Nios® V Processor Reference Manual

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ID 683632
Date 1/27/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. Overview 2. Nios® V/c Processor 3. Nios® V/m Processor 4. Nios® V/g Processor 5. Nios V Processor Reference Manual Archives 6. Document Revision History for the Nios® V Processor Reference Manual
1. Overview x
1.1. Quartus® Prime Software Support
2. Nios® V/c Processor x
2.1. Processor Performance Benchmarks 2.2. Processor Pipeline 2.3. Processor Architecture 2.4. Programming Model 2.5. Core Implementation
2.3. Processor Architecture x
2.3.1. General-Purpose Register File 2.3.2. Arithmetic Logic Unit 2.3.3. Reset and Debug Signals 2.3.4. Instruction Cycles 2.3.5. Memory and I/O Organization 2.3.6. Error Correction Code (ECC)
2.3.5. Memory and I/O Organization x
2.3.5.1. Instruction and Data Buses 2.3.5.2. Address Map
2.3.5.1. Instruction and Data Buses x
2.3.5.1.1. Instruction Manager Port 2.3.5.1.2. Data Manager Port 2.3.5.1.3. Choosing a Suitable Interface
2.4. Programming Model x
2.4.1. Privilege Levels
2.5. Core Implementation x
2.5.1. Instruction Set Reference
3. Nios® V/m Processor x
3.1. Processor Performance Benchmarks 3.2. Processor Pipeline 3.3. Processor Architecture 3.4. Programming Model 3.5. Core Implementation
3.1. Processor Performance Benchmarks x
3.1.1. Pipelined 3.1.2. Non-pipelined
3.2. Processor Pipeline x
3.2.1. Pipelined Architecture 3.2.2. Non-pipelined Architecture
3.3. Processor Architecture x
3.3.1. General-Purpose Register File 3.3.2. Arithmetic Logic Unit 3.3.3. Reset and Debug Signals 3.3.4. Control and Status Registers 3.3.5. Instruction Cycles 3.3.6. Trap Controller (CLINT) 3.3.7. Memory and I/O Organization 3.3.8. RISC-V based Debug Module 3.3.9. Error Correction Code (ECC)
3.3.6. Trap Controller (CLINT) x
3.3.6.1. Related Control and Status Register 3.3.6.2. Direct Mode 3.3.6.3. Vectored Mode
3.3.6.1. Related Control and Status Register x
3.3.6.1.1. Machine Status Register (mstatus) 3.3.6.1.2. Machine Trap-Vector Base-Address Register (mtvec) 3.3.6.1.3. Machine Interrupt Register (mip and mie) 3.3.6.1.4. Machine Exception Program Counter Register (mepc) 3.3.6.1.5. Machine Cause Register (mcause) 3.3.6.1.6. Machine Trap Value Register (mtval)
3.3.6.2. Direct Mode x
3.3.6.2.1. Hardware Implementation 3.3.6.2.2. Software Implementation
3.3.6.3. Vectored Mode x
3.3.6.3.1. Hardware Implementation 3.3.6.3.2. Software Implementation
3.3.7. Memory and I/O Organization x
3.3.7.1. Instruction and Data Buses 3.3.7.2. Address Map
3.3.7.1. Instruction and Data Buses x
3.3.7.1.1. Instruction Manager Port 3.3.7.1.2. Data Manager Port 3.3.7.1.3. Choosing a Suitable Interface
3.3.8. RISC-V based Debug Module x
3.3.8.1. Debug Module 3.3.8.2. Abstract Commands 3.3.8.3. Program Buffer 3.3.8.4. Debug Mode 3.3.8.5. Hardware Trigger Module 3.3.8.6. JTAG Debug Transport Module 3.3.8.7. Nios® V Processor Implementation
3.3.8.1. Debug Module x
3.3.8.1.1. Reset/Halt/Run Control 3.3.8.1.2. Hart States 3.3.8.1.3. Debug Module Register
3.3.8.2. Abstract Commands x
3.3.8.2.1. Access Register Command 3.3.8.2.2. Using Access Register Command
3.3.8.3. Program Buffer x
3.3.8.3.1. Using Program Buffer
3.3.8.4. Debug Mode x
3.3.8.4.1. Enter Debug Mode 3.3.8.4.2. Exit Debug Mode 3.3.8.4.3. Core Debug Registers
3.3.8.5. Hardware Trigger Module x
3.3.8.5.1. Trigger Registers 3.3.8.5.2. Type of Address/Data Match Triggers 3.3.8.5.3. Using Triggers
3.3.8.6. JTAG Debug Transport Module x
3.3.8.6.1. JTAG DTM Registers 3.3.8.6.2. Accessing Debug Module Interface
3.4. Programming Model x
3.4.1. Privilege Levels 3.4.2. Control and Status Registers (CSR) Mapping
3.4.1. Privilege Levels x
3.4.1.1. Machine Mode (M-mode) 3.4.1.2. Debug Mode (D-mode)
3.4.2. Control and Status Registers (CSR) Mapping x
3.4.2.1. Control and Status Register Field 3.4.2.2. Memory Mapped Registers Fields
