2. Design Tools
  3. Embedded Software
  4. Whats New
2023.2

What's New in Embedded Software and Tools 2023.2

Expand the sections below to learn more about the new features and enhancements in 2023.2 embedded tools.

Yocto Project

  • Yocto minor version upgrade to 4.1.4 (Langdale)​
  • Integration of Xilinx component upgrades
  • Implementation of dynamic configuration
  • Renaming of fpgamanager classes
  • Preservation of existing classes for backward compatibility for 1 release
  • Introduction of initial support for classic SoC / segmented boot flow for Introduction of Versal​™
  • Enhanced support for more than 1 dtsi in fpgamanger_custom / dfx_user_dts classes
  • Improving and adding README files, available at:​
  • Machine configurations​
    • Removed zcu1275 and zcu1285​
  • Multimedia​
    • Defaulting to Weston 9 for Mali400 and Weston 10 for Lima (Mali400 is not compatible with Weston 10)
  •  Kria​
    • Adding support for K24 and KD240
    • Using Yocto instead of Petalinux ramdisk
  • RISC-V bare-metal toolchain​
    • Addition of rv32ima and rv32imc multilibs​
  • Gen-machine-conf:​
    • Adding a machine override option to the dt-processor script
    • Adding a machine inheritance option to the dt-processor script

PetaLinux

  • Introduction of NFS root support for MicroBlaze (MB)
  • Implementation of an automated boot flow when the user selects any available memory in the design
  • Implementation of an automated HBM boot flow
  • Support for segmented boot flow templates in PetaLinux tools
  • Removal of OS support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and 20.04.1 LTS versions
  • Addition of OS support for Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS and 22.04.2 LTS versions
  • Addition of OS support for OPEN SUSE Leap 15.4 and AlmaLinux 9.1 versions
  • Addition of a config option to specify the inherit conf file used for generating the Yocto machine conf file using gen-machine-conf
  • Addition of a config option to specify additional MACHINEOVERRIDES for generating the machine conf file
  • Implementation of a password recovery mechanism in PetaLinux without requiring rebuilding
  • Migration to use the new FPGA manager template classes from PetaLinux, with details available in UG1144

Device Tree Generator (DTG)

  • Inclusion of DCMAC support within DTG
  • Incorporation of DTG support for the new segmented boot flow for Versal

General Infrastructure

U-Boot

  • Introduction of lock/unlock support for QSPI flashes
  • Modification of the spi module to change flush cache to invalidate cache
  • Addition of proper dependencies for USB in the zynqmp configuration
  • Elimination of the hardcoding of the MDC clock divisor in the zynq_gem net module
  • Removal of the setup for boot_targets in Versal if the driver is not enabled
  • Inclusion of support to select bootscr flash offset/size from the Device Tree in the xilinx board module
  • Addition of support for parallel and stacked memories in the spi-nor mtd module
  • Inclusion of support for w25q256jwfim in the spi-nor mtd module​

Arm Trusted Firmware (TF-A) for Versal:​

  • Implemented DDR address reservation in dtb at runtime
  • Added support for SMCC ARCH SOC ID
  • Transitioned to xlat_v2
  • Replaced the irq array with a switch case
  • Added support to retrieve chipid information
  • Resolved issues related to IPI calculation
  • Configured local/remote ID in the header

Arm Trusted Firmware (TF-A) for ZynqMP:

  • Configured local/remote ID in the header

Versal™ Boot, Configuration, and Security

  • Enhancements in Versal PLM
  • Addition of IPI Message Filtering support in Versal
  • Improvements in PLM debug for Versal

Security enhancements:

  • Authentication time reduction in Versal

Zynq MPSoC FSBL:

  • Resolution of print mixup issue when only UART is used in the system

 

Enhancing Resource Management on Shim Tiles:

  • Improved AIE trace and profiling capabilities by introducing more metric sets to support resource management.

Adding DMA and AIE-ML Specific Status Dump:

  • Enhanced AIE status reporting by reading additional registers to provide new information related to buffer descriptors in AIE and AIE-ML, including Mem tile information.

Measuring AIE Tile Kernel Utilization:

  • Implemented Linux runtime functions to facilitate occupancy calculations for measuring AIE tile kernel utilization.

Controlling User Space Access on Clock-Gated Tiles:

  • Removed user space mapping for clock-gated tiles to control user space access.
  • Ignored error signals when triggered by accesses to clock-gated tiles.

