Host Memory Bandwidth

This is host memory bandwidth example.

KEY CONCEPTS: host memory, bandwidth, address translation unit

KEYWORDS: XCL_MEM_EXT_HOST_ONLY, HOST[0]

This is a host application to test host memory bandwidth. It contains 3 kernels namely read_bandwidth, write_bandwidth and bandwidth (for concurrent read and write).The host application runs all 3 kernels with variable buffer sizes and measures the bandwidth for each case. Finally the design reports the maximum bandwidth achieved for each case.

The host allocates a buffer into specific host-only buffer using XCL_MEM_EXT_HOST_ONLY. The cl_mem_ext_ptr object needs to be used in cases where memory assignment is done by user explicitly:

cl_mem_ext_ptr_t input_buffer_ext;
input_buffer_ext.flags = XCL_MEM_EXT_HOST_ONLY;
input_buffer_ext.obj = nullptr;
input_buffer_ext.param = 0;

OCL_CHECK(err, buffer[0] = new cl::Buffer(context, CL_MEM_READ_WRITE | CL_MEM_EXT_PTR_XILINX, bufsize,
                                          &input_buffer_ext, &err));

Using the sp option in the krnl_bandwidth.cfg file, AXI-Master Port is connected to the Slave-Bridge IP:

[connectivity]
sp=bandwidth_1.input0:HOST[0]
sp=bandwidth_1.output0:HOST[0]
sp=read_bandwidth_1.input0:HOST[0]
sp=write_bandwidth_1.output0:HOST[0]

Following is the real log reported while running the design on U250 platform:

Found Platform
Platform Name: Xilinx
INFO: Reading ./build_dir.hw.xilinx_u250_gen3x16_xdma_3_1_202020_1/bandwidth.xclbin
Loading: './build_dir.hw.xilinx_u250_gen3x16_xdma_3_1_202020_1/bandwidth.xclbin'
Trying to program device[0]: xilinx_u250_gen3x16_xdma_shell_3_1
Device[0]: program successful!
Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 6.96748 (GB/sec) for buffer size 4.00 KB
Read Throughput = 4.87813 (GB/sec) for buffer size 4.00 KB
Write Throughput = 4.69212 (GB/sec) for buffer size 4.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 7.25228 (GB/sec) for buffer size 8.00 KB
Read Throughput = 4.95737 (GB/sec) for buffer size 8.00 KB
Write Throughput = 5.155 (GB/sec) for buffer size 8.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 8.31089 (GB/sec) for buffer size 16.00 KB
Read Throughput = 6.0383 (GB/sec) for buffer size 16.00 KB
Write Throughput = 6.16268 (GB/sec) for buffer size 16.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 12.1802 (GB/sec) for buffer size 32.00 KB
Read Throughput = 8.17289 (GB/sec) for buffer size 32.00 KB
Write Throughput = 8.26587 (GB/sec) for buffer size 32.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 15.9402 (GB/sec) for buffer size 64.00 KB
Read Throughput = 9.62244 (GB/sec) for buffer size 64.00 KB
Write Throughput = 9.59521 (GB/sec) for buffer size 64.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 19.0601 (GB/sec) for buffer size 128.00 KB
Read Throughput = 10.6148 (GB/sec) for buffer size 128.00 KB
Write Throughput = 10.7014 (GB/sec) for buffer size 128.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 20.8453 (GB/sec) for buffer size 256.00 KB
Read Throughput = 10.4822 (GB/sec) for buffer size 256.00 KB
Write Throughput = 11.2627 (GB/sec) for buffer size 256.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 21.8754 (GB/sec) for buffer size 512.00 KB
Read Throughput = 10.3349 (GB/sec) for buffer size 512.00 KB
Write Throughput = 11.5728 (GB/sec) for buffer size 512.00 KB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 22.9009 (GB/sec) for buffer size 1.00 MB
Read Throughput = 11.4337 (GB/sec) for buffer size 1.00 MB
Write Throughput = 11.7316 (GB/sec) for buffer size 1.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 23.3553 (GB/sec) for buffer size 2.00 MB
Read Throughput = 11.6192 (GB/sec) for buffer size 2.00 MB
Write Throughput = 11.8272 (GB/sec) for buffer size 2.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 21.2646 (GB/sec) for buffer size 4.00 MB
Read Throughput = 11.6355 (GB/sec) for buffer size 4.00 MB
Write Throughput = 11.8706 (GB/sec) for buffer size 4.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 19.8527 (GB/sec) for buffer size 8.00 MB
Read Throughput = 11.0061 (GB/sec) for buffer size 8.00 MB
Write Throughput = 11.8895 (GB/sec) for buffer size 8.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 14.4411 (GB/sec) for buffer size 16.00 MB
Read Throughput = 10.688 (GB/sec) for buffer size 16.00 MB
Write Throughput = 11.6946 (GB/sec) for buffer size 16.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 13.0544 (GB/sec) for buffer size 32.00 MB
Read Throughput = 10.6945 (GB/sec) for buffer size 32.00 MB
Write Throughput = 11.4721 (GB/sec) for buffer size 32.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 11.4484 (GB/sec) for buffer size 64.00 MB
Read Throughput = 10.6969 (GB/sec) for buffer size 64.00 MB
Write Throughput = 10.6954 (GB/sec) for buffer size 64.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 11.7352 (GB/sec) for buffer size 128.00 MB
Read Throughput = 10.6941 (GB/sec) for buffer size 128.00 MB
Write Throughput = 10.5788 (GB/sec) for buffer size 128.00 MB

Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 11.59 (GB/sec) for buffer size 256.00 MB
Read Throughput = 10.7008 (GB/sec) for buffer size 256.00 MB
Write Throughput = 10.5752 (GB/sec) for buffer size 256.00 MB

Maximum bandwidth achieved :
Concurrent Read and Write Throughput = 23.3553 (GB/sec)
Read Throughput = 11.6355 (GB/sec)
Write Throughput = 11.8895 (GB/sec)

TEST PASSED

EXCLUDED PLATFORMS:

  • Alveo U25 SmartNIC

  • Alveo U30

  • Alveo U50lv

  • Alveo U50 gen3x4

  • All Embedded Zynq Platforms, i.e zc702, zcu102 etc

  • All Versal Platforms, i.e vck190 etc

  • All Platforms with 2019 Version

  • All Platforms with 2018 Version

  • Samsung SmartSSD Computation Storage Drive

  • Samsung U.2 SmartSSD

DESIGN FILES

Application code is located in the src directory. Accelerator binary files will be compiled to the xclbin directory. The xclbin directory is required by the Makefile and its contents will be filled during compilation. A listing of all the files in this example is shown below

src/bandwidth.cpp
src/host.cpp
src/read_bandwidth.cpp
src/write_bandwidth.cpp

Access these files in the github repo by clicking here.

COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS

Once the environment has been configured, the application can be executed by

./host_memory_bw.exe <bandwidth XCLBIN>