Chapter 1: Cyclone III Device Family Overview

1–11

Cyclone III Device Family Architecture

July 2012

Altera Corporation

Cyclone III Device Handbook

Volume 1

Configuration

Cyclone III device family uses SRAM cells to store configuration data. Configuration

data is downloaded to Cyclone III device family each time the device powers up.

Low-cost configuration options include the Altera EPCS family serial flash devices as

well as commodity parallel flash configuration options. These options provide the

flexibility for general-purpose applications and the ability to meet specific

configuration and wake-up time requirements of the applications. Cyclone III device

family supports the AS, PS, FPP, and JTAG configuration schemes. The AP

configuration scheme is only supported in Cyclone III devices.

and Remote System Upgrades in the Cyclone III Device Family chapter.

Remote System Upgrades

Cyclone III device family offers remote system upgrade without an external

controller. The remote system upgrade capability in Cyclone III device family allows

system upgrades from a remote location. Soft logic (either the Nios II embedded

processor or user logic) implemented in Cyclone III device family can download a

new configuration image from a remote location, store it in configuration memory,

and direct the dedicated remote system upgrade circuitry to start a reconfiguration

cycle. The dedicated circuitry performs error detection during and after the

configuration process, and can recover from an error condition by reverting to a safe

configuration image. The dedicated circuitry also provides error status information.

Cyclone III devices support remote system upgrade in the AS and AP configuration

scheme. Cyclone III LS devices support remote system upgrade in the AS

configuration scheme only.

Upgrades in the Cyclone III Device Family chapter.

Design Security (Cyclone III LS Devices Only)

Cyclone III LS devices offer design security features which play a vital role in the large

and critical designs in the competitive military and commercial environments.

Equipped with the configuration bit stream encryption and anti-tamper features,

Cyclone III LS devices protect your designs from copying, reverse engineering and

tampering. The configuration security of Cyclone III LS devices uses AES with 256-bit

security key.

Upgrades in Cyclone III Device Family chapter.