RTL Kernels - 2021.2 English

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

Document ID
UG1393
Release Date
2022-03-29
Version
2021.2 English

In the Vitis application acceleration development flow, RTL IP from the Vivado® Design Suite can be packaged as kernels (or compiled Xilinx object (.xo) files) that can be linked into an FPGA executable (.xclbin), as long as they adhere to Vivado IP Packaging guidelines, and requirements of the Vitis compiler for linking the system.

As explained in Kernel Properties, RTL kernels can be user-managed kernels that do not adhere to XRT requirements for execution control, but rather implement any number of possible control schemes specified by existing RTL designs. Alternatively, RTL kernels can adhere to the requirements of the ap_ctrl_chain or ap_ctrl_hs control protocols needed for XRT-managed kernels.

RTL kernels support the hardware emulation build, and the hardware build described in Build Targets, but an RTL kernel in its native form does not support software emulation. To support software emulation, you must add a C-model to the packaged RTL kernel, as described in Adding C-Models to RTL Kernels.

The following sections describe the kernel interface requirements for the Vitis compiler to link kernels into a system. These requirements are common to software controllable and non-software controlled kernels. The control requirements for XRT-managed kernels are also described, as well as any additional requirements. Finally, the development flow is described to help you package RTL IP in the Vivado® Design Suite as RTL kernels for use in the Vitis environment.