLine BGA Device
Layout	Altera: GBR and PCB Layout Files for 672-pin FineLine BGA Device
Layout	Altera: GBR and PCB Layout Files for 88-pin Ultra FineLine BGA Device

Ordering Information

Type	Description	Part No.
Fixed subscription	Quartus II software fixed-node subscription supporting all devices on Windows platforms. Includes subscription software updates for one year	SW-QUARTUS-SE-FIXSW-QUARTUS-SE-FIX
Floating subscription	Quartus II software floating-node subscription supporting all devices on Windows and Linux platforms on a network. Includes subscription software updates for one year.	SW-QUARTUS-SE-FLTSW-QUARTUS-SE-FLT
Additional floating seat	Quartus II software additional floating-node seat for floating-subscription products for one year.	SW-QUARTUS-SE-ADDSW-QUARTUS-SE-ADD
Fixed-subscription renewal	Quartus II software per-seat renewal for a fixed-subscription license	SWR-QUARTUS-SE-FIXSWR-QUARTUS-SE-FIX
Floating-subscription renewal	Quartus II software per-seat renewal for a floating-subscription license	SWR-QUARTUS-SE-FLTSWR-QUARTUS-SE-FLT
ModelSim-Altera Edition software	ModelSim®-Altera® Edition fixed-node or floating-node subscription on Windows and Linux platforms. The subscription includes software updates for one year	SW-MODELSIM-AESW-MODELSIM-AE