With the Nios® II embedded processor, you have access to a broad range of software components. Altera and its partners provide the following solutions:
- Embedded Operating System Support
- Middleware/Libraries
- Partner Tools
- Intellectual Property (IP) Cores
Embedded Operating System Support
Altera's embedded software partners provide an array of operating systems for use with the Nios II processor. Table 1 shows the operating system support available for the Nios II processor.
Table 1. Embedded Operating System Support for the Nios II Processor |
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| Operating System | Supplier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eCos | eCosCentric | |||
| eCos | Zylin | |||
| embOS | Segger | |||
| Erika Enterprise | Evidence | |||
| Euros RTOS | Euros | |||
| Linux | ||||
| Linux | Wind River | |||
| Linux | SLS | |||
| Linux | CodeSourcery | |||
| Linux | Open Source Community | |||
| MicroC/OS-II (1) | Micrium | |||
| osCAN (2) | Vector | |||
| ThreadX | Express Logic | |||
| µCLinux | SLS | |||
| µCLinux | Open Source Community | |||
- Evaluation included with the Nios II Embedded Design Suite, but licensed separately.
- OSEK/VDX compliant. OSEK/VDX is an open standard of the automotive industry.
Middleware/Libraries
The Nios II processor is supported by a comprehensive set of software partner middleware, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Middleware/Libraries |
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| Company Name | OS Supported | Network Stack | File System | Graphics Library | USB Stack | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eCosCentric | eCos | Built in | Built in | |||
| Express Logic | ThreadX | NetX (2) | FileX (2) | PegX (2) | USBX (2) | |
| InterNiche | Any | NicheStack TCP/IP Network Stack – Nios II Edition (3) | ||||
| Mentor Graphics® | Nucleus Plus | Nucleus Net | Nucleus File (2) | Nucleus GRAFIX (2) | Nucleus USB (2) | |
| Micrium | MicroC/OS-II | MicroC/TCP-IP | MicroC/FS | MicroC/GUI | MicroC/USB | MicroC/CAN |
| Micro Digital | Any | GoFast Floating Point Library | ||||
| Planetweb | Any | SpectraWorks | ||||
| Timesys | Linux | Built in | Built in | |||
| Wind River | Built in |
Built in |
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| SLS | µCLinux / Linux | Built in | Built in | USB 2.0 | ||
| Built in | Built in | |||||
| Community Supported (www.nioswiki.com) (Nios Forum area of the Altera Forum) |
µCLinux / Linux | Built in | Built in | |||
| Any | Read-Only Zip File System(1) | |||||
- Included with the Nios II Embedded Design Suite.
- Contact company for availability.
- Included with the Nios II Embedded Design Suite, but licensed separately.
Partner Software Development Tools
Altera provides a variety of software development tools for the Nios II processor, as shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Partner Software Development Tools |
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| Company | Product | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lauterbach | Trace32 | Lauterbach TRACE32 is family of modular microprocessor development tools including debug, trace, and instruction set simulator that support the Nios II processor. |
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| Wind River | Workbench | Software development tools for embedded Linux on the Nios II processor. |
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| CodeSourcery | GNU tool chain support | GNU tool chain support for Linux on the Nios II processor. |
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| Altium | Tasking VX-toolset | Optimizing C compiler, assembler, linker, and locator. |
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| MIPS Technologies (formerly FS2) | System Navigator | The System Navigator probe for Altera® Nios II processors is designed to support the special features and integrated peripherals of the Nios II cores embedded in Altera FPGAs. |
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| Linux Tool Chain | Linux tool chain support from the open-source community. |
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| Open Source Community | µCLinux Tool Chain | µLinux tool chain support from the open-source community. |
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IP Cores
Simply drag and drop from a menu of available peripheral components to add them to your system. Altera provides a diverse portfolio of IP cores needed for most embedded applications, including communication, memory controller, and device interface IP cores. Additionally, you can create and import your own IP cores to enable the same drag-and-drop reuse. See Table 4 for graphics cores.
For a complete list of IP cores, go to the Intellectual Property Solutions page.
Table 4. Graphics Cores |
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| Company Name | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imagem Technology Solutions | ATHLET IP is a graphics engine that is an alternative solution to the conventional graphic chips used to build display human-machine interfaces. | |||
| TES Electronic Solutions | The D/AVE 2D is an Altera SOPC Builder and VHDL register transfer level (RTL) IP function developed for sophisticated vector-based graphic applications. A human-machine interface for D/AVE is available from Altia. | |||
