DE2

DE2 is a development and education board in the DE series designed for FPGA-based digital design and embedded systems development. It was produced during the era of Altera (later acquired by Intel) and is commonly used in university laboratories and research for teaching HDL design, system integration, and hardware-software co-design.

Hardware features: The board centers on an Altera Cyclone II FPGA, supported by on-board memory and a variety of input/output facilities. It includes video output via VGA, audio interfaces, USB and Ethernet connectivity, RS-232 serial ports, and a selection of general-purpose I/O connectors. Storage is provided via on-board flash and memory, with expansion options through headers.

Software and development: DE2 designs are created with Altera's Quartus II (and later Intel Quartus Prime) design software, using VHDL or Verilog. The platform supports simulation with ModelSim and, on some configurations, embeds soft processors such as Nios II for embedded applications. The combination makes it suitable for teaching digital logic, computer architecture, and embedded systems concepts.

Legacy and influence: The DE2 boards were widely adopted in education from the mid-2000s onward, complementing other boards in the DE family. They served as an accessible entry point to FPGA development, bridging hardware description language programming with practical hardware prototyping.