AI Engine-PL Interface Techniques for Timing - 2021.2 English

Versal ACAP System Integration and Validation Methodology Guide (UG1388)

Document ID
UG1388
Release Date
2021-11-19
Version
2021.2 English

Boundary logic interface flip-flops exist in hardware between the AI Engine-programmable logic (PL) interface, which you can use to improve timing. You can apply boundary logic interface (BLI) constraints to flip-flops in your design to automatically take advantage of this hardware feature during design placement. In this example, the AXI4-Stream interface for the AI Engine (AXI_PL_M_AXIS64) has connections to and from the fabric driven by flip-flops. Following is an example of the BLI constraints:

set_property BLI TRUE [get_cells m_axis_tdata_reg[*]]
set_property BLI TRUE [get_cells m_axis_*_reg]

The following figure shows the resulting placement and connectivity from setting the BLI property to TRUE.

Figure 1. Placement of AI Engine-PL Interface BLI Flip-Flops

For timing critical designs, enabling the BLI registers helps to achieve the highest performance. To control the inference of BLI registers across the AI Engine-PL channels, use the following AI Engine compiler options:

  • --pl-freq=<number> 

    Specify clock frequency for PL kernels in MHz. The default value is 1/4 of AI Engine core frequency, which varies for each speed grade.

    Following are examples:

    • Same AI Engine-PL 300 MHz frequency for all AI Engine-PL interfaces:
      --pl-freq=300
    • Different AI Engine-PL frequency for different interfaces. Each interface is associated to a different AI Engine graph PLIO. The constraints must refer to the PLIO name, not the PL kernel names:
      --pl-freq=plio_user_port_0:153 -pl-freq= plio_user_port_0:307.2
  • --pl-register-threshold=<number>

    Specify frequency threshold for registered AI Engine-PL crossing in MHz. The default value is 1/8 of the AI Engine frequency based on speed grade.

    Following is an example:

    • –pl-register-threshold=125

      Any PLIO with an AI Engine-PL frequency higher than this setting (125 MHz in this case) is mapped to high-speed channels with the BLI registers enabled. If not, any AI Engine-PL channel can be used.