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 Date: April 2007

Copyright © 2007 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 Development Board Version 1.0.0 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide April 2007
Part Number UG-01018-1.0

Altera Corporation iii
Contents
About this User Guide
Revision History ........................................................................................................................................ v
How to Contact Altera .............................................................................................................................. v
Typographic Conventions ...................................................................................................................... vi
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 Quartus II Software .................................................................................................. 1–4
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
Control Panel Setup ............................................................................................................................... 2–2
FPGA Configuration ............................................................................................................................. 2–3
Control Panel Start ................................................................................................................................ 2–4
Chapter 3. Using the Control Panel
Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 3–1
LEDs ........................................................................................................................................................ 3–1
Illuminating LEDs ............................................................................................................................ 3–1
DDR SDRAM/
SSRAM Controller and Programmer .................................................................................................. 3–2
Read/Write Data .............................................................................................................................. 3–3
Sequential Write ............................................................................................................................... 3–3
Sequential Read ................................................................................................................................ 3–4
Flash Memory Programmer ................................................................................................................. 3–4
Read/Write Data .............................................................................................................................. 3–5
Sequential Write ............................................................................................................................... 3–6
Sequential Read ................................................................................................................................ 3–6
Chapter 4. Measuring Power on the Cyclone III Starter Board
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4–1
Measuring Power ................................................................................................................................... 4–2
Changing the Design Example ....................................................................................................... 4–3

iv Altera Corporation
My First FPGA Design Tutorial
Contents
Chapter 5. Appendix: Programming the Configuration Flash Device
Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 5–1
Creating a Flash-Programmable POF File ......................................................................................... 5–1
Programming the Flash Device ........................................................................................................... 5–5

Altera Corporation v
April 2007 Preliminary
About this User Guide
This user guide describes how to start using the Altera®Cyclone®III
FPGA Starter Kit, including unpacking the kit, installing required
software, connecting the development board to a PC, and running sample
software.
For a full description of the development board and its use, refer to the
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Board Reference Manual.
fTo ensure that you have the most up-to-date information on this
product, go to the Altera website at
www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-cyc3-starter.html.
Revision History The table below displays the revision history for the chapters in this user
guide.
How to Contact
Altera
For the most up-to-date information about Altera products, refer to the
following table.
Chapter Date Version Changes Made
1 April 2007 1.0.0 ●First publication.
Information Type Contact Note (1)
Technical support www.altera.com/mysupport/
Technical training www.altera.com/training/
Technical training services [email protected]
Product literature www.altera.com/literature
Product literature services [email protected]
FTP site ftp.altera.com
Note to table:
(1) You can also contact your local Altera sales office or sales representative.

vi Altera Corporation
Preliminary April 2007
Typographic Conventions Cyclone FPGA Device Handbook
Typographic
Conventions
This document uses the typographic conventions shown below.
Visual Cue Meaning
Bold Type with Initial
Capital Letters
Command names, dialog box titles, checkbox options, and dialog box options are
shown in bold, initial capital letters. Example: Save As dialog box.
bold type External timing parameters, directory names, project names, disk drive names,
filenames, filename extensions, and software utility names are shown in bold
type. Examples: fMAX, \qdesigns directory, d: drive, chiptrip.gdf file.
Italic Type with Initial Capital
Letters
Document titles are shown in italic type with initial capital letters. Example: AN 75:
High-Speed Board Design.
Italic type Internal timing parameters and variables are shown in italic type.
Examples: tPIA, n+ 1.
Variable names are enclosed in angle brackets (< >) and shown in italic type.
Example: <file name>, <project name>.pof file.
Initial Capital Letters Keyboard keys and menu names are shown with initial capital letters. Examples:
Delete key, the Options menu.
“Subheading Title” References to sections within a document and titles of on-line help topics are
shown in quotation marks. Example: “Typographic Conventions.”
Courier type Signal and port names are shown in lowercase Courier type. Examples: data1,
tdi, input. Active-low signals are denoted by suffix n, e.g., resetn.
Anything that must be typed exactly as it appears is shown in Courier type. For
example: c:\qdesigns\tutorial\chiptrip.gdf. Also, sections of an
actual file, such as a Report File, references to parts of files (e.g., the AHDL
keyword SUBDESIGN), as well as logic function names (e.g., TRI) are shown in
Courier.
1., 2., 3., and
a., b., c., etc.
Numbered steps are used in a list of items when the sequence of the items is
important, such as the steps listed in a procedure.
■●•Bullets are used in a list of items when the sequence of the items is not important.
vThe checkmark indicates a procedure that consists of one step only.
1The hand points to information that requires special attention.
cA caution calls attention to a condition or possible situation that can damage or
destroy the product or the user’s work.
wA warning calls attention to a condition or possible situation that can cause injury
to the user.
rThe angled arrow indicates you should press the Enter key.
fThe feet direct you to more information on a particular topic.

