FTDI Combines Altera Cyclone-II FPGA with Silicon and Software for Hi-Speed 480Mbit/s USB

FTDI's platform incorporates all of the hardware,software and documentation needed for a euro ~out-of-the-box' FPGA development. Thehardware comprises a compact development module incorporating an AlteraEP2C5F256C8N Cyclone-II FPGA and an FTDI FT2232H USB-to-multi-purpose UART/FIFOIC. One channel of the FT2232H is utilised for FPGA-to-PC communications andsupports data transfer speeds of up to 40 Mbyte/s. The second channel of theFT2232H is used to configure and reconfigure the FPGA over USB. USB programmingeliminates the need for Flash configuration memory normally required toconfigure SRAM-based FPGAs.

The Morph-IC-II features up to 80 generalpurpose I/O (GPIO) lines.

USB software interfacing is provided via FTDI's royalty-free drivers and sample FPGAreference designs help to speed prototyping and further reduce developmenttimes. The FPGA can be programmed and configured using Altera's Quartus IIdevelopment software, which is available as a free download from the Alterawebsite.

Altera's EP2C5F256C8N FPGA offers 4,608embedded FPGA logic elements (LEs) and 26 embedded logic RAM elements for theimplementation of LSI and entry-level VLSI (very large scale integration)designs with up to 80,000 gates and 119 Kbits of RAM. The FTDI FT2232H ICoffers USB-to-UART and USB-to-high-speed FIFO options for general-purposecommunications with PC application software. The FT2232H also features a MultiProtocol Synchronous Serial Engine (MPSSE); a configurable serial controllerthat allows designers to implement JTAG, SPI, I2C or other application-specificserial interfaces.

Morph-IC-II is supplied with FTDI's VCP(Virtual COM port) and D2XX Microsoft Windows and Linux USB drivers,eliminating the need for additional driver development for most applications.VCP drivers make the USB device appear to the PC as an additional COM port,enabling application software to access the USB device in the same way as itwould access a standard port. The D2XX drivers, which offer direct access tothe USB device through a DLL, provide an API-based interface for developers tointeract with the hardware using C/C++, C#, Visual Basic, Embarcadero Delphiand National Instruments LabVIEW.

FTDI Combines Altera Cyclone-II FPGA with Silicon and Software for Hi-Speed 480Mbit/s USB_A