Altera MasterBlaster Serial/USB - Manual (Page 14)

2–2 Chapter 2: MasterBlaster Serial/USB Communications Cable Data Sheet
Functional Description
MasterBlaster Serial/USB Communications Cable User Guide © July 2008 Altera Corporation
Download Modes
The MasterBlaster cable provides two download modes:
■ Passive serial mode (PS)—In this mode the Quartus II Programmer can configure
all Altera devices supported by the Quartus II software except MAX 3000 and
MAX 7000 devices.
■ JTAG mode—Industry-standard IEEE Std. 1149.1 Joint Test Action Group (JTAG)
interface for programming JTAG-capable devices. In JTAG mode, the Quartus II
Programmer can program or configure all Altera devices supported by the
Quartus II software, except FLEX 6000 devices. FLEX 6000 devices can be in a
JTAG chain, but they must be bypassed; they cannot be configured. The Quartus II
Programmer can also program EPC2, EPC4, EPC8, and EPC16 configuration
devices in this mode. The JTAG chain can contain any number and combination of
Altera and non-Altera devices that comply with this IEEE 1149.1 specification.
SignalTap II Logic Analysis
The SignalTap II logic analysis enables captured device data at specified trigger points
and stores the data in APEX II and APEX 20K embedded system blocks (ESBs). This
data is then sent to the JTAG IEEE Std. 1149.1 port of an APEX II or APEX 20K device,
uploaded through the MasterBlaster communications cable, and displayed in the
Quartus II Waveform Editor.
f For more information on SignalTap logic analysis, see the Design Debugging using the
SignalTap II Embedded Logic Analyzer chapter in volume 3 of the Quartus II Handbook.
Figure 2–1. MasterBlaster Serial/USB Communications Cable