3.5. Core Implementation x
3.5.1. Instruction Set Reference
4. Nios® V/g Processor x
4.1. Processor Performance Benchmarks 4.2. Processor Pipeline 4.3. Processor Architecture 4.4. Programming Model 4.5. Core Implementation
4.3. Processor Architecture x
4.3.1. General-Purpose Register File 4.3.2. Arithmetic Logic Unit 4.3.3. Multipy and Divide Units 4.3.4. Floating-Point Unit 4.3.5. Custom Instruction 4.3.6. Instruction Cycles 4.3.7. Reset and Debug Signals 4.3.8. Control and Status Registers 4.3.9. Trap Controller (CLINT) 4.3.10. Memory and I/O Organization 4.3.11. RISC-V based Debug Module 4.3.12. Error Correction Code (ECC) 4.3.13. Branch Prediction 4.3.14. Lockstep Module
4.3.4. Floating-Point Unit x
4.3.4.1. IEEE 754 Exception Conditions 4.3.4.2. Floating Point Operations
4.3.4.2. Floating Point Operations x
4.3.4.2.1. Floating Point Classification
4.3.9. Trap Controller (CLINT) x
4.3.9.1. Related Control and Status Register 4.3.9.2. Direct Mode 4.3.9.3. Vectored Mode
4.3.9.1. Related Control and Status Register x
4.3.9.1.1. Machine Status Register (mstatus) 4.3.9.1.2. Machine Trap-Vector Base-Address Register (mtvec) 4.3.9.1.3. Machine Interrupt Register (mip and mie) 4.3.9.1.4. Machine Exception Program Counter Register (mepc) 4.3.9.1.5. Machine Cause Register (mcause) 4.3.9.1.6. Machine Trap Value Register (mtval) 4.3.9.1.7. Machine Second Trap Value Register (mtval2)
4.3.9.2. Direct Mode x
4.3.9.2.1. Hardware Implementation 4.3.9.2.2. Software Implementation
4.3.9.3. Vectored Mode x
4.3.9.3.1. Hardware Implementation 4.3.9.3.2. Software Implementation
4.3.10. Memory and I/O Organization x
4.3.10.1. Instruction and Data Buses 4.3.10.2. Address Map 4.3.10.3. Cache Memory 4.3.10.4. Tightly Coupled Memory
4.3.10.1. Instruction and Data Buses x
4.3.10.1.1. Instruction Manager Port 4.3.10.1.2. Data Manager Port
4.3.10.3. Cache Memory x
4.3.10.3.1. Instruction Cache 4.3.10.3.2. Data Cache 4.3.10.3.3. Configurable Cache Memory 4.3.10.3.4. Bypassing Cache (Peripheral Region) 4.3.10.3.5. Using Cache Memory Effectively
4.3.10.4. Tightly Coupled Memory x
4.3.10.4.1. Instruction and Data Tightly Coupled Memory 4.3.10.4.2. Accessing Tightly Coupled Memory 4.3.10.4.3. Using Tightly Coupled Memory Effectively
4.3.11. RISC-V based Debug Module x
4.3.11.1. Debug Module 4.3.11.2. Abstract Commands 4.3.11.3. Program Buffer 4.3.11.4. Debug Mode 4.3.11.5. Hardware Trigger Module 4.3.11.6. JTAG Debug Transport Module 4.3.11.7. Nios® V Processor Implementation
4.3.11.1. Debug Module x
4.3.11.1.1. Reset/Halt/Run Control 4.3.11.1.2. Hart States 4.3.11.1.3. Debug Module Register
4.3.11.2. Abstract Commands x
4.3.11.2.1. Access Register Command 4.3.11.2.2. Using Access Register Command
4.3.11.3. Program Buffer x
4.3.11.3.1. Using Program Buffer
4.3.11.4. Debug Mode x
4.3.11.4.1. Enter Debug Mode 4.3.11.4.2. Exit Debug Mode 4.3.11.4.3. Core Debug Registers
4.3.11.5. Hardware Trigger Module x
4.3.11.5.1. Trigger Registers 4.3.11.5.2. Type of Address/Data Match Triggers 4.3.11.5.3. Using Triggers
4.3.11.6. JTAG Debug Transport Module x
4.3.11.6.1. JTAG DTM Registers 4.3.11.6.2. Accessing Debug Module Interface
4.3.12. Error Correction Code (ECC) x
4.3.12.1. ECC Interface 4.3.12.2. ECC Error Injection 4.3.12.3. Affected CSR during ECC Event
4.4. Programming Model x
4.4.1. Privilege Levels 4.4.2. Control and Status Registers (CSR) Mapping (CLINT)
4.4.1. Privilege Levels x
4.4.1.1. Machine Mode (M-mode) 4.4.1.2. Debug Mode (D-mode)
4.4.2. Control and Status Registers (CSR) Mapping (CLINT) x
4.4.2.1. Control and Status Register Field (CLINT) 4.4.2.2. Memory Mapped Registers Fields
4.5. Core Implementation x
4.5.1. Instruction Set Reference
1. Overview
2. Nios® V/c Processor
3. Nios® V/m Processor
4. Nios® V/g Processor
5. Nios V Processor Reference Manual Archives
6. Document Revision History for the Nios® V Processor Reference Manual

