Altera DE2-115 - Chapter 5 DE2-115 System Builder; Introduction; General Design Flow

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Chapter 5
DE2-115 System Builder
This chapter describes how users can create a custom design project on the DE2-115 board by using
DE2-115 Software Tool – DE2-115 System Builder.
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The DE2-115 System Builder is a Windows based software utility, designed to assist users to create
a Quartus II project for the DE2-115 board within minutes. The generated Quartus II project files
include:
 Quartus II Project File (.qpf)
 Quartus II Setting File (.qsf)
 Top-Level Design File (.v)
 Synopsis Design Constraints file (.sdc)
 Pin Assignment Document (.htm)
By providing the above files, DE2-115 System Builder prevents occurrence of situations that are
prone to errors when users manually edit the top-level design file or place pin assignments. The
common mistakes that users encounter are the following:
1. Board damaged for wrong pin/bank voltage assignments.
2. Board malfunction caused by wrong device connections or missing pin counts for connected
ends.
3. Performance degeneration because of improper pin assignments.
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This section will introduce the general design flow to build a project for the DE2-115 board via the
DE2-115 System Builder. The general design flow is illustrated in Figure 5-1.
Users should launch DE2-115 System Builder and create a new project according to their design
requirements. When users complete the settings, the DE2-115 System Builder will generate two
major files which include top-level design file (.v) and Quartus II setting file (.qsf).