Nios® II Software Developer Handbook

ID 683525
Date 8/28/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

6.1. Getting Started with the Hardware Abstraction Layer

The easiest way to get started using the HAL is to create a software project. In the process of creating a new project, you also create a HAL BSP. You do not need to create or copy HAL files, nor edit any of the HAL source code. The Nios® II SBT generates the HAL BSP for you.

For an example on creating a simple Nios® II HAL software project, refer to the “Getting Started with Nios® II Software in Eclipse” chapter.

In the Nios® II SBT command line, you can create an example BSP based on the HAL using one of the create-this-bsp scripts supplied with the Nios II Embedded Design Suite.

You must base the HAL on a specific hardware system. A Nios® II system consists of a Nios® II processor core integrated with peripherals and memory. Nios® II systems are generated by Platform Designer.

If you do not have a custom Nios® II system, you can base your project on an Intel FPGA-provided example hardware system. In fact, you can first start developing projects targeting an Intel FPGA development board, and later re-target the project to a custom board. You can easily change the target hardware system later.

For more information about creating a new project with the Nios® II SBT command line, refer to either:
  • “Getting Started with Nios® II Software in Eclipse” section or
  • "Getting Started from the Command Line" section