Altera Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User manual

101 Innovation Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
www.altera.com
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit
User Guide
Document Version: 1.1
Document Date: March 2010
P25-36228-00

Copyright © 2010 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the stylized Altera logo, specific device des-
ignations, and all other words and logos that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and
service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders. Al-
tera products are protected under numerous U.S. and foreign patents and pending applications, maskwork rights, and copyrights. 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 ap-
plication or use of any information, product, or service described herein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera
Corporation. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device specifications before relying on any published in-
formation and before placing orders for products or services.
ii 0Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Part Number UG-01018-1.1

Altera Corporation iii
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Contents
Chapter 1. Getting Started
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1–1
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................... 1–1
Further Information .............................................................................................................................. 1–2
Software Installation ............................................................................................................................. 1–2
Installing the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM ................................................................ 1–2
Installing the Altera Complete Design Suite Software ............................................................... 1–3
Licensing the Quartus II Software ................................................................................................. 1–4
Chapter 2. Development Board & 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 ............................................................................................................................... 2–2
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 ............................................................................................................................ 3–2
DDR SDRAM/
SSRAM/On-Chip Controller ............................................................................................................... 3–3
Read/Write Data .............................................................................................................................. 3–4
Read from a File ................................................................................................................................ 3–4
Write to a File ................................................................................................................................... 3–5
Flash Memory Programmer ................................................................................................................. 3–5
Flash Memory Tab ........................................................................................................................... 3–5
CFI Query .......................................................................................................................................... 3–6
Read/Write Data .............................................................................................................................. 3–6
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

iv Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Contents
Creating a Flash-Programmable POF File ........................................................................................ A–1
Programming the Flash Device .......................................................................................................... A–4
Additional Information
Revision History ............................................................................................................................... Info–i
How to Contact Altera ..................................................................................................................... Info–i
Typographic Conventions .............................................................................................................. Info–ii

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 1–1
March 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. This design is provided as
a starting point for test designs so users can get up and running quickly.
This user guide addresses the following topics:
■How to set up, power up, and verify correct operation of the
development board
■Where to get and how to install the Altera Development Suite Tools
■How to install the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM
■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.
Before You
Begin
Before proceeding, check the contents of the kit:
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Development Board
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM containing the development
board documentation and supporting materials, including the user
guide and reference manual, control panel utility, example designs,
device datasheets, and tutorials.
■12-V DC power supply
■USB cable

1–2 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Further Information
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
The instructions in this section describes how to install the following
software:
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM
■The Quartus®II Software, Development Kit Web Edition
Installing the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM
The Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM contains the following items:
■The kit’s example designs and board design files
■Quick Start Guide
■My First FPGA Tutorial
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide (this document)
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Board Reference Manual
To install the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM, perform the
following steps:
1. Insert the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM into the CD-ROM
drive.
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 www.altera.com/endmarkets/refdesigns/device/
cyclone3/cyclone3-index.jsp
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

Altera Corporation 1–3
March 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Getting Started
1The CD-ROM should start an auto-install process. If it does
not, browse to the CD-ROM drive and double-click on the
setup.exe file.
2. Follow the online instructions to complete the installation process.
The installation program creates shortcuts in the Windows Start
Menu at: All Programs > Altera > Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit
V9.1.0. Use this icon to launch the Windows-style development kit
GUI or view the documentation.
The Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit installation program creates a directory
structure for the installed files (Figure 1–1).
Figure 1–1. Cyclone III Starter Kit Default Installed Directory Structure
Table 1–1 lists the file directory names and a description of their contents.
Installing the Altera Complete Design Suite Software
The Quartus II software is the primary FPGA development tool used to
create the reference designs in this development kit.
Additionally, you may want to install the Nios II Embedded Design Suite
found in the Altera Complete Design Suite at
www.altera.com/support/software/download/nios2/dnlnios2. jsp.
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.

1–4 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Software Installation
The Nios II soft-core embedded processor runs on Altera FPGAs. Some of
the reference designs included in this development kit use the Nios II
processor.
Load the Altera Complete Design Suite DVD into the DVD player and
click Install free package on the startup screen. Follow the on-screen
instructions and accept all default settings. After installing the software,
request and install a license to enable it.
1During installation of the Quartus II software, you should
choose to install the MegaCore IP Library when presented the
option and follow the on-screen instructions.
fFor information on obtaining a license file, refer to “Licensing the
Quartus II Software”.
1If you have difficulty installing the Quartus II software, refer to
Installing the Quartus II Software in the Quartus II Installation &
Licensing for PCs Manual.
Licensing the Quartus II Software
Before using the Quartus II software, you must request a license file from
the Altera website at www.altera.com/licensing and install it on your PC.
When you request a license file, Altera emails you a license.dat file that
enables the software. To obtain a license, perform the following steps:
1. Go to the Altera website at www.altera.com/licensing.
2. Click Quartus II Web Edition.
3. Follow the online instructions to request your license. Altera sends
the license file to you through email. Save this file on your
computer.
4. Run the Quartus II software.
5. Choose License Setup (Tools menu).
6. Under License File, indicate the license file you received and saved
onto your computer in step 3.

