AN 736: Nios II Processor Booting From Altera Serial Flash (EPCQ)

Download PDF
ID 683104
Date 5/20/2016
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Nios II Processor Booting From Altera Serial Flash (EPCQ)
1. Nios II Processor Booting From Altera Serial Flash (EPCQ) x
1.1. Definitions 1.2. Description of the Altera Serial Flash Controller 1.3. Scenarios for Booting Nios II from EPCQ Flash 1.4. Nios II Processor Configuration and Boot Flow 1.5. Steps to Build a Bootable System 1.6. EPCQ HAL Driver 1.7. Nios II Processor Booting Elements 1.8. Revision History for Nios II Booting From Altera Serial Flash (EPCQ)
1.3. Scenarios for Booting Nios II from EPCQ Flash x
1.3.1. Nios II Processor Application Execute-In-Place from EPCQ Flash 1.3.2. Nios II Processor Application Copied from EPCQ Flash to RAM
1.5. Steps to Build a Bootable System x
1.5.1. Design 1.5.2. Configuration and Compilation 1.5.3. BSP Editor Settings 1.5.4. Application 1.5.5. Programming Files Conversion 1.5.6. Configuration for EPCQ Programming 1.5.7. Download 1.5.8. Reset and Boot
1.5.2. Configuration and Compilation x
1.5.2.1. Reset and Exception Vector Settings for Nios® II Execute-In-Place Method 1.5.2.2. Reset and Exception Vector Settings for Nios II Boot Copier Method
1.7. Nios II Processor Booting Elements x
1.7.1. Memcpy-based Nios II Boot Copier
1. Nios II Processor Booting From Altera Serial Flash (EPCQ)

1.7.1. Memcpy-based Nios II Boot Copier

The Nios® II processor memcpy-based boot copier has the following features:

  • Supports EPCQ, CFI and Intel® on-chip flash (UFM) flash memories
  • Can locate software application in flash
  • Unpacks and copies software application image to Random Access Memory (RAM)
  • Automatically switches to application code in RAM after copy completes

The Nios® II processor boot copier is used when the Nios® II soft processor application is copied from EPCQ flash to RAM. The memcpy-based boot copier is automatically appended to the .hex file by the Nios® II SBT tool when the executable file (.elf) is converted to a memory initialization file (.hex) using the make mem_init_generate target. This operation takes place whenever the .text linker section is located in a different memory than where the reset vector points, which indicates a code copy is required. The function of the boot copier is to copy the software application to your desired location such as RAM. Once the copy is complete, the boot copier passes the system control to the application.

Related Information
Level Two Title