Generic Nios II Booting Methods User Guide

ID 683820
Date 5/24/2016
Public

1.5. Nios II Processor Booting Methods

There are a few methods to boot up Nios II processor in Altera devices. The methods to boot up Nios II processor varies according to the flash memory selection.
The following is the supported flash memories with respective boot options:
Supported Flash Memories Nios II Booting Options Boot Copier
CFI Flash Nios II processor application execute-in-place from CFI flash Enable alt_load ()
Nios II processor application copied from CFI flash to RAM using boot copier Memcpy-based
EPCS Flash Nios II processor application copied from EPCS flash to RAM using boot copier EPCS controller-based
UFM (MAX 10 only) Nios II processor application executes in-place from Altera On-chip Flash (UFM) Enable alt_load ()
Nios II processor application copied from UFM to RAM using boot copier Memcpy-based
EPCQ Flash Nios II processor application execute-in-place from EPCQ flash Enable alt_load ()
Nios II processor application copied from EPCQ flash to RAM using boot copier Memcpy-based
Altera On-chip Memory (OCRAM) Nios II processor application executes in-place from Altera OCRAM No boot copier required

For more information about Nios II Processor booting from UFM and execute-in-place from Altera OCRAM, refer to AN730: Nios II Processor Booting Methods in MAX 10 Devices.

For more information about Nios II Processor booting from Altera EPCQ flash, refer to AN736: Nios II Processor Booting from Altera Serial Flash (EPCQ).