Overview

This document is intended as an introduction to the major features of Altera's MAX+PLUS II design tools. A tutorial for MAX+PLUS II was developed for EEC 180A and is also available on-line. Altera's MAX+PLUS II consists of a number of applications for designing and analyzing digital logic circuits, and for programming these circuits onto Altera's PLD (Programmable Logic Device) boards. These applications include:

• a graphic editor for capturing and editing your schematics,
• a symbol editor which allows you to create a single component for your circuit, allowing hierarchical designs,
• a waveform editor which allows you to specify and view node values during simulation,
• a compiler which compiles your design and creates the appropriate files required for simulation,
• a simulator for verifying the functionality of your circuit,
• a timing analyzer for determining the path delays and the maximum clock speed for your circuit,
• and a programmer for downloading your circuit onto an Altera PLD.

There are a few other applications in MAX+PLUS II, such as the text editor which can be used for entering and editing hardware description language (HDL) design files, and the floorplan editor which can be used to specify the placement of input/output pins and logic blocks on the physical programmable logic device.