EP2S90F1020C5 Datasheet, PDF (661/768 Pages) Altera Corporation – Stratix II Device Handbook, Volume 1

SII52008-4.5
Introduction
8. Remote System Upgrades
with Stratix II and Stratix II GX
Devices
System designers today face difficult challenges such as shortened design
cycles, evolving standards, and system deployments in remote locations.
Stratix^® II and Stratix II GX FPGAs help overcome these challenges with
their inherent re-programmability and dedicated circuitry to perform
remote system upgrades. Remote system upgrades help deliver feature
enhancements and bug fixes without costly recalls, reduce time-to-
market, and extend product life.
Stratix II and Stratix II GX FPGAs feature dedicated remote system
upgrade circuitry. Soft logic (either the Nios^® embedded processor or user
logic) implemented in a Stratix II or Stratix II GX device can download a
new configuration image from a remote location, store it in configuration
memory, and direct the dedicated remote system upgrade circuitry to
initiate a reconfiguration cycle. The dedicated circuitry performs error
detection during and after the configuration process, recovers from any
error condition by reverting back to a safe configuration image, and
provides error status information. This dedicated remote system upgrade
circuitry is unique to Stratix, Stratix II, and Stratix II GX FPGAs and helps
to avoid system downtime.
Remote system upgrade is supported in all Stratix II and Stratix II GX
configuration schemes: fast passive parallel (FPP), active serial (AS),
passive serial (PS), and passive parallel asynchronous (PPA). Remote
system upgrade can also be implemented in conjunction with advanced
Stratix II and Stratix II GX features such as real-time decompression of
configuration data and design security using the advanced encryption
standard (AES) for secure and efficient field upgrades.
This chapter describes the functionality and implementation of the
dedicated remote system upgrade circuitry. It also defines several
concepts related to remote system upgrade, including factory
configuration, application configuration, remote update mode, local
update mode, the user watchdog timer, and page mode operation.
Additionally, this chapter provides design guidelines for implementing
remote system upgrade with the various supported configuration
schemes.
Altera Corporation
8–1
January 2008