Using the Vitis Analyzer - 2020.2 English

Vitis Unified Software Platform Documentation: Application Acceleration Development (UG1393)

Document ID
UG1393
Release Date
2021-03-22
Version
2020.2 English

The Vitis™ analyzer is a utility that allows you to view and analyze the reports generated while building and running the application. It is intended to let you review reports generated by both the Vitis compiler when the application is built, and the Xilinx® Runtime (XRT) library when the application is run. The Vitis analyzer can be used to view reports from both the v++ command line flow, and the Vitis integrated design environment (IDE). You will launch the tool using the vitis_analyzer command (see Setting Up the Vitis Environment).

When first launched, the Vitis analyzer opens with a home screen that lets you open summary files, binary containers, or directories. Clicking any of these links opens a file browser that allows you to select a specific file of the type described.

Figure 1. Vitis Analyzer – Home Screen
Open Summary
Report Summaries are collections of reports related to specific stages of application development in the Vitis tool. There are summaries created for the two steps of the build process, compile and link, and from the run process when the application is executed. Selecting Open Summary lets you open one of the following:
Compile Summary
The Compile Summary report is generated by the v++ command during compilation, provides the status of the kernel compilation process. When viewing the Compile Summary report the tool also references the following reports generated during compilation: Kernel Estimate, Kernel Guidance, HLS Synthesis, and compilation log.
Link Summary
The Link Summary report is created by the v++ command during linking and creation of the .xclbin file. When viewing the Link Summary report the tool also references the following reports generated during linking: System Estimate, System Guidance, Timing Summary, Utilization, Operation Trace, Platform and System Diagrams, and linking logs. When you open a Link Summary, the Vitis analyzer will automatically open the associated Compile Summaries of kernels that were linked into the .xclbin file.
Tip: Timing Summary and Utilization are only generated when the build targets Hardware (as opposed to emulation).
Package Summary
The Package Summary report is generated by the v++ --package command, and provides information related to the generation of emulation scripts and SD card output. When viewing the Package Summary report the tool also references the configuration file used on the command line, and the log file generated.
Run Summary
The Run Summary report is created by the XRT library during the application execution, and provides a summary of the run process. When viewing the Run Summary report the tool also references the following reports generated during the application run: Guidance, Profile Summary, Application Timeline, Platform and System Diagrams, and Simulation Waveforms when enabled.
Important: Reports generated during the runtime execution of an application generally require some prior setup as described in Profiling the Application.

When you run the application after the v++ build process, the ID from the Link Summary is assigned to the Run Summary. When you open Run Summary and Link Summary, Vitis Analyzer links them based on the shared ID.

AI Engine Compile and Run Summaries
Vitis analyzer also lets you view reports from the Versal AI Engine compile and run processes. These reports are generated by the aiecompiler and aiesimulator as described in the Versal ACAP AI Engine Programming Environment User Guide (UG1076).
Tip: In the Vitis IDE, the project hierarchy consists of a top-level system project with sub-projects which contain elements of the design: the processor application, the hardware kernels, the hardware link project, and the AI Engine project. The various summary reports described above can be found in the appropriate sub-project: Compile Summary will be in the specific hardware kernel projects, Link Summary will be in the hardware link project, Package Summary will be found in the system project, the Run Summary will be found in the processor application, and AI Engine summaries will be found in the ./Work folder or the ./aiesimulator output.
Open Binary Container
Opens the selected .xclbin file to display the Platform Diagram and the System Diagram for the build.
Open Directory
Specifies a directory to open. The tool recursively examines the contents of the directory and displays a dialog box allowing you to select which type of files to open and which individual files to open.
Tip: The Open Recent section of the home screen provides a list of recently opened summaries and reports to let you quickly reopen them.

The vitis_analyzer command lets you open the tool to the home screen, as discussed above, or specify a file to load when opening the tool. You can open a file by specifying the name of the file to open. You can open the Vitis analyzer with any of the files supported by the tool, as described in Working with Reports. For example:

vitis_analyzer project1.run_summary

You can access the command help for vitis_analyzer command by typing the following:

vitis_analyzer -help