Understanding how AMD platforms are structured helps you understand how best to align your hardware and software development practices to make best use of Vitis and Vivado hardware tools with Vitis, PetaLinux, and Yocto software development tools.
An embedded platform consists of two key components: the hardware platform and the software platform.
Hardware Platform
The hardware platform provides the basis for the design, consisting of an extensible Hardware Design (XSA) file that encapsulates a Vivado project for use in Vitis.
Vitis extends and enhances the hardware design by adding kernels and essential infrastructure modules that facilitate data flow within the system. These PL kernels and AI Engine graphs seamlessly share data with platform IPs.
Software Platform
The software platform provides the environment to run and control kernels. It serves as the control mechanism for both fixed and extensible platforms. It includes the domain setup and boot components, setup to reset and configure the hardware platform. Key elements of the software platform include:
- Root File System (RFS)
- This includes the binaries, core libraries, and configurations necessary for a functional Linux file system. The AMD-provided common rootfs comes pre-installed with XRT (Xilinx Runtime), enabling the execution of applications within the Linux environment.
- Kernel Image
- This component contains the compiled Linux kernel. The AMD-provided common kernel includes most of AMD's peripheral device drivers, streamlining setup and configuration.
- Sysroot
- An essential tool for cross-compilation, the Sysroot provides the required libraries for compiling applications for the target system.