Altera Corporation 2–1
March 2010 Preliminary
2. Development Board &
Control Panel Setup
Development
Board Setup
The development board is preloaded with an example design to
demonstrate the Cyclone®III device and board features. At power-up,
the preloaded design also enables you to quickly confirm that the board
is operating correctly. See Figure 2–1.
Figure 2–1. Cyclone III Development Board Layout and Components
1-Mbyte SSRAM (U5)
DC Power
Input (J2)
Power Switch (SW1)
16-Mbyte
Parallel
Flash (U6)
USB
Connector
(J3)
Flash LED
USB
UART (U8)
JTAG Header (J4)
32-Mbyte
DDR SDRAM (U4)
Reconfigure
and Reset
Push Buttons
50-MHz
System Clock
User LEDs
User Push Button Switches
HSMC
Connector (J1)
Cyclone III Device (U1)
Configuration Done LED
Sense Resistor for FPGA
Core Power Measurement (JP6)
Sense Resistor
for Shared I/O
Power (JP3)

2–2 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Installing the USB-Blaster Driver
Requirements
Before you proceed, ensure that the follwing items are installed:
■Altera®Quartus®II software on the host computer
■Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD ROM
■USB-Blaster™ driver software on the host computer. The
Cyclone III FPGA starter development board includes an integrated
USB-Blaster circuitry for FPGA programming.
Powering Up the Development Board
To power-up the development board, perform the following steps:
1. Ensure that the ON/OFF switch (SW1) is in the OFF position (up).
2. Connect the USB-Blaster cable from the host computer to the
USB-Blaster port on the development board.
3. Connect the 12-V DC adapter to the development board and to a
power source.
wOnly use the supplied 12-V power supply. Power regulation
circuitry on the board could be damaged by supplies greater
than 12 V.
4. Press the power switch (SW1).
5. Confirm that all four user LEDs are ON.
Installing the
USB-Blaster
Driver
The Cyclone III FPGA development board includes an integrated
USB-Blaster circuitry for FPGA programming. However, for the host
computer and board to communicate, you must install the USB-Blaster
driver on the host computer.
Installation instructions for the USB-Blaster driver are available on the
Altera website at www.altera.com/support/software/drivers/
dri-index.html. On the “Altera Programming Cable Driver Information”
page of the Altera website, locate the table entry for your configuration
and click the link to access the instructions.
Control Panel
Setup
Setting up the control panel involves the following:
■Configuring the FPGA
■Starting the control panel

Altera Corporation 2–3
March 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Development Board & Control Panel Setup
1Power up the board and ensure that is is operational.
For more information about using the control panel, refer to the “Using
the Control Panel” chapter.
Configuring the
FPGA Using the
Quartus II
Programmer
You can use the Quartus II Programmer to configure the FPGA with a
specific .sof file. Before configuring the FPGA, ensure that the Quartus II
Programmer and the USB-Blaster driver are installed on the host
computer, the USB cable is connected to the development board, power
to the board is on, and no other applications that use the JTAG chain are
running.
To configure the Cyclone III FPGA, perform the following steps:
1. Start the Quartus II Programmer.
2. Click Add File and select the path to the desired .sof file.
3. Turn on the Program/Configure option for the added file.
4. Click Start to configure the selected file to the FPGA. Configuration
is complete when the progress bar reaches 100%.

2–4 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Configuring the FPGA Using the Quartus II Programmer

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 3–1
March 2010 Preliminary
3. Using the Control Panel
Overview The control panel consists of the following:
■The graphical user interface (GUI) application on the host computer
■The standard Nios II hardware design running on the board's
Cyclone III FPGA device
After the kit’s CD-ROM is installed, the control panel hardware and
software can be found in the <kit path>\demos\control_panel directory.
The design downloaded to the Cyclone III device implements a
command controller that processes board commands sent over the
USB-Blaster from the control panel. To perform the appropriate actions,
the command controller communicates with the controller of the targeted
board I/O device.
You can perform the following actions with the control panel:
■Light up LEDs
■Detect push button presses
■Read from and write to the DDR SDRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and
on-chip RAM
The following sections describe how to perform the above actions with
the control panel already open on the host computer. If not already open,
launch the control panel as described in “Control Panel Start”.
Control Panel
Start
The Cyclone III development board is shipped with an example design
stored in the flash memory which configures the Cyclone III FPGA upon
power-up with the standard Nios II design.
1For an older version of the Cyclone III development board
shipped with the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit v7.1.0, v7.2.0, or
8.0.0 application, you must manually configure the
cycloneIII_3c25_start_niosII_standard.sof into the FPGA
before launching the control panel application.

