By Adam Taylor

Having looked introduced SDSoC in the last column, it’s now time to start working on how we get SDSoC up and running with a first example. We are going to be using the ZedBoard for this. As always, we will go more or less step by step with description as we do.

The first thing we need to do is create a new project. We can do this from either the welcome screen, shown below, or by selecting File -> New -> SDSoC project from the menu.

Selecting this will open a dialog box that allows us to name the project, and select the board, and select the operating system as seen below.

One great thing about SDSoC is that unlike the traditional SDK approach—where we need to define a BSP, HW description and FSBL—with SDSoC we do not need to do this because SDSoC already knows what these are for the selected target. (We will address bespoke SW platforms later.)

Selection of the ZedBoard

Selection of the operating system

For this example, we will be using the Linux operating system. However on the journey through the SDSoC tools, we will of course be examining the standalone and FreeRTOS options as well.

The next tab allows us to select the demo application. Initially, we are going to run within the PS (processor system) side of the Zynq SoC. We’ll characterize the code and then move it to the PL (programmable logic). In this case, select the Matrix Multiplier and Addition template as shown below:

This will create a project under the Project Explorer on the left-hand side of the SDSoC GUI. Under this project you will see the following:

SDSoC hardware functions –this is where you will see the functions we have moved into the hardware. We have not done so at this point so you will see nothing underneath this, yet.

Includes – Expanding this will show all of the C/C++ header files used in the build. We will be looking at this in a lot of detail in future blogs on this topic.

Src – The source code for the demonstration.

The next step to ensure we have everything correctly configured with not only our SDSoC installation and environment but also our development board is to build the demo so that it will run on the PS side of the device.

Before we do this we must set the correct build configuration. With the project selected in the project explorer, right click and select Build Configurations -> Set Active -> SDRelease. Then, with the project still selected on the menu, select Project -> Build Project. The build should not take too long. When it completes, you will see the following appear under the Project within the project Explorer:

Binaries – Under here you will find the Extensible Linker File (ELF) files created from the software compilation process.

Archives – Under here you will find the object files, which are linked to create the binaries.

SDRRelease – This contains your boot files and will not be present until do a build.

Now we’ve built the first demo, which runs only on the Zynq PS. At this point I need to explain how we know it’s working. If you remember in the first blog, I told you that SDSoC worked by profiling the application and then using profiled information to determine which functions to move.

How we achieve this at the basic level is by using a provided library called sds_lib.h. This library provides a basic time-stamp API that enables us to measure how long functions take based on a 64-bit global counter. This API enables us to easily determine the execution time taken by a function. We simply record the start and stop time and the difference is the process execution time.

There are two versions of an algorithm in this demo, which performs a matrix multiply and addition. The first version is called the golden version and is not intended for offloading to the PL. The second version is.

Building and running these applications just within the PS allows us to ensure that we are comparing eggs with eggs and that both processes take roughly the same time to execute. Otherwise it’s an unfair comparison.

With the build complete, we copy all of the files under the SDRelease -> sd_card folder under the project explorer onto an SD card and insert it into the ZedBoard. With a terminal program connected to the ZedBoard and the boot sequence completed, you need to run the program. You do this by typing in:

/mnt/mult_add.elf

(where mult_add is the name of the project you created)

When I ran this on my Zed board I obtained the following result, which shows that both functions take roughly the same amount of time to execute:

Execution time for both functions running in the Zynq SoC’s PS

In the next blog we will look at how we can reduce the function’s execution time by more than 70%. You will be amazed by how easily we will do this.

Now, you can have convenient, low-cost Kindle access to the first year of Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles for a mere $7.50. Click here.

