AN 985: Nios® V Processor Tutorial

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ID 784468
Date 8/28/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. AN 985: Nios® V Processor Tutorial 2. Hello World on Agilex™ 7 FPGA F-Series Transceiver-SoC Development Kit 3. Hello World on MAX® 10 FPGA 10M50 Evaluation Kit 4. Document Revision History for the AN 985: Nios® V Processor Tutorial
1. AN 985: Nios® V Processor Tutorial x
1.1. Overview
2. Hello World on Agilex™ 7 FPGA F-Series Transceiver-SoC Development Kit x
2.1. Hardware and Software Requirements 2.2. Generating the System 2.3. Simulating the Nios® V Processor System 2.4. Programming the System 2.5. Debugging the System
2.2. Generating the System x
2.2.1. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer Overview 2.2.2. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer — Manual Instantiation 2.2.3. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer — Board-Aware Flow 2.2.4. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer — Configurable Example Design 2.2.5. Building Software Design with Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs
2.2.2. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer — Manual Instantiation x
2.2.2.1. Creating a New Project 2.2.2.2. Creating a Platform Designer System 2.2.2.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint 2.2.2.4. Compiling the Quartus® Prime Software Project
2.2.2.2. Creating a Platform Designer System x
2.2.2.2.1. Adding Nios® V/m Processor IP 2.2.2.2.2. Adding On-Chip Memory II (RAM or ROM) IP 2.2.2.2.3. Adding JTAG UART IP 2.2.2.2.4. Adding Reset Release IP 2.2.2.2.5. Connect Interfaces and Signals 2.2.2.2.6. Clear System Warnings and Errors 2.2.2.2.7. Configuring the Reset Vector of the Nios® V Processor 2.2.2.2.8. Saving and Generating System HDL
2.2.2.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint x
2.2.2.3.1. Adding Design Files 2.2.2.3.2. Adding Synopsys Design Constraint (SDC) File 2.2.2.3.3. Pin Assignments 2.2.2.3.4. Configuration and Power Management Assignments
2.2.3. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer — Board-Aware Flow x
2.2.3.1. Creating a New Project 2.2.3.2. Creating a Platform Designer System 2.2.3.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint 2.2.3.4. Compiling the Quartus® Prime Software Project
2.2.3.2. Creating a Platform Designer System x
2.2.3.2.1. Adding Nios® V/m Processor IP 2.2.3.2.2. Adding On-Chip Memory (RAM or ROM) IP 2.2.3.2.3. Adding JTAG UART IP 2.2.3.2.4. Adding System ID Peripheral IP 2.2.3.2.5. Adding Reset Release IP 2.2.3.2.6. Connect Interfaces and Signals 2.2.3.2.7. Clear System Warnings and Errors 2.2.3.2.8. Saving and Generating System HDL
2.2.3.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint x
2.2.3.3.1. Adding Design Files 2.2.3.3.2. Adding Synopsys Design Constraint (SDC) File 2.2.3.3.3. Pin Assignments 2.2.3.3.4. Configuration and Power Management Assignments
2.2.4. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer — Configurable Example Design x
2.2.4.1. Creating a New Project 2.2.4.2. Creating a Platform Designer System 2.2.4.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint 2.2.4.4. Compiling the Quartus® Prime Software Project
2.2.4.2. Creating a Platform Designer System x
2.2.4.2.1. Saving and Generating System HDL
2.2.4.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint x
2.2.4.3.1. Adding Design Files 2.2.4.3.2. Pin Assignments 2.2.4.3.3. Configuration and Power Management Assignments
2.2.5. Building Software Design with Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs x
2.2.5.1. Creating a Board Support Package 2.2.5.2. Creating an Application Project File 2.2.5.3. Importing Projects into Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs 2.2.5.4. Building the Hello World Application
2.2.5.3. Importing Projects into Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs x
2.2.5.3.1. Importing Nios® V Processor BSP Project 2.2.5.3.2. Importing Application Project
2.3. Simulating the Nios® V Processor System x
2.3.1. Preparing Hardware Design for Simulation 2.3.2. Preparing Software Design for Simulation 2.3.3. Checking Simulation Files 2.3.4. Running System Simulation
2.4. Programming the System x
2.4.1. Programming Hardware SOF File 2.4.2. Downloading the Software ELF File 2.4.3. Applying External Tool Configuration 2.4.4. Run Hello World Application
2.5. Debugging the System x
2.5.1. Software Debugging
2.5.1. Software Debugging x
2.5.1.1. Setting Initial Breakpoint 2.5.1.2. Starting the Debugger 2.5.1.3. View Global Variables 2.5.1.4. View Memory 2.5.1.5. Setting a Second Breakpoint 2.5.1.6. Control Debugger
3. Hello World on MAX® 10 FPGA 10M50 Evaluation Kit x
3.1. Hardware and Software Requirements 3.2. Generating the System 3.3. Simulating the Nios® V Processor System 3.4. Programming the System 3.5. Debugging the System
3.2. Generating the System x
3.2.1. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer 3.2.2. Building Software Design with Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs
3.2.1. Building Hardware Design in Platform Designer x
3.2.1.1. Creating a New Project 3.2.1.2. Creating a Platform Designer System 3.2.1.3. Configuring Assignment and Constraint 3.2.1.4. Compiling the Quartus® Prime Software Project
3.2.2. Building Software Design with Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs x
3.2.2.1. Creating a Board Support Package 3.2.2.2. Creating an Application Project Files 3.2.2.3. Importing Projects into Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs 3.2.2.4. Building the Hello World Application
3.2.2.3. Importing Projects into Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs x
3.2.2.3.1. Importing Nios® V Processor BSP Project 3.2.2.3.2. Importing Application Project
3.3. Simulating the Nios® V Processor System x
3.3.1. Preparing Hardware Design for Simulation 3.3.2. Preparing Software Design for Simulation 3.3.3. Checking Simulation Files 3.3.4. Running System Simulation
3.4. Programming the System x
3.4.1. Programming Hardware SOF File 3.4.2. Downloading the Software ELF File 3.4.3. Applying External Tool Configuration 3.4.4. Run Hello World Application
3.5. Debugging the System x
3.5.1. Software Debugging
3.5.1. Software Debugging x
3.5.1.1. Setting Initial Breakpoint 3.5.1.2. Starting the Debugger 3.5.1.3. View Global Variables 3.5.1.4. View Memory 3.5.1.5. Setting a Second Breakpoint 3.5.1.6. Control Debugger
1. AN 985: Nios® V Processor Tutorial
2. Hello World on Agilex™ 7 FPGA F-Series Transceiver-SoC Development Kit
3. Hello World on MAX® 10 FPGA 10M50 Evaluation Kit
4. Document Revision History for the AN 985: Nios® V Processor Tutorial

3.3.3. Checking Simulation Files

At this point in the design flow, you have generated your system and created all the files necessary for simulation listed in the table below.
Table 7.  Simulation Files Generated
File Description
<Working directory>/niosv_top/testbench/* Platform Designer generates a testbench system when you enable the Create testbench Platform Designer system option.
<Working directory>/niosv_top_tb/niosv_top/testbench/mentor/msim_setup.tcl

Sets up a Questa simulation environment and creates alias commands to compile the required device libraries and system design files in the correct order and loads the top-level design for simulation.
<Working directory>/software/hal_app/build/helloworld.hex Memory Initialization Files (.hex) is required to initialize memory components in your system.
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