System-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) is a flexible and effective SOC solution put forward by FPGA manufacturers. SOPC integrates Hard-Core CPU or Soft-Core CPU, DSP, Memory, I/O peripherals and PLD in a single chip. This is a subminiature embedded system implemented by a single chip! SOPC is designed based on the Nios II processor of Altera or Xilinx’s MicroBlaze Soft-Core.
The NiosII processor is a general-purpose RISC architecture 32-bit processor core with 200 DMIPS. The Nios / NiosII Soft-Core are actually free IP Cores which adopt Avalon bus architecture communication interface. Most of FPGA chips of Altera, including Cyclone II family, Cyclone III family, Stratix II family, Stratix III family and Stratix IV family, support Nios / NiosII Soft-Core. So, designers can use them to build up a SOPC.
There are many advantages to using SOPC for designers. Firstly, the whole circuit consists of a FPGA chip, power supply circuit and a few of peripheral chips. This method shortens the time of design,validation and debugging for designers. So, it quickens up the development process and shortens the design cycle. The second, it can reduce the complexity of an electronic system and the workload of designers. Finally, it can reduce the development cost of an electronic system.