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 1–1
April 2007 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.
Hardware designers can use the development board as a platform to
prototype a variety of FPGA designs.
The kit provides an integrated control environment that includes a
software controller in control panel application, a USB command
controller, a multi-port SRAM/DDR SDRAM/flash memory controller,
and demonstration circuitry 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, and display images on a VGA monitor.
■How to configure the Cyclone III FPGA
■How to set up and run application examples.
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, design examples,
device datasheets, and tutorials.
■12 V DC power supply
■USB cable

1–2 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III Starter Kit User Guide April 2007
Further Information
Further
Information
For other related information, refer to the following websites:
■For additional daughter cards available for purchase:
www.altera.com/products/devkits/kit-daughter_boards.jsp
■For the Cyclone III handbook:
www.altera.com/literature/lit-cyc3.jsp
■For the Cyclone III reference designs:
www.altera.com/
endmarkets/refdesigns/device/cyclone3/cyclone3-index.jsp
■For eStore if you want to purchase devices:
www.altera.com/buy/devices/buy-devices.html
■For Cyclone III Orcad symbols:
www.altera.com/support/software/download/pcb/
pcbpcb_index.html
■For Nios®II 32-bit embedded processor solutions:
www.altera.com/technology/embedded/emb-index.html
Software
Installation
The instructions in this section describe 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 design examples 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

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 1–3
April 2007 Cyclone III Starter Kit User Guide
Getting Started
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.
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
v7.1.0. 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), where <path> is the selected
Cyclone III Starter Kit installation directory.
Figure 1–1. Cyclone III Starter Kit 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
BoardDesignFiles Contains schematic, layout, assembly, and bill of
material board design files. Use these files as a
starting point for a new prototype board design.
Docs Contains the development kit documentation.
Examples Contains the design exmaple files for the
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit

1–4 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III Starter Kit User Guide April 2007
Software Installation
Installing the Quartus II Software
Download and install the Quartus II Web Edition software by performing
the following steps:
1. From the Altera website home page (www.altera.com), click
Download.
2. Follow the online instructions to complete the installation process.
1If you have difficulty installing the Quartus II software, refer to
Installing the Quartus II Software in the Quartus II Installation &
Licensing Manual for PCs found at www.altera.com.
The Quartus II software is the primary FPGA development tool used to
create the reference designs used in this development kit.
Additionally, you may want to install the Nios II Embedded Design Suite
package also found in the Altera Design Software Suite. 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.
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 e-mails 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 Software.
3. Follow the on-line instructions to request your license. A license file
is e-mailed to you. 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 Core Version a.b.c variable 2–1
April 2007 Preliminary
2. Development Board &
Control Panel Setup
Development
Board Setup
The development board is preloaded with a configuration to demonstrate
Cyclone®III device and board features. At power up, the preloaded
configuration also enables users 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 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Development Kit User Guide April 2007
Control Panel Setup
Requirements
If not already installed, you should:
■Install the Altera®Quartus®II software on the host computer
■Install the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD ROM
■Install the USB-Blaster™ driver software on the host computer. The
Cyclone III FPGA starter development board includes integrated
USB-Blaster circuitry for FPGA programming.
1Communication between the host computer and the
development board requires that the USB-Blaster driver
software be pre-installed.
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 user LEDs are flashing in a “counting” pattern.
Control Panel
Setup
The kit’s control panel enables access to board components via a host
computer through the USB connection.
fFor more information about using the control panel, refer to the “Using
the Control Panel” chapter.
Setting up the control panel involves the following:
■Configuring the FPGA
■Starting the control panel

