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 EZ1CUSB FAQs

Q: Do I have to program the FPGA after power-on?
A: No. There is a configuration EEPROM on the board to load the FPGA configuration data.
Q: Can the configuration EEPROM be programmed via USB?
A: Yes, the configuration EEPROM can be programmed via USB. It can also be programmed via EPCS Active Serial port using the Altera programming tools (sold separately by Altera).
Q: Can the FPGA be programmed via USB?
A: Yes, the FPGA can be programmed via USB. It can also be programmed via the JTAG port using the Altera programming tools (sold separately by Altera).
Q: What programming modes are used to program the FPGA and the EEPROM?
A: Three programming modes are supported to program the FPGA and/or the configuration EEPROM: Acive Serial, Passive Serial and JTAG.
Q: How long does it take to program the FPGA/EEPROM via USB?
A: The programming time depends on the density of the FPGA so it may vary.
In most cases it takes less than one second to program the FPGA/EEPROM.
Q: Can board power be supplied from the USB bus?
A: Yes, the board can be powered from the USB bus (bus powered mode) or it can be powered from an external power supply (self powered mode).
Q: What is the maximum frequency I can supply to the FPGA?
A: According to Altera Cyclone datasheet, the FPGA should be able to run up-to 250MHz. The actual frequency depends on the complexity of your design.
Q: Are the Altera Cyclone FPGA IO pins 5-V tolerant?
A: No, Cyclone devices do not support 5-V VccIO. External serial resistors or voltage translators are required to interface 5-V logic to Cyclone FPGA.
Q: What is the FPGA USB interface?
A: Simple asynchronous FIFO interface. All USB functions are handled external to the FPGA. FPGA code has no awareness of USB complexity. Once data arrives from host, FIFO empty flag goes false and data can be read out as if it were any other FIFO. Writes are handled similarly.

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