Altera Cyclone III FPGA User manual

101 Innovation Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
www.altera.com
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit
User Guide
Document Version: 1.2
Document Date: July 2010
P25-36228-03

© 2010 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX are
Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. and/or trademarks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the
property of their respective holders as described at www.altera.com/common/legal.html. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products
to current specifications in accordance with Altera's standard warranty, but reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any
time without notice. Altera assumes no responsibility or liability arising out of the application or use of any information, product, or service described
herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device
specifications before relying on any published information and before placing orders for products or services.
ii 0Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide July 2010
Part Number UG-01018-1.2

Altera Corporation iii
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Contents
Chapter 1. Getting Started
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1–1
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................... 1–2
Further Information .............................................................................................................................. 1–2
Software Installation ............................................................................................................................. 1–2
Installing the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit .................................................................................. 1–2
Installing the Quartus II Web Edition Software .......................................................................... 1–4
Chapter 2. Development Board and Control Panel Setup
Development Board Setup ................................................................................................................... 2–1
Requirements .................................................................................................................................... 2–2
Powering Up the Development Board .......................................................................................... 2–2
Installing the USB-Blaster Driver ........................................................................................................ 2–2
Control Panel Setup ............................................................................................................................... 2–3
Configuring the FPGA Using the Quartus II Programmer ............................................................. 2–3
Chapter 3. Using the Control Panel
Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 3–1
Control Panel Start ................................................................................................................................ 3–1
LEDs and Buttons .................................................................................................................................. 3–2
Illuminating LEDs ............................................................................................................................ 3–2
Buttons Indicators ............................................................................................................................ 3–3
DDR SDRAM/
SSRAM/On-Chip Controller ............................................................................................................... 3–3
Read/Write Data .............................................................................................................................. 3–4
Read from a File ................................................................................................................................ 3–5
Write to a File ................................................................................................................................... 3–5
Flash Memory Programmer ................................................................................................................. 3–5
Flash Memory Tab ........................................................................................................................... 3–6
CFI Query .......................................................................................................................................... 3–6
Read/Write Data .............................................................................................................................. 3–7

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Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Contents
Chapter 4. Measuring Power on the Cyclone III Starter Board
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4–1
Measuring Power ................................................................................................................................... 4–2
Changing the Example Design ....................................................................................................... 4–3
Appendix A. Programming the Configuration Flash Device
Overview ................................................................................................................................................ A–1
Creating a Flash-Programmable POF File ........................................................................................ A–1
Programming the Flash Device .......................................................................................................... A–5
Additional Information
Revision History ............................................................................................................................... Info–i
How to Contact Altera .................................................................................................................... Info–ii
Typographic Conventions .............................................................................................................. Info–ii

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 1–1
July 2010 Preliminary
1. Getting Started
Introduction Welcome to the Altera®Cyclone®III FPGA Starter Kit, which includes a
full-featured field-programmable gate array (FPGA) development board,
hardware and software development tools, documentation, and
accessories needed to begin FPGA development.
The development board includes an Altera Cyclone III FPGA and comes
preconfigured with a hardware reference design stored in flash memory.
You can use the development board as a platform to prototype a variety
of FPGA designs.
The starter kit provides an integrated control environment that includes
a software controller in a control panel application, a USB command
controller, a multi-port SRAM/DDR SDRAM/flash memory controller,
and example designs specified in Verilog code. You can use this design as
a starting point for test designs.
This user guide addresses the following topics:
■How to set up, power up, and verify correct operation of the
development board.
■How to install the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit.
■How to install the Altera®Quartus II Web Edition software.
■How to set up and use the control panel, a graphical user interface
(GUI), to manipulate components on the board, implement
applications.
■How to configure the Cyclone III FPGA.
■How to set up and run example designs.
fFor complete details on the development board, refer to the
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Board Reference Manual.