Please see the previous entries in this MicroZed Chronicles series by Adam Taylor:

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 85: SDSoC—the first instalment

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed(ish) Chronicles Part 84: Simple Communication Interfaces Part 4

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed(ish) Chronicles Part 83: Simple Communication Interfaces Part 3

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed(ish) Chronicles Part 82: Simple Communication Interfaces Part 2

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed(ish) Chronicles Part 81: Simple Communication Interfaces

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 80: LWIP Stack Configuration

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Chronicles Part 79: Zynq SoC Ethernet Part III

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Chronicles Part 78: Zynq SoC Ethernet Part II

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Microzed Chronicles Part 77 – Introducing the Zynq SoC’s Ethernet

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 76: Constraints for Relatively Placed Macros

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 75: Placement Constraints – Pblocks

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 73: Physical Constraints

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 73: Working with other Zynq-Based Boards

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 72: Multi-cycle Constraints

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 70: Constraints—Clock Relationships and Avoiding Metastability

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 70: Constraints—Introduction to timing and defining a clock

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 69: Zynq SoC Constraints Overview

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 68: AXI DMA Part 3, the Software

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 67: AXI DMA II

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 66: AXI DMA

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 65: Profiling Zynq Applications II

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 64: Profiling Zynq Applications

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 63: Debugging Zynq Applications

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 62: Answers to a question on the Zynq XADC

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 61: PicoBlaze Part Six

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 60: The Zynq and the PicoBlaze Part 5—controlling a CCD

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 59: The Zynq and the PicoBlaze Part 4

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 58: The Zynq and the PicoBlaze Part 3

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 57: The Zynq and the PicoBlaze Part Two

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 56: The Zynq and the PicoBlaze

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 55: Linux on the Zynq SoC

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 54: Peta Linux SDK for the Zynq SoC

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 53: Linux and SMP

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 52: One year and 151,000 views later. Big, Big Bonus PDF!

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 51: Interrupts and AMP

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 50: AMP and the Zynq SoC’s OCM (On-Chip Memory)

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 49: Using the Zynq SoC’s On-Chip Memory for AMP Communications

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 48: Bare-Metal AMP (Asymmetric Multiprocessing)

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 47: AMP—Asymmetric Multiprocessing on the Zynq SoC

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 46: Using both of the Zynq SoC’s ARM Cortex-A9 Cores

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 44: MicroZed Operating Systems—FreeRTOS

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 43: XADC Alarms and Interrupts

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles MicroZed Part 42: MicroZed Operating Systems Part 4

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles MicroZed Part 41: MicroZed Operating Systems Part 3

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles MicroZed Part 40: MicroZed Operating Systems Part Two

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles MicroZed Part 39: MicroZed Operating Systems Part One

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles MicroZed Part 38 – Answering a question on Interrupts

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 37: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 8

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 36: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 7

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 35: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 6

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 34: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 5

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 33: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with the Zynq SoC

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 32: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 31: Systems of Modules, Driving RGB NeoPixel LED arrays

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 30: The MicroZed I/O Carrier Card

Zynq DMA Part Two – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 29

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Eight: Zynq DMA – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 28

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Seven: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 27

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Six: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 26

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Five: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 25

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Four: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 24

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Three: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 23

The Zynq PS/PL, Part Two: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 22

The Zynq PS/PL, Part One: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 21

Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part Four: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 20

Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part Three: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 19

Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part Two: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 18

Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part One: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 17

The Zynq SoC’s Private Watchdog: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 16

Implementing the Zynq SoC’s Private Timer: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 15

MicroZed Timers, Clocks and Watchdogs: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 14

More About MicroZed Interrupts: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 13

MicroZed Interrupts: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 12

Using the MicroZed Button for Input: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 11

Driving the Zynq SoC's GPIO: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 10

Meet the Zynq MIO: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 9

MicroZed XADC Software: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 8

Getting the XADC Running on the MicroZed: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 7

A Boot Loader for MicroZed. Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 6

Figuring out the MicroZed Boot Loader – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 5

Running your programs on the MicroZed – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 4

Zynq and MicroZed say “Hello World”-- Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 3

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles: Setting the SW Scene

Bringing up the Avnet MicroZed with Vivado