SOPC Builder
SOPC Builder is an exclusive Quartus® II software tool that enables you to rapidly and easily build systems and evaluate embedded systems.
One of the most time consuming tasks of building a system is integrating the growing number of components your system requires. SOPC Builder eliminates manual system integration tasks and allows you to focus on custom user logic design to differentiate your system. All versions of the Altera® Quartus II design software include the SOPC Builder system generation tool. SOPC Builder does the following:
- Provides an easy-to-use GUI interface that allows you to efficiently build and modify your system
- Integrates commonly used SOPC Builder components automatically: Altera intellectual property (IP), Altera Megafunction Partners Program (AMPPSM) IP, and the cores of your custom components
- Allows you to efficiently connect to external processors with a library of SOPC Builder-ready IP, including Serial RapidIO®, Gigabit Ethernet, PCI, and PCI Express protocols
- Enables you to create your own reusable custom components to include in your systems
- Generates HDL of your system, including a system interconnect fabric optimized for the requirements of each system integrating your system components
You can use SOPC Builder for all or part of your FPGA or MAX® II CPLD system design. Using the SOPC Builder interface to select components and connections between components, system integration tasks are reduced to just minutes, enabling you to focus on your custom logic. Common SOPC Builder applications include:
You can now easily meet your exact needs by defining a custom processor solution using SOPC Builder and the Altera Nios® II processor (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Custom Nios II Embedded Processor Solution
See how easy your custom processor solutions can be:
You can easily interface to nearly any external processor or DSP device using the SOPC Builder component editor feature (see Figure 2). If you create an SOPC Builder component interface to your processor, you can add additional I/O pins, pre-packaged peripherals, or custom, self-made peripherals with just a few mouse clicks. SOPC Builder builds the system and output header files for your software development team. The team can access the peripherals from the external processor using their favorite integrated development environment (IDE).
Figure 2. Peripheral Expansion of a CPU
See how easy peripheral expansion to a stand-alone processor can be:
You can easily build systems that communicate through a PCI, PCI Express, Serial RapidIO, or Gigabit Ethernet interface to ASSPs or external processors using Altera's SOPC Builder and the SOPC Builder-ready IP cores (see Figure 3). For other interfaces, you can create a custom component to connect the local bus interface of your external processor to your system.
Figure 3. ASSP or CPU Connection via PCI Interface
See how easy connecting to an ASSP or CPU through PCI can be:
With SOPC Builder, you can easily build a DSP coprocessor to offload tasks from the DSP device. You can also utilize your Altera FPGA’s parallel DSP processing capabilities to boost system DSP performance. The SOPC Builder component editor feature helps you build an interface to the Texas Instruments (TI) digital signal processor external memory interface (EMIF), other peripheral expansion, or external memory interfaces included on other processors (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. DSP Coprocessor
Note:
- EMIF = external memory interface
See how easy building a DSP coprocessor can be:
SOPC Builder Interface
SOPC Builder has an intuitive user interface that allows you to easily select and parameterize components, select connections between components, generate a complete system including interconnects, and automatically generate memory mapped header files for use by software engineers (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. SOPC Builder User Interface
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Learn more about SOPC Builder design flow and features.
Start Using SOPC Builder Today
SOPC Builder is included in the Quartus II Subscription Edition software and free Quartus II Web Edition software download. You can download SOPC Builder-ready IP cores from the IP MegaStore™ website. Quartus II software and SOPC Builder-ready components are also available in Altera and partner development kits.
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