Accelerator Functional Unit Developer’s Guide for Intel® FPGA Programmable Acceleration Card

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ID 683129
Date 7/20/2020
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. About this Document 2. Introduction 3. Getting Started with Platform Configuration 4. The Accelerator Functional Unit (AFU) 5. Developing AFUs with the OPAE SDK 6. AFU In-System Debug 7. Accelerator Functional Unit Developer's Guide for Intel® FPGA Programmable Acceleration Card Archives 8. Document Revision History for Accelerator Functional Unit Developer's Guide for Intel® FPGA Programmable Acceleration Card
1. About this Document x
1.1. Intended Audience 1.2. Conventions 1.3. Acronym List for Accelerator Functional Unit Developer’s Guide 1.4. Acceleration Glossary 1.5. Related Documentation
2. Introduction x
2.1. Getting Started with AFU Development 2.2. Base Knowledge and Skills Prerequisites
2.1. Getting Started with AFU Development x
2.1.1. Development Environment References 2.1.2. FPGA Tools and IP Requirements
4. The Accelerator Functional Unit (AFU) x
4.1. AFU Design Components 4.2. Basic Building Blocks
5. Developing AFUs with the OPAE SDK x
5.1. Overview of the OPAE SDK 5.2. Overview of the OPAE Platform for AFUs 5.3. OPAE SDK Design Flow for AFU Development
5.2. Overview of the OPAE Platform for AFUs x
5.2.1. Platform Device Classes 5.2.2. The Platform Interface Manager (PIM)
5.2.1. Platform Device Classes x
5.2.1.1. The clocks Device Class 5.2.1.2. The cci-p Device Class 5.2.1.3. The power Device Class 5.2.1.4. The error Device Class 5.2.1.5. The hssi Device Class 5.2.1.6. The local-memory Device Class
5.2.2. The Platform Interface Manager (PIM) x
5.2.2.1. Interface Transforms 5.2.2.2. Pipelining 5.2.2.3. Clock Crossing
5.3. OPAE SDK Design Flow for AFU Development x
5.3.1. Overview of the Design Flow 5.3.2. Design Flow Details
5.3.1. Overview of the Design Flow x
5.3.1.1. Minimal Flow Example 5.3.1.2. General Flow Example
5.3.1.1. Minimal Flow Example x
5.3.1.1.1. Specify the Platform Configuration 5.3.1.1.2. Design the AFU 5.3.1.1.3. Specify the Build Configuration 5.3.1.1.4. Generate the AF Build Environment 5.3.1.1.5. Generate the AF
5.3.1.2. General Flow Example x
5.3.1.2.1. Generate the ASE Build Environment 5.3.1.2.2. Verify the AFU with ASE
5.3.2. Design Flow Details x
5.3.2.1. Specify the Platform Configuration 5.3.2.2. Design the AFU 5.3.2.3. AFU Design Guidelines 5.3.2.4. Partial Reconfiguration Design Guidelines 5.3.2.5. Specify the Build Configuration 5.3.2.6. Generate the ASE Build Environment 5.3.2.7. Verify the AFU with ASE 5.3.2.8. Generate the AF Build Environment 5.3.2.9. Generate the AF
5.3.2.1. Specify the Platform Configuration x
5.3.2.1.1. Specify the AFU's UUID 5.3.2.1.2. Request a Top-level Interface 5.3.2.1.3. Extend a Top-level Interface 5.3.2.1.4. Request Device Interface Pipelining 5.3.2.1.5. Request Device Interface Clock-crossing 5.3.2.1.6. Specify a Requested Device as Optional 5.3.2.1.7. Specify AFU User Clock Timing
5.3.2.2. Design the AFU x
5.3.2.2.1. Start with a Top-level Module Template 5.3.2.2.2. Including the Platform Device Interface Definitions 5.3.2.2.3. Using the AFU UUID Header File 5.3.2.2.4. Clock Abstraction for the cci-p Device Interface 5.3.2.2.5. Generating an AF Build Environment for Source Development
5.3.2.3. AFU Design Guidelines x
5.3.2.3.1. General Guidelines 5.3.2.3.2. Utilizing Clock Resources 5.3.2.3.3. Interfacing with the FPGA Interface Manager (FIM)
6. AFU In-System Debug x
6.1. Remote Signal Tap Setup and Use
6.1. Remote Signal Tap Setup and Use x
6.1.1. Instrumenting the AFU Design for Signal Tap 6.1.2. Enable Remote Debug and Signal Tap 6.1.3. Generate the Remote Debug Enabled AF 6.1.4. Prepare the Remote Debug Host 6.1.5. Running a Remote Debug Session 6.1.6. Remote Debug Guidelines 6.1.7. Troubleshooting Remote Debug Connections
6.1.5. Running a Remote Debug Session x
6.1.5.1. Connect to the AFU Target 6.1.5.2. Using Signal Tap with a Remote Target Connection 6.1.5.3. Stimulating the Target AFU for In-System Debug 6.1.5.4. Disconnect from the AFU Target
6.1.5.3. Stimulating the Target AFU for In-System Debug x
6.1.5.3.1. Accessing the AFU in Shared Mode
1. About this Document
2. Introduction
3. Getting Started with Platform Configuration
4. The Accelerator Functional Unit (AFU)
5. Developing AFUs with the OPAE SDK
6. AFU In-System Debug
7. Accelerator Functional Unit Developer's Guide for Intel® FPGA Programmable Acceleration Card Archives
8. Document Revision History for Accelerator Functional Unit Developer's Guide for Intel® FPGA Programmable Acceleration Card

4.1. AFU Design Components

Figure 1. AFU High Level Block Diagram

A typical AFU design includes the following components:
  • RTL description of the algorithm or function being accelerated
  • RTL description to implement the base requirements placed on AFUs by OPAE (e.g., DFH, AFU ID in MMIO space). See the CCI-P Reference Manual for more details on the RTL description.
  • Supportive infrastructure
    • Logic to map AFU CSRs into MMIO space
    • Memory mastering logic
      • FPGA to host memory access
      • Local FPGA memory access
  • Debug and Performance monitoring
    • Signal Tap with the Remote Debug feature
    • Performance monitoring and counters within the scope of the AFU

The interfaces provided by OPAE for host and local memory access are basic, slave access interfaces. The host only has access to the AFU’s 256KB MMIO space. The AFU must implement a DMA to move large workload data to and from host memory. The dma_afu sample AFU in the OPAE platform installation provides an example for moving data between the host and local memory.

The FIM supports notification for illegal accesses made on the CCI-P interface and performance monitoring capabilities accessible by the host through the FME in the FIU. Any error handling and performance monitoring must be implemented in the AFU by developer.

The FIM provides for AFU remote debug through the FME connected to an OPAE tool that hosts the debug connection over TCP. The AFU designer must instrument the AFU with debug instances and nodes using tools such as Signal Tap. The nlb_mode_0_stp sample AFU in the OPAE platform installation provides an example for enabling an AFU for remote debug with Signal Tap over a TCP connection.

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