Altera: DK-START-3C25N Cyclone III FPGA Starter Board

atomar — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 06:02:51 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by atomar on 9/17/2012 6:02:51 AM

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Kit Overview

Development Tools

Technical Documents

Video

Features

Kit Contents

Overview

The economical Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit DK-START-3C25NDK-START-3C25N is easy to use and an ideal introduction if you have never designed with FPGAs before. If you are an experienced FPGA designer considering the Cyclone III architecture, you'll love building systems leveraging the 60 percent (on average) faster performance that Cyclone III FPGAs offer over competitor offerings. Several design examples included in the kit make for a quick "out-of-the-box" evaluation experience.

Cyclone® III device family offers a unique combination of high functionality, low power and low cost. Based on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) low-power (LP) process technology, silicon optimizations and software features to minimize power consumption, Cyclone III device family provides the ideal solution for your high-volume, low-power, and cost-sensitive applications.

Cyclone III device family includes a customer-defined feature set that is optimized for portable applications and offers a wide range of density, memory, embedded multiplier, and I/O options. Cyclone III device family supports numerous external memory interfaces and I/O protocols that are common in high-volume applications. The Quartus II software features and parameterizable IP cores make it easier for you to use the Cyclone III device family interfaces and protocols.

Key Applications: Automotive, Consumer, Industrial, Military, Video and image processing, Wireless communications

Development Tools

Software Development Tools:

Tool Type	Supplier	Supported Family	MPN	Description
IDE	Altera	ALL Altera Devices	Altera Quartus II	It's the industry's number one software in performance and productivity for CPLD, FPGA, and HardCopy ASIC designs. The Altera Quartus II software, the industry's number one software in performance and productivity for CPLD, FPGA, and HardCopy ASIC designs. Learn More

Hardware Development Tools:

Tool Type	Supplier	Support?ed Family	MPN	Description
Download Cable	Altera	ALL Altera Devices	PL-BYTEBLASTER2NPL-BYTEBLASTER2N	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.
Download Cable	Altera	ALL Altera Devices	PL-USB-BLASTER-RCNPL-USB-BLASTER-RCN	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.
Download Cable	Altera	ALL Altera Devices	PL-ETH2-BLASTERPL-ETH2-BLASTER	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.

Technical Documents

Learning Center

Type	Description
User Guide	Altera: User Guide for Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit
Reference Manual	Altera: Reference Manual for Cyclone III FPGA Starter Board
Datasheet	Altera: Data Sheet for Cyclone III Device
Product Brief	Altera: Altera Product Catalog
Application Note	AN521: Cyclone III Active Parallel Remote System Upgrade Reference Design
Application Note	AN447: Interfacing Cyclone III and Cyclone IV Devices with 3.3/3.0/2.5-V LVTTL/LVCMOS I/O Systems

Design Elements

Type	Description
Application Library	Altera: AN 521: Cyclone III Active Parallel Remote System Upgrade Reference Design
Schematics	Altera: Schematics For Cyclone III Starter Board
BOM	Altera: BOM list file for Cyclone III Starter Board

Video

www.youtube.com/watch

Kit Features

Cyclone III EP3C25F324EP3C25F324 FPGA
Configuration
- Embedded USB-Blaster™ circuitry (includes an Altera EPM3128AEPM3128A CPLD) allowing the download of FPGA configuration files via the user's USB port
Memory
- 256 megabits (Mb) of DDR SDRAM
- 1 megabytes (MB) of synchronous SRAM
- 16 MB of Intel P30/P33 flash memory
Clocking
- 50-MHz on-board oscillator
Switches and indicators
- Six push buttons in total, four user controlled
- Seven LEDs in total, four user controlled
Lowest power consumption due to:
- TSMC low-power process technology
- Altera® power-aware design flow
Low-power operation offers the following benefits:
- Extended battery life for portable and handheld applications
- Reduced or eliminated cooling system costs
- Operation in thermally-challenged environments
Hot-socketing operation support

Kit Contents

Cyclone III starter board
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM
- Example designs targeting the Cyclone III FPGA starter board
  - Create an FPGA design in one hour
  - Power measurements of a Cyclone III FPGA
  - A 32-bit soft processor system inside an FPGA
Documentation
- User guide
- Reference manual
- Board schematic and layout
- Bill of materials
- Product and partner information
Cables and power
- USB cable
- External power supply (U.S. compatible plug with EU and UK adaptors)

Tags: epm3128a, dk-start-3c25n, cyclone_iii, altera