Some IP in the IP catalog are hierarchical, and offer a child BD inside the top-level BD to display the logical configuration of the IP. These hierarchical IP (also called subsystem IP) let you see the contents of the block, but do not let you directly edit the hierarchy.
Changes to the child BD can only be made by changing the configuration of the IP in the Re-customize IP dialog box.
For example, the 10G Ethernet Subsystem and AXI 1G/2.5G Ethernet Subsystem is an Hierarchical IP in the Vivado IP catalog. You would instantiate these IP just as any other IP by searching and selecting the IP. The following figure shows the 10G Ethernet Subsystem and AXI 1G/2.5G Ethernet Subsystem information.
When the IP has been instantiated into a BD, double-click the IP to open the Re-customize IP dialog box where you can configure the IP parameters.
You can run Block Automation for Hierarchical IP when available. This feature creates a subsystem consisting of IP blocks needed to configure the IP.
Using the Run Block Automation dialog box, you can select various parameters of the IP subsystem to create. This puts together an IP subsystem for the mode selected, like the one shown in the following figure.
You can also run Connection Automation when it is available to complete connections to I/O ports needed for Hierarchical IP subsystems.
The Run Connection Automation dialog box lets you select different connectivity options for the subsystem. See the following figure.
The complete hierarchical IP subsystem should look as shown in the following figure.
To view the child BD inside the AXI Ethernet subsystem IP, right-click and select View Block Design command, as shown in the following figure.
To view the BD, click View Block Design icon at the top left corner of the IP symbol. This opens a Diagram window showing the child-level BD, as shown in the following figure.