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 2–3
April 2007 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Development Kit User
Development Board & Control Panel Setup
1At this point, the Quartus II software and the USB-Blaster driver
software should be installed. In addition, the development
board should be powered up and working.
FPGA
Configuration
Before using the control panel, configure a corresponding circuit in the
Cyclone III FPGA by downloading the CIII_Control_Panel.sof
configuration file from the <kit path>\Examples\CIII_Control_Panel\
HW directory.
To configure the Cyclone III device, perform the following steps:
1. Start the Quartus II software.
2. On the Tools menu, click Programmer. See Figure 2–2.
Figure 2–2. Quartus II Programmer Window

2–4 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Development Kit User Guide April 2007
Control Panel Start
3. Click Add File and select CIII_Control_Panel.sof.
4. Turn on the Program/Configure box to select the added file.
5. Click Start to download the selected configuration file to FPGA.
Control Panel
Start
To start the control panel, perform the following step:
vTo launch the control panel user interface, run the
CIII_Starter_control_panel.exe program found in the <kit
path>\Examples\CIII_Control_Panel\SW directory (Figure 2–3).
Figure 2–3. Control Panel Window

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 3–1
April 2007 Preliminary
3. Using the Control Panel
Overview The control panel consists of:
■The graphical user interface (GUI) on the host computer
■Circuitry (specified in Verilog HDL code) downloaded to the board’s
Cyclone®III device
After the kit’s CD-ROM is installed, the control panel hardware and
software can be found in the <kit path>\Examples\CIII_Control_Panel
directory. The Verilog HDL code enables experienced users to change the
control panel’s functionality.
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 input/output (I/O) device.
You can perform the following actions with the control panel:
■Light up LEDs
■Read from and write to the DDR SDRAM, SRAM, and flash memory
The following sections describe how to perform these 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” on
page 2–4.
LEDs Typical design activities do not require the ability to set arbitrary values
for simple display devices. However, for troubleshooting purposes,
setting arbitrary values enables you to verify that the devices are
operating correctly.
Illuminating LEDs
To illuminate an LED, perform the following steps:
1. Click the LED tab (Figure 3–1).
2. In the LED window, turn on the individual LEDs.

3–2 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide April 2007
DDR SDRAM/ SSRAM Controller and Programmer
3. Click Set.
1The Cyclone III starter board uses all of the I/Os in the
324 pin package. Although there are 4 LEDs on the board,
when the DDR core is instantiated, the Quartus II software
requires 2 of these I/Os to remain unused. This is why you
can only control 2 of the LEDs through the control panel.
Figure 3–1. Control Panel Window for LED Controls
DDR SDRAM/
SSRAM
Controller and
Programmer
You can perform the following types of memory read/write operations
with the control panel:
■Read from and write to the DDR SDRAM or SSRAM device
■Write sequential data, or the entire contents of a file, to the DDR
SDRAM or SSRAM device
■Read sequential data, or the entire contents of the DDR SDRAM or
SSRAM device, to a file
The following sections describe how to access the DDR SDRAM; the same
approach also applies to accessing the SSRAM.