Software Libraries

XilSEM:

  • In the XilSEM Client, support has been added for FreeRTOS in R5-Split mode.
  • Implemented IPI message filtering for XilSEM commands.

Full Emulation of Xen PL011:

  • Enhanced Xen to provide full emulation of the PL011 UART, making it easier to run unmodified operating systems on Xen.

Increased Compatibility for Unmodified OSs:

  • Improved the ability to run any operating system with a PL011 UART driver as a Xen VM.

Xen Support for Cortex-R52 with SMP:

  • Enabled SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing) support for Xen on Cortex-R52.
  • Allows running Xen on both Cortex-R52 cores in an RPU cluster.
  • Simplified configuration of device assignments and resource protection between the R52 cores.

Secure Xen Support for Virtio:

  • Added Xen support for Safe Virtio, securely exposing Virtio devices to Xen VMs.
  • Enables running Virtio backends in Dom0 or any other DomU.
  • Eliminates the need for full privileges to run a Virtio backend, providing safety and security benefits.

 

  • The Versal-Edge VDU Control-SW application now features support for Auto-Instance selection parameters.
  • In cases where the user does not specify a video decoder device ID, the control software application will determine the device based on the current load.

 

Enhancements to PL HLS Video IPs:

  • Introduced support for YUV_420_8bit 3planar format in the Frame Buffer Write IP.
  • Implemented support for YUV_420_8bit 3planar format in the Frame Buffer Read IP.

 

Linux:​
  • Added flash protection support in the OSPI driver.
  • Introduced support for 1G/10G switching IP.
  • Enhanced the PTP Timer Syncer driver with EXTTS support and added PHC device/index support in PL Ethernet and PTP Timer Syncer drivers.
  • Support for the PM (Power Management) framework is now available in BareMetal Drivers and FreeRTOS.
  • RISC-V BSP support is available as Early Access.
  • Added support for Versal QSPI feedback clock check.
  • Implemented support for System Device Tree-based workflow decoupling flow (available through 2023.2 Unified Vitis) with support for Versal, ZynqMP, Zynq, and Microblaze platforms.

Baremetal, FreeRTOS​:

  • Introduced PM framework support in BareMetal Drivers and FreeRTOS.
  • Provided RISC-V BSP support as Early Access.

 

•Enhancements in PL HLS Video IPs:

•Introduced support for YUV_420_8bit 3planar in the Frame Buffer Write bare-metal driver.

•Implemented support for YUV_420_8bit 3planar in the Frame Buffer Read bare-metal driver.

•Enhancements in PL Connectivity Video IPs:

•Added support for the VTEM packet feature in the HDMI 2.1 Tx bare-metal driver.

•Introduced SCDB support in the EDID Parser of the HDMI 2.1 Tx bare-metal driver.

•Enabled TMDS mode (4kp60) with RGB888 format support in the HDMI 2.1 Tx Linux driver for the Versal VEK280 board.

•Provided support for TMDS mode (4kp60) with RGB888 format in the HDMI 2.1 Rx Linux driver for the Versal VEK280 board.

•Added HDCP 2x support in the DP 1.4 Rx Linux driver.

Implemented HDCP 2x support in the HDMI 2.0 Rx Linux driver.

Yocto, Petalinux, DTG Embedded Tool Updates:

  • Yocto minor version upgrade to 4.1.4 (Langdale) and integration of Xilinx component upgrades.
  • Introduction of initial support for classic SoC / segmented boot flow for Versal and enhancements in fpgamanager classes.

Bootloaders and Firmware Updates:

  • Introduction of lock/unlock support for QSPI flashes in U-Boot.

AI Engine Device Drivers and Tools:

  • Improved AIE trace and profiling capabilities with more metric sets.
  • Enhanced AIE status reporting for buffer descriptors and resource management.

Multiprocessing Software - Xen:

  • Full emulation of PL011 UART for running unmodified operating systems and enhanced compatibility.
  • Support for SMP on Cortex-R52, simplified device configuration, and secure Virtio support with safety and security benefits.

Video Codec Unit (VCU) Software:

  • Versal-Edge VDU Control-SW application supports Auto-Instance selection parameters.
  • Automatic device selection based on system load if video decoder device ID is not provided.

Multimedia IP Drivers (Linux/Baremetal):

  • Added support for various video formats in Frame Buffer Write and Read bare-metal drivers.
  • Introduction of new features in HDMI 2.1 Tx and Rx bare-metal drivers, along with HDCP 2x support in selected Linux drivers.
2023.1

What's New in Embedded Software and Tools 2023.1

Expand the sections below to learn more about the new features and enhancements in 2023.1 embedded tools.

