Make the Move from MAX+PLUS II to Quartus II Software
 The latest release of the Quartus® II software is now the easiest-to-use and best software for designing with CPLDs, FPGAs, and structured ASICs. MAX+PLUS® II software users will be amazed at how familiar the Quartus II software version 4.0 looks and feels while delivering better performance, more features, and access to exciting new CPLD and FPGA device families.
Here’s what people are saying about the Quartus II software (read the full quotes below):
- “The Quartus II software is more reliable and user-friendly than MAX+PLUS II …” Hussein Moradi, President, Quintessence Technologies Corporation
- “…I found it very easy to switch from the MAX+PLUS II software to the Quartus II software, which I now use for all of my new Altera designs...” Bill Swanson, Principal Engineer, Vytek
- “I am very impressed with the ease-of-use, speed, and exceptional quality of results yielded by the Quartus II software…” Alfredo Mendez, Principal Consultant, Intrinsix
Why Adopt the Quartus II Software?
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Supports new MAX® II CPLDs as well as Cyclone™, Stratix™, and Stratix II FPGAs, and HardCopy™ structured ASICs
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Supports MAX, FLEX®, and ACEX® designs
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With its built-in MAX+PLUS II look-and-feel option (see Figures 1, 2, and 3), users can get the full benefit of the Quartus II software without learning a new software user interface.
Figure 1. MAX+PLUS II Look-&-Feel Toolbar in Quartus II Software
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Figure 2. Quartus II Compiler Window
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Figure 3. New Quartus II Timing Analyzer & Simulator Tools
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In addition to the MAX+PLUS II software look-and-feel option, the Quartus II software offers some important advantages over the MAX+PLUS II software, as listed in Table 1.
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Table 1. Quartus II Advantages Compared to MAX+PLUS II Software
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Design Method
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Supported Features
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Device Support
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Supports the new MAX II family in addition to MAX 3000A, 7000AE, MAX 7000B, and MAX 7000S families
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Supports the latest FPGA devices such as Cyclone, Stratix, and Stratix II families, in addition to FLEX 10KE®, FLEX 10K®, FLEX 10KA, ACEX, and FLEX 6000 families
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Performance
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Offers better average performance than MAX+PLUS II software version 10.2 for MAX 3000A, MAX 7000AE, MAX 7000B, MAX 7000S, FLEX 10K, and ACEX designs
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Synthesis
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Integrates RTL synthesis support for the latest VHDL & Verilog language standards in addition to AHDL support
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RTL viewer provides a graphical representation of VHDL or Verilog designs before synthesis and design implementation (Quartus II software only)
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Supports all leading third-party synthesis flows
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Advanced Features
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Advanced features for supporting MAX II CPLDs and the latest FPGA device families
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PowerGauge™ power analysis support for MAX 3000A, MAX 7000AE, and MAX 7000B designs and the latest FPGA devices (Coming soon for MAX II CPLD devices)
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LogicLock™ block-based design flow
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SOPC Builder
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Compilation
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Verification features
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Last-minute design change support (ECO support)
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Read How Other Customers Have Benefited from the Quartus II Software
Quintessence Technologies Corporation
"I am overwhelmed by the ease-of-use of the Quartus II software compared to other programmable logic and EDA tools. The Quartus II software is more reliable and user-friendly than MAX+PLUS II, particularly in the areas of simulation, finding nodes, and making pin assignments. Also, the graphic stimulus creator is significantly faster and more efficient than similar tools from third parties. Converting my designs has been very simple, and I have achieved fits into target devices in very short amounts of time. Finally, the Quartus II user guide is easy to navigate, making it easy for me to find answers to my questions."
Hussein Moradi
President
Intrinsix
"I have been an FPGA designer for the past 10 years. I have used many tools, including Actel Designer Series, Synario, Xilinx ISE, Synplicity Amplify & Synplify_Pro, Synopsys FPGA Compiler, the Leonardo Spectrum™ tool, as well as Altera's MAX+PLUS II software. I am very impressed with the ease of use, speed, and exceptional quality of results yielded by the Quartus II software, and it has been instrumental in getting my first Stratix high-performance design working quickly. The Quartus II software and Stratix FPGAs are an excellent combination for an affordable, high-performance, quick time-to-market solution. The Quartus II software has better integration of its design environment (e.g., synthesis, simulation, logic analyzer, and place-and-route) than all of its competitors. The Quartus II floor planner is outstanding at tracing signals effortlessly from input pins to all attached logic. The integrated SignalTap II logic analyzer is effortless to use and does not require purchasing a third-party tool as does Xilinx ISE. Quartus II tool integration and ease of use blows away all of its competitors!"
Alfredo Mendez
Principal Consultant
Vytek
“I have been using the MAX+PLUS II software since 1993 and have completed over 40 designs with Altera® CPLDs and FPGAs. I have found Altera CPLDs very useful to design glue logic and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) controllers for processors. Once a leftover portion of an FPGA was used to implement the needed parts of a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus to interface a graphic controller to a CPU. This allowed the PCI bridge chip to be removed from the design. I have implemented large designs doing real-time image corrections of images from high-speed cameras. The design required using over 10 CPLDs and FPGAs to meet the speed requirements of the system. I found it very easy to switch from the MAX+PLUS II software to the Quartus II software, which I now use for all of my new Altera designs. The Quartus II software updates have been very useful and trouble-free, and I have never had to revert to an older version to finish a design. One of the main reasons I moved to the Quartus II software is its superior ability to deliver timing closure; it has been indispensable for my most difficult projects. On several occasions, I have used 100% of the logic resources in an Altera CPLD or FPGA, while still meeting my speed requirements. I have used tools from other PLD vendors, including Xilinx, but find the Quartus II software the easiest to use.”
Bill Swanson
Principal Engineer
Odyssey Technologies
"I first made the switch to Altera FPGAs because Altera was the first programmable logic supplier to implement embedded blocks of RAMs, and since then they have always been the first to deliver the FPGA features that my designs required. In addition to providing the most advanced FPGA features, Altera is also on the leading edge with their development tools, and as a result, the Quartus II software is the most powerful and easy-to-use development software on the planet. For example, the Quartus II software provides a MegaWizard® Plug-In, making it easy to instantiate RAM models in Verilog or VHDL. That's just one of the many ease-of-use features that make the Quartus II software superior to Xilinx's ISE 6 software. Here at Odyssey, we specialize in the design and development of leading-edge, sophisticated communications systems, and time-to-market is always critical, which is why we rely on Altera FPGAs and the Quartus II software: because being second is just one step away from saying ’Do you want fries with that burger?’"
Perry J. Brown
President
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