With Altera and the Altera® Embedded Alliance, you have access to a broad range of embedded software components. Altera and our Embedded Alliance provide the following solutions:
- Embedded operating systems
- Middleware and graphics libraries
- Software development tools
- Graphics IP cores
Embedded Operating Systems
Altera's embedded software partners provide an array of operating systems for use with our portfolio of embedded processors. Table 1 shows the operating system support available.
Table 1. Embedded Operating Systems
| Operating System | Associated Processor | Supplier |
|---|---|---|
| eCos | Nios® II | eCosCentric |
| eCos | Nios II | Zylin |
| embOS | Nios II | Segger |
| Erika Enterprise | Nios II | Evidence |
| Euros RTOS | Nios II | Euros |
| Linux | Nios II | Timesys |
| Linux | Nios II | Wind River |
| Linux | Nios II | SLS |
| Linux | Nios II | CodeSourcery |
| Linux | Nios II | Open Source Community |
| Linux | Dual-core ARM® CortexTM-A9 MPCoreTM processor-based SoC FPGA Virtual Target |
Altera |
| MicroC/OS-II (1) | Nios II | Micrium |
| osCAN (2) | Nios II | Vector |
| ThreadX | Nios II | Express Logic |
| µCLinux | Nios II | SLS |
| µCLinux | Nios II | Open Source Community |
| VxWorks | MP32 | Wind River |
| VxWorks | Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based SoC FPGA Virtual Target |
Wind River |
- 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 and Graphics Libraries
Table 2. Middleware and Graphics Libraries
| Company Name | OS Supported | Network Stack | File System | Graphics Library | USB Stack | Miscellaneous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eCosCentric | eCos | Built in | Built in | - | - | - |
| Express Logic | ThreadX | NetX (1) | FileX (1) | PegX (1) | USBX (1) | - |
| InterNiche | Any | NicheStack TCP/IP Network Stack – Nios II Edition (2) | - | - | - | - |
| Mentor Graphics® | Nucleus Plus | Nucleus Net | Nucleus File (1) | Nucleus GRAFIX (1) | Nucleus USB (1) | - |
| Micrium | MicroC/OS-II | MicroC/TCP-IP | MicroC/FS | MicroC/GUI | MicroC/USB | MicroC/CAN |
| Micro Digital | Any | - | - | - | - | GoFast floating-point library |
| Timesys | Linux | Built in | Built in | - | - | - |
| Wind River | Linux | Built in | Built in | - | - | - |
| SLS | µCLinux / Linux | Built in | Built in | - | USB 2.0 | - |
| Community supported (www.alterawiki.com) (Nios Forum area of the Altera Forum) |
µCLinux / Linux | Built in | Built in | - | - | - |
| Any | - | Read-only zip file system (3) | - | - | - |
- Contact company for availability.
- Included with the Nios II Embedded Design Suite, but licensed separately.
- Included with the Nios II Embedded Design Suite.
Software Development Tools
Table 3. Software Development Tools
| Company | Product | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lauterbach | TRACE32 | Lauterbach TRACE32 is family of modular microprocessor development tools that include debug, trace, and instruction-set simulators that support the Nios II processor and the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based SoC FPGA Virtual Target. | ||
| ARM | RVDS | The ARM RVDS toolchain is a complete, end-to-end solution for software development supporting all ARM processors and ARM CoreSight debug technology. | ||
| Wind River | Workbench for Nios II embedded processor |
Software development tools for embedded Linux on the Nios II processor. | ||
| Wind River | Workbench for MIPS® MP32 embedded processor |
Software development tools for VxWorks on the MP32 processor and the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based SoC FPGA Virtual Target. | ||
| Mentor Graphics | GNU toolchain | GNU toolchain support for embedded Linux on the Nios II processor and the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based SoC FPGA Virtual Target. | ||
| Altium | Tasking VX-toolset | Optimizing C compiler, assembler, linker, and locator. | ||
| MIPS Technologies (formerly FS2) | System Navigator | The System Navigator probe for Nios II processors is designed to support the special features and integrated peripherals of the Nios II cores embedded in Altera FPGAs. | ||
| Open-source community | Linux toolchain | Linux toolchain from the open-source community. | ||
| Open-source community | µCLinux toolchain | µLinux toolchain from the open-source community. | ||
Graphics IP Cores
Altera has worked with the following third-party partners to provide a diverse portfolio of intellectual property (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 and reference designs page.
Table 4. Graphics Cores
| 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. |
Virtual Prototyping Solutions
Altera has worked with the following third-party partners to provide a virtual prototyping solution that enables pre-silicon software development for the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based SoC FPGA devices.
For a complete list of IP cores, go to the intellectual property and reference designs page.
Table 5. Software Development Tools
| Company | Product | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Altera | SoC FPGA Virtual Target | The Altera SoC FPGA Virtual Target is a PC-based fast functional simulation of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-powered target development system. |
| Altera | Linux for the SoC FPGA Virtual Target | This is a pre-built Linux kernel for the SoC FPGA Virtual Target. |
| Wind River | VxWorks for the ARM Cortex-A9 processor | Altera provides a board support package to let you run VxWorks for the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor on the SoC FPGA Virtual Target. |
