Altera Nios II - Manual (Page 8)

8 Altera Corporation
Nios II Evaluation Kit User Guide October 2005
Using the Nios II Evaluation Kit
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See www.altera.com for the latest releases of the Nios II Evaluation
Edition and the Quartus II Web Edition software, both available free for
download.
Your PC system must meet the minimum system requirements as
described below:
■ Pentium II PC running at 400 MHz or faster
■ Microsoft Windows 2000, or Windows XP Professional
■ Powered USB port for use with the Nios II evaluation board
The Altera Design Software Suite
The Altera Design Software Suite consists of the following CD-ROMs:
■ Altera Design Software Suite CD-ROM
■ Nios II Embedded Processor Evaluation Edition
The Altera Design Software Suite CD-ROM contains the Quartus II Web
Edition Software.
The Quartus II software is a comprehensive
environment for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) hardware
design. Using the Quartus II software, designers can develop hardware
design files, synthesize a netlist for the design, and output a configuration
file for the target FPGA. Designers use the Quartus II software to assign
I/O pin locations, apply compilation constraints (e.g. timing
requirements), and perform timing analysis on the FPGA design.
Quartus II software installation also includes the SOPC Builder system-
integration tool. Nios II hardware designers use SOPC Builder to define
and integrate Nios II processor-based hardware systems.
The Nios II Embedded Processor Evaluation Edition CD-ROM contains
the tools listed below along with other components:
■ Nios II IDE - Provides an integrated environment for editing,
compiling, and debugging embedded software.
■ The GNU toolchain – The GNU toolchain contains the basic tools for
source-code compilation such as an assembler, C/C++ compiler, and
linker.
■ The Nios II CPU Component for SOPC Builder – The CPU
component provides three processor cores, Nios II/e, Nios II/s, and
Nios II/f, for the SOPC Builder hardware component library.
Installing the Development Tools
It is important to install the Altera Design Software Suite development
tools in the order listed below. To install the required software, perform
the following steps: