
Altera Corporation
10–31
July 2005
Stratix Device Handbook, Volume 2
Transitioning APEX Designs to Stratix & Stratix GX Devices
f
For more information about Stratix and Stratix GX configuration
schemes, see the Configuring Stratix & Stratix GX Devices chapter.
Remote Update Configuration
The APEX 20K device family introduced the concept of remote update
configuration, where you could send the APEX 20K device new
configuration files from a remote source and the device would store the
files in flash memory and reconfigure itself with the new configuration
data. The Stratix and Stratix GX devices enhance support for remote
update configuration with new, dedicated circuitry to handle and recover
from errors. If an error occurs either during device configuration or in
user mode, this new circuitry reconfigures the Stratix or Stratix GX device
to a known state. Additionally, the Stratix and Stratix GX devices have a
user watchdog timer to ensure the application configuration data
executes successfully during user mode. User logic must continually reset
this watchdog timer in order to validate that the application
configuration data is functioning properly.
f
For more information about how to use the remote and local update
modes, see the Remote System Configuration with Stratix & Stratix GX
Devices chapter.
JTAG Instruction Support
Stratix and Stratix GX devices support two new JTAG instructions,
PULSE_NCONFIG
and CONFIG_IO. The PULSE_NCONFIG instruction
emulates pulsing the nCONFIG signal low to trigger reconfiguration,
while the actual nCONFIG pin on the device is unaffected. The
CONFIG_IO
instruction allows you to use the JTAG chain to configure
I/O standards for all pins. Because this instruction interrupts device
configuration, you should reconfigure the Stratix or Stratix GX device
after you finish JTAG testing to ensure proper device operation.
Table 10–13 compares JTAG instruction support in Stratix and Stratix GX
devices versus APEX II and APEX 20K devices. For further information
about the supported JTAG instructions, see the appropriate device family
data sheet.
Table 10–13. JTAG Instruction Support (Part 1 of 2)
JTAG Instruction
Stratix
APEX II
APEX 20K
SAMPLE/PRELOAD
vvv
EXTEST
vvv
BYPASS
vvv
USERCODE
vvv