Execution Domain and Images - 2020.2 English

Versal ACAP System Software Developers Guide (UG1304)

Document ID
UG1304
Release Date
2020-11-24
Version
2020.2 English

A domain is a separate execution environment with its own address space and potentially attached devices. On a simple CPU, such as a minimal MicroBlaze processor without a memory management unit (MMU), there is only one domain. On more advanced CPUs, such as the APU, there are multiple domains, isolated by exception levels 0-3 (EL0-3) and some of those can have a segmented secure domain (SEL0-1) as shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. Segmented Secure Domains on the APU

The following table shows examples of what can run in the various domains on an APU.

Table 1. Domain Examples
Domain Non-Secure Secure (TrustZone)
EL0 Linux process/application

RTOS application process model

Secure or trusted application
EL1 Linux kernel

RTOS kernel

OP-TEE OS
EL2 Optional hypervisor (Xen), U-Boot Future Arm processors will support this
EL3 ATF

For CPU-like execution engines (APUs, RPUs, MicroBlaze processors, AI Engine, and etc.) an image is the compiled program that runs in a domain. Typically, the standard ELF format is used, but in some cases, it is converted to more compact formats such as a PDI.

The term, image, is also used for the “code/logic” running in the PL/FPGA. The PL image or bitstream is an overloaded term as it refers both to configuration information (e.g., initiating a device) as well as the customer code translated to PL fabric configuration.

The images are loaded into their domains in a few different ways:

During Boot
  • A PDI file in QSPI, SD, eMMC, SMAP, or OSPI
    • BootROM handles loading the PLM, while the PLM will handle loading the rest of images. Additionally, U-Boot will handle loading a hypervisor, if used, as well as an OS, such as Linux.
  • A JTAG debugger can place an image into memory.
During Run Time
  • An operating system can load an image from a filesystem (rootfs, remote filesystem, SD card, etc.):
    • Another process (fork/exec)
    • Another CPU (through OpenAMP)
  • A hypervisor could load another virtual machine (VM) and its associated set of software.
  • More advanced RTOSs with access to a filesystem can load images much like Linux.
  • PLM firmware can load an image dynamically during restart or at the request of a client.

Most of the time, an image is loaded into a domain and while the data in the image changes, the code does not change until the end of the lifecycle. There are exceptions to this, most notably when Linux dynamically loads a driver as a kernel module, when a DFX region is loaded into the PL, or when a firmware update occurs.

An application can have multiple images attached to it. These multi-image applications are used for example when a regular Linux process is using an accelerator that needs to be loaded at the same time.