Yocto Project

  • Upgraded yocto version to 4.1 (Langdale)
  • Updated community layers for Langdale which includes meta-jupyter , meta-ros , meta-openamp 
  • New machine configurations for ZCU670, VHK158, VPK120, VPK180, VEK280, AC710, KCU105 and VCU118
  • Integrated upgraded Xilinx components for Linux, u-boot, TF-A, Xen, Qemu, Gstreamer, Openamp/libmetal

PetaLinux

  • Upgraded Petalinux tool to new yocto version 4.1 (Langdale)
  • Support for new Operating systems - Ubuntu 20.04.5, 22.04 LTS and 22.04.1, Alma Linux 8.7 and Open Suse leap 15.3
  • BSP support and updates for VPK180, VEK280, ZCU111, VCK190, VPK180, ZCU104, SE7, SE9, K24c-SOM, K24I-SOM, KV240 Starter Kit, & KD24 Starter kit

Device Tree Generator (DTG)

  • Enabled sugar syntax for overlays
  • Enabled custom DTSI flow for DFX/CSOC

General Infrastructure

U-Boot

  • U-Boot upgrade to mainline 2023.01
  • ZynqMP: Add display driver for U-Boot console
  • Versal: Add support for OSPI DDR for Micron flashes
  • Versal: Add support for ADI phy in ethernet

Arm Trusted Firmware (TF-A)

  • TF-A upgraded to upstream v2.8 version.
  • Versal: update macro name to generic and move to common place
  • Versal: add infrastructure to handle multiple interrupts

Versal™ Boot, Configuration, and Security

Versal PLM

  • Fixed APU IPIs warning logic for Versal Net
  • Increased stack size by 1KB
  • Revised Image Store implementation - see UG1304 for more details

PMU Firmware (PMUFW)

  • TF-A upgraded to upstream v2.8 version.
  • Versal - update macro name to generic and move to common place
  • Versal - add infrastructure to handle multiple interrupts

AI Engine Driver – Linux

AIE-ML Linux debugging

  • Added support for event tracing and profiling.
  • Added Mem Tile event support
  • Added support for Status Dump and sysFS
  • Now Supporting V70 & VEK280 devices

For AIE driver code, please visit: https://github.com/Xilinx/aie-rt/tree/main-aie.

Software Libraries

XilPLMI

  • Added support for SSIT Single EAM Event forwarding from Secondary SLRs
  • Fixed CFI readback logic for Versal Net
  • Check to skip SRST and multiboot register update for Secondary Boot Modes

XilLoader

  • Fixed compilation warning when PLM_SECURE_EXCLUDE is enabled

XilPDI

  • Added PcrInfo attribute in XilPdi_ImgHdr

OpenAMP & LibMetal

  • Libmetal upgrade to 1.3.0, Open-amp upgrade to 1.3.1

Xen Hypervisor

  • Xen update to 4.17
  • Support for Virtio-disk and Virtio-net
  • Updated Gstreamer framework to version 1.20.5
  • Updated Xilinx V4l2, DRM framework to support 6.1 kernel
  • Updated VCU, PS_DP and GPU Linux device drivers to support 6.1 kernel
  • VCU New feature: Decoding Intra Only Frames with '--decode-intraonly' cmd line option at control-sw level

Versal AI Edge (VEK280):

  • VideoDecoderUnit (VDU) SW support
    • Control-SW, openMaxIL, MCU firmware binary and kernel-module drivers source code repos are released
    • VDU Multistream and Multi-instance decoding in supported
    • Sample Decoder test application is supported
  • VCU product guide (PG252) update
  • VVAS SDK v3.0 Release
    • Based on Vivado & Petalinux v2022.2
    • Depends on Vitis-AI v3.0
  • Versal VDU (Video Decoder Unit)
    • VDU product guide (PG414) update: Available July 8, 2023
    • VDU General Access Release: On github.com
  • VCU TRD v2023.1 release by May 10, 2023

Baremetal

  • lwip upgrade to 2.1.3
  • lwip enhancements to support PS SGMII fixed link, multi MAC and multi PHY configurations
  • FreeRTOS upgrade to 10.5.1
  • WWDT Q&A mode support
  • eMMC 5.1 HS400 mode support

