About Quartus Prime and How to install Quartus Prime Lite 23.1.1std on Ubuntu 22.04

Tổng quan về Quartus Prime và Hướng dẫn cài Quartus Prime Lite 23.1.1std (Free version) trên Ubuntu 22.04.

1./ About Quartus Prime

+ Quartus Prime is programmable logic device design software produced by Altera (Altera Quartus Prime).
+ The previous version of Quartus Prime was Quartus II. When Intel acquired Altera in 2015, Quartus II was renamed Quartus Prime, the full name is Intel Quartus Prime.
+ Used for: designing, simulating, compiling and configuring FPGA/CPLD circuits.

Timelines:
+ Before Quartus (pre-2000), Altera used a software called MAX+PLUS II for FPGA and CPLD design. This software supported Schematic and basic VHDL/Verilog based designs, and have limited.
+ In 2000, Altera introduced Quartus software as a replacement for MAX+PLUS II, with a more user-friendly interface.
+ In 2002-2010, Quartus II was born and developed strongly, supporting more chip lines and more new features.
+ In 2015, Intel acquired Altera, and Quartus II began to be rebranded as Quartus Prime (Intel Quartus Prime).

Key Features of Quartus Prime:
+ Digital circuit design with programming support using VHDL, Verilog or Schematic.
+ Integrated development environment (IDE) for writing code, compiling, and error checking.
+ Pin Planner, Timing Analysis
+ Simulation: Using Questa-Intel FPGA tool
+ Download (load) program to FPGA/CPLD via USB or JTAG
+ The Quartus Prime software suite has the NIOS II soft-core embedded processor built in.

Versions of Quartus Prime:
+ Quartus Prime Lite Edition: free version, for learning and small FPGA/CPLD.
+ Quartus Prime Standard Edition: for advanced users, supports more features.
+ Quartus Prime Pro Edition: for complex designs, high-end FPGA devices.

Altera Quartus Prime Compare: Editions and Features

Choose which Quartus Prime version suits your needs:
=> Based on the device you have:
+ Quartus supports at least Altera FPGA Cyclone IV series and above, you need to check which Altera FPGA series your FPGA Kit uses.
For example: Terasic DE0 Nano Kit uses Cyclone IV. Or OpenEP4CE6-C Kit also uses Cyclone IV.

+ However, with CoreEP2CE8 FPGA Kit, it is not supported by Quartus Prime because it is Cyclone II which is not supported by Quartus Prime. Quartus II Web 13.01.sp1 support Cyclone II.

=> Based on the Features or Tools that the Quartus Prime versions integrate, you choose the version that suits your design needs.

=> Based on cost: If you are learning the basics then Quartus Prime Lite can be considered for cost optimization.

References:
+ Quartus Prime (LINK HERE)
+ Quartus Prime Comparison (LINK HERE)

2./ How to install Quartus Prime Lite 23.1.1std on Ubuntu 22.04

NOTE:
You need to prepare a hard drive partition with free space of 40~50GB or more to store the downloaded installation file and install Quartus Prime Lite.

Step 1: Download Quartus Prime Lite (LINK HERE)

Download file have the name: Quartus-lite-23.1std.1.993-linux.tar

Step 2: Create a folder and copy the installation file into that folder.

Step 3: Unzip the downloaded installation file, and run “the setup.sh file” to perform the installation.

$ sudo ./setup.sh

Click Next.

Click Next.

Note:
The default installation directory of Quartus Prime is /root/intelFPGA_lite/23.1std, you should not install to the root directory nor install to any directory that requires root access. This will make it more difficult for you in the following steps.

Click Next

Wait for installation to complete.

Step 4: Create Launching Desktop File

=> 4.1/ Go to the folder /root/intelFPGA_lite/23.1std/quartus/adm and copy the file quartusii.png to create the icon.

Go to /usr/share/applications folder, create folder: quartus_prime_lite and paste icon file (quartusii.png) into this folder.

Then we have the link of the icon file as: /usr/share/applications/quartus_prime_lite/quartusii.png

=> 4.2/ Create the desktop file

$ nano Quartus-Prime-Lite-23-1-1.desktop

Copy and paste the following line to desktop file.

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Quartus Prime Lite 23.1
Comment=Quartus (Quartus Prime Lite 23.1.1)
Icon=/usr/share/applications/quartus_prime_lite/quartusii.png
Exec=sudo -i sh -c "/root/intelFPGA_lite/23.1std/quartus/bin/quartus &"
Terminal=true
Path=/usr/share/applications
Name[en_US]=Quartus Prime Lite 23.1
Categories=Development;IDE;

$ sudo cp Quartus-Prime-Lite-23-1-1.desktop /usr/share/applications

=> 4.3/ After each change to Quartus-Prime-Lite-23-1-1.desktop, you need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

DONE!