[hpsdr] any Nios-II programmers out there?

[Jeremy McDermond]

On Aug 4, 2012, at 6:38 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.chris at gmail.com> wrote:

> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
> 
> It looks like you can write code in "C" using Eclipse and then compile it for Nios-II.   So you are really just doing C development.
> 
> The other way might be to use a different soft core.  I'd prefer one that ran Linux.  That would be just about anything, ARM, Sparc,....

When I did a look around at open source embedded operating systems that ran on the NIOS processors for possible use on Metis, it wasn't the processor that was the issue; it was the available DRAM.  The FPGA itself doesn't have enough DRAM on board to fit any OS that I could find out there.  It needs some sort of external DIMM or extra DRAM off the chip.  It wouldn't necessarily be expensive, but someone would have to design the hardware to do so.  It'll also suck up pins on the FPGA that may be used for other things.  Note that the Cyclone IV FPGA Eval board from Altera has 128Mb of DRAM on board to accommodate such things.

In theory, I agree, though.  It would be kinda cool to have an embedded Linux running on such a platform.

> On Sat, Aug 4, 2012 at 6:32 PM, Ken N9VV <n9vv at wowway.com> wrote:
> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
> 
> I see the new Angelia TRx will have a very robust FPGA
> using a Cyclone-4 FPGA. Here is a link to the soft core
> PC available from Altera, called Nios-II:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nios_II
> 
> The prospect of coding DSP demodulation in Nios-II inside
> the FPGA is just too big a leap for my simple mind!! <g>
> 
> It looks like our tether to the PC is fast approaching
> an alternative with embedded processors or soft core FPGA
> code!
> 
> I hope OpenHPSDR and Apache Labs can attract a knowledgeable
> Nios-II programmer to join the Angelia effort. There is so
> much promise in this new hardware.
> 
> BGA Lives!
> 73 de Ken N9VV
> --
> 
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> 
> -- 
> 
> Chris Albertson
> Redondo Beach, California
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--
Jeremy McDermond (NH6Z)
Xenotropic Systems
mcdermj at xenotropic.com



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