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ECE699 Lecture 10 Linux On Zynq

Linux on Zynq provides an overview of using the Linux operating system on Xilinx Zynq systems. Key points include: - Linux is a popular open-source operating system kernel that supports the ARM architecture used in Zynq systems. - The boot process involves a bootloader like U-Boot that loads the Linux kernel and a root filesystem. - A device tree describes the hardware configuration and is passed to the kernel at boot. - Device drivers allow Linux to interface with hardware peripherals like DMA controllers. The ezdma library aims to simplify writing DMA drivers.

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212 views

ECE699 Lecture 10 Linux On Zynq

Linux on Zynq provides an overview of using the Linux operating system on Xilinx Zynq systems. Key points include: - Linux is a popular open-source operating system kernel that supports the ARM architecture used in Zynq systems. - The boot process involves a bootloader like U-Boot that loads the Linux kernel and a root filesystem. - A device tree describes the hardware configuration and is passed to the kernel at boot. - Device drivers allow Linux to interface with hardware peripherals like DMA controllers. The ezdma library aims to simplify writing DMA drivers.

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Linux on Zynq

ECE 699 Hardware/Software Codesign

Jeremy Trimble
Linux
A clone of the Unix operating system.
Started by Linus Torvalds in 1991.
Originally for i386 architecture.
Now supports 20 different architectures.
Including ARM.
Open-source
GNU General Public License (GPL)
Arguably the world's largest software project.
>3700 developers around the world.
1 code change accepted every 7.5 minutes.
~359 lines of code added each hour.
Source: https://github.com/gregkh/kernel-history
A few technicalities
Linux is a kernel.
Not an operating system.
Typically run with GNU Operating System
So the correct name is actually GNU/Linux
But most folks just say Linux.
GNU project
Started by Richard Stallman
Provides common userspace utilities:
ls, make, gcc, emacs
Advantages of Linux on Zynq
Flexibility
More like a general-purpose computer.
Multitasking, filesystems, networking, hardware support.
Ease of development
Kernel protects against certain types of software errors.
Vast ecosystem of open-source tools and languages.
Faster time-to-market.
Graphics support
X Windows
Disadvantages
Complexity
More hoops to jump through for some tasks.
Memory management makes interacting with PL cores
more involved.
Overhead
For very simple programs, bare metal can be faster.
Key parts of a (Zynq) Linux System
Bootloader
Zynq FSBL First Stage Bootloader
U-Boot
Kernel
PL Image
Device Tree File
A file describing the computer where Linux will run.
Root Filesystem
Linux Distributions
How to boot the Zynq
Zynq supports multiple boot sources:
NAND/NOR Flash, SD Card, Quad-SPI, JTAG.
SD boot supports FAT16/FAT32.
BOOT.BIN, first partition
Refer to TRM (UG-585) Chapter 6.

Zybo ZedBoard
Boot Mode Jumper MIO2-6 Jumpers
JP5 JP7-11
Built into Zynq.
(You can't change it.)

BOOT.BIN
(Generate in SDK)

Application Code
(Or U-Boot & Linux)
Zynq FSBL
(fuzzball, anyone?)

First Stage BootLoader


Executed by BootROM
Sets up MIO, clocks
As configured in the PS7 IP core in Vivado.
Optionally:
Can load a PL image (bitstream) of your choosing.
Can run a PS image of your choosing.
Generate BOOT.BIN in SDK.
Xilinx Tools > Create Zynq Boot Image
Das U-Boot
Full-featured open-source bootloader.
Started by Wolfgang Denk in 2000.
Source Code: http://git.denx.de/?p=u-boot.git;a=summary
Features:
Loading images from SD/MMC Cards, USB devices
Numerous filesystems (FAT)
Loading images over a network (ethernet support)
TFTP, NFS, DHCP/bootp
Loading Zynq PL images at boot time
Using fpga command.
Interactive command prompt
Scriptable
...and it boots things!
Linux Kernel
Compile your own!
Source code: https://kernel.org/, mirrored on GitHub
Written in C.
You can cross-compile your own kernel in minutes.
Customize the features you want.
Quick-Start (Ubuntu):
sudo apt-get install build-essential bc gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi git
git clone https://github.com/torvalds/linux
cd linux
export ARCH=arm; export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-
make xilinx_zynq_defconfig
make -j4 uImage LOADADDR=0x00008000 modules

Or, use a pre-built kernel from Xilinx, Digilent, Xillybus...