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Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide July 2010
Before You Begin
Before You
Begin
Before proceeding, check the contents of the kit:
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Development Board
■12-V DC power supply
■USB cable
fFor the most up-to-date information on this product, visit the Altera
website at www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-cyc3-
starter.html.
Further
Information
For other related information, refer to the following websites:
Software
Installation
This section describes the following procedures:
■“Installing the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit”
■“Installing the Quartus II Web Edition Software” on page 1–4
Installing the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit
The license-free Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit installer includes all the
documentation and design examples for the kit.
To install the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit, follow these steps:
1. Download the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit installer from the
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit page of the Altera website.
Alternatively, you can request a development kit DVD from the
Development Kits, Daughter Cards & Programming Hardware page
of the Altera website.
For More Information About Refer To
Additional daughter cards
available for purchase
www.altera.com/products/devkits/
kit-daughter_boards.jsp
Cyclone III handbook www.altera.com/literature/lit-cyc3.jsp
Cyclone III reference designs http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-
cyc3-starter.html
eStore if you want to
purchase devices
www.altera.com/buy/devices/buy-devices.html
Cyclone III Orcad symbols www.altera.com/support/software/download/pcb/
pcbpcb_index.html
Nios®II 32-bit embedded
processor solutions
www.altera.com/technology/embedded/
emb-index.html

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July 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Getting Started
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation
process.
The installation program creates the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit
directory structure shown in Figure 1–1.
Figure 1–1. Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit Default Installed Directory Structure
Table 1–1 lists the file directory names and a description of their contents.
Table 1–1. Installed Directory Contents
Directory Name Description of Contents
board_design_files Contains schematic, layout, assembly, and bill of material
board design files. Use these files as a starting point for a
new prototype board design.
demos Contains demonstration projects that may or may not
contain up-to-date source code.
documents Contains the development kit documentation.
examples Contains the example design files for the Cyclone III FPGA
Starter Kit
factory_recovery Contains programming files for returning board to factory
default condition.
<install dir>
documents
board_design_files
The default Windows installation directory is C:\altera\ <version> \.
examples
factory_recovery
demos
kits
cycloneIII_3c25_start

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Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide July 2010
Software Installation
Installing the Quartus II Web Edition Software
The Quartus II Web Edition software provides the necessary tools for
developing hardware and software for Altera FPGAs. Included in the
Quartus II Web Edition software are the Quartus II software, the Nios II
EDS, and the MegaCore®IP Library. The Quartus II software (including
SOPC Builder) and the Nios II EDS are the primary FPGA development
tools for creating the reference designs in this kit.
To install the Quartus II Web Edition software, follow these steps:
1. Download the Quartus II Web Edition software from the Quartus II
Web Edition Software page of the Altera website. Alternatively, you
can request a DVD from the Altera IP and Software DVD Request
Form page of the Altera website.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation
process.
fIf you have difficulty installing the Quartus II software,
refer to Quartus II Installation & Licensing for Windows and
Linux Workstations.
The Quartus II Web Edition software includes the following items:
■Quartus II software—The Quartus II software, including the SOPC
Builder system development tool, provides a comprehensive
environment for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) design.
The Quartus II software integrates into nearly any design
environment and provides interfaces to industry-standard EDA
tools.
fTo compare the Quartus II subscription and web editions,
refer to Altera Quartus II Software—Subscription Edition vs.
Web Edition. The kit also works with the subscription
edition.
■MegaCore IP Library—A library that contains Altera IP MegaCore
functions. You can evaluate MegaCore functions with the OpenCore
Plus feature to perform the following tasks:
●Simulate behavior of a MegaCore function in your system
●Verify functionality of your design, and quickly and easily
evaluate its size and speed
●Generate time-limited device programming files for designs that
include MegaCore functions
●Program a device and verify your design in hardware

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July 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Getting Started
1The OpenCore Plus hardware evaluation feature is an
evaluation tool for prototyping only. You must purchase a
license to use a MegaCore function in production.
fFor more information about OpenCore Plus, refer to
AN 320: OpenCore Plus Evaluation of Megafunctions.
■Nios®II Embedded Design Suite (EDS)—A full-featured tool set that
allows you to develop embedded software for the Nios II processor
which you can include in your Altera FPGA designs.
Licensing Considerations
The Quartus II Web Edition software is license-free and supports
Cyclone III devices without any additional licensing requirement. This
kit also works with the Quartus II Subscription Edition software, after
you obtain the proper license file. To purchase a subscription, contact
your Altera sales representative.

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Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide July 2010
Software Installation