AN 798: Partial Reconfiguration with the Arria 10 HPS

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ID 683034
Date 1/25/2017
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Partial Reconfiguration with the Intel® Arria® 10 HPS
Partial Reconfiguration with the Intel® Arria® 10 HPS x
Advantages of Partial Reconfiguration Scope of This Document Prerequisites for Using This Document Partial Reconfiguration Tools and Methods Arria 10 SoC Partial Reconfiguration Workflow Partial Reconfiguration Limitations Creating the PR Example Design Generating the Example Software Image Loading Partial Reconfiguration Designs Using Linux Important Partial Reconfiguration Terminology Revision History
Prerequisites for Using This Document x
Knowledge Prerequisites Software Tool Prerequisites Hardware Prerequisites
Partial Reconfiguration Tools and Methods x
Hardware Tools and Methods Software Tools and Methods
Hardware Tools and Methods x
Arria 10 SoC Partial Reconfiguration Support Overview of the Arria 10 GHRD
Arria 10 SoC Partial Reconfiguration Workflow x
Hardware Workflow Software Workflow
Creating the PR Example Design x
Qsys Partial Reconfiguration Freeze Logic Importing the GHRD Project Add a Partial Reconfiguration Region to the GHRD Building the Base Revision with the Reconfigurable Design Partition Synthesizing an Alternate Persona Implementing the Alternate Persona Generating the RBF FPGA Image Files Design Handoff to Software Developer
Qsys Partial Reconfiguration Freeze Logic x
PR Freeze Bridge PR Freeze Controller
Add a Partial Reconfiguration Region to the GHRD x
Creating the Partial Reconfiguration Design Adding the PR Region Connecting New Ports in the GHRD Module Instantiation
Generating the Example Software Image x
Overview of Software Image Creation Generating a New Boot Device Tree Creating the Device Tree Overlays
Generating a New Boot Device Tree x
Critical Information in the Default Device Tree Steps to Create a New Device Tree
Loading Partial Reconfiguration Designs Using Linux x
Installing Files on the SD Card Loading and Unloading the Device Tree Overlays
Partial Reconfiguration with the Intel® Arria® 10 HPS

Advantages of Partial Reconfiguration

PR provides the following advantages over designs without PR:

  • Allows runtime design reconfiguration
  • Improves design scalability by time-sharing hardware resources
  • Lowers cost and power consumption through efficient use of board space
  • Improves initial programming time through smaller bitstreams
  • Reduces system down-time by enabling live updates
  • Facilitates system update by allowing fast, low-risk remote hardware changes

PR is a way to load different or updated soft logic without disturbing the HPS host software. Performing a full FPGA image configuration in an Intel® SoC FPGA resets and reconfigures all shared I/O and DDR memory interfaces. Therefore, full reconfiguration can crash the HPS host software if it is using the shared I/O or DDR memory at the time. In contrast, loading a reconfigurable logic region does not affect these critical interfaces.

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