DE0

DE0 is a low‑cost development and educational board produced by Altera (now part of Intel) that implements the Cyclone III FPGA family. Introduced in the late 2000s, the board targets students, hobbyists, and engineers who require a compact platform for learning hardware description languages, prototyping digital designs, and experimenting with embedded systems.

The central component of the DE0 board is the EP3C16F484C6 Cyclone III FPGA, which provides 15 600 logic elements, 504 Kb of embedded memory, and a range of DSP blocks. The device is supplied with a 50 MHz oscillator and can be clocked up to 100 MHz using external PLLs. Supporting peripherals include 2 Mbytes of SRAM, 1 Mbyte of SDRAM, 2 Mbytes of flash memory, and a USB‑blaster II configuration interface for programming and JTAG debugging.

Connectivity options comprise a 40‑pin expansion header compatible with the popular DE0‑NANO and DE2‑115 pinouts, two 100‑base‑T Ethernet PHYs, a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet controller, RS‑232 and UART ports, VGA video output, and a 3.3 V CMOS LCD connector. The board also features push‑button switches, slide switches, LEDs, and a 7‑segment display, facilitating rapid testing and user interaction without external hardware.

Supported development tools include the Intel Quartus Prime software suite, which provides synthesis, place‑and‑route, and in‑system debugging capabilities. A range of reference designs, peripheral cores, and example projects are distributed by Intel and the open‑source community, making the DE0 a versatile platform for digital logic education, embedded processor development, and small‑scale hardware prototyping.