AN 370: Using the Intel FPGA Serial Flash Loader with the Intel Quartus Prime Software

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ID 683299
Date 2/18/2019
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Using the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software
1. Using the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software x
1.1. Features 1.2. Overview 1.3. Programming Single and Multiple Serial Configuration Devices with the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core 1.4. Using the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software 1.5. Generating .jic and .jam Programming Files in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software 1.6. Programming Serial Configuration Devices with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer 1.7. Features for Intel® Arria® 10 and Intel® Cyclone® 10 GX Devices 1.8. Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core Parameter 1.9. Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core Signals 1.10. Document Revision History for AN 370: Using the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software
1.4. Using the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software x
1.4.1. Instantiating the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core
1.5. Generating .jic and .jam Programming Files in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software x
1.5.1. Converting .sof to .jic Files in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software 1.5.2. Converting .jic Files to .jam Files in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software
1.6. Programming Serial Configuration Devices with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer x
1.6.1. Programming Serial Configuration Devices Using the Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer and .jic Files 1.6.2. Programming Serial Configuration Devices Using the Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer and .jam Files
1.7. Features for Intel® Arria® 10 and Intel® Cyclone® 10 GX Devices x
1.7.1. Multiple Configuration Devices Support 1.7.2. Boot Page Selection
1. Using the Intel® FPGA Serial Flash Loader IP Core with the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software

1.7.1. Multiple Configuration Devices Support

You are unable to select the number of configuration devices. Based on the configuration device you selected in Convert Programming File tool, the Intel® Quartus® Prime software indicates the number of configuration devices required to fit the configuration file generated. The following examples explain the multiple flash support:

Table 2.  Example of Multiple Configuration Devices Requirements
  • Only identical configuration devices are supported for the multiple configuration devices feature.
  • Multiple configuration device feature supports up to 3 devices only.
Configuration Device Selected Configuration Data Size Configuration Device Required
EPCQ-L256 Larger than 256 Mbit and smaller than 512 MBit 2
EPCQ-L256 Larger than 512 Mbit and smaller than 768 MBit 3
Note: The Intel® Quartus® Prime Convert Programming File tool creates a .jic file based on the setting you set. Configuration will fail if the wrong configuration device type selected in the Convert Programming File tool. However, configuration will work if the configuration devices on your board are more than to the configuration devices required by the generated configuration file.

The Intel® Quartus® Prime programmer sees multiple configuration devices as a big storage unit. It spans across the flash boundary automatically when the content to be stored exceeds a particular flash capacity.

For example, in Table 2, only a single JIC file will be generated. For RPD file generation, multiple RPD files will be generated because the RPD files is programmed directly to the flash with other tools, such as third-party programmer. You must manage the RPD files and determine the right RPD to be programmed into each flash.
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