This page lists the Nios II literature available at the time of release of the Nios II Embedded Design Suite (EDS) v10.1. For the latest and most up-to-date documentation, visit Altera's on-line literature page.
- The Nios II Processor Reference Handbook answers the question
“What is the Nios II processor?” and is the primary reference for the Nios II
processor architecture.
- The Nios II Software Developer’s Handbook answers the question
“How do I write programs for the Nios II processor?” and is the primary
reference for programming the Nios II processor.
- The Embedded Peripherals IP User Guide describes peripherals provided by Altera that work seamlessly with the Nios II processor and are included with Quartus II software.
Other related documents, such as tutorials and user guides, cover specific topics that are not included in the handbooks.
Related Documentation
Release Notes
- MegaCore IP Library Release
Notes and Errata
(All IP and Nios II errata and release notes are combined into one document beginning with version 7.2)
- Nios II Embedded Design Suite Release Notes and Errata (ver 10.1, Dec 2012, 52 KB)
Nios II Hardware Development
- AN 548: Nios II Compact
Configuration System for Cyclone III (ver 1.0, Nov 2008, 320 KB)
Design Files for AN 548 (597 KB)
- AN 531: Reducing Power with
Hardware Accelerators (ver 1.0, May 2008, 151 KB)
Design Files for AN 531 (1 MB)
- AN 391: Profiling Nios II Systems (ver 3.0, Jul 2011, 325 KB)
- Creating Multiprocessor Nios II Systems Tutorial (ver 2.0, Jun 2011, 1 MB)
- Using
Nios II Floating-Point Custom Instructions Tutorial (ver 2.0, Feb 2010,
235 KB)
Tutorial design files (4 KB)
- Nios II
Flash Programmer User Guide (ver 2.1, Feb 2010, 273 KB)
- Nios II Hardware Development Tutorial (ver 4.0, May 2011, 1 MB)
Design Files for Nios II Hardware Development Tutorial (14 KB)
- AN 595: Vectored Interrupt
Controller Usage and Applications (ver 1.0, Nov 2009, 246 KB)
Example Designs for AN595 (503 KB)
- Nios II 3C25
Microprocessor with LCD Controller Data Sheet (ver 1.1, Mar 2009, 580
KB)
- Nios II 3C120
Microprocessor with LCD Controller Data Sheet (ver 1.1, Mar 2009, 634
KB)
- AN 351: Simulating Nios II
Embedded Processor Designs (ver 1.3, Jun 2011, 383 KB)
AN 351 Software Files (6 KB)
- Nios II Custom Instruction User Guide (ver 2.0, Feb 2011, 1 MB)
- AN527: Implementing an LCD
Controller (ver 1.0, May 2008, 344 KB)
- AN 350: Upgrading Nios
Processor Systems to the Nios II Processor (ver 1.1, Jul 2006, 617
KB)
Software Development
- AN 440: Accelerating Nios II Networking Applications (ver 2.1, Jan 2013, 265 KB)
- Using
MicroC/OS-II RTOS with the Nios II Processor Tutorial (ver 3.0, May 2011, 695 KB)
MicroC/OS-II tutorial software files (7 KB)
- Using the NicheStack
TCP/IP Stack - Nios II Edition Tutorial (ver 3.0, Jun 2011, 1 MB)
NicheStack tutorial software files (29 KB)
- AN 429: Remote Configuration
Over Ethernet with the Nios II Processor (ver 3.0, Apr 2010, 172
KB)
Application Note 429 Design Files (3 MB)
- AN 540: Nios II MPU Usage
(ver 1.0, Mar 2010, 385 KB)
Design Files for AN 540 (221 KB)
- My First Nios II Software Tutorial (ver 2.1, Dec 2012, 986 KB)
- AN 459: Guidelines for Developing a Nios II HAL Device Driver (ver 4.0, Jul 2011, 2 MB)
- Using Tightly Coupled Memory with the Nios II Processor Tutorial (ver 2.0, Jul 2011, 1 MB)
Design Files for Tightly Coupled Memory Tutorial (15 KB)
- AN543: Debugging Nios II
