Nios® II CRC Acceleration Design Example

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Overview

The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) algorithm detects the corruption of data during transmission, and detects a higher percentage of errors than a simple checksum. The CRC calculation consists of an iterative algorithm involving XORs and shifts that execute much faster in hardware than in software. This design uses the CRC-32 standard. It is implemented as a custom component alongside a Nios II embedded processor. The design achieves over 5 Gbps throughput, demonstrating the levels of performance improvement that can be achieved by performing the function in hardware.

Features

  • Supports any CRC algorithm between 1–128 bits
  • CRC component throughput of 32 bits per MHz
  • 8-, 16-, 24-, and 32-bit datapaths
  • Up to 2000x speed improvement over a software-only implementation
  • Low latency performance of 0 cycle write latency and 1 cycle read latency
  • Two example designs targeting Stratix® II and Cyclone® II FPGAs

Block Diagram

Figure 1 shows the Avalon® CRC component block diagram.

Figure 1. Avalon CRC component block diagram.

Note:

  1. Data path = crc_width.

Using This Design Example

Download the CRC Example Design (.zip file)

The use of this design is governed by, and subject to, the terms and conditions of the Intel® Design Example License Agreement.

The .zip file contains all the necessary hardware and software files to reproduce the example, as well as a readme.txt file. The readme.txt file contains instructions for re-building the design.