IPR-NIOS Altera, IPR-NIOS Datasheet - Page 18

• Manufacturer Part Number: IPR-NIOS
• Description: IP NIOS II MEGACORE RENEW
• Manufacturer: Altera
• Type: MegaCorer

Specifications of IPR-NIOS

• License: Renewal License
• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Not applicable / Not applicable

1–4
Configurable Soft-Core Processor Concepts
Nios II Processor Reference Handbook
Configurable Soft-Core Processor
Flexible Peripheral Set and Address Map
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This section introduces Nios II concepts that are unique or different from other
discrete microcontrollers. The concepts described in this section provide a foundation
for understanding the rest of the features discussed in this document.
The Nios II processor is a configurable soft-core processor, as opposed to a fixed,
off-the-shelf microcontroller. In this context, configurable means that you can add or
remove features on a system-by-system basis to meet performance or price goals.
Soft-core means the processor core is not fixed in silicon and can be targeted to any
Altera FPGA family.
Configurability does not require you to create a new Nios II processor configuration
for every new design. Altera provides ready-made Nios II system designs that you
can use as is. If these designs meet your system requirements, there is no need to
configure the design further. In addition, software designers can use the Nios II
instruction set simulator to begin writing and debugging Nios II applications before
the final hardware configuration is determined.
A flexible peripheral set is one of the most notable differences between Nios II
processor systems and fixed microcontrollers. Because the Nios II processor is
implemented in programmable logic, you can easily build made-to-order Nios II
processor systems with the exact peripheral set required for the target applications.
A corollary of flexible peripherals is a flexible address map. Altera provides software
constructs to access memory and peripherals generically, independently of address
location. Therefore, the flexible peripheral set and address map does not affect
application developers.
There are two broad classes of peripherals: standard peripherals and custom
peripherals.
Standard Peripherals
Altera provides a set of peripherals commonly used in microcontrollers, such as
timers, serial communication interfaces, general-purpose I/O, SDRAM controllers,
and other memory interfaces. The list of available peripherals continues to grow as
Altera and third-party vendors release new peripherals.
You can use extra pins and logic resources on the chip for functions unrelated to
the processor. Extra resources can provide a few extra gates and registers as glue
logic for the board design; or extra resources can implement entire systems. For
example, a Nios II processor system consumes only 5% of a large Altera FPGA,
leaving the rest of the chip’s resources available to implement other functions.
You can use extra pins and logic on the chip to implement additional peripherals
for the Nios II processor system. Altera offers a library of peripherals that easily
connect to Nios II processor systems.
Configurable Soft-Core Processor Concepts
December 2010 Altera Corporation
Chapter 1: Introduction