Device Tree
A machine-readable description of the hardware
Passed to the kernel at boot time
Same kernel can run on different machines
Any differences in the hardware are captured in the device
tree.
Two forms of file:
*.dts Human-readable.
*.dtb Binary blob passed to kernel @ boot.
Device tree compiler dtc converts dts <-> dtb.
Shows up in /proc on running kernel.
Device Tree
/* From Zybo Device Tree: */
Heirarchical data
ps7_uart_1: serial@e0001000 {
Nodes bounded by {} clock-names = "uart_clk", "pclk";
clocks = <&clkc 24>, <&clkc 41>;
Attributes defined compatible = "xlnx,xuartps",
"cdns,uart-r1p8";
inside nodes. current-speed = <115200>;
device_type = "serial";
compatible attribute interrupt-parent = <&ps7_scugic_0>;
interrupts = <0 50 4>;
specifies driver port-number = <0>;
reg = <0xe0001000 0x1000>;
reg attribute xlnx,has-modem = <0x0>;
specifies memory- } ;
mapped address
ranges
Example...
Device Tree Generator
Xilinx SDK Plugin
Automatically generates device tree
Based on HW Platform Spec
https://github.com/Xilinx/device-tree-xlnx
Under active development
I haven't had good luck with it.
Root Filesystem
Contains the rest of the Operating System
Mounted by the kernel during boot.
Typically separate partition from the bootloader and
kernel.
Linux Distributions/Flavors
Many to choose from, some with different focuses.
Linaro (based on Ubuntu) is a popular choice.
I like Debian and Arch.
Kernel Modules
Insert/remove code into running kernel
.ko files Kernel Object
Dynamically linked at runtime
Device drivers often compiled as modules
Automatically inserted when new devices are plugged in
Other uses:
Support for cryptographic algorithms, IPv6, KVM.
Commands:
insmod Insert a module into the kernel.
rmmod Remove a module from the kernel.
modprobe Automatically resolves dependencies.
Challenges to writing Device Drivers
The kernel is complex.
Memory-managed.
Separation between user memory and kernel memory.
User memory may not always be present in RAM.
Multithreaded.
Only allowed to sleep/block in certain contexts.
Easily crash the entire system, or corrupt data.
No floating-point operations.
The kernel is always changing.
Documentation is almost instantly out-of-date.
There is no stable API design tenet.
ezdma
DMA can be tricky (especially in the kernel) write() read()

ezdma tries to make it easier Linux Userspace


Linux Kernel

simply read()/write() ezdma Driver


ezdma.ko

Support: dmaengine API

Uses dmaengine API. Other


dmaengine-compatible PL330 DMA
AXI DMA Driver drivers Driver
At least ~40 dmaengine drivers xilinx_axidma.ko
...
pl330.c

Linux Kernel
ezdma should work with them all Zynq PLZynq PS Hardware

AXI DMA AXI DMA pl330


AXI DMA
Core
AXI DMA DMA
AXI CDMA Core
Core (hard-core)

AXI VDMA
PL330 DMA
Released as GPL: https://github.com/jeremytrimble/ezdma
I hope to contribute this to the Linux kernel.
ezdma
Usage:
See the README:
https://github.com/jeremytrimble/ezdma
ezdma Caveats
May need some DMA core-specific tweaks,
depending on which driver you're using.
For my project, I had to set the DelayIRQ register in the
AXI DMA. This is device-specific.
As of 4/30/2015:
xilinx_axidma.ko has a few bugs:
Doesn't register with of_dma system.
Early callbacks cause data corruption
https://github.com/Xilinx/linux-xlnx/issues/54
I've submitted a fix for this but Xilinx hasn't accepted yet.
Run with my fork and you should be good:
https://github.com/jeremytrimble/linux-xlnx
Resources
Tutorial on device trees:
http://xillybus.com/tutorials/device-tree-zynq-1
Linux kernel documentation:
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/D
ocumentation
Linux Weekly News: http://lwn.net/
Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Ed. (LDD3):
https://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/
Haifa Linux Club: http://haifux.org/index.html
Resources
Xilinx Linux tree:
https://github.com/Xilinx/linux-xlnx
With my bugfixes:
https://github.com/jeremytrimble/linux-xlnx
Analog Devices Linux tree:
https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/linux

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