Linux

  • Linux kernel upgrade to 6.1
  • Axi Ethernet phylink support
  • Versal pin controller support
  • GiGadevice OSPI and QSPI flash part support
  • eMMC 5.1 HS400 mode support
  • Classic SoC boot support for Versal Production release
  • QNX BSP's available for ZU+ 102/104/106, & VCK190 (Please contact your FAE)
  • VCU, DPU support with QNX – Production version available through QNX software center
  • Yocto & Petalinux
    • Upgraded Petalinux tool to new yocto version 4.1 (Langdale)
    • BSP support and updates for VPK180, VEK280, ZCU111, VCK190, VPK180, ZCU104, SE7, SE9, K24c-SOM, K24i-SOM, KV240 Starter Kit, KD24 Starter kit
  • Device Tree Generator (DTG) 
    • Enabled custom DTSI flow for DFX/CSOC 
  • AI Engine Driver – Linux 
  • For Certified Ubuntu on AMD Devices 
  • Xen Hypervisor 
    • Xen update to 4.17 
  • New VCU feature
    • Decoding Intra Only Frames with '--decode-intraonly' cmd line option at control-sw level
2022.2

What's New in Embedded Tools 2022.2

Expand the sections below to learn more about the new features and enhancements in 2022.2 embedded tools.

Yocto Project

  • Versal Classic SoC fpgamanager bitbake class support
  • Zynqmp DFX fpgamanager bitbake class support
  • Support for ROS2 humble meta layer (Zynqmp, Versal)
  • Support for Kria SOM and Starter Kit QSPI and SD card image build
  • Initial Versal Net support

PetaLinux

  • Classic soc command line support for versal
  • Enable option to append bootargs to the existing ones instead of overriding
  • Added external and remote build support for  plm and psm-fw option in petalinux-config
  • Added Ubuntu 18.04.06,20.04.4 and CENTOS/RHEL 8.6 os support removed centos/RHEL 7.8 and 8.1 support
  • VPK180 ES1 BSP, VHK158 EA BSP, VPK120 Prod BSP.

Device Tree Generator (DTG)

  • Added classic SOC support for Versal
  • Wide concat block supported in DTG

General Infrastructure

U-Boot

  • Added support in Versal to load and execute EL1 application by doing a EL2 to EL1 switch.
  • Added Write disable command for each Write enable command in spi-nor framework.
  • Fixed issue of detecting USB when subsystem reboot is issued.
  • Fixed issue of detecting USB flash drive when connected behind usb hub along with low speed devices like keyboard and mouse.

Arm Trusted Firmware (TF-A)

  • Add missing decoder for xck24 chip
  • Implement the new IPI command PM_LOAD_GET_HANDOFF_PARAMS to get the TF-A handoff


Versal

Versal™ Boot and Security

  • SSI Technology PLM – PLM Communication (inter-SLR commmunication)
  • Version Management in PLM, Tools
  • Secure lockdown
  • Load software into HBM without any additional DDR Memory
  • Tamper trigger and response support
  • Boot Hardware Root of Trust with Authentication for SSI Technology Devices


Zynq™ UltraScale+™

PMU Firmware (PMUFW)

  • PinCtrl API support for enabling/disabling MIO tristate
  • Disable CRC/Parity Retry feature for self-refresh cases due to limitations in hardware
  • Bug fixes related to Ethernet wake and overlay config object loading

AI Engine Driver – Linux

Added Support for AIE-ML devices

  • Support deployed for windowed event trace
  • Multiple application switch performance enhancements
  • New Vectorized Matrix Multiplication sample code available through BSP

AIE Engine Driver Baremetal

  • Added Support for AIE-ML devices

Software Libraries

XilSEM

  • Added support for SSIT devices in client & server along with examples
  • Added XilSEM error notification to A72 linux users using PLM SW triggered event management framework
  • Improved GT arbitration timeout handling and notification
  • Provided example for essential bits data classification (EBD)

OpenAMP & LibMetal

  • Libmetal support for A72 baremetal

Xen Hypervisor

  • vTPM support
  • Xen domains access to a virtual TPM device for secure boot and more
  • Ease of use: automatic generation of passthrough DTBs
  • Automatically generate passthrough device trees to assign devices to Xen domains using ImageBuilder and Lopper
  • VCU demonstrates 4:4:4 in AMD low latency-mode: Production release

VCK190 Ethernet TRD (IEEE Std 1588 Reference Design over switchable 10/25G MRMAC)

  • Design upgraded to 2022.2

VCK190 Multimedia TRD (Video+ML)

  • Single Sensor Platform upgraded to 2022.2
  • Added support for 4K image processing using AIE
  • Includes DPU to perform Object Detection

Deprecated TRDs

  • VMK180 PCIe TRD
  • VCK190 Quad Sensor Platform
  • VCK190 HDMI Platform

Note: All Targeted Reference Design will be delivered few weeks after post 2022.2 release.

