Programming Image Compression - 2021.1 English

Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Dynamic Function eXchange (UG909)

Document ID
UG909
Release Date
2022-02-25
Version
2021.1 English

By default, all full and partial PL programming images are compressed. Versal uses a new compression algorithm that is a different approach than the prior architectures. Versal PDI compression reduces the configuration time in most cases.

Reduced configuration time and decreased configuration storage size requirements is observed when compression is used for the following interfaces:
  • Less than 2.56 GB/s (in the slowest speed grade)
  • 3.2 GB/s (in medium and fast speed grades) for QSPI, OSPI, SD, eMMC, JTAG, and SelectMAP
For this reason, compression is enabled by default.
Note: The configuration time is affected when Versal programmable device image (.pdi) is compressed and if the interface exceeds 2.56 GB/s (slow speed grades) or 3.2 GB/s (medium and fast speed grades).
The maximum bandwidth of the Versal PMC configuration frame unit (CFU) is 5.12 GB/s (for slow speed grade) or 6.4 GB/s (for medium and fast speed grades). When an interface exceeds either 2.56 GB/s or 3.2 GB/s, the bandwidth will be throttled.
Use uncompressed image
For the high-speed interfaces that requires shortest programming time when images are delivered from DDR memory or through PCIe.
Use compression
For the high-speed interfaces if the primary goal is minimizing storage space.
To disable compression, apply this property prior to running write_device_image:
set_property BITSTREAM.GENERAL.COMPRESS TRUE [current_design]
Note: Bandwidth is calculated based on the uncompressed data size. For example, if a full xcvc1902 PDI (medium speed grade) contains approximately 90 MB of CFI data then the time required to load this data is 90 MB/3.2 GB/s = 27.9 ms.