Nios II

Nios II is a 32-bit embedded-processor architecture designed specifically for the Altera family of FPGAs. Nios II incorporates many enhancements over the original Nios architecture, making it more suitable for a wider range of embedded computing applications, from DSP to system-control.

Nios II is comparable to MicroBlaze, a competing softcore CPU for the Xilinx family of FPGA. Unlike Microblaze, Nios II is licensable for standard-cell ASICs through a third-party IP provider, Synopsys Designware. Through the Designware license, designers can port Nios-based designs from an FPGA-platform to a mass production ASIC-device.

Nios II is a successor to Altera's first configurable 16-bit embedded processor Nios.

Key features

Like the original Nios, the Nios II architecture is a RISC soft-core architecture which is implemented entirely in the programmable logic and memory blocks of Altera FPGAs. The soft-core nature of the Nios II processor lets the system designer specify and generate a custom Nios II core, tailored for his or her specific application requirements. System designers can extend the Nios II's basic functionality by adding a predefined memory management unit, or defining custom instructions and custom peripherals.

Nios

Nios, NIOS or N.I.O.S. may refer to:

See also

Nios embedded processor

Nios was Altera's first configurable 16-bit embedded processor for its FPGA product-line. For new designs, Altera recommends the 32-bit Nios II.

See also

References

DOS Protected Mode Services

DOS Protected Mode Services (DPMS) is a set of extended DOS memory management services to allow DPMS-enabled DOS drivers to load and execute in extended memory and protected mode.

Not being a DOS extender by itself, DPMS is a minimal set of extended DOS memory management services to allow slightly modified DOS resident system extensions (RSX) such as device drivers or TSRs (as so called DPMS clients) to relocate themselves into extended memory and run in 16-bit or 32-bit protected mode while leaving only a tiny stub in conventional memory as an interface to communicate with the conventional DOS environment. The DPMS clients do so through DPMS services provided by a previously loaded DPMS server. The necessary size of the remaining stub depends on the type of driver, but often can be reduced downto a few hundred bytes for just the header even for complex drivers.

By executing the driver in extended memory and freeing up conventional memory, DPMS not only allows very large drivers to load and take advantage of the available memory, but also to leave more memory available for normal DOS drivers to load or non-extended DOS applications to execute within the space constraints of the conventional memory area. This will also help increase the amount of free system resources under Windows. Providing unified interfaces for the software to allocate and use memory in protected mode without having to tunnel all requests through real mode DOS, DPMS at the same time can help improve system performance as well.