Chapter 9: Configuration, Design Security, and Remote System Upgrades in the Cyclone III Device Family
9–23
Configuration Features
In production environments, serial configuration devices are programmed using
multiple methods. Altera programming hardware or other third-party programming
hardware is used to program blank serial configuration devices before they are
mounted onto PCBs. Alternatively, you can use an on-board microprocessor to
program the serial configuration device in-system by porting the reference C-based
SRunner software driver provided by Altera.
A serial configuration device is programmed in-system by an external microprocessor
using the SRunner software driver. The SRunner software driver is a software driver
developed for embedded serial configuration device programming, which is easily
customized to fit in different embedded systems. The SRunner software driver is able
to read a Raw Programming Data (.rpd) file and write to the serial configuration
devices. The serial configuration device programming time using the SRunner
software driver is comparable to the programming time with the Quartus II software.
f
For more information about the SRunner software driver, refer to AN 418: SRunner:
An Embedded Solution for Serial Configuration Device Programming and the source code
at the Altera website (www.altera.com).
AP Configuration (Supported Flash Memories)
The AP configuration scheme is for Cyclone III devices only. In the AP configuration
scheme, Cyclone III devices are configured using commodity 16-bit parallel flash
memory. These external non-volatile configuration devices are industry standard
microprocessor flash memories. The flash memories provide a fast interface to access
the configuration data. The speed-up in configuration time is mainly due to the 16-bit
wide parallel data bus, which is used to retrieve data from the flash memory.
Some of the smaller Cyclone III devices or package options do not support the AP
configuration scheme and do not have the MSEL[3]pin. Table 9–10 lists the supported
AP configuration scheme for each Cyclone III device.
Table 9–10. Supported AP Configuration Scheme for Cyclone III Devices
Package Options
Device
E144 M164 Q240
F256
—
F324
—
F484
—
F780
—
U256
—
U484
—
EP3C5
EP3C10
EP3C16
EP3C25
EP3C40
EP3C55
EP3C80
EP3C120
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
v
—
—
—
v
—
—
v
v
—
—
—
—
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
—
v
v
v
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
During device configuration, Cyclone III devices read configuration data using the
parallel interface and configure their SRAM cells. This scheme is referred to as the AP
configuration scheme because the device controls the configuration interface. This
scheme contrasts with the FPP configuration scheme, where an external host controls
the interface.
August 2012 Altera Corporation
Cyclone III Device Handbook
Volume 1
ALTERA [ ALTERA CORPORATION ]
