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When creating a circuit board for implementing Altera® FPGAs, designers create the circuit diagram by referring to the documentation published by the manufacturer.

Here, we will guide you to the points that you should pay special attention to.

It should be noted that Q uartus® Prime can also check placement based on various constraints of the device. documentedPlease check with Quartus Prime in conjunction with the schematic check.

Target FPGA

・ Cyclone® V

Advance preparation

Here are some documents that can be used as reference when creating circuit diagrams.

Cyclone® V Overview (FPGA TOP)

The diagram below shows the pins that require special attention in the PCB design for Cyclone® V.

* The layout in the diagram has nothing to do with the actual device.

① VCC, VCC for HPS, VCC for transceiver

● Refer to the datasheet and apply the recommended power supply voltage.

● Establish a measurement point near the FPGA

・Be ready to measure the power supply in case of trouble

● Refer to Power & Thermal Design & Debugging Guidelines

● When not using all GXBs (transceivers) on the same side

・VCCE_GXBL and VCCL_GXBL can be connected to GND

● Number of decoupling capacitors

・Estimate with reference to the PDN tool

・For a more detailed estimate, use a dedicated tool

<Reference>

  Power Delivery Network (PDN) Analysis Tool

  Part 9 Confirmation and Review of Capacity in FPGA Power Supply Design

● When configuring in Active Serial (AS) mode

・ VCCPGM is 3.0 V or 3.3 V

● Power sequence

 

For more details, please refer to this document (Power-Up Sequence Recommendation for Cyclone® V Devices).

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

② MSEL pin

Please see below for MSEL pin information for Cyclone® V.

MSEL Pin Settings

Inserting pull-up/pull-down resistors(1)(2)

Cyclone® V

unnecessary

(see linked documentation)

Cyclone® V SoC via HPS

(1) A Weak Pull-Down Resistor (25kΩ) is inserted inside.

(2) If you want to switch the configuration mode, please switch to VCCPGM/GND with a 0Ω resistor.

See here for a list of MSEL pins.

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

③ Configuration pin

● DCLK

・Recommend inserting damping resistor (minimum 0Ω) 10-50Ω

- In AS mode, take care of the trace length (see the document below)

  "Evaluating Data Setup and Hold Timing Slack in AS Configuration"

● nCONFIG, nSTATUS

・Pull up to VCCPGM via 10kΩ resistor

● CONF_DONE

・Pull up to VCCPGM via 10kΩ resistor

・Do not connect to the LED as it is.

- Due to lack of drive current, it may not light up without applying FET

● When FPGA is cascaded, nSTATUS and CONF_DONE are common and pulled up.

- INIT_DONE is pulled up individually (only if used)

● nCE

・Pull down via GND connection or 10kΩ resistor

・This signal determines whether the FPGA is cascaded.

● When using nCEO, pull up to VCCPGM through a 10kΩ resistor.

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

④ JTAG pins

● Check Point

・It is recommended to insert a 0Ω damping resistor for TCK.

- To support cases where writing is not possible due to problems with the clock system

● Pin processing

・TCK: Pull down via 1kΩ resistor (Pull down via 1kΩ resistor even when not used)

・TDI: Pulled up to VCCPD via 1kΩ to 10kΩ resistor (pulled up via 1kΩ resistor when not used)

・TMS: Pulled up to VCCPD via 1kΩ to 10kΩ resistor (pulled up via 1kΩ resistor when not used)

・TDO : No pull-up/pull-down (open when not used)

● When cascading three or more FPGAs, insert buffers on the TCK and TMS lines.

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑤ Clock input pin

● Assign to p-channel when using single-ended clock

(This is a limitation when using the ALTCLKCTRL buffer because n-channel does not directly ride on the global clock.)

● Pay attention to AC/DC coupling when inputting differentially

● Pull down the RREF_TL pin through a 2kΩ resistor when using the PLL (resistor accuracy is ±1%)

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑥ Other dedicated pins

pin name

comment

RREF_TL

Pulled down through a 2kΩ±1% resistor

VREF Connect to VCCIO or GND if not used as a dedicated pin

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑦ Transceiver Pins

● Connect to GND when transceiver is not used.

・Connect the clock (REFCLK_*) to GND

・RX (GXB_RX_*, GXB_REFCLK_*) is connected to GND

・TX (GXB_TX_*) is floating

● AC/DC coupling

・Adjust to I/O Standard

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑧ DDR3 pin

Please refer to the following web content and check according to the guidelines.

Circuit diagram verification items for Arria® V / Cyclone® V and DDR3 (from Ultima Company technical content)

・ Pins that are particularly easy to mistake

- mem_reset_n

- mem_cke

-rzq

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑨ HPS pin

Cyclone® V SoC Pin Names

comment

CLOCKSEL[1:0]

Pulled up through a 10 kΩ resistor or pulled down through a 1 kΩ resistor to the VCCIO voltage

BOOTSEL[2:0]

Pulled up through a 10 kΩ resistor or pulled down through a 1 kΩ resistor to the VCCIO voltage

HPS_nRST (bidirectional pin)

Pull up to VCCRSTCLK_HPS voltage through 1kΩ to 10kΩ resistor

SDMMC

Pulled up through a 10kΩ resistor

Others

If you use QSPI > 128Mbit, you need to use an IC with reset (Bootrom software works in 3-byte mode, so you can't boot)

 

[Reference] Cyclone® V and Arria® V SoC QSPI Boot (from altera-fpga.github.io)

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑩ Dual-purpose pin

pin name

comment

CLKUSR

 DEV_OE

DEV_CLRn

PR_REQUEST

Connect to GND if not used as a function pin and not used as a user I/O pin.
nPERST Used as reset pin for PCIe hard IP

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

⑪ I/O pins

● If you are performing internal calibration, you will need to process the RZQ pin.

 

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

Appendix: Cyclone® V MSEL Pin List

MSEL Pin Settings (FPGA Configuration)

Device Family

Configuration Mode

Compression

Design Security

VCCPGM(V)

POR Delay

MSEL[4:0]

Cyclone® V

FPP x8

Disabled

Disabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3

Fast

10100

Standard

11000

Disabled

Enabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3

Fast

10101

Standard

11001

Enabled

Enabled/Disabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3

Fast

10110

Standard

11010

FPP x16

Disabled

Disabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3 

Fast

00000

Standard

00100

Disabled

Enabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3

Fast

00001

Standard

00101

Enabled

Enabled/Disabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3

Fast

00010

Standard

00110

PS

Enabled/Disabled

Enabled/Disabled

1.8/2.5/3.0/3.3

Fast

10000

Standard

10001

AS(x1,x4)

Enabled/Disabled

Enabled/Disabled

3.0/3.3

Fast

10010

Standard

10011

MSEL Pin Settings (HPS Configuration)

Device Family

Configuration Mode

Compression

Design Security

POR Delay

MSEL[4:0]

cfgwdth

cdrratio

Partial Reconfiguration

Cyclone® V SoC via HPS

FPP x16

Disabled

AES

Disabled

Fast

00000

0

1

Standard

00100

0

1

Disabled

AES

Enabled

Fast

00001

0

2

Standard

00101

0

2

Enabled

Optional

Fast

00010

0

4

Standard

00110 

0

4

FPP x32

Disabled

AES

Disabled

Fast

01000

1

1

×

Standard

01100

1

1

×

Disabled

AES

Enabled

Fast

01001

1

4

×

Standard

01101

1

4

×

Enabled

Optional

Fast

01010

1

8

×

Standard

01110

1

8

×

▲ Return to Cyclone® V Overview

Click here for recommended articles/materials

Intel FPGA Guideline Series List