DE1-SoC Interfaces and Peripherals

The Altera DE1-SoC board has a TON of interesting I/O options built into the board (details in the diagram at the bottom of this page). Also, since there's a breadboard on top, you can connect up other elements if you would like to.

To help students use the board, we have tutorials on how to connect to several different peripherals - using any of the peripherals will take more work than just doing logic inside the FPGA, but for some student projects these will help a lot. Note that we don't show how to use everything, just the elements most likely to be useful for simple electronics projects.

16x16 Bi-Color LED Array Board

ECE Stores will loan out an add-on board that provides a 16x16 LED board. This can provide three colors, and a large area, for displaying information. This is probably the easiest peripheral to use, and will be enough for most projects.

LED board driver files are here.

Mouse

The DE1-SoC has a port to take an (old-style) PS2 mouse (if you want to try a new-style USB mouse, see below). Note that the middle button is not supported.

You will also want this Verilog file to help with the PS2 mouse communications.

Keyboard

Just like mice, the PS2 port on the DE1-SoC can handle keyboards as well (if you want to try a USB keyboard, see below). Note that the keyboard is somewhat harder to understand than the mouse, so be a bit wary of using it if you don't NEED it.

You will also want these files to help with the PS2 keyboard interfacing.

USB to PS2 Converters

Newer keyboards and mice use USB, not PS2. However, *SOME* USB keyboards and mice can be converted via adapters to work with the PS2 port. EE Stores has some of these adapters. *HOWEVER* not all keyboards and mice can do this. If you want to experiment, we have checker circuits that will help you test whether a specific keyboard or mouse will work. You should test this EARLY, so that if your device doesn't work you can adapt by changing project, or tracking down older keyboards or mice.

The keyboard tester is here.

The mouse tester is here.

Video

The DE1-SoC can put out video via the VGA port. You can borrow VGA cables from EE stores.

You will also want this zip file with the various Verilog support files for this interface.

Audio

The DE1-SoC can take audio in and send audio out via standard audio jacks on the board. Note that audio can take a bit more effort to understand and get working than some of the other ports - use it if it is important to your project, but I wouldn't suggest just tacking it on as a minor feature.

The Verilog and other files for audio are contained in this .zip file.

Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)

An Analog to Digital Converter (ADC or "A to D converter") takes an analog input, and produces a digital output that numerically indicates the input voltage. This is a low-level input, but can be used for devices like a potentiometer (variable resistor), or other units like old joysticks and rotational knobs. The DE1-SoC supports up to 8 seperate such inputs.

The Verilog file for the ADC can be found here.