Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs: Agilex™ 5 and Agilex™ 3 Virtual Platform User Guide

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ID 786901
Date 9/29/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. About This Document 2. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Intel® Simics® Virtual Platforms 3. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform Component Intel® Simics® Models 4. Running a Simulation with the Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 HPS Model 5. Supported Use Cases 6. Troubleshooting Issues When Migrating Software from Intel® Simics® to Hardware A. Document Revision History for Intel Simics Simulator for Altera FPGAs Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Virtual Platform User Guide
1. About This Document x
1.1. Terminology 1.2. List of Acronyms
2. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Intel® Simics® Virtual Platforms x
2.1. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform
2.1. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform x
2.1.1. Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview 2.1.2. Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform Overview 2.1.3. Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform User-Configurable Parameters 2.1.4. Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform User-Configurable Parameters 2.1.5. Universal Virtual Platforms Key Capabilities
2.1.1. Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview x
2.1.1.1. Agilex™ 5 HPS Component 2.1.1.2. HPS Subsystem Component 2.1.1.3. FPGA Fabric Design 2.1.1.4. qsys_top Component 2.1.1.5. FPGA Component 2.1.1.6. Board Component 2.1.1.7. System Component 2.1.1.8. Target Script
2.1.5. Universal Virtual Platforms Key Capabilities x
2.1.5.1. Boot-To-Operating System Prompt 2.1.5.2. Basic Ethernet 2.1.5.3. CPU Power-On and Boot Core Selection ( Agilex™ 5 only) 2.1.5.4. Reset Flow 2.1.5.5. General Purpose I/O (GPIO) Loopback 2.1.5.6. USB Disks Hot-Plug Support 2.1.5.7. On-Chip Memory IP FPGA Fabric Example Design 2.1.5.8. FPGA-to-HPS Bridges 2.1.5.9. Exercising Peripheral Subsystem in FPGA Fabric Design 2.1.5.10. USB Controller Host/Device Mode Configuration 2.1.5.11. HPS Component and Stepping Silicon Features Selection 2.1.5.12. UART1/UART2 Serial Console Selection
3. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform Component Intel® Simics® Models x
3.1. HPS Intel® Simics® Model 3.2. Virtual Platform HPS Subsystem Components 3.3. Virtual Platform qsys_top Components 3.4. Virtual Platform Board Components 3.5. Modeling Support Limitations
3.1. HPS Intel® Simics® Model x
3.1.1. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 HPS Intel® Simics® Model Architecture 3.1.2. PSS Subsystem Components 3.1.3. MPU and APS Subsystem 3.1.4. MPFE Subsystem 3.1.5. Additional Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 HPS Components 3.1.6. Agilex™ 5 B0 Features Support
3.2. Virtual Platform HPS Subsystem Components x
3.2.1. External Memory Interface (EMIF) 3.2.2. Security Device Manager (SDM)
3.3. Virtual Platform qsys_top Components x
3.3.1. FPGA Fabric
3.4. Virtual Platform Board Components x
3.4.1. Marvel EMAC PHY 3.4.2. SD Card Device 3.4.3. ONFI NAND Memory Device 3.4.4. SPI Flash Device 3.4.5. AT24Cxx EEPROM Device 3.4.6. I3C Device 3.4.7. USB Disk Device 3.4.8. Intel® Simics® Text Console
4. Running a Simulation with the Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 HPS Model x
4.1. Prerequisites 4.2. Intel® Simics® Simulation Setup for the Agilex™ 5 or Agilex™ 3 Device 4.3. Starting the Simulation 4.4. Getting Device Information from the Intel® Simics® Model
1. About This Document
2. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Intel® Simics® Virtual Platforms
3. Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Universal Virtual Platform Component Intel® Simics® Models
4. Running a Simulation with the Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 HPS Model
5. Supported Use Cases
6. Troubleshooting Issues When Migrating Software from Intel® Simics® to Hardware
A. Document Revision History for Intel Simics Simulator for Altera FPGAs Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Virtual Platform User Guide

A. Document Revision History for Intel Simics Simulator for Altera FPGAs Agilex™ 5/ Agilex™ 3 Virtual Platform User Guide