Baremetal

  • Added support to read PMU counters for ARMv8 (Cortex-A53, Cortex-A72) 
  • Added support for SMBus support for PSI2C 
  • Added support for OSPI WP feature of the Micron OSPI flash device
  • Baremetal BSP support for Cortex-A78 and Cortex-R52
  • Added FreeRTOS support for Cortex-A78 and Cortex-R52 

Linux

  • Added support for Versal OCM EDAC 
  • Added support for GEM Common MDIO bus probe handling
  • Added Classic SoC boot support for Versal
  • QNX BSP's available for ZU+ 102/104/106, & VCK190 (Please contact your FAE)
  • VCU, DPU support with QNX – Production version available through QNX software center
  • Annual build tools and software stack updates for Embedded Software: 
    • Linux Kernel - 5.15
    • Yocto Project: 3.4
    • GNU Tool Chain - GCC 11.2
    • U-boot - 2022.01
    • Device Tree Compiler - 1.6.1
    • Xen Hypervisor - 4.1.6
    • Arm Trusted Firmware - 2.6
    • FreeRTOS - 10.4.6
  • AI Engine driver updated to support AIE-ML devices
  • Additional device driver support for Kria SOM hardware features & ROS2 layer
  • Ubuntu distribution support available for 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
    • Certification in progress for 22.04 on Zynq™ UltraScale+™ and Kria™
  • VCU and Multimedia design & TRD updates
  • QNX BSP’s available for Zynq UltraScale+ (102, 104, 106) with DPU and VCU support 
2022.1

What's New in Embedded Tools 2022.1

Expand the sections below to learn more about the new features and enhancements in 2022.1 embedded tools.

Yocto Project

  • Enable systemd as default init manager on aarch64 architecture
  • Disable auto-login (upstream change)
  • Remove direct root login (upstream change)
  • Versal DFX(single slot) support
  • Deprecate usage of BOARD/BOARD_VARIANT in favor of machine inheritance model

PetaLinux

  • User must set password for default user on first login
  • MicroBlaze lite architecture is deprecated
  • Common VCK190 / VMK180 BSP that works with both old and new boards

Device Tree Generator (DTG)

  • Automatic generation of AIE clock information.
  • DFX single slot support in Versal

U-Boot

  • Added Zynq UltraScale+ pinctrl driver
  • Added Zynq UltraScale+ GPIO modepin driver
  • Added support for SLG7XL45106 I2C GPO expander
  • Added power domain driver to load dynamic PMU configuration object
  • Added USB2244 SD over USB
  • Added USB5744 USB hub reset
  • Dynamic SD configuration support
  • Added support for reading MAC address from multi-record FRU data in EEPROM
  • Added support to read ethernet-phy-id from PHY node and reset the PHY with GPIO

Arm Trusted Firmware (TF-A)

  • Disable the -mbranch-protection flag as this was causing the TF-A  size increase with GCC 11.2
  • Add common interfaces to handle EEMI commands in Versal

PLM Boot Support

  • XilPLMI_v1.6 - Error handling support for XMPU/XPPU EAM errors
  • XilPLMI_v1.6 - Enabled ssit_sync per SSIT node
  • XilPM_v4_0 - SRST sequence for Versal Devices
  • XilPM_v4_0 - Removed CDO commands for XPPU/XMPU protections
  • This can be done using CDO in PDI
  • XilPM_v4_0 - Add runtime operation support for AIE1

FSBL

  • Fix secondary boot issue with non-zero multiboot offset
  • Added support for ZCU670 boards

PMU Firmware (PMUFW)

  • Updated permissions for writing another overlay config object
  • Added IOCTL support for dynamic SD, GEM and USB configuration under ENABLE_DYNAMIC_MIO_CONFIG macro
    • disabled by default
  • Error reporting when overlay configuration for existing node is called multiple times
  • Add user option to manually enable DDR XMPU settings using ENABLE_DDR_XMPU macro
    • disabled by default

AIE Clock Scaling

  • At runtime, application or tools can change AIE frequency requirements through the xbutil or XRTAPI
  • At runtime, application or tools can get the AI engine frequency through the xbutil or XRTAPI as shown below.
  • The AI engine frequency can be scaled down or up
    • Max frequency is restricted to settings defined in the Vivado / Vitis in platform design.
  • Use xbutil subcommand advanced to set or get AIE clock frequency

