Cyclone III FPGA Development Kit

To start learning Cyclone III FPGAs, Altera offers the Cyclone III FPGA Starter Development Kit.  This economical development kit is an ideal introduction for beginner in  FPGA design. Several design tools and FPGA design examples is included in the kit, to make quick out-of-the-box evaluation experience.

Cyclone III FPGA Development Board Starter Kit

The Cyclone III FPGA Development Kit includes:

• EP3C25-based board
• FPGA design software and design suite for 32-bit microprocessors
• Documentation
• Cables and power supply

Features of Cyclone II FPGA Development  Kit:

• Cyclone III Starter Board
  • Cyclone III EP3C25F324 FPGA
  • Configuration
    • Embedded USB-Blaster circuitry (includes an Altera EPM3128A CPLD) allowing download of FPGA configuration files via the flash device
  • Memory
    • 256-Mbit DDR SDRAM
    • 1-Mbyte Synchronous SRAM
    • 16-Mbytes flash
  • Power and analog devices from Linear Technology
    • Switching power supply LTM4603EV-1
    • Switching and step-down regulators LTC3413, LT1959
  • Clocking
    • 50-MHz on-board oscillator
  • Connectors
    • High-Speed Mezzanine Connector (HSMC)
      • Supporting 13 user controlled LVDS I/O channels
    • USB type B
  • Switches and indicators
    • Six push buttons total, 4 user controlled
    • Seven LEDs total, 4 user controlled
  • Cables and power
    • USB cable
    • External power supply
• Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit CD-ROM
  • Designs examples
    • Create an FPGA design in one hour
    • Design a 32-bit soft processor system inside an FPGA in one hour
    • Power measurements of a Cyclone III FPGA
  • Documentation
    • Board schematic and layout
    • Bill of Materials
    • User guide
    • Reference manual

Cyclone III FPGAs are perfectly suited as embedded microcontrollers when combined with Altera’s 32-bit Nios® II  embedded processor IP cores. You can add many other functions to the Cyclone III FPGA with additional IP cores available from Altera and Altera’s partners.

Developer can get the latest version of the following software (free of charge!):

• Quartus II Web Edition (FPGA design software)
• ModelSim Altera Web Edition (FPGA simulation software from ModelSim)
• Nios II Embedded Design Suite, Evaluation Edition (32-bit microprocessor software)

Source: Altera Cyclone III FPGA Starter Kit