3–2 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
LEDs and Buttons
The source for the example design can be found in the <kit
path>\examples\cycloneIII_3c25_starter_board_standard directory.
1To launch the control panel user interface, run the
control_panel.exe program found in the <kit
path>\demos\control_panel directory (Figure 3–1).
Figure 3–1. Control Panel Window
LEDs and
Buttons
Illuminating LEDs
To illuminate an LED, perform the following steps:
1. The LED & Buttons tab should be visible when the application runs.
If it is not visible, click the LED & Buttons tab (Figure 3–2).
2. Click on LEDs to individually turn on the LEDs.
Buttons Indicators
1. Press the push-button switches on the board. Notice that buttons on
the GUI change accordingly.

Altera Corporation 3–3
March 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Using the Control Panel
Figure 3–2. Control Panel Window for LEDs and Buttons
DDR SDRAM/
SSRAM/On-Chip
Controller
You can perform the following types of memory read/write operations
with the control panel:
■Read from and write to the DDR SDRAM, SSRAM, or on-chip device
■Write entire contents of a file, to the DDR SDRAM, SSRAM, or
on-chip device
■Read contents of the DDR SDRAM, SSRAM, or on-chip device, to a
file
The following sections describe how to access the DDR SDRAM. You can
use the same procedure to access the SSRAM.

3–4 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
DDR SDRAM/ SSRAM/On-Chip Controller
Read/Write Data
To read from and write to the DDR SDRAM, perform the following steps:
1. Click the DDR SDRAM tab (Figure 3–3). The Address column
indicates the hex address of the DDR SDRAM. The values inside the
0-3, 4-7, 8-B, and C-F columns are the DDR SDRAM contents in hex
words format.
Figure 3–3. Control Panel DDR SDRAM Tab
2. To write a 32-bit word to the DDR SDRAM, click the desired
location, enter the desired value in hex format, and press Enter.
Read from a File
To read the contents of a file and load it to the DDR SDRAM, perform the
following steps:
1. Click Load File.

Altera Corporation 3–5
March 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Using the Control Panel
2. Browse to sample.txt located in the control_panel directory and
click Open. This step instantiates the DDR SDRAM controller and
loads the text contents into the DDR SDRAM. Notice that the Data
to Ascii-text column shows the DDR SDRAM contents in Ascii
value.
Write to a File
To write the contents of the DDR SDRAM to a file, perform the following
steps:
1. Click Save File.
2. Enter the start and end addresses of the DDR SDRAM.
3. Choose a file name and click Save. This instantiates the controller to
read the DDR SDRAM contents from the start address to the end
address, and write the contents to a file.
Flash Memory
Programmer
Using the control panel, you can perform the following operations to read
from and write to the board’s flash memory:
■Perform a CFI query of flash memory
■Erase select blocks of flash memory
■Write 32-bit hex word to flash memory
■Write a binary file to flash memory
■Load the contents of the flash memory into a file
cDo not exit from the control panel while erasing the flash
memory.
Flash Memory Tab
To use the flash memory functions, click the Flash Memory tab
(Figure 3–4).

3–6 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Flash Memory Programmer
Figure 3–4. Control Panel Flash Memory Tab
CFI Query
The common flash interface (CFI) flash memory devices conform to basic
flash commands. The most basic command is Query which switches the
device into a ROM table mode so that features of the flash device can be
determined by reading values from the table. For more information
regarding CFI, refer to the flash memory device data sheet.
To perform a CFI query using the host application, click CFI Query.
Notice that the memory table displays contents that correlate with the
table contents as described in the device data sheet.
To put the flash device back in user mode, press Reset on the control
panel.
Read/Write Data
To read from and write to the flash memory, perform the following steps:

Altera Corporation 3–7
March 2010 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Using the Control Panel
Figure 3–5. Control Panel Flash Memory Tab
1. Click Erase Block to perform a block erase of the flash memory. The
Address column indicates the hex address of the flash memory. The
values inside the 0-3, 4-7, 8-B, and C-F columns are the flash
memory contents in hex words format.
2. To write a 32-bit word to the flash memory, click the desired
location, enter the desired value in hex format, and press Enter.

3–8 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide March 2010
Flash Memory Programmer