Baremetal Error Handling

  • Added the support for reporting AIE errors in baremetal AIE driver
    • Previously only available in Linux
  • Baremetal error-handling code can be used as a reference for 3rd-party OS/RTOS porting
  • Update to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
  • Beta release in mid-May for Kria SOM Kits
  • Final release in mid-June for Kria SOM Kits and ZCU10x Evaluation boards
  • ZCU10x Image now includes ZCU111 (Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC)

OpenAMP & LibMetal

  • OCM memory can be used for RPMsg between APU & RPU on Zynq UltraScale+ platforms
  • OpenAMP & LibMetal synchronized to 2021.10 upstream release
  • OpenAMP enabled on Kria SOM platforms

Xen Hypervisor

  • Improved VM-to-VM communication mechanisms
  • PV drivers support for dom0less VMs
  • Dynamic assignment of Programmable Logic blocks to running VMs
  • Dynamic Insertion of IDR frame in low latency GOP applications
  • VCU processing YUV 4:4:4 10 bit support: Production release
  • Custom AMD YUV 4:4:4 solution for encode / decode
  • Updated V4L2, PS DisplayPort DRM and VCU kernel driver to support Linux v5.15
  • AMD gstreamer rebased to v1.18.5
  • Moved VCU encoder/decoder clock settings to vcu-modules
  • Updated VCU device tree node definition with updated clock name sequence and index
  • Support for 44.1k & 48k sampled rate audio on PS DisplayPort
    • Compliant with IEC60958

VMK180

  • PCIe TRD updated to 2022.1

VCK190

  • Quad Sensor Platform: Demonstrate Semantic Segmentation as well as object detection on four video feed from image sensors
  • Single Sensor Platform: Demonstrate face detect on video feed coming from image sensor
  • HDMI Platform:  Demonstrate 4k image processing using AIE 
  • MRMAC Quad Client 4x 10/25G MRMAC Switching Functionality 
  • MRMAC IEEE 1588 time stamping

ZCU106 

  • Legacy VCU TRDs upgradation to 2022.1 tools
  • New design Module: VCU processing YUV 4:4:4 format
  • Annual software stack version updates
  • Linux kernel 5.15, Yocto Project 3.4 Honister
  • Additional device driver support for Kria SOM hardware features
  • Ubuntu distribution support updated to 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
  • VCU and Multimedia design updates 
2021.2

What's New in Embedded Software 2021.2

  • MCS generation support added to PetaLinux
  • Support for booting from Image.gz file (Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC and Versal ACAP)
  • IOCTL-based dynamic reconfiguration across the software stack
  • Official support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on ZCU102, ZCU104, ZCU106, and Kria KV260
    • See the AMD Wiki (wiki.xilinx.com) for more information
  • Support for new flash devices in FSBL (Zynq UltraScale+) and U-Boot
  • Improved Linux multimedia infrastructure support
  • SecureBoot (authentication) support in ImageBuilder for Xen
  • Enhanced inter-guest communications in Xen
  • VCU encode/decode support up to 4Kp30
2021.1

What's New in Embedded Software 2021.1

Expand the sections below to learn more about the new features and enhancements in 2021.1 embedded tools.

Yocto Components

PetaLinux

  • The ZynqMP and Versal PetaLinux BSPs boot to tinyram based rootfs and the switch to ext based full rootfs. the default rootfs config is for full rootfs on ext4.
    • ZCU102,ZCU104 and ZCU106 all have now Vitis enabled design and XSA.
    • New ZCU670 BSP is available.
    • PetaLinux tool has distro boot support for MicroBlaze.
    • PetaLinux uses bitbake instead of devtool during config by default.

AI Engine Debugging

  • SYSFS nodes for AIE status dump.

FSBL, PLM, and BootGen (Boot)

  • PLM support to receive DDR image store from run-time application
  • Permission and check for one subsystem to manage lifecycle of other subsystem
  • Event management notification support added in different software layers
  • Add a CRC value on IPI messaging going to/from the PLM
  • XilSecure Client support for bare-metal applications
  • Subsystem restart success indication to PLM
  • PLM periodic check to ensure PSM is alive
  • Boot Image creation wizard for Versal added in Vitis

PLM (Runtime)

  • (PLM) NOC runtime clock gating when NOC is not in use
  • (PLM) Keepalive with PSM for FuSa
  • (PLM) Subscribe/Notify for system errors – enhancements to support with kernel

4U-Boot

  • Upgrade to v2021.01
  • Block protection commands support in U-Boot for Micron SPI flash devices.
  • zynqmp mmio_read and zynqmp mmio_write commands are available to access secure registers from U-Boot.

