Altera SoC Embedded Design Suite User Manual
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This table lists typical tool usage, but your actual requirements depend on your specific project and
organization.
Hardware Engineer
As a hardware engineer, you typically design the FPGA hardware in Qsys. You can use the debugger of
the ARM DS-5 Altera Edition to connect to the ARM cores and test the hardware. A convenient feature of
the DS-5 debugger is the soft IP register visibility, using Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface
Standard (CMSIS) System View Description (.svd) files. With this feature, you can easily read and modify
the soft IP registers from the ARM side.
As a hardware engineer, you may generate the Preloader for your hardware configuration. The Preloader
is a piece of software that configures the HPS component according to the hardware design.
As a hardware engineer, you may also perform the board bring-up. You can use the ARM DS-5 debugger
to verify that they can connect to the ARM and the board is working correctly.
These tasks require JTAG debugging, which is enabled only in the Subscription Edition. For more
information, see the Licensing section.
Bare-Metal and RTOS Developer
As either a bare-metal or a RTOS developer, you need JTAG debugging and low-level visibility into the
system.
Use the bare-metal compiler to compile your code and the SoC Hardware Library to control the hardware
in a convenient and consistent way.
Use the Flash Programmer to program the flash memory on the target board.
These tasks require JTAG debugging, which is enabled only in the Subscription Edition. For more
information, see the Licensing section.
Linux Kernel and Driver Developer
As a Linux kernel or driver developer, you may use the same tools the RTOS developers use, because you
need low-level access and visibility into the system. However, you must use the Linux compiler instead of
the bare-metal compiler. You can use the Yocto plugin to manage the project and the device tree
generator to generate device trees.
These tasks require JTAG debugging, which is enabled only in the Subscription Edition. For more
information, see the Licensing section.
Linux Application Developer
As a Linux application developer, you write code that targets the Linux OS running on the board. Because
the OS provides drivers for all the hardware, you do not need low-level visibility over JTAG. DS-5 offers a
very detailed view of the OS, showing information such as which threads are running and which drivers
are loaded.
You can use the Yocto plugin to manage the application build.
These tasks do not require JTAG debugging. You can perform them both in the Web and Subscription
editions. For more information, see the Licensing section.
Related Information
on page 3-1
For more information about .svd files, refer to the Hardware - Software Development Flow section.
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Hardware and Software Development Roles
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2014.12.15
Altera Corporation
Introduction to SoC Embedded Design Suite