Cyclone III FPGA Development Kits

Accelerate your design process by utilizing a variety of development kits based on Cyclone^® III FPGAs. These hardware-based solutions contain everything you need to create and implement a design in as little as 1-2 hours.

• Altera and partner development kits (see Table 1)
• Optional HSMC daughtercards, adapters, or cables (see Table 2) 

Altera developed the specification for the high-speed mezzanine connector (HSMC), which is based on the Samtec mechanical connector, to define and standardize the interface between optional daughtercards and host boards (see Figure 1). This specification outlines both the electrical and mechanical properties of the interface between daughtercard and host. You can also create your own HSMC-based prototype daughtercards.

• Download a copy of the HSMC specification 

Figure 1. Host and Daughtercard Interconnection via HSMC

Table 1. Hardware (Sorted by Price) Based on the Cyclone III FPGA
Product Name	Type	Vendor	Device	Price/Availability
Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit	Dev. kit	Altera	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	$199
Low-Power Reference Platform	Dev. kit	Arrow	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	$249
USB 2.0 Embedded Development Kit	Dev. kit	SLS	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	$349
Nios® II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition	Dev. kit	Altera	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	$449
PCI Development Board	Dev. kit	CEPD	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C16)	$799
Industrial Ethernet—MercuryCode Reference Platform	Dev. platform	EBV	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40)	€579
Industrial Applications—SnakeBytes Reference Platform	Dev. platform	EBV	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120)	Contact Vendor
Motor Control—FalconEye Reference Platform	Dev. platform	EBV	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40)	€1199
MotionFire—Motor Control Development Platform	Dev. platform	Arrow	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40)	$1,389
Cyclone III FPGA Development Kit	Dev. kit	Altera	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120)	$995
Digital Radio/SDR Development Kit	Dev. kit	CEPD	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C16)	$1,599
DSP Development Kit, Cyclone III Edition	Dev. kit	Altera	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120)	$1,595
Video Development Kit	Dev. kit	Bitec	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120)	$1,895
Embedded Systems Development Kit, Cyclone III Edition	Dev. kit	Altera	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120)	$1,595
ARM® Cortex-M1 FPGA Development Kit	Dev. kit	Arrow	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	$2,500
Cyclone III LS FPGA Development Kit	Dev. kit	Altera	Cyclone III LS FPGA (EP3CLS200)	$3,495
ViClaro III HD Video Development Platform	Dev. platform	Microtronix	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120)	$3,995
NanoBoard reconfigurable hardware, Cyclone III FPGA Daughtercard	Dev. platform	Altium	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40)	Contact vendor Available now
DSP + FPGA Coprocessing: ADI 21369 SHARC & Cyclone III FPGA	Dev. platform	Danville Signal	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40)	Contact vendor Available now
Industrial Ethernet—Adapter Modules for Powerlink, PROFINET IO, EtherNet/IP	Dev. kit	IXXAT	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C16)	Contact vendor Available now
Industrial Ethernet—Powerlink Interface Board for PCI Bus Systems	Dev. kit	IXXAT	Cyclone II FPGA (EP2C8)	Contact vendor Available now
Industrial Ethernet—Fieldbus Kit for PROFINET IO, EtherNet/IP, Modbus/TCP	Dev kit	Softing	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	Contact vendor Available now
Industrial Ethernet—EtherCAT (EL9830 Base Board with FB1122 Controller Card)	Eval. kit	Beckhoff	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25)	Contact vendor Available now
PRISM405-PowerQUICC III Embedded Processor and ASIC Prototyping Development Module	Module	AKA	Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C80)	Contact vendor Available now

