Not exactly. Intel agreed to manufacture Altera FPGAs using its 14 nm process; certain Stratix 10 SoC FPGA variants later included an Arm Cortex-A53 processor system alongside programmable logic. That is different from Intel making a stand-alone ARM processor for Altera.
What Intel’s 14 nm agreement with Altera covered
On February 25, 2013, Intel and Altera announced an agreement for Intel to manufacture Altera FPGA products using Intel’s 14 nm tri-gate technology. The announcement described target markets including military systems, wireline communications, cloud networking, and compute and storage. It concerned FPGA manufacturing, not a separate ARM CPU. Intel’s 2013 announcement.
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Where the Arm processor fits
An FPGA is a programmable logic device. An SoC FPGA combines programmable FPGA fabric and a processor system on one device. Altera’s June 8, 2015 announcement said the Stratix 10 FPGA and SoC family would include a 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 hard processor system in SoC variants. Its stated expectation that engineering samples would arrive in fall 2015 was a forecast at the time, not an indication of present availability. Altera’s 2015 Stratix 10 announcement.
Intel’s product specification for the Stratix 10 SX 2500 lists both 14 nm lithography and a quad-core, 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 hard processor system. Intel marks that model as launched. This is an embedded processor system within an SoC FPGA, not a stand-alone Intel-branded ARM chip. Intel Stratix 10 SX 2500 specifications.
#1 Best Overall
- Altera Cyclone IV FPGA includes 6,000 Logic Elements with two clock multipliers. The Cyclone IV FPGA is the perfect balance of inexpensive cost versus plentiful logic cells, 20KBytes of SRAM, and General Purpose Input/Output pins. This is a great board to learn how to program FPGA's.
- Built in programmer cable allows configuring the FPGA with a single USB-C cable. The DPL can be powered from the USB cable or from the Barrel Connector. A separate JTAG header can also be used to program the FPGA using a compatible USB Blaster cable.
- 6x6 LED Array allows character and animations to be displayed at ultra fast speed. LED blocks can be individually turned on/off to allow LED signals to be used as I/O's
- 70 Inputs/Outputs originating at the FPGA are available at Stackable Headers organized around the edge of the board. The user can configure these I/O's using the FPGA project code.
- The DPL contains two oscillators, 66MHz and 100MHz. The 66MHz oscillator is used to provide clocking for the EPT ActiveHost USB communications core. The 100MHz oscillator can be used by the user clocked up using one of the onboard Clock-DLL modules.
How to distinguish Stratix 10 variants
The Arm processor feature applies to SoC FPGA variants, not automatically to every Stratix 10 device. When evaluating a part, check its exact specification and compare:
- Whether it is an FPGA-only device or an SoC FPGA with a hard processor system.
- Device capacity and the logic resources required by the design.
- Transceiver and memory-interface requirements.
- Package and the particular processor and peripheral configuration.
Intel’s Stratix 10 family overview and product documentation describe variant-specific capabilities; a family-level description should not substitute for the exact part specification.
Rank #2
- Altera 10CL016 FPGA with 16,000 Logic Elements. This FPGA Development Kit requires an external JTAG Programmer. The Cyclone 10 FPGA is a powerful mid-range chip from Altera. It contains 504 Kbits of SRAM Memory. This chip is perfect for implementing soft core processors such as a RISC-V.
- The CycloFlex includes Three Seven Segment Displays which are directly drivable from FPGA I/O pins. 65 Inputs/Outputs from the FPGA available at board connectors. There are seven Green User LEDs that can be controlled directly from FPGA pins. One RGB LED is also included. Two Pushbuttons are available for input to user code.
- One 50MHz oscillator provides all precision clocking needs on the CycloFlex Board. The FPGA includes four DLL's that provide both frequency multiplier and divider. This provides a broad range for clocking options for user code.
- There are two power options for the CycloFlex: USB-C connector or Barrel Connector. The USB-C options allows +5VDC through the USB 2.0 specification. Any USB-C charger or Laptop will properly power the CycloFlex. The Barrel Connector accepts +4.5 to +5.5VDC at 3Amps.
- The CycloFlex Development Kit comes complete with downloadable User Manual, Data Sheet, Drivers, Schematics, and compiled, source code, projects. The downloadable DVD has an entire tutorial on Getting Started with FPGA. It walks the user through getting the ModelSim/Questa simulation tool setup. It has guides to creating simple code for FPGAs through more advanced Test Benches. It also includes full projects with source code to communicate with the CycloFlex from a Windows PC.
The accurate way to read the headline
“Intel makes 14nm ARM for Altera” compresses two connected but distinct facts: Intel’s agreement to manufacture Altera FPGAs on its 14 nm process, and Arm Cortex-A53 cores integrated into certain Stratix 10 SoC FPGA devices. A more precise summary is: Intel manufactured Altera’s 14 nm FPGA family, while some Stratix 10 SoC variants included a quad-core Arm processor system.
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Rank #4
- Altera 10M04SA FPGA with 4,000 Logic Elements. This FPGA Development Kit requires an external JTAG Programmer. The MAX10 FPGA is a great chip to learn FPGA programming with. The MAX10 includes the configuration flash, 12 bit ADC, 20KByte of SRAM and low voltage regulators on chip.
- The board includes a 50MHz Oscillator to provide high speed control over internal gates of the MAX 10 FPGA. With 4K Logic Elements, the User can create powerful projects. The MaxProLogic is 100% compatible with the Free Quartus Prime Lite software from Altera. Just download the Quartus software from Altera, and the User can create projects, compile the code, simulate the project in a digital simulator, then download to the MAX 10 using an external programmer.
- 8 Analog Input Channels; 12 bit; 1MSamples/Second. 65 Available I/O’s at connectors. A full datasheet of the MaxProLogic is available that describes all the hardward connections. Schematic is available to give the User further information about the hardware.
- 8 Green User configurable LEDs, On/Off controller. 1 Power Pushbutton Switch; 1 User Configurable Pushbutton Switch. Source code is available to assist the user in understanding how get up and running with the MaxProLogic board.
- Complete Development Kit with tutorials and source code. Please visit the MaxProLogic product page under the earthpeopletechnology website to access all schematics, user manual, data sheets and project files. The MaxProLogic tutorials will get the beginner up and learning Programmable Logic very quickly.
Rank #3
- Designed for students and beginners looking to understand Digital Logic, fundamentals of FPGAs
- Features the Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA compatible with Vivado Design Suite WebPACK Edition (free download available from Xilinx)
- On board user interfaces include 16 user switches, 16 LEDs, 5 user pushbuttons, and a
- Expansion opportunities with four Pmod ports including 3 standard 12-pin Pmod ports and 1 dual
- Does NOT ship with micro USB cable
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