Altera's University Program Questions & Answers

General Questions

Who can enroll in the University Program?

Professors and instructors in a recognized university or college.

How can I submit an enrollment request to the University Program?

A professor can fill in and submit an enrollment request form.

How does a professor get boards for use in courses or research?

A professor must be a member of the University Program to get discounts on development boards (submit enrollment request). For board grants, please fill in and submit a board request form. To make board purchases, please contact university@altera.com with your requirements.

More information on the available boards can be found in the Development & Education Boards page.

How does a professor get download cables?

Please contact university@altera.com with your requirements.

How does a professor get Quartus II software?

Quartus II software is available for Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms. To receive Quartus II licenses and documentation, a professor must be a member of the University Program (submit enrollment request). Then fill in and submit a license request form.

In addition to the full version of the software, you can download the Quartus II Web Edition software at no cost.

How does a professor get technical support?

This FAQ web page is a good starting point to search for answers to commonly asked questions. For additional technical support, professors can search for documentation and answers to questions by performing a search on Altera's website and other Altera documentation sources.

Search altera.com - Perform a text-based search on all or parts of the altera.com website.
Find Answers - Enter a question in natural English language to search altera.com for answers to your question.
DE2 FAQ - View common questions and answers about the DE2 Development and Education board.
DE2 Discussion Forum - Search or post in this forum for discussions related to the DE2 Development and Education board.
Nios^® forum - Search or post in this forum for questions and answers related to Nios. There is a section for general Nios issues as well as additional sections for more advanced topics such as various operating systems that can run on the Nios II processor.
Design Examples - View and download design examples by Altera and third parties.
Altera mySupport - If none of the resources listed above answer your question, you can submit a service request in Altera's mySupport system.

How does a professor register and submit a request using mySupport?

Below is a list of sequential steps to register and submit a support request on mySupport:

Click the Sign Me Up button on the mySupport home page. The Terms of Service agreement will appear.
Click the I Accept button on the Terms of Service Agreement page. The first page of the registration process will appear.
Since you are not listed in our database, you must register as a new user. This is the first option entitled "I do not use Altera software. I am a new user." Click the Step 2 button.
Complete each of the screens. One the final page of the registration process, click the hyperlink to mySupport.
Click the Create a New Request hyperlink or button. The Request Type page will appear.
Click the Product Related Request hyperlink.
Complete the form and submit

Should you have any problems registering, call 1-888-610-MKTG.

Does the University Program offer special development kit prices for universities?

Altera has special University Program pricing on nearly all Altera-developed kits. Additionally, Altera's commercial kits are discounted in some instances. Altera also offers a line of University-focused teaching and development boards that are very low cost ($125 to $300) and include most (if not all) of the commercial kits' features.

For information about the University Program boards, see the Development & Education Boards page. Purchases and requests for donations can be made in the Members section.

Licensing

How long does a Quartus II license last?

The Quartus II Web Edition license is good for 150 days. The full Quartus II license is of unlimited duration for professors.

Boards

Which board should I use?

Altera provides excellent boards that are designed and manufactured for educational use. See the Development and Education Boards page for details on features, performance, and prices.

Can I upgrade my old Altera board?

No. You should consider a newer board for modern embedded design.

How do I get my board repaired or replaced?

Generally speaking, boards are not repairable. We can supply the complete schematics and parts list if you know that a component is damaged and would like to replace it yourself.

How do I purchase an Altera board?

There are many ways to purchase an Altera Development and Education board. The details are on the Development and Education Boards page. Grants are also available for research projects.

What makes the Altera Development and Education 2 (DE2) board better than the competition?

Altera's DE2 board is the result of the accumulated experience from designing and manufacturing 30,000 boards all targeted for education. It has the latest Altera FPGA in a size that is useful for all but the most demanding projects. It has robust I/O circuitry and peripherals, including industry-standard connectors for video, audio, USB, and Ethernet. The DE2 is also designed to be more rugged than any other board on the market. It has physical hardware to protect the components, and circuitry to protect the FPGA from electrical damage. Additionally, it is sold near manufacturing cost, which keeps its price extremely low.

Where can I find support for the Development and Education 2 (DE2) board?

Please visit the DE2 FAQ page.

Design Software

Should I use the full version of Quartus II software, Quartus II Web Edition, or MAX+PLUS II software?

The full version of Quartus II software is the most current tool and should be used in all classes and research. Altera also provides the Quartus II Web Edition tool to all professors and students. If advanced features are required, professors may contact university@altera.com for an upgrade to the full-featured Quartus II software.

MAX+PLUS II software is not recommended for new courses and is not supported.

What should I do if the JTAG server (jtagserver.exe) service is stopping?

The JTAG server service may be stopped by other software running on the computer. This is a known issue when running older versions of the McAfee^® VirusScan^® software. Version 8.0i (or newer) of the McAfee VirusScan software fixes this problem.

