Course Description

Provides embedded systems developers with experience in creating an embedded Linux system targeting a Zynq® UltraScale+™ MPSoC  processor development board using PetaLinux Tools.

The course provides experience with:

• Building the environment and booting the system using a Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC with PetaLinux Tools on the ARM® Cortex™-A53 processor
• Using open-source embedded Linux components
• Configuring the Linux environment and network components
• Debugging embedded Linux platforms

The primary focus is on embedded Linux development in conjunction with the Xilinx tool flow.

* This course focuses on the Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC. Check with your local Authorized Training Provider for the specifics of the in-class lab board or other customizations.

After completing this comprehensive training, you will have the necessary skills to:

• Explain what an embedded Linux kernel is
• Describe the Linux device driver architecture
• Create a PetaLinux project to configure and build an image
• Create a working ARM Cortex-A53 processor Linux system using the Vivado Design Suite and PetaLinux tools
• List various hardware interfacing options available for the ARM Cortex-A53 processor
• Build custom hardware cores and device drivers using the user space I/O (UIO) framework

Course Outline

Day 1

• Introduction to Embedded Linux

introduces embedded Linux, including a brief architectural overview, as well as some of the reasons for its rising popularity as an embedded OS. {Lecture}

• Embedded Linux Components

Describes the various components required for embedded Linux platforms and how the components affect the booting of Linux on these platforms. {Lecture, Lab}

• Introduction to the PetaLinux Tools

Describes the PetaLinux tools and their requirements. {Lecture}

• PetaLinux Tools Workflow

Provides a brief description of the PetaLinux tools workflow. {Lecture}

• Basics of the PetaLinux Tools

Describes in detail various PetaLinux commands and their example use cases. {Lecture, Lab}

• Application Development and Debugging

Introduces core concepts for developing, running, and debugging software applications in an embedded Linux environment. {Lecture, Lab}

• Customizing rootfs

Provides a brief description on customizing the rootfs for embedded Linux. {Lecture}

• Networking and TCP/IP

Discusses how the TCP/IP networking stack can be used to improve productivity during embedded product development. {Lecture, Lab}

Day 2

• Linux Device Drivers Overview

Provides a brief overview on Linux device drivers and how to use them for custom hardware. {Lecture}

• User Space I/O and Loadable Kernel Modules

Introduces two lightweight approaches for accessing the physical memory of devices from user space: direct access through the dev/mem virtual device and the user space I/O framework. {Lecture, Lab}

• Board Bring Up with the Vivado Design Suite and PetaLinux Tools

Describes the complete board bring-up process, which includes the hardware design as well as Linux image creation for the hardware {Lecture, Lab}

• PetaLinux Image Booting Methods

Describes how to boot the PetaLinux image via QEMU, SD card, JTAG, and TFTP. {Lecture}

• Configuring the rootfs Type

Reviews various rootfs types (INITRD, INITRAMFS, NFS, JFFS2, and SD card) and how to configure a PetaLinux project to boot the PetaLinux image with the selected rootfs. {Lecture}

• Custom Hardware Development

Describes the Package IP Wizard and how it can be used to create a variety of architectural options for interfacing a system with custom processing hardware. {Lecture, Lab}

• Custom Driver Development

Discusses device driver options to match custom hardware devices and how to use the provided interfaces to read and write to the devices. {Lecture, Lab}