Versal HBM Series VHK158 Evaluation Kit

Owned by Terry O'Neal
Last updated: Apr 24, 2024 by Shabbir Khan
5 min read

This is a starting resource for the Versal Premium Series VHK158 Evaluation Kit. This does not replace the official documentation for the https://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/vhk158.html on Xilinx.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The VHK158 Evaluation Kit, equipped with the AMD Versal™ HBM VH1582 Adaptive SoC, offers a convergence of memory, computing, and connectivity with 32GB HBM and 112G PAM4 transceivers. Please contact your AMD sales team for additional information and availability.

Getting Started

This section provides the prep work, board setup, and files needed to boot and run designs on the VHK158 board. You will need to download files and applications to interface to the boards but will need no installation or knowledge of the Xilinx tools to run these on the VHK158.

For board setup and configuration, refer to the VHK158 Board User Guide, UG1611

Prep Work

You will need a terminal interface such as Tera Term or PuTTY to interface to the UART to boot the VHK158 board. Please download your choice before getting started.

The next step is to download the prebuilt images from the Linux Prebuilt Images wiki page. The PetaLinux BSP will provide a pre-build image that will allow you to boot Linux and interact via a terminal to run some examples.

  1. Download the 2023.1_vhk158_release.tar.xz archive file.

  2. Extract the archive file.

    tar xvf 2023.1_<board>_release.tar.xz

  3. There is a WIC image upon extraction. Use Win32DiskImager like tool to flash this image to SD card

Once this is done put the SD card into the Versal uSD card slot in the Board Setup Diagram.

Board Setup

Board setup is quick and easy, Instructions and diagrams for setup can be found below.

The VHK158 board comes with a pre-programmed System Controller image. The default setting for the system controller mode is QSPI-32b boot mode (MODE[0:3]= ‘0100’). This is set by bootstrap resistors and must never be changed. Refer to the Versal System Controller section of this wiki page for information on how to use the System Controller BEAM tool and steps to upgrade the system controller image if necessary.

  1. Connect the 12V Power Supply to the VHK158 board.

  2. Ensure that the System Controller firmware flashed properly on the QSPI.

  3. Set the Versal Boot mode switch (SW1) to SD boot mode as shown in the below figure.

    SW1- Versal Boot Mode

  4. The SW1 DIP Switch should be set to ON, OFF, OFF, OFF.

  5. Connect a USB Type A to USB Type-C cable between your PC and the VHK158 board.
    The board comes with a USB-C connector for JTAG+UARTs

  6. Three UART ports should be visible in Device Manager:

Comm Port#

Function

Comm Port#

Function

Com Port 0

Versal UART0

Com Port 1

Versal UART1 via PL pins

Com Port 2

System Controller UART

 

Running a design

Once you have prepared the SD card, use the instructions below to run the design that you have downloaded via the PetaLinux BSP for the VHK158 board

  1. Have the VersalUART0 terminal emulator tab connected.

  2. Configure your Terminal tab baud rate to 115200, 1, None.

  3. Turn ON the power switch.

  4. On the Versal UART0 terminal, you should see the Versal device booting from the micro SD card starting with the message “Xilinx Versal Platform Loader and Manager”. After a second you will see the U-Boot starting as shown below, followed by kernel boot messages.

  5. Finally, after the Linux boot is completed, you will see the Linux prompt. Enter the user name petalinux and set the password.

 

PetaLinux Board Support Packages (BSP)

PetaLinux Board Support Packages (BSP) include pre-built images, a design, and all of the necessary instructions to rebuild the pre-built images from scratch. With PetaLinux, developers can have their Xilinx-based hardware booted and running within about 5 minutes of installation; ready for application, library, and driver development. The base design that is included can be used as a starting point for hardware developers while the instructions on how to rebuild the Linux image can be used as a starting point by the embedded software engineer to create a custom Linux image. The PetaLinux BSP can be downloaded from the Linux Prebuilt Images wiki page.

Versal Example Designs

General Example Designs

Below is a list of available example designs showcasing particular IP, Silicon features, or tool flows, targeting Versal Adaptive SoC devices.

  1. NOC HBMC GitHub Tutorial that introduces different design aspects for the NoC High Bandwidth Memory Controller (HBMC) by providing step-by-step instructions to create different designs and run simulations.

  2. NOC DDR4 Example design where the CIPS is connected to the two DDR4 interfaces (1x72-bit) through the NoC with two integrated DDR4 memory controllers (DDRMCs). The design uses an Inter-NoC Interface (INI) to connect one of the DDRMCs to the CIPS. AXI NoC 0 and AXI NoC 1 each contain four INI ports and one integrated DDRMC.

Linux Boot from HBM

The below page details the steps needed to enable HBM support in the VHK158 to allow Linux to boot from HBM.

https://xilinx-wiki.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A/pages/2671083538

Versal System Controller

The Board Evaluation and Management (BEAM) tool is the main menu of the System Controller. It primarily serves as a launcher for running the board interface test (BIT) and to set/change/read board parameters such as clocks, FMC, voltages, etc. when running Targeted Reference Designs (TRDs) or developing custom applications. The BEAM tool aims to enhance the out-of-the-box experience for Versal evaluation board users through an easy-to-use web-based UI.

Please follow the instructions provided in the link below to proceed with the tool.

Versal System Controller and BEAM Tool - Setup and Launch instruction

Xilinx Tools

The Xilinx tools provide all required toolchains to compile and link applications for Xilinx-supported platforms, create and configure hardware designs, and create bitstreams.

Installing the Xilinx Tools

Related Links

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