If you are not running McAfee VirusScan or if upgrading does not solve the problem, please contact us at university@altera.com.

How do I integrate the MentorGraphics ModelSim software with the Quartus II software?

Please refer to the MentorGraphics Model Support chapter in the Quartus II handbook. In particular, the NativeLink feature can be used to integrate the ModelSim software into the Quartus II flow. An advantage of using NativeLink is that design files and simulation libraries are automatically compiled in the background.

How can I run a free version of the Quartus II Web Edition software on the Linux operating system?

You can run the Windows-based version of the Quartus II Web Edition software on Linux by using Wine. There is another program named WineTools that can aid in the configuration phase. After the installation of both programs, you should be able to install and use the Windows-based version of the Quartus II Web Edition software.

There is no freely available version of the Quartus II Web Edition software available for the Linux platform because of royalty fees.

Tutorials & Labs

What is available to students?

All tutorials and laboratory exercises are available to students. Solutions are available to professors only.

Nios II Processor

What licenses are needed to design Nios II-based systems?

A Nios II license is not required to generate and program systems based on Nios II processors.

A system can be operated in OpenCore^® Plus mode (without a Nios II license), which allows it to run indefinitely if the board is connected via JTAG to a host computer running Quartus II software. The system will time out after one hour if the connection is broken.

What is the Nios II licensing model?

Once customers have purchased a Nios II development kit, they are provided with a perpetual, royalty-free license to ship systems using the Nios II embedded processor family and associated peripherals.

How does the Nios II architecture differ from the first-generation Nios processor?

With a completely new architecture, Nios II processors reach new levels of efficiency and performance over the first-generation Nios cores by consuming, on average, fifty percent less FPGA resources, while at the same time doubling computational performance. Nios II processors also simplify the processor selection process by providing a set of pre-optimized cores focusing on performance and size.

What market segment does the Nios II processor target?

The Nios II processor family can be used in any application that requires a general-purpose, 32-bit embedded microprocessor.

Is Altera obsoleting the first-generation Nios embedded processor?

No. Customers currently developing or shipping a product utilizing a first-generation Nios core may choose to either migrate to a Nios II core or continue with the first generation.

Customers who elect to continue using the first-generation Nios processor can do so with the expectation that Altera will continue to provide push-button compilation support in the Stratix^® II and Cyclone™ II FPGA families as well as bug-fix support in perpetuity.

Which Altera FPGA families support Nios II processors?

Nios II processors are fully supported in the Stratix, Stratix II, Stratix GX, Stratix II GX, Cyclone II, and Cyclone FPGA families.

Can multiple Nios II processor cores be implemented in a single FPGA?

Yes. Using the SOPC Builder tool in Quartus II software, system designers can add as many Nios II processor cores as required by their system. SOPC Builder automatically generates the system fabric necessary to integrate the cores into the system.

What is the Avalon switch fabric?

The Avalon switch fabric is Altera's parameterized interface bus used by Nios and Nios II processors.

While most processor systems use bus topologies structured around a system bus shared between all peripherals in the system (as well as require designers to spend a large portion of their time verifying that the interfaces of all their peripherals work), the Avalon switch fabric is custom-built to the interface requirements of every peripheral in the system. This means that system designers need only design the interface that their peripheral requires without worrying about the complete set of Avalon switch fabric transactions. The SOPC Builder design tool automatically creates the proper Avalon switch fabric to support each interface of the peripherals present in the system.

How do developers build software for a Nios II system?

The Nios II software development tool automatically generates a customized C/C++ run-time environment tailored to the system hardware in a push-button manner. The Nios II Integrated Development Environment (IDE) simplifies project setup by supplying several software templates that can be used as starter files in developing custom software solutions.

What software debugging tools are available for use with Nios II processors?

Altera provides a complete software debugging solution via the Nios II IDE, enabling debugging via an instruction set simulation (ISS) or directly in system hardware (such as a development board). Direct debugging of a Nios II processor system in hardware is supported through a hardware-assisted debug module. The debug module is feature-rich, supporting processor start, stop, step, hardware breakpoints, data triggers, and processor trace under IDE control.

What operating systems and middleware components are available in Nios II development kits?

The Nios II development kits include Micrium Technologies' highly versatile MicroC/OS-II real-time operating system (RTOS), presented as a customizable software component, accessible from within the Nios II IDE. The component enables software engineers to quickly create custom-tailored MicroC/OS-II configurations for their Nios II processor system. Furthermore, MicroC/OS-II provides TCP/IP support through the Lightweight IP (LWIP) TCP/IP stack and FAT file system support through the available MicroC/FS file system add-on component. The MicroC/OS-II RTOS component is licensable for a nominal fee of $2,750 for one developer at one company, for one year with no royalties.

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