Article ID: 000074663 Content Type: Troubleshooting Last Reviewed: 04/21/2017

Why does my Cyclone III or Cyclone IV FPGA fail to access the EPCS device using the EPCS Controller module?

Environment

BUILT IN - ARTICLE INTRO SECOND COMPONENT
Description

In Cyclone® III and Cyclone IV devices, the EPCS controller does not automatically assign its output pins to the dedicated configuration pins on the FPGA. Instead, the output pins are exported to the top level design, giving users the flexibility to connect to any EPCS devices.

Therefore, in order to use the EPCS Configuration Controller the pins must be assigned manually, and the following settings must be made the Quartus® II software: 

  1. Choose Settings from the Assignments menu
  2. Click Device and Pin Options from the Device category
  3. Click Dual-Purpose Pins and then make the following changes:

Data[0] -> Use as regular I/O
Data[1] -> Use as regularr I/O
DCLK -> Use as regular I/O
FLASH_nCE/nCS0 -> Use as regular I/O

You must check the device Pin Out files for the device you are using to make the following pin assignments:

data0_to_the_epcs_controller -> DATA0
sdo_from the_epcs_controller -> DATA1,ASDO
dclk_from_epcs_controller -> DCLK
sce_from_the_epcs_controller -> FLASH_nCE

 

Related Products

This article applies to 3 products

Cyclone® III FPGAs
Intel® FPGA Configuration Devices
Cyclone® IV FPGAs