Nios is a soft configurable RISC processor, designed for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), for embedded uses, by Altera Corp. The 16-bit, first version is called Nios, the 32-bit version is called Nios II. Altera suggests the later for all new design work. By being soft-core, FPGA developers can choose from many system configurations, using the best-fit core, and peripherals.