AMD Versal™ devices include five types of programmable processors. Each type of processor provides different computation capabilities to meet different requirements of the overall system.
- Application processing unit (APU) in the processor system (PS)
- Typically used for control-plane applications, operating systems, communications interfaces, and lower level or complex computations.
- Real-time processing unit (RPU) in the PS
- Typically used for applications requiring safety and determinism.
- MicroBlaze™ or MicroBlaze RISC-V processors in the programmable logic (PL)
- (Optional) Typically used for data manipulation and transport, non-vector-based computation, and interfacing to the PS and other components on Versal devices.
- ROM code unit (RCU) and PMC processing unit (PPU) in the PMC
- Used for booting the device and executing the PLM and PSM firmwares. Note that the RCU cannot be reprogrammed and its sole responsibility is securely loading the PLM software into the PPU.
- AI Engines
- Typically used for compute-intensive functions in vector implementations.
The PMC processor is responsible for boot, configuration, partial-reconfiguration, and life cycle management tasks such as security. For more information about PMC management of boot and partial reconfiguration, see Boot and Configuration.
The rest of the section applies to Versal devices that feature a PS with dual-core Cortex-A72 and dual-core Cortex-R5Fprocessors. Versal Prime Series Gen 2 and Versal AI Edge Series Gen 2 Devices have feature a difference PS architecture and are covered in the next section
For details about additional features such as the PMC, DDR memory bus width, number of DDR memory controllers, interconnect for CCIX and PCIe (CPM), and PCI Express® , see the Versal Architecture and Product Data Sheet: Overview (DS950). The Versal Adaptive SoC Technical Reference Manual (AM011) includes details on PMC/PS-centric content with a hardware architecture section that includes links to documents that describe other integrated hardware and peripherals including the CPM, DDRMC, AI Engine, PL, and more.