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 3–3
April 2007 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Using the Control Panel
Read/Write Data
To read from and write to the DDR SDRAM, perform the following steps:
1. Click the DDR SDRAM tab (Figure 3–2).
Figure 3–2. Control Panel SDRAM Tab
2. To write a 16-bit word to the DDR SDRAM, type the hex address of
the desired location in the Random Access boxes and write the hex
data to be written. Click Write.
3. To read the contents of a location, enter the address in the Random
Access boxes. Click Read.
Sequential Write
To write the contents of a file to the DDR SDRAM, perform the following
steps:
1. Click the SDRAM tab and indicate your preferences using the
Sequential Write boxes.
2. Type the starting address in the Address box.
3. Type the number of bytes to write in the Length box.
1To load the entire file, turn on File Length without
specifying the number of bytes.

3–4 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide April 2007
Flash Memory Programmer
4. Click Write a File to DDR SDRAM to initiate the transaction.
5. Specify the source file in the pop-up Windows dialog box.
Sequential Read
To read the contents of the DDR SDRAM and write them to a file, perform
the following steps:
1. Click the DDR SDRAM tab indicate your preferences using the
Sequential Read boxes.
2. Type the starting address in the Address box.
3. Type the number of bytes to copy into the file in the Length box.
1To copy the entire contents of the SDRAM into a file, turn on
Entire DDR SDRAM without specifying the number of
bytes.
4. Click Load DDR SDRAM Content to a File to initiate the
transaction.
5. Specify the destination file in the pop-up Windows dialog box.
Flash Memory
Programmer
Using the control panel, you can perform the following operations to read
from and write to the board’s flash memory:
■Erase the entire flash memory
■Write one byte to flash memory
■Read one byte from flash memory
■Write a binary file to flash memory
■Load the contents of the flash memory into a file
When performing these transactions, consider the following
characteristics and limitations of the flash memory:
■Erasure of the entire flash memory is required before you can write
new data
■Flash memory tolerates only a limited number of erasures
cDo not exit from the control panel while erasing the entire
contents of the flash memory; this takes about 2 minutes.

Altera Corporation Core Version a.b.c variable 3–5
April 2007 Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide
Using the Control Panel
The feature of reading from or writing a byte to an entire file to the flash
memory enables you to develop multimedia applications (for example,
Flash Audio Player, Flash Picture Viewer) without having to build a flash
memory programmer.
Read/Write Data
To perform a read/write operation with a byte of data from/to the flash
memory, perform the following steps:
1. Click the FLASH tab (Figure 3–3) and type the data in the Random
Access boxes.
Figure 3–3. Control Panel Flash Tab
2. Click Chip Erase (2 Min). Wait for the operation to finish by
observing the button and window frame title prompt. This takes
about 2 minutes.
3. Type the desired address in the Address box and the data byte in the
wDATA box.
4. Click Write.
5. To read a byte of data from a random location, enter the desired
address and click Read. The rDATA box displays the content of the
specified address.

3–6 Core Version a.b.c variable Altera Corporation
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit User Guide April 2007
Flash Memory Programmer
Sequential Write
To write the contents of a file into flash memory, perform the following
steps:
1. Click the FLASH tab and type the data in the Sequential Write
boxes.
2. Under Random Access, click Chip Erase (2 Min). Wait for the
operation to finish by observing the button and window frame title
prompt. This takes about 2 minutes.
3. Under Sequential Write, type the starting address in the Address
box.
4. Specify the number of bytes to write in the Length box.
1To load the entire file, turn on File Length without
specifying the number of bytes.
5. Click Write a File to FLASH to initiate the transaction.
6. Specify the source file in the Windows pop-up dialog box.
Sequential Read
To read the contents of the flash memory and write them to a file, perform
the following steps:
1. Click the FLASH tab and type the data in the Sequential Read
boxes.
2. Type the starting address in the Address box.
3. Type the number of bytes to read from flash memory in the Length
box.
1To copy the entire contents of flash memory into a file, turn
on Entire Flash without specifying the number of bytes.
4. Click Load FLASH Content to a File.
5. Specify the destination file in the Windows pop-up dialog box.