Literature

This page lists the Nios II literature available at the time of release of the Nios II Embedded Design Suite (EDS) v8.1. For the most up-to-date documentation, visit Altera's on-line literature page. Subscribe to Altera’s Literature Update Notification service to automatically be notified of new or updated collateral on www.altera.com.

Note to FireFox users: The PDF documents below might not display properly in the FireFox browser. For best results, save documents to your local hard disk, then open them using Adobe Reader.

Document	Description
Nios II Handbooks
Embedded Design Handbook	Design guides describing best practices when designing with Altera embedded solutions. Contains information on hardware and software development and verification for new and experienced users.
Nios II Processor Reference Handbook	Primary reference for the Nios II processor hardware: Introduction to the Nios II processor for new users, hardware architecture, and instruction set.
Nios II Software Developer's Handbook	Primary reference for programming the Nios II processor: Introduction to Nios II software development for new users, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), writing programs, writing device drivers, RTOS, Ethernet, and advanced programming topics.
Quartus II Handbook, Volume 4: SOPC Builder	Complete reference for SOPC Builder, the system integration tool used to create Nios II hardware designs.
Quartus II Handbook, Volume 5: Embedded Peripherals	Description of Altera-provided peripherals that support the Nios II processor.
Hardware and System Development
Nios II Hardware Development Tutorial	How to create a Nios II processor system from scratch.
Nios II Custom Instruction User Guide	All aspects of implementing custom instruction hardware and software. Includes a tutorial and design example.
Nios II Flash Programmer User Guide	All aspects of programming flash using the Nios II IDE flash programmer, including how to program flash on custom boards.
DDR and DDR2 SDRAM Controller Compiler User Guide	Complete reference on creating and using Altera DDR & DDR2 SDRAM controller cores, including details on using SOPC Builder to instantiate a controller for the DDR SDRAM on the Nios Development Board, Cyclone II Edition.
System Console User Guide	Documentation for system console utilities that support low-level, hardware debugging of SOPC Builder systems.
Using Nios II Tightly Coupled Memory Tutorial	How to instantiate on-chip tightly-coupled memories with the Nios II processor for fast memory access time.
Creating Multiprocessor Nios II Systems Tutorial	How to create a system with multiple Nios II processors and use the mutex component to coordinate processors.
Using Nios II Floating-Point Custom Instructions	How to add floating-point instructions to the Nios II processor and compile software for them.
AN 548: Nios II Compact Configuration System for Cyclone III Application Note	An example of a compact Nios II processor system you can use to manage configuration from flash memory containing multiple FPGA configuration images.
AN 527: Implementing an LCD Controller Application Note	How to create your own LCD module for your embedded design.
AN458: Alternate Nios II Boot Methods Application Note	How to boot your Nios II system, use the default Nios II bootloader, and customize the bootloader.
AN446: Debugging Nios II Systems with the SignalTap II Logic Analyzer Application Note	How to use the SignalTap® II Logic Analyzer and the Nios II SignalTap plug-in to debug your embedded system.
AN440: Accelerating Nios II Networking Applications Application Note	How to achieve optimum Ethernet performance with Nios II, including an Ethernet reference design using Nios II, the TSE MAC core, the SG-DMA component, and the NicheStack® TCP/IP Stack - Nios II Edition.
AN391: Profiling Nios II Systems Application Note	How to profile your Nios II system to discover potential areas for performance optimizations.
AN351: Simulating Nios II Embedded Processor Designs Application Note	How to simulate Nios II processor designs using the ModelSim simulator.
AN350: Upgrading Nios Processor Systems to the Nios II Processor Application Note	How to upgrade first-generation Nios processor systems to use the Nios II processor.
AN346: Using the Nios Development Board Configuration Controller Reference Designs Application Note	Reference for using the configuration controller reference design delivered with the Nios development boards.
Avalon Interface Specifications	Reference for Avalon interface behaviors.
Nios II Performance Benchmarks	Performance and resource usage data for the Nios II processor and peripherals.
Software Development
Nios II IDE Help	Reference for using the features of the Nios II IDE. This content is available as one PDF document, or as individual topics within the Nios II IDE help system. After starting the IDE, on the Help menu click Help Contents to view the topics.
SOPC Builder Help	Reference for using the features of SOPC Builder. This content is available within the SOPC Builder help system. After starting SOPC Builder, on the Help menu click Help.
Nios II Software Development Tutorial	How to create, compile, debug, and run a C/C++ program using the Nios II IDE. This tutorial is available within the Nios II IDE help system.
AN459: Guidelines for Developing a Nios II HAL Device Driver Application Note	Explains the anatomy of a HAL device driver and how to create and debug one for a Nios II component.
AN429: Remote Configuration Over Ethernet with the Nios II Processor Application Note	Describes a methodology for implementing remote configuration with the Nios II processor.
Using the MicroC/OS-II RTOS with the Nios II Processor Tutorial	How to create a new software application based on the MicroC/OS-II real-time operating system (RTOS).
Using the NicheStack TCP/IP Stack Nios II Edition Tutorial	How to create a new software application based on the NicheStack TCP/IP Stack - Nios II Edition.
Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)	Complete reference for the Nios II compiler tool-chain. Below are links to the main Nios II processor-specific content: Altera Nios II Options Altera Nios II Built-in Functions Machine Constraints for asm Operands
Newlib ANSI C standard library documentation	Complete reference of the Newlib implementation of the C standard library.
Other GNU documentation	Documentation for all the GNU tools: Assembler (note the Altera Nios II Dependent Features) Linker GNU Profiler Binutils BFD The C Pre-Processor GDB - The GNU debugger Libstdc++ Documentation for all the GNU tools installed with the Nios II EDS is available in *<Nios II EDS install path>/documents/gnu-tools*.
Micrium Homepage	Further information on the MicroC/OS-II RTOS distributed with the Nios II EDS.
C-to-Hardware Acceleration
Nios II C2H Compiler User Guide	Complete reference for the Nios II C-to-Hardware Acceleration (C2H) Compiler, including getting started guide.
Accelerating Nios II Systems with the C2H Compiler Tutorial	Beginning instructions on how to accelerate algorithms using the Nios II C2H Compiler.
AN531: Reducing Power with Hardware Accelerators Application Note	An example of using parallel algorithms to reduce power consumption in embedded systems implemented in FPGAs.
AN417: Accelerating Functions with the C2H Compiler: Scatter-Gather DMA with Checksum Application Note	An example of accelerating a software function using the C2H Compiler.
Development Kits and Boards
Nios II Development Kit Getting Started User Guide	Getting started instructions for Nios II development kit owners. Describes how to set up your Nios II development board and install the Nios II development software.
Nios II Development Kit Documentation	Documentation describing the features and devices of Nios II development kits, including reference manuals, schematics, and board layout files.
Related News and Information
Embedded News and Events	Information about new releases, application notes, reference designs, and upcoming industry events.
Embedded Processing Resource Center	A comprehensive list of Altera embedded products and support resources.