Document Version Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs Version Changes
2025.09.29 25.3
  • Added information about the Agilex™ 3 Virtual Platform.
  • Rebranding resulted in changing the product name to "Intel Simics Simulator for Altera FPGAs".
2025.05.09 25.1
  • Updated topics to support serial console selection parameters as follows:
    • Updated Agilex 5 HPS Component.
    • Updated Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform User-Configurable Parameters.
    • Added UART1/UART2 Serial Console Selection.
2024.01.23 24.3.1
  • Removed GIC registers limitation for the MPU subsystem.
2024.11.16 24.3
  • Previous versions of this document referred only to support for Agilex 5 E-Series FPGAs. This document version refers to Agilex 5 devices in general reflecting support for Agilex 5 E-Series and D-Series FPGAs.
  • Updated throughout to reflect new support for Agilex 5 D-Series FPGAs, including the following topics:
    • About this Document
    • Agilex 5 Intel Simics Virtual Platforms
    • Agilex 5 Universal Virtual Platform
    • Agilex 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview
    • Agilex 5 HPS Component
    • Agilex 5 Universal Virtual Platform User-Configurable Parameters
    • Agilex 5 HPS Component and Stepping Silicon Features Selection
    • B0 Features Support
  • Added note about GIC registers to MPU and APS Subsystem topic.
2024.08.08 24.2
  • Replaced references to RocketBoards.org with references to altera-fpga-github.io.
2024.07.08 24.2
  • Revised block diagram in Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview.
  • Revised Agilex™ 5 HPS Component.
  • Revised Boot-To-Operating System Prompt.
  • Revised block diagram in Agilex™ 5 HPS Intel® Simics® Model Architecture.
  • Revised Additional Agilex™ 5 HPS Components.
  • Revised ONFI NAND Memory Device.
  • Revised SPI Flash Device.
  • Revised block diagram in Modeling Support Limitations.
  • Revised Troubleshooting Issues When Migrating Software from Intel® Simics® to Hardware
2024.04.01 24.1
  • Revised the block diagram in Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview.
  • Revised the information for "HPS-to-FPGA Bridges" and "USB Controllers" in HPS Component.
  • Revised the existing information and added "Peripheral Subsystem Interrupts Connection" diagram in FPGA Fabric Design.
  • Revised the information for some of the existing parameters and added stepping parameter to the table in Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform User-Configurable Parameters.
  • Revised the information in USB Disks Hot-Plug Support.
  • Revised the information entirely in On-Chip Memory IP FPGA Fabric Example Design.
  • Added Exercising Peripheral Subsystem in FPGA Fabric Design.
  • Added USB Controller Host/Device Mode Configuration.
  • Added B0 Silicon Features Selection.
  • Added Agilex™ 5 B0 Features Support.
  • Revised the information entirely in FPGA Fabric.
  • Made minor updates to USB Disk Device.
  • Added Modeling Support Limitations.
  • Added Troubleshooting Issues When Migrating Software from Intel® Simics® to Hardware
2023.12.04 23.4
  • Updated the block diagram in Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview.
  • Added "FPGA Bridges" block to the Agilex™ 5 HPS Component.
  • Added the "FPGA Bridge memory spaces" component and updated the block diagram in FPGA Fabric Design.
  • Updated the block diagram in qsys_top Component.
  • Updated the NAND Flash Device parameters in Board Component.
  • Revised the information in USB Disks Hot-Plug Support.
  • Added FPGA-To-HPS Bridges.
  • Removed a limitation for USB 3.1 Gen 1 and added a limitation for Ethernet/TSN in PSS Subsystem Components.
  • Added a limitation for MPU Subsystem in MPU and APS Subsystem.
  • Added limitations for most of the components in Additional Agilex™ 5 HPS Components.
  • Added "FPGA Bridges memory spaces" component in FPGA Fabric.
  • Revised the parameter values in ONFI NAND Memory Device.
  • Added a limitation in Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Component Intel® Simics® Models.
2023.10.02 23.3
  • Rebranded all occurrences of "Simics" as "Intel Simics."
  • Made several editorial fixes in all topics.
  • Fixed branding errors of some third-party products.
  • Fixed formatting issues in several topics.
  • Updated List of Acronyms.
  • Updated the list of components and their descriptions in Intel Agilex 5 E-Series Intel Simics Virtual Platform.
  • Updated the image in Intel Agilex 5 E-Series Universal Virtual Platform Overview.
  • Enhanced the description and added SPI Controller functional block in Intel Agilex 5 E-Series Universal Virtual Platform Overview.
  • Enhanced the description and block diagram in FPGA Component and Board Component.
  • Added HPS component to Target Script.
  • Added additional parameters to Intel Agilex 5 E-Series Universal Virtual Platform User- Configurable Parameters.
  • Added a note and updated the parameters in Boot-To-Operating System Prompt.
  • Revised the information in Intel Agilex 5 HPS Component.
  • Revised the topic title of FPGA Fabric Example Design to On-Chip Memory IP FPGA Fabric Example Design.
  • Enhanced the information in Reset Flow and FPGA Fabric Example Design.
  • Updated the HPS subsystems image in Agilex™ 5 HPS Intel® Simics® Model Architecture
  • Updated the limitation and object names in PSS Subsystem Components
  • Updated the object names in MPU and APS Subsystem, MPFE Subsystem, Additional Intel Agilex 5 E-Series HPS Components, and External Memory Interface (EMIF).
  • Renamed the topic title Virtual Platform FPGA Components to Virtual Platform HPS Subsystem Components.
  • Updated the components, limitations, and object names in Security Device Manager (SDM).
  • Renamed the topic title QSPI Flash Device to SPI Flash Device.
  • Updated all the command outputs in Getting Device Information from the Intel Simics Model.
  • Added an image in General Purpose I/O (GPIO) Loopback.
  • Added the following new topics:
    • HPS Subsystem Component
    • FPGA Fabric Design
    • qsys_top Component
    • Virtual Platform qsys_top Components
    • FPGA Fabric
    • Intel® Simics® Text Console
2023.06.26 23.2
  • Updated HPS Component.
  • Updated Board Component.
  • Updated User Configurable Parameters.
  • Added the following sections for new virtual platform board components:
    • AT24Cxx EEPRom Device
    • I3C Device
    • USB Disk Device
  • Updated block diagrams in the following topics:
    • Agilex™ 5 Universal Virtual Platform Overview
    • FPGA Component
    • Board Component
2024.04.03 23.1
  • Initial release
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