Design and realization of the hardware platform based on the Nios soft-core processor

Programmability and flexibility are the trend of current electronic system. The Nios, a soft-core processor integrated in a FPGA chip, is characterized by its flexibility and programmability. Since its introduction in June 2000, Altera's Nios soft-core processor has rapidly been integrated in a wide range of applications. In this paper, design and realization of the hardware platform based on the Nios soft-core processor is discussed. The basic architecture and characteristics of the Nios soft-core processor are studied first. Then, on analyzing the requirement of the platform, the holistic design scheme of the hardware platform is given. The hardware platform consists of several functional blocks such as power, clocking, FPGA device, RS232 serial port, 10/100 Base-T Ethernet Port, memory, connector. The design of each functional block is presented in detail. Furthermore, some layout practices are pointed out. By practical rigorous test, the schematic circuit diagram is proved to be correct and the hardware platform is proved to be reliable and stable. This hardware platform is of great use in controlling and monitoring systems.