Altera SoC Embedded Design Suite - Manual (Page 191)

HPS Flash Programmer User Guide
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2014.12.15
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The Altera Quartus II software and Quartus II Programmer include the HPS flash programmer.
Hardware designs, such as HPS, incorporate flash memory on the board to store FPGA configuration data
or HPS program data. The HPS flash programmer programs the data into a flash memory device
connected to an Altera SoC. The programmer sends file contents over an Altera download cable, such as
the USB-Blaster ™ II, to the HPS and instructs the HPS to write the data to the flash memory.
The HPS flash programmer programs the following content types to flash memory:
• HPS software executable files — Many systems use flash memory to store non-volatile program code
or firmware. HPS systems can boot from flash memory.
Note: The HPS Flash Programmer is mainly intended to be used for programming the Preloader
image to QSPI or NAND flash. Because of the low speed of operation, it is not recommended to
be used for programming large files.
• FPGA configuration data — At system power-up, the FPGA configuration controller on the board or
HPS read FPGA configuration data from the flash memory to program the FPGA. The configuration
controller or HPS may be able to choose between multiple FPGA configuration files stored in flash
memory.
• Other arbitrary data files — The HPS flash programmer programs a binary file to any location in a
flash memory for any purpose. For example, a HPS program can use this data as a coefficient table or a
sine lookup table.
The HPS flash programmer programs the following memory types:
• Quad serial peripheral interface (QSPI) Flash
• Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) compliant NAND Flash
HPS Flash Programmer Command-Line Utility
You can run the HPS flash programmer directly from the command line. For the Quartus II software, the
HPS flash programmer is located in <Altera installation directory>/quartus/bin . For the Quartus II
Programmer, the HPS flash programmer is located in <Altera installation directory>/qprogrammer/bin .
How the HPS Flash Programmer Works
The HPS flash programmer is divided into a host and a target. The host portion runs on your computer
and sends flash programming files and programming instructions over a download cable to the target.
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