7. Integrate 2D Filter Kernels in the Platform

7.1. Prerequisites

  • Reference Design zip file
  • Vitis Unified Software Platform 2020.2 (include AIE tool chain)
  • Xilinx Runtime (XRT) 2020.2

7.2. Build Flow Tutorial

Tip

You can skip this tutorial and move straight to the next tutorial if desired. Pre-built Vitis acceleration output products are located inside the PetaLinux BSP file located at: $working_dir/petalinux/xilinx-vck190-es1-base-trd-platform1-2020.2.bsp

Note

The below steps use platform 1 as an example. The same steps can be used for other platforms as well, only the file/directory names with platform1 will be replaced with the targeted platform.

Download Reference Design Files:

Skip the following steps if the design zip file has already been downloaded and extracted to a working directory

  1. Download the VCK190 Base Targeted Reference Design ZIP file
  2. Unzip Contents

The directory structure is described in the Introduction Section

Set up the AI Engine toolchain and XRT environment:

  1. To set up the AIE toolchain, run the following commands:

    export CARDANO_ROOT=$XILINX_VITIS/cardano
source $CARDANO_ROOT/scripts/cardano_env.sh
export XILINXD_LICENSE_FILE=<path to where the license file is installed>

  2. To set up the XRT environment, follow the installation instructions provided here: https://xilinx.github.io/XRT/2020.2/html/build.html

Implement platform design with filter2d PL and filter2d AIE accelerators:

  1. To create the platform design with accelerators integrated, run the following Makefile:

    cd $working_dir/accelerators/examples/filter2d_combined
make PLATFORM=$working_dir/platform/ws/vck190_base_trd_platform1/export/vck190_base_trd_platform1/vck190_base_trd_platform1.xpfm

    Tip

    Alternatively, the prebuilt platform can be used which allows skipping the Vivado and platform creation steps in the previous two tutorials. To do so, run the above make command with the following platform path instead: PLATFORM=$working_dir/platform/vck190_base_trd_platform1/vck190_base_trd_platform1.xpfm

    Warning

    The PLATFORM variable needs to use an absolute path, otherwise the make step will error out.

    The Makefile implements the following:

    • Builds the filter2d PL kernel. Output is filter2d_pl_accel.xo file.
    • Builds the filter2d AIE kernel and the datamover kernel. The datamover kernel is implemented on PL and is responsible to move data from/to DDR to/from the AI Engine. Outputs are filter2d_aie_accel.xo and libadf.a containing the AIE elf and cdo files as well as the graph description.
    • Integrates the above kernels into the vck190_base_trd_platform1 design using the Vitis linker. Generates binary_container_1.xclbin which contains meta data describing the kernels and platform. Generates a new XSA that includes the updated PDI.

  2. The following is a list of important output products:

    • Vivado project with integrated kernels: $working_dir/accelerators/examples/filter2d_combined/_x/link/vivado/vpl/prj/prj.xpr
    • XSA required for building the Petalinux BSP: $working_dir/accelerators/examples/filter2d_combined/binary_container_1.xsa The XSA contains the updated PDI with the accelerators added into the platform design and the merged AIE binary.The XSA is required to build the final boot image BOOT.BIN in PetaLinux.
    • The xclbin that contains the platform and kernel meta data needed by XRT: $working_dir/accelerators/examples/filter2d_combined/binary_container_1.xclbin
    • The merged AIE elf and code file: $working_dir/accelerators/examples/filter2d_combined/aie.merged.cdo.bin The Vitis packager step creates a new image named BOOT.BIN which adds the merged AIE binary into the Vitis generated PDI.