Software Using the Lauterbach Debugger (ver 1.0, Apr 2009, 278 KB)
Example Design for AN543 (6 MB)
- Nios II IDE Help
System (ver 1.7, Mar 2009, 1 MB)
- NicheStack
Technical Manuals (PDFs) (ver , Apr 2007, 1 MB)
- NicheStack Technical
Reference Manual (HTML) (ver , Apr 2007, 193 KB)
C-to-Hardware Acceleration
- Nios II C2H
Compiler User Guide (ver 1.6, Dec 2009, 911 KB)
dma_c2h_tutorial.c Tutorial design file for Nios II C2H Compiler User Guide (2 KB)
- AN 531: Reducing Power with
Hardware Accelerators (ver 1.0, May 2008, 151 KB)
Design Files for AN 531 (1 MB)
- Adding
Hardware Accelerators to Reduce Power in Embedded Systems (ver 1.0, Sep
2009, 722 KB)
- Accelerating
Nios II Systems with the C2H Compiler Tutorial (ver 1.3, Aug 2008, 803
KB)
Design files for Stratix II and Cyclone II boards (387 KB)
- AN 417: Accelerating
Functions with the C2H Compiler: Scatter-Gather DMA with Checksum (ver
1.1, Jul 2006, 424 KB)
Scatter-Gather DMA Design Files (6 KB)
- Automated Generation of
Hardware Accelerators With Direct Memory Access From ANSI/ISO Standard C
Functions (ver 1.0, May 2006, 296 KB)
Design Guidelines and Applications
- Optimize Motor Control Designs with an Integrated FPGA Design Flow (ver 1.2, May 2012, 811 KB)
SOPC Builder System Development
- Embedded Peripherals IP User Guide (ver 11.0, Jun 2011, 6 MB)
- Avalon Verification IP Suite User Guide (ver 3.1, Jun 2012, 4 MB)
(Includes Avalon-MM and Avalon-ST tutorials)
Avalon Verification IP Suite Design Files (23 KB)
- Qsys System Design Tutorial (ver 2.0, May 2011, 1 MB)
- AN458: Alternative Nios II Boot Methods (ver 2.1, May 2011, 514 KB)
AN458 design example files (36 KB)
- AN624: Debugging with System Console Over TCP/IP (ver 1.0, Aug 2010, 423 KB)
- Nios II
System Architect Design Tutorial (ver 2.0, Jun 2011, 2 MB)
Nios II Architect Design Tutorial Design Files (5 MB)
- AN 346: Using the Nios II
Configuration Controller Reference Designs (ver 1.2, Mar 2009, 793
KB)
- AN 446: Debugging Nios II
Systems with the SignalTap II Embedded Logic Analyzer (ver 2.0, Jun 2011, 397 KB)
signal_tap_test software file (9 KB)
- AN 323: Using SignalTap II
Embedded Logic Analyzers in SOPC Builder Systems (ver 1.1, Nov 2007,
386 KB)
GCC Related Documentation
- A list of GCC related documents can be found in the 'Nios II Documentation' located in the Windows start menu. Click on 'Start -> All Programs -> Altera -> Nios II EDS (Altera version) -> Nios II (Altera version) Documentation'.
- To view the complete reference for the Nios II compiler tool-chain, in the left navigational panel of the Nios II (Altera version) Documentation, click on 'Literature -> Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)'. Refer to the Table of Contents for links to Nios II processor-specific content and constraints for ASM operands.
Related Links (the links below will lead you to Altera.com)
- Download the latest version of the Nios II Embedded Design Suite
- Nios II Processor
- SOPC Builder Literature
- Nios II Processor Online Demonstrations
- SOPC Builder Online Demonstrations
- Avalon Interface Specifications
- All Development Kits, Daughter Cards & Programming Hardware
- Altera Development Kits Archive
- Altera Embedded Systems Development Kit, Cyclone III Edition
- Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit (NEEK), Cyclone III Edition
- Arria II GX FPGA Development Kit
- Stratix IV GX FPGA Development Kit
- Nios
II Ethernet Standard Design Example
- Micrium uC/OS-II Homepage