Licence cuts the cost of soft core development

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Aug 17, 2005

A low cost software development licence is now available for the PrKernelv4 real-time operating system, specifically designed for Nios II soft-core processors on Altera's FPGAs.

eSol and its European reseller Logic Technology have made available a low cost software development licence for the PrKernelv4 real-time operating system, specifically designed for Nios II soft-core processors on Altera's FPGAs, in combination with their PrConnect2 embedded re-entrant TCP/IP protocol stack.

PrConnect2 is RFC compliant and features a modular design that allows developers to minimise code size in the target environment.

PrConnect2 is preconfigured and ready-to-use with PrKernelv4.

Serial and Ethernet drivers for Altera's Cyclone and Stratix (I and II) development kits and full source code are included.

PrConnect2 also supports the 10/100/1000MHz Ethernet MAC IP with hardware acceleration from MoreThanIP.

PrKernelv4 has been pre-integrated seamlessly with the Nios II integrated development environment (IDE) as well as the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) to accelerate software application development for the Nios II family.

To further enhance application development, a PrKernelv4 awareness plug-in for Trace32 is now available from Lauterbach.

Also available from eSol, and integrated for use with Nios II are: PrHTTP (embedded web server), PrFile (FAT/VFAT compatible file system with various media drivers) and PrUSB/Host (host driver for OHCI, EHCI and UHCI compliant controllers).

A USB IP-based device driver for PrKernelv4 is available from System Level Solutions.

"Today, we see an increasing demand from our European customers to be able to develop a prototype based on different FPGA sises and performance standards before they make the final decision about the FPGA and soft core processor and start with real product development", says Gilbert Gadet, Logic Technology's Product Manager Europe for eSol embedded Solutions.

"With the PrKernel integration in the Nios II Eclipse based IDE and our full support for the Altera hardware abstraction layer, we already make it very easy for engineers to switch FPGA and soft core without modifying the BSP", he continues.

"Now with our low cost system development licence policy, we make it easier for corporate management also to lower initial investment in software for the purpose of prototyping".