University of Colorado Boulder
FPGA Softcore Processors and IP Acquisition
University of Colorado Boulder

FPGA Softcore Processors and IP Acquisition

This course is part of FPGA Design for Embedded Systems Specialization

Taught in English

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Timothy Scherr

Instructor: Timothy Scherr

7,306 already enrolled

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Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

3.9

(82 reviews)

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

10 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Progress towards a degree

What you'll learn

  • Create a Nios II softcore processor hardware design using the Altera development flow

  • Understand the benefits and steps of implementation of a custom instruction in the Nios II soft processor. Opens in a new tab

  • List the types of IP available for FPGAs

  • Use simulation with ModelSim to verify an FPGA Design

Details to know

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Assessments

4 quizzes

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

3.9

(82 reviews)

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

10 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Progress towards a degree

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This course is part of the FPGA Design for Embedded Systems Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 4 modules in this course

This module introduces the concept of a soft processor in general, and of hardware design for the soft processor in particular. It presents an overview of soft processors, describing all the different kinds that are available from Xilinx, Altera, Microsemi, and Lattice and then goes into depth about the Nios II soft processor from Altera. The benefits of using soft processors to prevent obsolescence and provide flexibility are explained. The content guides you through a hardware design of the Nios II processor using Qsys, the Altera system design tool. Lastly, design of a custom instruction in the Nios II is presented, showing the versatility of the soft processor in an FPGA.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 quiz1 discussion prompt

This module delves further into the development of soft processors, It describes the soft processor development flow in more detail, including the tools needed to develop software for the soft processor. It then introduces the Eclipse-based IDE for Nios II software development, and then shows how the output of the Qsys design is used to establish a Board Support Package (BSP) for the processor, which is necessary because the processor hardware design can be changed and the BSP software library must support any changes. Use of the BSP editor to configure the processor by programming control registers is demonstrated. Finally, the use of the custom instruction developed in Module 1 is presented, including the use of software macros to complete the implementation of the custom instruction.

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 quiz

Modern FPGA design is no longer centered on HDL module design as it is on acquisition and use of IP Cores. In this Module we will introduce IP cores including offerings from all the major vendors, Intel Altera, Xilinx, Microchip Microsemi, and Lattice. You will learn how to find, acquire, and use these cores.

What's included

6 videos1 reading1 quiz

As we work on more complex FPGA designs, the challenges to create an error-free design mount exponentially. Having a good grasp of the tools needed to verify correctness of design has become more and more important. After introducing simulation in previous sessions, in this module we will examine simulation with ModelSim in more depth by working through some examples. This will show the utility of simulation for verification and debugging. This module will also describe in some detail how the simulator works and how it achieves concurrency through the use of delta delays. As a final step in the debugging process, the internal logic analyzer SignalTap II is introduced.

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 quiz

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.0 (33 ratings)
Timothy Scherr
University of Colorado Boulder
5 Courses95,272 learners

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Recommended if you're interested in Electrical Engineering

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3.9

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