4Arm Trusted Firmware

  • Event management interface support added in ATF
  • Arm Trusted Firmware v2.4

Linux

  • Update to Linux Kernel - 5.10.x
  • VFIO framework support – allow userspace applications to map virtual memory into IOVA addresses
  • DMABUF and DMA Fence support – allow userspace applications to directly manage kernel space memory for buffer sharing between applications and drivers
  • Rebase patches available

FreeRTOS

  • Upgraded FreeRTOS version to 10.4.3

Linux Device Drivers

  • Updated AXI Ethernet Driver to support all Linux ethtool features
  • Added Linux EDAC driver support for Versal

Bare-Metal Drivers

  • Bare-metal driver for AXI Timer (Versal ACAP)
  • Change ULPI reset logic in DWC3 driver

Libraries

  • Updated open source libraries: binutils (2.35), gcc (10.2), gdb (9.2), glibc (2.32), newlib (3.3), Device Tree Compiler - v1.6.0

Xen Hypervisor

Software Stack Update

  • Arm: ATF v.2.4
  • Yocto Project: 3.2 Gatesgarth
  • Denx: U-boot v2021.01
  • Xen: v4.14
  • Linux: v5.10.x

Zynq™ UltraScale+™ Multimedia and Video Codec Unit

General VCU Updates

  • HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) support in VCU
  • Live video pipeline demonstrating Low Latency Phase2 mode @ Ctrl SW
  • NTSC Resolution (486i) Enhancement
  • Dynamic IDR frame insertion for Pyramidal GOP
  • IDR slice type enhancements
  • Monochrome (GRAY8/GRAY10) support @ GStreamer
  • VCU PL DDR4 Controller IP Enhancements: Provides mechanism to user to add DDR custom part

VCU TRD Designs (ZCU106)

  • HLG support Full pipeline
  • SDI Rx (HLG) à Encode à Decode à SDI Tx (HLG)

VCU Region of Interest (ROI) TRD (ZCU106)

  • Avnet Quadsensor camera input
  • Based on Vitis AI v1.4

4Power Advantage Tool: (ZCU111, ZCU208, ZCU216, (ACAP): VCK190, VMK180)

  • Expanding the support of Power Advantage Tool to new tool releases, production silicon, and new products
  • ACAP Python libraries to integrate power measurement into TRDs and demos

Mixed Security: Disable Lower Security Power Management Master 

  • Can disable lower security APU power management for Mixed Security support
  • Can disable lower security APU reset
  • Integrated tool support via flag selections

Versal Power Domains: FPD, System Power Domain

  • Tool and architecture building blocks for Deep Sleep in upcoming release. 

Board Evaluation and Management (BEAM) Tool: VCK190, VMK180

  • Out-of-the-box experience. Board configuration and test.
  • Easy access to Dev/Demo dashboards: Versal Power Tool, ACAP Cockpit, Power Management Dash (Beta)

Power Advantage Tool (SC): VCK190, VMK180

  • Independent from Versal so can be mixed-and-matched with TRDs/Demos/Customer Designs
  • Integrated ACAP setup with BEAM Tool, video demo, cut-and-paste Python customization Wiki

ACAP Cockpit (Security updated for public)

  • Easy view and editing of Versal registers. Plotting and file features.
  • Corresponds with Register documentation.
  • Building block for System Controller IP Dashboards.

Power Management Dashboard

  • Beta release shows the power state of domains and islands at-a-glance, GUI allows future expansion to Clocks and Performance.
  • Independent from Versal so can be mixed-and-matched to view PM state of any Versal application

HSDP/SmartLynq+ EDT and Video

Debug PCIe

  • PS High speed debug over PCIe interface  in Early Access.
  • PL (Chipscope) High Speed Debug over PCIe Interface in Early access
  • PS + PL debug over PCIe Early Access.

