Logic families
At the IKR different logic families from Altera are used.
Software
From the net lists that a synthesis tool creates, a "Place and Route" tool now creates the program files for that particular component. For the Altera components at the IKR the programs Quartus and Max+Puls II are used.
Experimental platforms
Flex-10k-adapter-board
For sophisticated designs that are designed to be extensive and fast some programmable logic devices are required that are quite expensive. In order to be able to use these again after the assignment in a project, an adapter board was developed at the IKR, which provides the input and output pins of the module on connectors. This adapter board is then plugged onto project specific boards.
This contains:
- A component of the Altera FLEX10K family
- Multipolar connectors
- A charging circuit with Eprom for configuring the FLEX10k device
- Sockets for quartz oscillator for variable determination of the system frequency
System-On-a-Programmable-Chip-Board
In order to be able to implement systems with very high clock rates, not only a faster programmable component has to be used, but the peripheral components have also to be connected in an adequate manner. For this purpose, a board has been purchased at the Institute of Communication Networks and Computer Engineering, which provides a large number of peripheral components to a fast APEX20KE module:
- 64MB SDRAM
- 4MB Flash memory
- 2x 1MB Cache Memory
- Interfaces:
- 10/100 Mb-Ethernet
- USB
- IEEE 1394
- Mouse
- Keyboard
- VGA port
- RS-232
- Printer port
- Expansion connectors for own boards
These boards are used for study projects.
Model Processor
For the lab courses, a processor for teaching purposes was developed at the IKR. This model processor makes it possible to "look into" the individual elements of a processor and also to influence the processes in the processor itself. The system was implemented by plug-in cards, each of which forms a functional unit of the processor. The functionality of the unit is completely determined by programmable logic devices. These modules can be programmed in the lab course by oneself. On the one hand this fosters the understanding of the function of a processor and on the other hand the handling of programmable logic is deepened.