1
Introduction to Cyclone V Hard Processor System
(HPS)
2013.12.30
cv_54001
Send Feedback
The Cyclone V device is a single-die system on a chip (SoC) that consists of two distinct parts—a hard
processor system (HPS) portion and a FPGA portion.
The following figure shows a high-level block diagram of the Altera SoC device.
Figure 1-1: Altera SoC FPGA Device Block Diagram
Altera SoC FPGA Device
HPS Portion
Flash
Controllers
SDRAM Controller
Subsystem
Cortex-A9 MPU Subsystem
On-Chip
Memories
Support
Peripherals
PLLs
Interface
Peripherals
Debug
HPS-FPGA
Interfaces
Control
Block
User
I/O
HSSI
Transceivers
FPGA Fabric
(LUTs, RAMs, Multipliers & Routing)
PLLs
Hard
PCIe
Hard Memory
Controllers
FPGA Portion
The HPS contains a microprocessor unit (MPU) subsystem with single or dual ARM
®
Cortex
™
-A9 MPCore
processors, flash memory controllers, SDRAM L3 Interconnect, on-chip memories, support peripherals,
interface peripherals, debug capabilities, and phase-locked loop (PLLs). The dual-processor HPS supports
symmetric (SMP) and asymmetric (AMP) multiprocessing.
The FPGA portion of the device contains the FPGA fabric, a control block (CB), phase-locked loops (PLLs),
and depending on the device variant, high-speed serial interface (HSSI) transceivers, hard PCI Express
®
(PCIe
®
) controllers, and hard memory controllers. For information about the FPGA portion of the device,
refer to
Cyclone
®
V Device Overview
.
The HPS and FPGA portions of the device are distinctly different. The HPS boots (from any of multiple
boot sources, including the FPGA fabric and external flash devices) and the FPGA gets configured (through
the HPS or any external source supported by the device). For more information, refer to the
Booting and
Configuration
appendix in volume 3 of the
Cyclone
®
V Device Overview
.
The HPS and FPGA portions of the device each have their own pins. Pins are not freely shared between the
HPS and the FPGA fabric. The HPS I/O pins are configured by software executing in the HPS. Software
executing on the HPS accesses control registers in the system manager to assign HPS I/O pins to the available
©
2013 Altera Corporation. All rights reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX words
and logos are trademarks of Altera Corporation and registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other
words and logos identified as trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at
www.altera.com/common/legal.html
. Altera warrants performance of its semiconductor products to current specifications in accordance with
Altera's standard warranty, but reserves the right to make changes to any products and services at any time without notice. Altera assumes
no responsibility or liability arising out of the application or use of any information, product, or service described herein except as expressly
agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain the latest version of device specifications before relying on any published
information and before placing orders for products or services.
www.altera.com
101 Innovation Drive, San Jose, CA 95134