Cyclone® V GT FPGA Development Kit User Guide

ID 792833
Date 2/21/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

5.2. Using the Board Update Portal to Write User Designs

The Board Update Portal allows you to write new designs to the user hardware 1 portion of flash memory. Designs must be in the Nios® II Flash Programmer File (.flash) format. However, if you have generated a SRAM Object File (.sof) that operates without a software design file, you can still use the Board Update Portal to upload your design. In this case, leave the Software File Name field blank.

Design files available from the Cyclone® V GT FPGA Development Kit page include .flash files. You can also create .flash files from your own custom design. Refer to Preparing to Run the Board Test System for information about preparing your own design for upload.

To upload a design over the network into the user portion of flash memory on your board, do the following:

  1. Perform the steps in Connecting to the Board Update Portal Web Page to access the Board Update Portal web page.
  2. In the Hardware File Name field, specify the .flash file that you either downloaded from the Intel website or created on your own. If there is a software component to the design, specify it in the same manner using the Software File Name field. Otherwise, leave the Software File Name field blank.
  3. Click Upload and then wait for the files to write to flash memory. A progress bar indicates the percent complete.
  4. To configure the FPGA with the new design, set the SW4.3 DIP switch to the FACT OFF (logic 1) position and power cycle the board.

As long as you do not overwrite the factory image in the flash memory device, you can continue to use the Board Update Portal to write new designs to the user hardware 1 portion of flash memory. If you do overwrite the factory image, you can restore it by following the instructions in Restoring the Flash Device to the Factory Settings.