Soft Aurora HSDP Example

VCK190 / VMK180 (Versal™)

  • VMK180 TRDs
    • VMK180 Multimedia TRD (end June)
    • VMK180 PCIE TRD (end June)
  • VCK190
    • VCK190 Ethernet TRD(end July)
    • VCK190 Single Sensor TRD with DPU(end July)
    • VCK190  Quad Sensor TRD with DPU (end July)
    • VCK190 HDMI TRD with AI Tiler and Stitches (end July)

BEAM Tool

  • New beta rollout of BEAM Tool (System Controller Image) for VCK190 and VMK180 which includes
    • Power Advantage tool
    • Board Tests
    • Board Configuration
  • Production by end September

Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC

  • Updates to RF DC Evaluation Tool for RFSoC Gen1, Gen2 and Gen3
  • Updates to PetaLinux BSP for RFSoC Gen1, Gen2 and Gen3
  • Production support for RFSoC Gen 3

 

2020.2

What's New in Embedded Software 2020.2

Embedded Software:

  • PetaLinux available in AMD Unified Installer (Linux only)
  • PetaLinux documents UG1157 and UG1144 merged
  • Binary Linux distributions available per architecture at petalinux.xilinx.com
  • Device Tree Generator support for Linux kernel v5.0+ support
  • Device Tree Generator support for complex multimedia pipelines
  • Vivado CED support in KC705, AC701, KCU105 PetaLinux BSP
  • Micron DDR End-of-Life mitigation in KCU105, ZCU106, VCU118 PetaLinux BSP
  • Production Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC Gen3 PetaLinux BSP
2019.1

What's New in Embedded Software 2019.1

Embedded Linux Tools

  • PetaLinux Tools – Download the PetaLinux tools from the AMD Download Center
    • Support for GCC 8 series toolchain
    • Host OS Support
      • Red Hat/CentOS  -  7.4, 7.5, 7.6
      • Ubuntu - 16.04.5 LTS, 18.04 LTS
    • BSP Support
      • SP701 (Spartan 7) – Initial board support
      • ZCU1275 (Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC) – Ethernet connectivity via FMC add-in card and TFTP boot support via Uboot
      • ZCU1285 (Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC) – Lounge Access Only

Software Stack Update – Calendar Year 2019

All sources available on the AMD GitHub page: https://github.com/Xilinx

Bootloader and Firmware Updates

  • FSBL Updates
    • Vivado support for DIMM SPD data on AMD evaluation boards
    • Use PSU_DYNAMIC_DDR_CONFIG_EN Tcl parameter to enable
  • PMUFW Updates
    • Update to version 1.6
    • PMUFW safety assessment assessments are ongoing with planned completion by July 2019

U-Boot and ARM Trusted Firmware

  • U-Boot Updates
    • USB 3.0 host support
    • Multi-Master I2C support
    • XilSecure-based SHA and RSA operations
    • Flash device updates
Flash Device Density (Mb) Voltage
IS25LP128F 128 3.3
IS25WP128F 128 1.8
IS25LP256D 256 3.3
IS25WP256D 256 1.8
IS25LP512M 512 3.3
IS25WP512M 512 1.8
  • ATF Updates
    • Checksum support for IPI messages
    • Improved API support for clocking infrastructure
    • Expanded runtime detection of devices

Multimedia Frameworks Update

Feature Control
Software		 Gstreamer Support
32 simultaneous streams - 480p (Encode & Decode) Yes Yes
VCU Decoder – Dynamic resolution change support Yes No
VCU Encoder – Dynamic resolution change support Yes No
VCU Encoder – Frame skipping support Yes Yes
VCU Encoder – Temporal Layer visual quality improvement (Pyramidal GOP only) Yes Yes
VCU PL DDR Controller support (4KP60, 4-2-2, 10-bit, Simultaneous Encode/Decode) - Public Release Yes Yes
DCI 4K (4096x2160@60fps ) support (-2, -3 speed grades) Yes Yes
NAL Unit insertion support No Yes
Multi-stream Audio+Video Encode/Decode Support No Yes
Capped VBR rate control support Yes Yes

RTOS and Libraries

  • FreeRTOS Updates
    • Update to v10.1.0
  • LwIP Updates
    • Update to v2.1.1

OpenAMP & Xen Updates

  • OpenAMP
    • RPU master support for bare-metal applications
  • Xen Hypervisor
    • Official Dom0-less support
    • Guest-controlled per-device power management (EEMI-based)

MicroBlaze Soft Processor

  • Public release of 64-bit MicroBlaze support
    • Supported throughout the AMD ecosystem
    • Bare-metal and FreeRTOS BSPs

Updates for Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC

  • Tools Support
    • Full Vivado and XSDK support for Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC Gen2 and Gen3
    • RF Data Converter Evaluation Tool support
    • RF Analyzer support
    • Power Advantage Tool support
  • Runtime Software Support
    • API support for dither toggle
    • SDFEC Linux kernel drivers upstreaming has begun