[hpsdr] any Nios-II programmers out there?

[Vern Kollas]

Here is something that has interested me along these lines.  Not sure if the ARM chip has enough horsepower for our needs, but I would like to 
think it would be a better solution than a soft-core...

http://www.altera.com/b/soc-fpgas.html

If
 I wasn't so busy with my EET classes, I have been wanting to explore 
using the Beagleboard for CPU and DSP needs to replace the computer side
 of things.  However, it seems that programming for the DSP on the BB 
isn't very well documented, and I just haven't had much free time to 
play.  I also have a Raspberry Pi now, but I see that John Melton has 
already been making progress here.  I believe I
 read somewhere it also has DSP capabilities, but I think it is disabled
 and to get any information on the DSP, you have to have a NDA with 
Broadcom?

73!

Vern - KC8YOH

On 05/08/12 03:25, Jeremy McDermond wrote:
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>
>
> On Aug 4, 2012, at 6:38 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
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>>
 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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