Table 2. Optional HSMC Interface-Compatible Daughtercards, Adapters, or Cables
Product Name	Type	Vendor	Host Board Accelerate your design process by utilizing a variety of development kits based on Cyclone® III FPGAs. These hardware-based solutions contain everything you need to create and implement a design in as little as 1-2 hours. Altera and partner development kits (see Table 1) Optional HSMC daughtercards, adapters, or cables (see Table 2)  Altera developed the specification for the high-speed mezzanine connector (HSMC), which is based on the Samtec mechanical connector, to define and standardize the interface between optional daughtercards and host boards (see Figure 1). This specification outlines both the electrical and mechanical properties of the interface between daughtercard and host. You can also create your own HSMC-based prototype daughtercards. Download a copy of the HSMC specification  Figure 1. Host and Daughtercard Interconnection via HSMC Table 1. Hardware (Sorted by Price) Based on the Cyclone III FPGA Product Name Type Vendor Device Price/Availability Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit Dev. kit Altera Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) $199 Low-Power Reference Platform Dev. kit Arrow Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) $249 USB 2.0 Embedded Development Kit Dev. kit SLS Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) $349 Nios® II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition Dev. kit Altera Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) $449 PCI Development Board Dev. kit CEPD Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C16) $799 Industrial Ethernet—MercuryCode Reference Platform Dev. platform EBV Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40) €579   Industrial Applications—SnakeBytes Reference Platform Dev. platform EBV Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120) Contact Vendor   Motor Control—FalconEye Reference Platform Dev. platform EBV Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40) €1199   MotionFire—Motor Control Development Platform Dev. platform Arrow Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40) $1,389 Cyclone III FPGA Development Kit  Dev. kit Altera Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120) $995 Digital Radio/SDR Development Kit Dev. kit CEPD Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C16) $1,599 DSP Development Kit, Cyclone III Edition  Dev. kit Altera Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120) $1,595 Video Development Kit Dev. kit Bitec Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120) $1,895 Embedded Systems Development Kit, Cyclone III Edition  Dev. kit Altera Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120) $1,595 ARM® Cortex-M1 FPGA Development Kit Dev. kit Arrow Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) $2,500 Cyclone III LS FPGA Development Kit  Dev. kit Altera Cyclone III LS FPGA (EP3CLS200) $3,495 ViClaro III HD Video Development Platform Dev. platform Microtronix  Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C120) $3,995 NanoBoard reconfigurable hardware, Cyclone III FPGA Daughtercard  Dev. platform Altium Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40) Contact vendor Available now DSP + FPGA Coprocessing: ADI 21369 SHARC & Cyclone III FPGA  Dev. platform Danville Signal Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C40) Contact vendor Available now Industrial Ethernet—Adapter Modules for Powerlink, PROFINET IO, EtherNet/IP Dev. kit IXXAT Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C16) Contact vendor Available now Industrial Ethernet—Powerlink Interface Board for PCI Bus Systems Dev. kit IXXAT Cyclone II FPGA (EP2C8) Contact vendor Available now Industrial Ethernet—Fieldbus Kit for PROFINET IO, EtherNet/IP, Modbus/TCP Dev kit Softing Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) Contact vendor Available now Industrial Ethernet—EtherCAT (EL9830 Base Board with FB1122 Controller Card) Eval. kit Beckhoff Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C25) Contact vendor Available now PRISM405-PowerQUICC III Embedded Processor and ASIC Prototyping Development Module Module AKA Cyclone III FPGA (EP3C80) Contact vendor Available now Table 2. Optional HSMC Interface-Compatible Daughtercards, Adapters, or Cables Product Name Type Vendor Host Board (1) Price/Availability Various HSMC capable  various Any HSMC-based host board Buy online or contact third-party vendors. Products are all available now (check for lead-time). Note: Certain combinations of HSMC daughtercards and host boards have been tested by Altera, others have been tested by 3rd party vendors, other combinations have not. color="#ffffff">(1)	Price/Availability
Various	HSMC capable	various	Any HSMC-based host board	Buy online or contact third-party vendors. Products are all available now (check for lead-time).

Note:

1. Certain combinations of HSMC daughtercards and host boards have been tested by Altera, others have been tested by 3rd party vendors, other combinations have not.