2.1. Processor Performance Benchmarks

Table 2.   Nios® V/c Processor Performance Benchmarks in Intel FPGA Devices for Quartus® Prime Software
Quartus® Prime Edition FPGA Used OPN fMAX (MHz) Logic Size Architecture Performance
DMIPS/MHz Ratio CoreMark/MHz Ratio
Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Cyclone® 10 10CX220YF780I5G 315 402 ALM 0.227 0.17
Arria® 10 10AS066N3F40E2SG 347 405 ALM
Stratix® 10 1SX280LU2F50E2VG 361 444 ALM
Agilex™ 7 AGFB014R24AR0 443 438 ALM
Agilex™ 5 A5EC065BB32AE4S 389 434 ALM
Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Cyclone® IV E EP4CE115F29I8L 118 1022 LE 0.268 0.201
Cyclone® V 5CGTFD9E5F35C7 155 423 ALM
Arria® V 5AGXMB7G6F35C6 175 414 ALM
Arria® V GZ 5AGZME7K2F40C3 289 372 ALM
Stratix® V 5SGXEA7K2F40C2 332 372 ALM
Cyclone® 10 LP 10CL120YF780I7G 137 1025 LE
Arria® 10 10AS066N3F40E2SG 325 355 ALM
MAX® 10 10M50DAF484C7G 137 1022 LE
Table 3.  Benchmark Parameters for Quartus® Prime Software
Parameter Settings/Description
Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Quartus® Prime Standard Edition
Quartus® Prime seed Maximum performance result are based on 10 seed sweep from Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software version 24.3. Maximum performance result are based on 10 seed sweep from Quartus® Prime Standard Edition software version 23.1.
Device speed grade Fastest speed grade from each Intel FPGA device family.
Defined peripherals
  • Nios® V/c processor core (without debug module and internal timer).
  • 128 KB on-chip memory for the instruction and data bus.
  • JTAG UART Intel® FPGA IP.
  • Interval Timer Core.
Toolchain Version
  • riscv32-unknown-elf-gcc (GCC) version 13.2.0
  • CMake Version: 3.29.3
  • riscv32-unknown-elf-gcc (GCC) version 12.1.0
  • CMake Version: 3.27.1
Compiler configuration
  • Compiler flags: -03
  • Assembler options: -Wa -gdwarf2
  • Compile options: -Wall -Wformat-security -march=rv32i -mabi=ilp32

Altera® uses the same Quartus® Prime design example for maximum performance benchmark(fMAX) and logic size benchmarks. The compiler settings are:

  • Superior Performance with Maximum Placement Effort in Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software.
  • High Performance Effort in Quartus® Prime Standard Edition software.
Note: Results may vary depending on the version of the Quartus® Prime software, the version of the Nios® V processor, compiler version, target device and the configuration of the processor. Additionally, any changes to the system logic design can change the performance and LE usage. All results are generated from design built with Platform Designer.
Level Two Title