Designing with the Versal ACAP: Architecture and Methodology

Software and hardware developers, system architects, and anyone who wants to learn about the architecture of the Xilinx Versal ACAP device.

• Comfort with the C/C++ programming language
• Vitis™ IDE software development flow
• Hardware development flow with the Vivado® Design Suite
• Basic knowledge of UltraScale™/UltraScale+™ FPGAs and Zynq® UltraScale+ MPSoCs

• Vivado Design Suite
• Vitis unified software platform
• PetaLinux Tools

• Architecture: Xilinx Versal ACAPs

After completing this comprehensive training, you will have the necessary skills to:

• Describe the Versal ACAP architecture at a high level
• Describe the various engines in the Versal ACP device
• Use the various blocks from the Versal architecture to create
  complex systems
• Perform system-level simulation and debugging
• Identify and apply different design methodologies

Day 1

• Introduction Talks about the need for Versal devices
• Architecture Overview Provides a high-level overview of the Versal architecture, illustrating the various engines available in the the Versal architecture. {Lecture}
• Design Tool Flow Maps the various engines in the Versal architecture to the tools required and describes how to target them for final image assembly. {Lecture, Lab}
• Adaptable Engines (PL) Describes the logic resources available in the Adaptable Engine. {Lecture}
• Processing System Reviews the Cortex™-A72 processor APU and Cortex-R5 processor RPU that form the Scalar Engine. The platform management controller (PMC), processing system manager (PSM), I/O peripherals, and PS-PL interfaces are also covered. {Lecture}
• PMC and Boot and Configuration Describes the platform management controller, platform loader and manager (PLM) software and boot and configuration. {Lecture, Lab}
• SelectIO Resources Describes the I/O bank, SelectIO™ interface, and I/O delay features. {Lecture}
• Clocking Architecture Discusses the clocking architecture, clock buffers, clock routing, clock management functions, and clock de-skew. {Lecture, Lab}
• System Interrupts Discusses the different system interrupts and interrupt controllers. {Lecture}

Day 2

• Timers, Counters, and RTC Provides an overview of timers and counters, including the system counter, triple timer counter (TTC), watchdog timer, and real-time clock (RTC). {Lecture}
• Software Build Flow Provides an overview of the different build flows, such as the do it yourself, Yocto Project, and PetaLinux tool flows. {Lecture, Lab}
• Software Stack Reviews the Versal ACAP bare-metal, FreeRTOS, and Linux software stack and their components. {Lecture}
• DSP Engine Describes the DSP58 slice and compares the DSP58 slice with the DSP48 slice. DSP58 modes are also covered in detail. {Lecture}
• AI Engine Discusses the AI Engine array architecture, terminology, and AIE interfaces. {Lecture}
• NoC Introduction and Concepts Covers the reasons to use the network on chip, its basic elements, and common terminology. {Lecture, Lab}
• Device Memory Describes the available memory resources, such as block RAM, UltraRAM, LUTRAM, embedded memory, OCM, and DDR. The integrated memory controllers are also covered. {Lecture}
• Programming Interfaces Reviews the various programming interfaces in the Versal ACAP. {Lecture}
• Application Partitioning Covers what application partitioning is and how the mapping of resources based on the models of computation can be performed. {Lecture}

Day 3

• PCI Express & CCIX Provides an overview of the CCIX PCIe module and describes the PL and CPM PCIe blocks. {Lecture, Lab}
• Serial Transceivers Describes the transceivers in the Versal ACAP. {Lecture}
• Power and Thermal Solutions Discusses the power domains in the Versal ACAP as well as power optimization and analysis techniques. Thermal design challenges are also covered. {Lecture}
• Debugging Covers the Versal ACAP debug interfaces, such as the test access port (TAP), debug access port (DAP) controller, and high-speed debug port (HSDP). {Lecture, Lab}
• Security Features Describes the security features of the Versal ACAP. {Lecture}
• System Simulation Explains how to perform system-level simulation in a Versal ACAP design. {Lecture, Lab}
• System Design Methodology Reviews the Xilinx-recommended methodology for designing a system. {Lecture}