Runs on Linux and VxWorks, enabling rapid development of device-specific software for use with Altera's SoC FPGAs.

Hong Kong, October 12, 2011 — Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) announced that it is providing a virtual design platform called SoC FPGA Virtual Target to enable the rapid development of specific device-embedded software targeting its recently announced SoC FPGA devices. Based on Synopsys’ proven virtual prototyping solution, SoC FPGA Virtual Target enables rapid PC-based functional simulation on Altera SoC FPGA development boards.
Since the Virtual Target is binary and register compatible with the SoC FPGA board, software developed with the Virtual Target can be transferred to the actual board with minimal effort.
By utilizing a Virtual Target that supports Linux and VxWorks and major ARM ecosystem development tools, embedded software engineers can develop applications using familiar tools, maximize existing code reuse, and further enhance productivity with unrivaled target control and visibility—critical aspects when developing complex multi-core processor systems.

Vince Hu, Vice President of Product and Marketing at Altera, stated, “Developing application software for use in embedded projects requires a significant amount of time and engineering resources.” “By using our company’s SoC FPGA Virtual Target, engineers will be able to quickly get started on software development, maximize productivity, and bring products to market quickly,” he said.

The SoC FPGA Virtual Target, provided as a pre-built, ready-to-use binary and register-compatible PC-based simulation model, includes the same dual-core ARM® Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ processor and system peripherals used in Altera’s Cyclone®V and Arria® V SoC FPGAs, and provides board-level devices such as DDR SDRAM, flash memory, and virtual I/O.
To enable the development of application software targeting hard processor systems and customer-designed FPGA-based IP, Altera optionally provides an FPGA-in-the-loop extension for the Virtual Target. This extension utilizes an Altera FPGA development board connected to a PC-based Virtual Target via a PCIe® interface.
By using Virtual Target and FPGA-in-the-loop extension together, users can add custom peripherals and hardware accelerators to the processor subsystem, write device drivers for them, and integrate them with application software prior to the final hardware delivery.
Therefore, firmware and application software for use on a specific device can be transferred to the actual hardware with minimal effort.

John Koeter, Vice President of IP and Systems Marketing at Synopsys, stated, “Many semiconductor and systems companies have successfully used virtual prototypes to accelerate software development before and after silicon implementation.” “By collaborating with Altera to enable the use of proven virtual prototyping technology as pre-built, ready-to-use virtual targets, we are able to provide an environment with excellent debug performance,” he said.

Virtual Target primarily supports Linux and VxWorks. Embedded software developers can immediately boot Linux into Virtual Target using pre-built Linux kernel images, and device drivers are supported for all major devices on SoC FPGA development boards. Pre-built GNU toolchains and Linux source code from Altera are available for free download. Additionally, a VxWorks BSP (board support package) for Virtual Target will be provided this quarter, and additional BSPs for other embedded operating systems are planned.

Virtual Target is the only simulation environment that provides ecosystem tool compatibility and additional debugging capabilities. Development tools supported by Virtual Target include GNU tools, ARM RVDS™, ARM Development Studio 5 (DS-5™), Lauterbach TRACE 32® debugger, and Wind River Workbench. As a simulation model, Virtual Target enables greater visibility into the system to be debugged, allowing users to have better control over target execution (especially for multi-core systems) and perform debugging tasks that are difficult or impossible to do in hardware.

Mark Onions, Director of System Design Marketing at ARM, stated, “The demand for virtual platforms is increasing to accelerate software development, especially for complex designs based on ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processors.” “By using Altera’s SoC FPGA Virtual Target together with ARM’s RVDS and DS-5 software development tools, developers will be able to start design work immediately and complete multi-core system designs even faster,” he said.

"More and more users are utilizing virtual prototyping techniques to reduce development time," said Stephan Lauterbach, President of Lauterbach. "By leveraging the unique visibility and control capabilities of TRACE 3 2 and Virtual Target, multicore debugging can be elevated to a whole new level, and investments in tools and knowledge made so far can be utilized at every stage of development."

Warren Kurisu, Vice President of Product Management at Wind River, said, “Through our recent collaboration with Altera, we have successfully developed VxWorks and Linux for Altera’s softcore processors, which has further expanded the possibilities for embedded developers using Altera’s new SoC FPGA devices. By combining this with Wind River’s comprehensive product portfolio, which includes our key embedded software operating systems and world-class development tools, embedded developers are now able to meet the diverse needs of the embedded field in innovative ways.”